Learn >> Architecture

What it’s about:

Architecture majors prepare for the professional practice of architecture by learning how to design building and other aspects of the built environment.

What the study of this major is like:

The architecture major combines courses in the liberal arts and sciences with architecture. Along with technical and design skills, architecture. Along with technical and design skills, architects must understand the culture they work in (humanities), the physical world (physical sciences), and human relations (social sciences). They must also be familiar with the history of art and architecture.

After two years of liberal arts, you begin studying architecture by taking courses in visual and graphic skills. Courses in history and theory of architecture teach you how the built environment was formed, and the role of related disciplines.

The most important courses in every architecture program are the design studio courses. In beginning studios, you learn to design objects, furniture, and rooms. Intermediate studios stress the design of small buildings, such as museums, libraries, and schools. In your final year, you design larger buildings for urban areas.

In the studio, you work on a series of projects. Your instructor assigns a project, outlines expectations, and provides resources. As you develop your design, you benefit from group feedback from fellow students. The project itself, which includes drawings and models you’ve created in various media, will be evaluated by faculty members for its strengths and weaknesses. Studio work can also include field trips, documentation, photography, interviews, research, model making, and graphic analysis. Your work is supported by classes in construction technology, computer graphics, and design theory.

Be ready to spend long hours on your projects. The studio is both a supportive and a competitive environment-design work is stimulating, spontaneous, and often difficult. To be successful, you need to be resourceful and to have good critical-thinking and time management skills. You will also need to become technically savvy with 3D modelling tools and other design software.

Programs can take different approaches to architectural design. In one approach, based in studio art, you are encouraged to express yourself creatively. In an opposite, engineering-oriented approach, you analyze the needs of a project and evaluate various solutions. Balanced programs, which emphasize both the art and the science of design, combine artistic responses and methodical analysis. But even balanced programs can very: some may use historical models; others may draw on cultural philosophies; you may have difficulty telling how a college approaches architectural design if the focus is not clearly stated in the catalog. The best way to find out is to speak with faculty members and students and to view student work.

In order to work as a professional architect, you need to be licensed by the state where you will practice. Requirements vary from state to state, but generally you must satisfy both an educational and internship requirement, and pass an examination. A professional degree from a school with a program accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB) will satisfy any state’s educational requirements.

Career options and trends:

Architect; urban planner; landscape architect; architectural historian; graphic designer; industrial designer, construction manager.

Recently, more architects are working for contractors or real estate developers as employees than as independent professionals that are hired as consultants. Many also work for public agencies or for corporations as in-house architects.

Employment opportunities for architects are expected to increase over the long term to meet the needs of a growing population. Architects with knowledge of sustainable design will be in particular demand because of environmental concerns and rising energy costs.

Source: CollegeBoard 2012 Book of Majors