The Architecture School Survival Guide

We are constantly reading, watching and LISTENING to people who share their successes, failures and everything in between.  Who do you admire?  What are your inspirations?      

Good Morning Architects! Please send in your sketches and feel free to comment, critique and ask questions on ours... This sketch started out as a small thumbnail. Color to be added very soon! For the sketch, the following materials were used. (Color coming soon!) Click on each material for a direct link... Prismacolor Non-Photo Blue Drawing Pencil Paper Mate Black Flair Pen Pilot Disposable Fountain Pen Sharpie Fine Tip Pen Ruler (For layout purposes.) Compass (For layout purposes.) Prismacolor Markers Prismacolor Colored Pencils Strathmore Artist Tiles Have a GREAT Saturday! We hope your team wins.  Before the big game, subscribe to our site and show us your creations!

Michael Graves is an American postmodernist architect who designed the Indianapolis Art Center and worked on the restoration of the Washington Monument. Michael Graves was born on July 9, 1934, in Indianapolis, Indiana. He studied at Harvard University and designed modernist private houses before adopting postmodernism in the 1970s. He’s known for designing such structures as the Portland Building, the Humana Building in Louisville and the Indianapolis Art Center. His other projects include the restoration of the Washington Monument and the creation of a line of items for Target. Graves died in 2015 at the age of 80. Early Years Born in Indianapolis on July 9, 1934, Michael Graves went on to attend the College of Design at the University of Cincinnati, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in 1958. He then attended Harvard and left with his master’s in architecture a year later. In 1960, Graves won the American Academy in Rome’s Rome Prize, which is awarded to a select grou...

"it's... it's like a cat... clawing it's way ...out of your insides." Richard Cook Let's get artsy! and never be afraid to get a lil' bit on you!  We hope you enjoyed this post! Please subscribe and let us know your thoughts and feelings on Mr. Cook! What are you creating today?

Chapel on the Hill in Middleton-in-Teesdale, England by Evolution Design : Adaptive reuse is becoming essential to the long-term sustainability of architects practising today. In essence, the term adaptive reuse means an existing structure, often of a historic nature, that is being updated, structurally improved and redesigned for modern day use. “Set in the very best walking area of the beautiful North Pennines, just a short walk from the famous High Force Waterfall, this stunning chapel conversion with its historic building fabric and modern interior design is a real Teesdale jewel. The original windows of the nineteenth-century building have been reopened, framing dramatic views of the dales to create a spacious and luxurious self-catering holiday cottage for seven guests. It has a large and fully equipped kitchen, a cosy living room, four comfortable bedrooms, two en-suites and a luxurious family bathroom. The reconstruction, designed by Evolution Design, has just recentl...

What would be one thing you would tell an incoming architecture student to prepare? I can’t tell you anything. I would ask you to ask yourself, “Are you passionate enough about the subject to be fully committed to a life of design?” If the answer is yes, then you will thrive. What architecture books do you recommend incoming students to buy/read? In terms of social understanding and space,  Herman Hertzberger’s, Lessons for Students in Architecture  is a must. From a compositional and formal understanding you will never stop purchasing variations of books. The books purchased should never be limited to architecture and should act as a catalyst to gain access to a broader library of design. Besides your own instructor to go to for questions, who would you feel most comfortable asking questions to? Whose opinion do you value the most? First, you need to know what kind of information you want to embark on. Whether it be concepts, structure, or design functionali...

What your Professors may not have told you... YET! Occasionally, some graduates have complained to us that their design course was a little behind the times. But if that was the case, it's not totally surprising. From a practical point of view, it takes some time to put together a workable syllabus, and when it comes to updating it, the gears of university bureaucracy tend to grind slowly. And actually, there’s nothing wrong with that. Ultimately, you’re there to learn the fundamentals of design, and those remain timeless. When it comes to your first job, your creative director is going to be far less concerned about, say, whether you’re au fait with the latest Adobe software than if you understand the basics of good composition and following a brief. But it’s still worth catching up with a few recent trends that may have passed you by in the meantime. In this post, we’ll bring you quickly up to speed with 5 design industry trends. 1 Design Is Becoming MORE IMPORTANT...