Is architecture hard
Yes. Architecture is a hard major, and the direct answer to whether architecture is a hard major is yes, because it is a 5 year degree that runs a studio load most other majors never carry. Architecture, the discipline of designing buildings and the spaces people live, work and gather in, puts the student in a studio that works the week into the evening, and the hard comes from that studio and not from a single exam. The difficulty of architecture as a degree is the thing this page answers, the why behind the hard, the stem question and the career question that the student who weighs the degree asks, and the 3 that the 5 years and the studio and the licence put together.
Before the hard, the work and the pay are weighed, it helps to see where architecture leads once the degree is done, because the answer to the hard changes when the student can point at the job the degree opens and the ladder it carries. The fields that take the graduate and the work they train for sit in the next section.
Where the degree leads
Where the degree leads is the set of jobs and trades that take the graduate, and the 3 that carry the work are the practice, the trade and the field that crosses the line. The fields are named the way the student will meet them, and they are the ones the degree opens.
- Architecture jobs and careers, the practice that signs the drawing and carries the responsibility for the building that stands.
- Construction jobs and trades, the crew and the method that turn the drawing into the wall and the floor and the roof the student cannot see from the desk.
- Architecture engineering, the calculation and the system that sit between the studio and the office and that the technology course teaches.
- Interior Design and Architecture Explained, the map that names the design side and the structure side together, the way the major holds them in one 5 year load.
Why the major is hard
Why the major is hard runs on the 3 things the studio demands, and they are the hours, the work and the critique. The hours are the first, the time the studio takes, the 5 years that run on the work that fills the day and the evening, the 80 to 100 hour week of the critical period that the other majors do not carry, and it is the load the student who weighs the major weighs first. The work is the second, the output the studio requires, the drawing and the model and the board that the critique reads, the volume of the work that the 5 years produce, and it is the part that the other studios do not match, the model that is built and the board that is drawn for every project. The critique is the third, the review the faculty and the guest give, the work read in front of the group and the judgement that sets the next week, and it is the part that the student who is new to the public review finds the hardest, the work judged in the room. The 3, the hours, the work and the critique, are why architecture is hard, and they are the load and the output and the review that the 5 years carry.
| Where the hard sits | What the student carries | The figure that sets it |
|---|---|---|
| The hours | The studio week through the critical period | 80 to 100 hour weeks |
| The work | The drawing, the model and the board per project | 5 years of output |
| The critique | The public review that sets the next week | The 3 that the studio runs on |
| The cost | The tuition against the first rung of pay | 45,000 to 55,000 dollars at entry |
| The licence | The experience and the examination before signing | 3 to 5 years |
Is architecture a STEM major
Is architecture a STEM major splits, and the 2 sides of the split are the design and the technology. The design side is the art, the studio that teaches the form and the space and the proportion, the work that is judged by the eye and the argument rather than the number, and it is the side that the major is not STEM by, the design that the art school carries. The technology side is the science, the course that teaches the structure and the system and the material, the statics and the mechanics and the environmental control that the building must meet, and it is the side that the major is STEM by, the calculation that the engineering carries. The degree is classified as the professional degree that holds both, the B.Arch that the studio and the technology course run through, and it is the one that the student who wants the STEM classification checks against the list the school and the visa and the scholarship keep. The 2 sides, the design and the technology, are the split the answer carries, and the major is the one that holds both, the hard of the art and the hard of the science in the 5 years the studio runs, the STEM question answered as the split the degree keeps.
Is it a good career
Is it a good career in architecture is a steady one with a slow climb, and the 2 figures that set it are the entry salary and the licence that opens the top. The career is good in the work, the building that the architect designs stands and is used and is read. The career is slow in the pay, the entry figure of 45,000 to 55,000 dollars and the climb to the project architect that the 5 to 8 years and the licence take. The career is steady in the demand, the building that the city needs and the renovation that the stock carries. The 3, the work, the pay and the demand, are the answer to the good career question.
What makes it feel like a bad career
What makes it feel like a bad career to some runs on the 3 things that the slow climb and the hard studio put together, and they are the pay gap, the hours and the entry. The pay gap is the first, the difference between the 5 years of the cost and the entry salary that the first rung pays, the tuition of the degree against the 45,000 to 55,000 that the entry carries, and it is the figure that the student who weighs the debt weighs, the gap the first years close. The hours are the second, the load the practice carries, the 50 to 60 hour week of the project period that the studio trained the architect for, and it is the part that the practitioner who leaves names, the hours the office keeps. The entry is the third, the barrier the licence sets, the 3 to 5 years of the experience and the examination that the signing role requires, and it is the part that the one who does not sign names, the ceiling the unlicensed architect meets. The 3, the pay gap, the hours and the entry, are why it feels like a bad career to some, and they are the 3 the student who asks why it is bad is asking about, the cost and the load and the barrier that the career carries, the side of the answer that the good career question does not close.
What the built work shows
What the built work shows is the 2 buildings that carry the discipline the way the student will meet it, and they are the building that opened in one year and the one that has been under construction for 140 years. The Sydney Opera House is a performing arts centre at Bennelong Point in Sydney that opened on 20 October 1973, and it is the building that shows the hard of the design side, the form that is judged by the eye and that the city reads from the water. The Sagrada Familia in Barcelona is a minor basilica that has been under construction since 1882, designed by Antoni Gaudà and Francisco de Paula del Villar y Lozano, and it is the building that shows the hard of the craft, the detail that the studio trains the student to carry through the years. The 2 together, the 1973 opening and the 1882 start, are the range the built work keeps, the fast build and the slow one.
How to decide if the hard is worth it
How to decide if the hard of architecture is worth it runs on the 2 questions the student asks, and they are the work and the rung. The work is the first question, whether the building is the work the student wants to make, the form and the space and the place that the studio teaches and the practice carries, and it is the question that the hard is for, the work that the 5 years and the studio exist to make. The rung is the second question, whether the climb to the project architect and the principal is the career the student wants, the licence and the years and the pay that the ladder carries, and it is the question that the slow climb is, the rung the student climbs for. The 2 together, the work that the hard makes and the rung that the climb reaches, are the decision the student weighs, and the hard is worth it when the work is the building the student wants and the rung is the career the student climbs for, the answer to the difficulty of the major that the 5 years and the studio and the licence put together, the hard that the work and the rung make the choice.