So, I asked my interviewees: “What is like to study in your country?”
Nasya @Nuremberg, GERMANY
Generally, the study in Germany is heavily based on self-reliance. I can say for sure that approximately 80 % of the study is self-study. We do not have a lot of lectures or practical classes but instead, we spend a lot of time on our projects alone or in groups.
Divya @Visakhapatnam, INDIA
In India, the studying environment greatly depends on whether the school is private or public. In a private institution, you will get a lot of assistance from faculty, almost close to “spoon feeding”. In public school like mine, you get to stand on your feet. Obviously, there’s faculties in public schools too but not a lot of students rely on them. Most of us learn from seniors, or even passed outs (who completed the course).
I think Chicago is the best place to study architecture. Besides the fact that the school has great teachers, Chicago has a fantastic environment with a beautiful culture all around. Every day I’m living here, and I never regret that I decided to come to Chicago. Architecture in Chicago has a strange metaphysical elegance; you are constantly learning just by walking on the Michigan Ave., every structure here is inspirational.
Studying architecture in China to me is great. Its rapid development in the past few decades has made it somehow a hub of new architectural projects so you get to witness all the new and sophisticated architecture around you. This imprints a certain picture in one’s mind that every design you make should be up to or better than the standards of architectural design around you or else it will look out of place. I think this is great for the learning process.
Michael @Vigan, PHILIPPINES
In my school particularly (and some other schools I know in Philippines) we actually learn a lot from our seniors, possibly even more than from the professors. Our architecture department is quite small, there’s around 90 students in 1 grade so we’re all very close even if the grade is different.
It’s quite normal for students to share their private house/room with other students too. I live with my parents but I have a whole room with 3 sets of desks for me, my friends and my juniors to work and study. Usually the room would fit 5 or 6 people, but when we’re not just using the laptop- like when making models, we would have around 3 people in here. In the course of 5 years, I’ve worked at my friends’ houses too.
In my school, we don’t really have a lot of teaching time, in average we’d probably get 10 hours of lectures in 1 week, but we would spend 3 or 4 times that time to do work on ourselves.
On school days, I would have a 2-hour lecture in the morning and after that, I go work on my projects in the studio. While working on the project, our tutors would go around and comment or discuss for a while (around 20~30minutes) with each of us.
Yasmin @ Istanbul, TURKEY
Turkey is home to some of the earliest known settlements, and Istanbul has such a rich and diverse history and urban texture so it’s really interesting to analyze the urban fabric of the city and read its development through historical maps. We’re constantly designing projects for sites in Istanbul that have a rich historical background and interesting topographical conditions so getting to learn about the city through the process of design in always really fun.
All the places sounds like a great place to study architecture!
…But how about the school tuition? It must be more expensive to study in a place that is surrounded by amazing architecture…We shall see!
Wow, there is such a big difference! Filipino public school is even free…I guess it’s to be expected since the income rate and currency are all different in each country. But! No matter where you are studying in, I can certainly say that all architecture students use digital softwares one way or another for their projects right?
Let’s see which software is most commonly used…
For Modeling
- AutoCAD (9 out of 11 people)
- SketchUp (7/11)
- Revit (6/11)
- ArchiCAD (2/11)
- Rhinoceros (1/11), Surfer 13 (1/11)
For Rendering
- Lumion (7/11)
- Revit (6/11)
- 3ds Max (2/11)
- Twinmotion (2/11)
For Presentation
- Photoshop (11/11)
- Illustrator (4/11)
- InDesign (3/11)
There are a couple of softwares I’ve never heard of before…I might give it a try when I find the time!…Which is almost never, since you can all agree that architecture students are always so busy. Oh well, you gotta do what you gotta do.
How about, we finish this article with this final question (hopefully this will cheer everyone up):
“Why do we like our Architecture major?”
I like that Architectural Studies is a creative major. It is a major that is constantly looking for ways to improve the environments we live in, by studying the past and realising the issues of the present day.
Nasya @Nuremberg, GERMANY
I am in love with Architecture. Studying it gives me freedom to imagine and create with no boundary. The whole designing process is something really beautiful. I like to watch the birth of the ideas and how it transforms into drawings or images. I adore experimenting and finding solutions. And of course I am passionate about creating beautiful things.
Tham @Ho Chi Minh, VIETNAM
I like architecture because it’s not entirely technical, but a combination of aesthetics, composition, technology, colors, materials, lighting, people, nature …
Architecture is born to serve the essential needs of people in life. But it is not merely about its functions. Architecture itself has aesthetic and artistic values. But above all, by coexisting with human life, it has preserved cultural values through the years, through ups and downs of history. I believe there are “soulful architectures”, which has associated with historical events and figures. Or ones that has a typical architectural style, exemplifying an idyllic yet profound cultural value, showing the essence and spirit of the people.
Divya @Visakhapatnam, INDIA
Architectural design is fun; you get to go to different places with your class to do case studies. Each case study fascinates me.
I like everything about it. It’s what I want to do for the whole life, and I have passion and patience for it. Yes, it is hard, but I enjoy my journey.
The main reason for my interest in architecture, especially interior design, is because of the well-thought details. It catches my attention. I love to look at the layout and coloring of the space.
I like architecture because I believe it equips us with the ability to basically shape the society in which we live in, as in giving certain meanings to places of different functions with reference to scale, purpose, atmosphere and other considerations. And as someone who has always thrived in social science related subjects throughout my school life, coupled with my passion for art and creativity, deciding to study architecture was an easy decision for me to make because I feel I can contribute a lot to the betterment of my society through architecture.
Rahul @Navi Mumbai, INDIA
Through the architecture course, I learn lots of things. I’ve improved on my communication skills, drawing skills, software skills and most importantly the “skill to imagine”. Without this skill, I don’t think any of the student can survive in the architecture world.
I like how I can be creative. And because there is no right or wrong- it gives me the freedom to explore however I want to explore it. I know that this major is quite opinion-based, sometimes the tutors can give you feedbacks like, they don’t like it, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s wrong. It’s just their opinion. I suppose it’s both a good and bad thing. I also like how in the studio, I can talk to different people, show them my work, look at their work, and give advice to each other. It’s like a little community within the school.
Yasmin @ Istanbul, TURKEY
I like the diversity and the wide set of skills that you learn throughout your studies, it gives me the feeling that I can find myself a place in a variety creative fields. I also appreciate the fact that it is a communication based major. We spend hours at the studio discussing projects and theories and it’s always interesting.
I totally agree. It’s not always easy to be an architecture student, but that goes for the other architecture students all over the world as well. Architecture major is such a unique major to be in, the projects are so worthwhile to work on. I hope by reading this article, you will feel encouraged to do your best as an architecture student, and someday become a world leading architect together!
Lastly, thank you to my very very generous 11 interviewees who have made this article series possible. I would love to work together with you again sooner or later in the future, in Japan or anywhere else in the world! 😀 😀 😀
Read part 2 of this series☟
What’s in the mind of students on the other side of the world? (Architecture Major)
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