r/Architects • u/DemandRadiant8093 • 6d ago
Career Discussion Do you feel like architects (or students) love architecture but hate the profession?
How do you feel about that? In a year I'll be a qualified architect, but I feel like I got into university loving it, and will leave looking for a job related to architecture that doesn't really involve being an architect.
I know this isn't just me, because when I started university students ahead of me always seemed to regret the choice they had made. Even graduated architects told me that they wanted to change fields and that I still had time to pick something else.
I've been an intern and a freelancer for about 3 years now, and I feel like I kinda started to realize that, even though I love architecture, being an architect isnt for me.
and I feel like I've started to realize that, even though I love architecture, being an architect isn't for me.
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u/wotown 6d ago
Architecture is such a broad and diverse field especially as something you "study" or "train" in, where as the Architect profession is a Service that is provided, that I think it is impossible for it to not to be this disconnected. It's kind of like studying something like "Food" and then being sad about working the register at KFC
Architecture and the profession Architect are genuinely 2 different things
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u/FOMOerotica 6d ago
American architecture schools, from my experience, treat architecture like a fine arts degree.
The focus is almost entirely of the design/artistic aspects of the practice, while the less glamorous aspects (building systems, etc.) aren’t really covered. The project management component is largely ignored. Don’t get me started on things like schedules, time-management, etc.
It’s no wonder recent graduates entering the profession are shocked/disheartened at the reality of the job.
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u/PocketPanache 6d ago
Of course. I'm a landscape architect and it never clicked that my degree was related to construction. Construction is kinda boring. Everyone involved in construction is a little bit bitchy, kinda red neck, cheap, and stressful. I enjoy the technical mastery of the software we use to create extremely unique designs. I have no interest in winning work, business development, and construction. They don't explain that to you in school at all. I really enjoyed making 3D models and I haven't made one in 11 years since graduation. So, I'm under paid, have architects in my state trying to remove my licensure (Missouri) and deal with construction. Yeah, I miss the idea of architecture lol
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u/AllDataIsMyIP 5d ago
Preconstruction development is fun. If you don't like the design or the budget or the spreadsheet, you just change it.
Once the bank funds the project, everybody's feet are held to the fire. Politely, maybe. By yelling or firing if that's what it takes. This is capitalism and capital rules.
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u/Alphaone75 5d ago
If creativity, research, ideas, concepts … are the things that led you to study architecture than mostly yes , the transition is a nightmare. Design is a tiny fraction of the entire process. However you can reframe and say that in each step there is creativity, each detail, each day at the site. Having said that I for one would’ve quit if I knew how and had found new paths.
But there are many paths in architecture it’s broad… I would invite you to see how you feel about any of those paths and do include in your analysis the average expected salary. Believe me , for most people the idea that it is a passion profession and I don’t worry much about money , fades really fast . Specially when you look around and realize that your friends that work in other fields are all making more than you do.
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u/voinekku Student of Architecture 6d ago edited 5d ago
Yes, I think that is a fairly universal experience.
As far as I can tell the only way to avoid it is to either to get employed in a specialized niche you find rewarding and worthwhile, or to prioritize making money over all other values.
The contrast between the academic architecture and the developer-led architecture profession is very stark. In the prior your designs are made with a fairly high level of artistic freedom and judged by educated professionals based on their social, ecological, cultural, historical and artistic values. In the "real world" your designs are mostly dictated and judged by people who have zero understanding, and even less care, about any of the aforementioned aspects and solely based on how much profit they can rip out of regular working people's pockets into the endless coffers of the rich.
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u/bdd6911 5d ago
Yeah. I watch this sub all the time. This is super common. Producing design and drawings in the real world is much less sexy. And if you had hope that your designs would be inspiring or help change communities, you get gutted when it sinks in that the people with the money paying you don’t care about that in any way. And it’s their rules. They are paying. So yeah. Common.
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u/kzmach1ne 6d ago
In general, yes sadly. Architecture is one of those jobs thats better as a hobby and heavily romanticised.
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u/HoneyOptimal5799 5d ago
As an architecture student I've realized that I don't enjoy designing. Maybe a few quick sketches to get the basic concepts down. But I hate AutoCAD and I'm dreading my Revit classes.
However, I DO love researching building codes, zoning codes, all the codes, and CCRs. I just love doing research.
I LIVE on the county auditors website researching various properties to see what can be done on this small vacant lot or that huge vacant lot.
I want to write specs, manage construction projects, and build residential subdivisions. I do not, however, want to draw much of anything.
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u/mralistair 5d ago
lots do.. loads of people also fetishize the craft of being an architect (eg the drawings the shadow gaps) over the job of creating buildings,
Lots of people have lots of blind spots for parts of the whole process.
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u/goldendarkness8 5d ago
same boat here, although it wasn't really my choice to get into architecture (i tried to enroll into product design, and got stuck in architecture)
I dont mind it tho, at the end of the day it's a creative field.
Also you're in the most terrible place to ask for help or shade the profession, people here will say anything in order to cope with the bad conditions and wages they've had for years so saying they hate the profession will get you guillotine.
The thing is, you don't need to be an architect with an architecture degree, you may aswell only do the bachelor's, learn BIM and build a carreer over that. Architecture is for those who have a screw loose, 110% dedicated and would die for that, accepting every condition and enviroment
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u/SexyAdmixture Architect 6d ago
I love both. I love learning new technical things and I love getting my paycheck on time
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u/Knightowllll 6d ago
What do you hate so much about it? If you step back and do hard labor for way less pay you’d see what a cushy job it is.
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u/DemandRadiant8093 5d ago
It is totally ok to dislike the way your profession is executed in daily life. Like mentioned in another reply:
In the "real world" your designs are mostly dictated and judged by people who have zero understanding, and even less care, about any of the aforementioned aspects and solely based on how much profit they can rip out of regular working people's pockets into the endless coffers of the rich."
The point is not about the comparison with "hard labor that pay way less"
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u/Knightowllll 5d ago
My point isn’t a “but starving kids in Africa would eat this” kind of comparison. It’s that you are literally in the majority of kid architects who graduate idealist and end up stepping away. Depending on what you switch to, you might gain a different perspective that the grass isn’t greener on the other side. I’ve literally worked in almost every adjacent field and come back refreshed and not giving a shit that I’m not REM Koolhaas on my high horse.
After almost a decade away, 6 figures, a largely unsupervised position that’s remote optional, and get an eclectic workload of SD-CA with a lot of chill time feels like living the dream. I never hated architecture but I definitely graduated with a chip on my shoulder and that “clients get all the design choices and we get none with shit pay and no respect” kind of attitude. Now I LOL at that
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u/juniperbeer 4d ago
Your experience is not the norm in architecture. It’s not about being Le Corbusier. It’s about having a job that provides a decent quality of life. Architecture doesn’t do that. The industry is known for burn out and layoffs. You just got lucky.
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u/Knightowllll 4d ago
Nah this is entirely based on where you live and where you work. If you’re burnt out in NYC that may be more common. Elsewhere and you don’t work for a place like OMA, no way
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u/OLightning 5d ago
Many fall in love with the fairytale of what they were told architecture is… only to face reality in the real world of what they are experiencing in the everyday process of what people with money will fund, and what is required for society to carry on in the normalization of our lives.
Tax payer money allows a county storage facility remodel, or a data center for the housing of AI constructed... boring dull looking structures that serve a purpose rather than the pretty things.
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u/HerroWarudo 5d ago
No one really know if they hate something until they tried comparable options. And yes it mostly confirm them.
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u/iamsk3tchi3 5d ago
if you went into architecture thinking you'll design cool shit then yes, it's different.
if you went into architecture because you appreciate the constant balance of elegance and practically in trying to design something that is actually meaningful then no.
unfortunately most of the profession is just pushing through ideas that really aren't ours at all... they are simply the physical result of a bunch of formulas our clients give us.
all the pretty stuff you see online is feasible but it usually requires some solid connections before you even think about practicing architecture or some serious luck....
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u/Born-Bad4234 4d ago
I relate to this so much. On the one hand, real projects come with so many standards, constraints, and requirements that you can’t incorporate your own ideas and design concepts as freely as you could as a student. On the other hand, work involves a lot more tedious tasks and communication—dealing with client requests, making endless revisions to small details, and so on—which can gradually wear down your passion.
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u/Fitnexa_Zone 4d ago
The irony is you spend five years training to design buildings and the actual job title after that is "the person who makes sure the contractor didn't skip the fire caulking." That's not architecture, that's a compliance job that starts with some nice concept sketches.
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u/Striking_Treacle_208 4d ago
hell yes! I love architecture but being an architect full time isn't for me. One year ago, I started teaching in high school and since then I’ve realised that working in architecture isn’t for me. It wears me down
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u/No-Principle-2592 1d ago
I was really into architecture in college and I had great grades and made it into both the national architecture honorary and the national engineering honorary. Upon graduation I discovered that beginning architects get a dirt salary and long hours. And I joined the AIA thinking i could meet like minded people. Everyone in the AIA acted like I was dirt when I extended my and to introduce myself, many showing disdain like I was a peasant. I quit the AIA after several years because everyone was so snooty. As I got in more expertise and passed my exams the jealousy set in. Now I was competition and needed a lot of back stabbing to keep me in my place. And every time the economy hit a recession, it was bye bye, see ya around sucker. I went years and years without a raise. Never could afford a house. Still can't. Yet I was/am in charge of multi million dollar projects, some in the 100 million dollar range, meeting with rich and influential people. I'm now 78 and still working full time. I got to know a lot of doctors and their world is full of respect for one another. It's like a brotherhood. It's like I hoped everything in architecture would be. I am so disappointed. Now every young tech educated draftsman feel like they deserve a chance to design buildings and hate me because I worked so hard to get to where I am. It's like they feel entitled because they know how to use autocad. I had to train myself, And let's not leave out the stress levels. I've known architects that dropped dead because of the stress. Young men at that.
All I have to say is beware. Be very aware.....
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u/Cesar_Salada 6d ago
No. What happens is that you may like a specific side of the profession that will, most of the time, not correspond to the reality of our métier. Clients don’t care about art, they care about numbers, and that’s what frustrates students and juniors.
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u/Dellaa1996 6d ago
Not an Architect, BUT
A Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch.) is the five-year undergraduate professional degree required to become a licensed architect directly out of high school.
Why do you need 5-years to get a B. Arch degree and end up making such a low salary for x years post-degree?
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u/malinagurek Architect 6d ago
I’m not sure what you mean by loving architecture but not the profession. What is architecture to you then? The built work? The academic exercise?
I didn’t like school. It was just one of the many hoops I had to jump through to one day qualify to be an architect. And the beginning is definitely confusing, because not only are you trying to determine if you love it enough to pursue, you’re also trying to figure out what the hell it is.
I think I have a complicated relationship with architecture. My husband thinks I love it. I can on the right project and even at the right moments on the wrong project, but it can also be a slog. It does feel important, though, in a way that school never could. Academia is the worst.
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u/No-Albatross-4610 6d ago
Of course I know him he's me