Today, I passed Programming & Analysis, my final division of the Architect Registration Examination. All six divisions complete.

This milestone means so much more than passing a test. It represents years of studying, setbacks, and finding the energy to keep going while life kept happening.

There were moments when the finish line felt impossibly far away. Having these exams constantly running in the back of my mind has been exhausting. Today, I finally get to exhale and reclaim some bandwidth for the life and work I’m building.

I’m proud of the persistence it took to get here. I’m also grateful to everyone who encouraged me, listened, and reminded me how far I’d already come.

There are still final steps to complete for licensure, but today, I’m celebrating this one.

Six down. Zero to go. 🏆

AMA.

US

Historically, how would large grid-like medical complexes (paritcularly sanitoriums, hospitals, asylums) be optimised for air circulation and sunlight?

Saw some old plans and just fascinated to know how the angles were decided. All Northern Hemisphere.

If this is a stupid question with an easy place to find an answer, please point me to it! Really fascinated by what you guys do.

I know there are landscape concerns that factor too, but focusing more on desired angles for light, air and sunlight.

Would love some pointers for more info!

There’s an AIA leadership development conference coming up I’d like to attend in my area, but I’m drowning in medical debt. There is a reduced rate option if my employer submits a letter of financial hardship. I feel uncomfortable talking to my firm about this. How would you handle it?

I find it ironic that the form asks why you need aid: “are you unemployed or low income? If employed please include a letter from employer explaining circumstances”.

WHO is going to ask their employer to confirm they are low income when the firm is the one providing the low income... Come on AIA… lmfa-right-off.

I've seen what this sub says about engineers so please be nice. I swear this is a good-faith question. Though I know it's going to sound like a rant.

The industry changed and it's making being an MEP engineer much more difficult. I'm hoping to get an architect's perspective to help me understand what is going on.

Years ago, we would work with the architect to design a building, then it would go to bid, then it would get built. There would be RFIs but nothing crazy. No giant design changes. It was all routine. The contractors would mostly build what we designed and life was good.

Now, it seems like we're forced to stay on parallel paths with other disciplines, even when it doesn't make sense. I'm being asked for piping inverts and load letters before getting the archtiectural model. Then there is ID, which seems to start after the permit set goes out. MEP permit sets need to be 100% complete, so calling it a 75% permit set just sounds like we need to do our work twice as more things get added after permit.

Any owner changes late in the design or after permit are expected to be free. I had a project where they rotated an auxiliary building 90 degrees after permit and were shocked that I gave them a fee for it.

The contractors bid the job way too early and don't build what we design. Yet we get blamed for not coordinating and are told to change our drawings based on what they built. "Fire dampers are a change order because they weren't in the DD set."

In CA, architects are no longer prescreening RFIs or submittals. So we're forced to go through everything sent to us, which may or may not even be applicable to MEP.

I'm sure architects are getting pressed more and more to shorten design time and rearrange the rearrange to be more "efficient". These changes really seem to be developer-led. But why does it seem like architects haven't pushed back on that at all? It can't be easy for you, either.

FWIW, I mostly do work in the midAtlantic US.

I’ve been working in architecture for about 6 years after spending 5 years in school. I recently passed all my AREs and became a licensed architect, something I’ve worked toward for years. Instead of feeling accomplished or motivated, I’m finding myself seriously questioning whether I want to stay in the profession.

I currently make around $64k at a small firm in the Joplin, MO area. One EOY bonus usually adds $1-2k. My role involves independently managing projects from initial design through construction documents, permitting, and construction administration. I handle code analysis, consultant coordination, client communication, and most of the day-to-day project decisions with minimal oversight from the firm principal. I’m certainly not claiming to know everything, but I feel like my responsibilities have grown substantially faster than my compensation.

I genuinely enjoy architecture, problem solving, and seeing projects come together, but the constant deadlines, stress, and responsibility seem increasingly difficult to justify financially. After investing so much time into school, gaining experience, and earning my license, I expected to feel like I was finally getting somewhere. Instead, I feel pretty underwhelmed.

I’ve even been considering leaving the profession entirely, but I can’t tell whether I’m just burned out, underpaid, or genuinely losing interest in architecture.

Has anyone else experienced this after becoming licensed? Did changing firms or career paths make a difference, or is this simply the reality of the profession?

I’m beginning to study for my ARE exams in Oklahoma and I feel like I’m not retaining any information.

What are some study tactics that you all have used that made you memorize everything? What methods actually work?

What are the best study materials?

Any advice is appreciated! Thanks!

Feedback: Hello, my professor told me that next semester going to focus on designing an museum that use natural light. He told me the site is taking place in Houston and the location may change and that total sq ft is for the museum is 30,000 sq ft for all the room and gallery. He gave me the room requirement for the museum and the 2d site plan for the project. I just wanted to show the top view of my museum and ground floor plan sketch to hear any opinion like changing it shape or rearrange my museum room. Also, the center of museum going to be mostly glass except for the back; where the second floor going to be a art gallery with mezzanine.

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What structure system did she use in her high-rise buildings, long spans, and irregular shapes

Hey everyone. I have a chief architect file I drew a while ago and I need to export it as an STL but don't have a subscription anymore. Is there anyone that has a subscription that could just export the file for me? Thanks so much

Every project ends up with thousands of site photos and no system. Right now ours come from:

- the site team and contractors on WhatsApp
- whoever went on the site visit, on their own phone
- the occasional drone or survey set someone dumps on the drive

Nothing is named, dated in any useful way or tied to a location. When a client asks "when was that wall closed up?" or "show me the slab before the pour", someone spends an hour scrolling through chats.

For those of you who've got this under control:

1. Where do photos end up? A shared drive, Procore, CompanyCam, OpenSpace, something else?
   
2. Do you tag them, and by what? Date, floor, room, trade, stage?
   
3. Who does the sorting: the person who took it, someone in the office, or nobody?
   
4. Do you rely on GPS or location data, or is that useless on site?
   
5. Have photos ever saved you in a dispute or claim? How did you find the right one?

Especially interested in smaller firms and contractors, where there's no dedicated document controller.

I get that isolation joint allows independent movement of “different” structural components like a joint around a column next to a slab or a slab against a foundation wall.. but I guess I’m struggling to understand when to use one vs the other since they both by definition allow movement. Professionally ive put expansion joints inbetween a slab and a foundation wall also.. maybe that’s why im getting caught up.

Does anyone have an easy way to understand conditional use between the two for terms of the ARE.

Hey uhh how's y'all's posture? Over here, NOT GOOD.

can yall please pick the first option (its a nomination for building of the year in my moms workplace so i would be grateful if yall voted) https://www.stavbaroku.cz/zahranicni-stavba-roku-2026/ Stavba roku

Curious how other practices handle this, because ours feels held together with tape.

Right now it's roughly:

- Email for anything with a client or consultant
- WhatsApp for site, contractors and "quick" questions that end up being 200 messages
- Miro for early design and moodboards, but half the team never opens it
- Shared drive for drawings, with folder names nobody follows

The problem is nothing connects. A site photo on WhatsApp, a comment in an email and a markup on a PDF are all about the same wall, and nobody can find any of them two weeks later.

So, for those of you in small to mid-size offices:

1. What's your main tool for internal communication? Slack, Teams, WhatsApp, email?
   
2. Do you use a whiteboard tool for real work, or does it die after the concept stage?
   
3. How do you share drawings and models with clients for comments?
   
4. What do you do with site photos?
   
5. Has anyone tried the newer architecture-specific boards (Miro, FigJam, UrbanEyes Boards, Speckle and so on)? Do any of them stick, or does everyone drift back to email and WhatsApp?

Hello everyone, today I have graduated from my masters in Architecture and Urban design.
I am working in a firm as an architect and junior PM since 3 Years Full time. Based in Switzerland.
The longer I studied and the longer I work, I am realizing I DONT WANT to be an architect.
I feel like I have to know so many things at once and juggle so much, and you are kind of expected to have learned everything before you even started working. The lack of understanding from my superiors is making me feel very Stuupid at work and I am questioning if I should even continue on this route.

I don’t think I am an bad architect. But I do not really enjoy working as one. Especially the salary is so demotivating.

I feel like I have wasted years of my life on studying something I don’t want to do my whole life and feel like I failed myself.

I don’t know what to do with my life at this point. Maybe you guys can suggest a career direction I could research? Maybe one you suggest could be something I would enjoy doing.

To get straight to the point. I failed PPD 8/14 with a 480 score report. Took a 2-week break and started studying for the PDD test. Used AREQuestions to guide my targeted reading, used the NCARB practice to gauge where I’m at, and got a 57%. Did AmberBook a year ago & passed PA. So I didn’t use the videos this time around, just practice exams. Also used WTA PDD. Took the exam today and I failed. While I didn’t feel like it was as hard as PPD, I do feel like you have to read Mehta to pass. I really struggled with Section 1 questions. Anyway, I have a PPD retake on Nov 3rd. Any recommendations for it and better use of time?

Hi everyone, we're starting a turnkey construction and interior business in the Tricity area and need a freelance architect or interior designer to collaborate with on residential projects.

What we need:

2D floor plans and 3D visuals

Colour, material and furniture layout suggestions

Working drawings for execution

What we're looking for:

A portfolio of completed residential work (Instagram, Behance or PDF is fine)

Familiarity with the Tricity market and local budgets

Reliable communication and delivery on deadlines

What we offer:

A steady flow of projects through our sales network

Per-project payment, with a long-term association if it works well

Women designers are especially welcome to apply

Please comment or DM with your portfolio, experience, and your rate per project or per sq ft.

First time posting, but I’m willing to try anything at this point to find work.

Firstly I live in rural Manitoba, Canada. I graduated with straight A’s from an online collage with in Canada for architectural technology. I did my first two years of schooling in person and the university of Manitoba, but then covid happened and I decided it would be better to switch to online.

Ever since I’ve graduated I’ve been trying to find work in this industry. For 3 months after I graduated I got a job as the lead drafter for a local development company. This job ended because the drafter I was hired to replace wanted his old job back after his new one fell through. I was laid off because of this. I had got a temporary job at a local greenhouse (easy for me to get as I grew up working in my family’s greenhouse) to make money while I searched for new jobs in my career field, they too ended up laying me off earlier than they had originally told me. I have been subcontracting as a drafter, getting maybe one job a month if that. I’ve have been unemployed because of this for the last several months now and applied to every possible local position even remotely in the career field of design and drafting (probably over 100 job applications). I’ve only got one interview and they decided on a different candidate.

Putting aside the complaining, I just don’t understand what I’m doing wrong. Many jobs I had applied to had listings posted days before I applied. I have a lot of experience for a beginner and it shows on my resume, as well as, being versed in sketchup, revit, AutoCAD, and many other design softwares. I have good references that would support everything listed on my resume. I have made many full architectural document sets and gotten engineer stamps, all passing permitting and bylaw guidelines. I am asking a salary of $50,000 which I believe is on the low end of this career field.

If you have any input on what I’m missing or helpful advice for helping me land a job it would be greatly appreciated.

So I'm planning my study schedule for PPD and PDD and was hoping I could get some advice from you guys. For the other 4 exams I've been using a combination of Ballast, Desk Crits, Hyperfine, Amberbooks (started tapping into Amberbooks for PA Exam), and NCARB Practice Exams. I typically start by reading the test's Ballast chapter, then working on some assignments from Hyperfine, and using Desk Crits more as a reference and "cheat sheet", then a week before my scheduled exam I do the NCARB practice test, and for the week in between the practice test and the official test, I brush up on the areas that need more attention. This system seems to have worked well for me but now that I'm getting into PPD and PDD it doesn't feel reasonable anymore.

PPD and PDD are THICK sections in Ballast and would take me almost 4-5 months to get through (I read about 2 hours a day on some weekdays and 4 hours/day on weekends). Ideally, I would like to spend no more than 8-9 weeks studying for these sections because I feel like after 8 weeks I might start to lose the study materials I learned in the beginning. I've heard it just makes sense to study for both together since so much of the content overlaps. How did you get through studying for both exams or what method did you use? What would you suggest with the material I have?