<p>My kid (very young - pre HS) is obsessed with being an architect. We have no architects in the family---so we are coming in cold. I'm on CC for an older child. I hear statistics that only one of two architects is being hired now. And, the architects I know (mid-life) are not happy (say bulk of their job is not what they loved about arch.) and don't recommend it to others. I also hear that many portions of an architect's job are outsource-able overseas--holding down pay. I recognize that some kids are going to be so passionate that they have to pursue their calling--but many can be steered towards something else. I keep thinking. . 1) Hard courses; 2) Professional Liability; and 3) 5 or 6 years of schooling. Why not do something else? Would you recommend architecture as a career for your child? I freely admit I'm under-informed and have no idea about the profession.</p>
<p>I’m not an architect, but I went to architecture school, graduated with a B.Arch. (5 year professional degree), and worked in the field for a couple of years before going to grad school in a completely unrelated field. Many of my friends are architects, and, 20 years later, most are able to eek out a living in the field. It is a very difficult, competitive and low-paying profession, but those who love it are happy (more or less). Ironically, some of the most talented people I know in the field are the least happy because they feel they haven’t lived up to their artistic potential. The happiest folks seem to be those who have a deep interest in how things are made. My litmus test for determining whether you’ll be happy in architecture is: Did you like to take apart things like clocks when you a kid to figure out how they are made? Those are the folks that tend to make the happiest architects. Architecture school is great even for those who don’t end up in the profession. It makes everything else you ever do for the rest of your life seem easy in comparison! And all those all-nighters lead to very close and lasting friendships. </p>
<p>It’s hard to imagine that you’ll make much headway in talking a thirteen year old out of the field by talking about the woes of professional liability insurance! If you can afford it, you might encourage your child to go to a University summer program in architecture in a couple of years. I understand the summer programs usually try to give kids a fairly realistic taste of the rigours of the program, and many decide, after four weeks or so, that it is not for them. For some reason, there is a lot of psychological/ peer pressure not to drop out of architecture school once you start.</p>
<p>Skrunch, My son wanted to be an architect for as long as I can remember. As soon as he was able to master holding a pencil he was drawing buildings with astonishing spatial and perspective maturity. Despite this single minded focus, he chose not to go from high school directly to architecture school. Instead, he pursued the route of BA in humanities followed by a couple of years working and in the profession and is now in an M.Arch program. </p>
<p>Along the way he has worked for three very different architectural firms and met dozens of architects – at work and at school. Their enthusiasm for their life’s work has been an overwhelmingly positive and encouraging force in my son’s career decision. </p>
<p>The point of this is not to tell you my son’s life history but to try to verbalize an observation that I, as a singularly non-architectural minded person, have formulated watching his progress. </p>
<p>Which is that architecture is one of the most complex and demanding professions imaginable. It requires a vast amounts – in equal parts – creativity, technical knowledge, interpersonal and problem solving skills and work ethic. The more life experience, self confidence and maturity an aspiring architecture can amass the better. </p>
<p>In addition to keeping the faith that it’s the right career path, students need to constantly expand their resumes through summer jobs, internships, networking opportunities, industry contacts and connections, travel opportunities. Again, this is similar to most fields: hire-ability doesn’t just spring fully formed at graduation, but develops overtime over a reservoir of exposure to art, design and architectural history through work, travel and study.</p>
<p>The industry is in a downturn now, and many recent graduates are overwhelmed by their student loans, but isn’t that true in many fields?
This is a time of high anxiety, but at the end of the day, there are many, many practicing architects who live comfortably, raise families and enjoy a high level of job satisfaction. Some make a good deal of money and gain international fame. Most are simply pleased that they have a job description that can be performed just about anywhere, pays the rent and provides intellectual, creative and social stimulus.</p>
<p>The cost of 6 to 7 years of education juxtaposed with ridiculously low starting salaries is not something to be taken lightly. But the opportunity to find a vocation – a challenging and rewarding career – in architecture is great. You just need to accept that it’s a slow and evolutionary process.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for the candor. My son is the “take it apart” and “build it” guy. But, besides architecture, he also has been participating in FLL and has a keen interest in robotics and programming. This is what I’m trying to stress might be a better path to follow. But, it won’t be up to me, except for helping to pay for the schooling. I like the idea of him majoring in something else (as backup) and then going to architecture school.</p>
<p>It seems to me your primary concern is the investment. A fair point. But, keep in mind that a lot of professionals would say mid-life that what they’re doing is not what they thought they’d do at age 24. That’s how real life is. I see doctors getting out of medicine and people taking early retirement to run franchises, all because ‘it was not what they thought’. Architecture is no different.</p>
<p>Mrs. Turbo, the Amy Chua think-a-like Tiger Mom had the same concerns when I started nudging DD1 into architecture in 9th grade. DD1 ended up in a respected architecture program at a flagship state with a scholarship and just aced her first year, having the time of her life. I had done my share of architecture as part of Civil Engineering in my native Elbonia and knew what was involved to a great extent. So, here’s my take. </p>
<ul>
<li>As Americans become more world-savy, they begin to expect better designed homes and buildings. This is happening slowly… but is happening. </li>
<li>The housing crisis has weeded out a lot of the fly-by-nights that built the cookie-cutters</li>
<li>lots of space available for re-purposing (empty big box retail, factories…)</li>
<li>fuel prices will facilitate higher density housing demands - no hybrid will save us from gas price shock if we have to drive 40 miles one way to work</li>
<li>the building crisis is teaching us to be more careful with our spending and using an architect is a fantastic investment</li>
<li>crumbling infrastructure that will need replacement (schools, etc)</li>
<li>a myriad of other factors that also suggest we’ll be seeing drastic changes in how we perceive and use real estate…</li>
</ul>
<p>All this is my opinion, of course, and it might well be that in 30 years we’ll still be living in the lousy tract homes we currently live in, never learning a thing from ‘the more beautiful’ parts of the world (or the country). But I’d say the odds are in favor of such a change, and architects will be needed.</p>
<p>There’s also the world - American know-how still counts for something overseas, and I see a lot more expats working abroad (DD1 is planning on just that, foreign language and all) than local architects being outsourced abroad. </p>
<p>But, the bottom line is that one should get into architecture - or any other intense field - not because it’s the next computer science or pharmacy or major-de-jour, but because they have what it takes and are willing to stay the course for 6+ years to see it thru. But at the end of the day, it’s not unlike what I do for a living (software for consumer electronics). Lots of hard work, low pay - by MBA standards :)) - and the responsibility and thrill of seeing your work enjoyed and criticized by millions.</p>
<p>If your son is really passionate about architecture, then the only thing you can really do is try to expose him to the field through summer programs and other activities. If after being exposed to studio he is still passionate, then just get out of his way and let him pursue his passion. I would not suggest getting another degree first as a backup, or even worse the dual degree. He needs to go all in and see how far he can take his passion.</p>
<p>I know things are tough right now, but it’s not like your son wants to be a theater major. Google some surveys on architecture compensation, I don’t think it is as bad as you imagine. I have a son who is entering his junior year in architecture, and I am happy to see him exited and passionate about something.</p>
<p>rick</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Now, now Rick! 
I have a kid in theater and a kid in architecture and both are doing real well. A passion is a passion!</p>
<p>Another possibility is structural engineering. That’s what I studied. I was an Architectural Engineering major, which meant I concentrated on the design of BUILDINGS. I didn’t want to study Civil Engineering, since I had no interest in site design, roads, etc. It’s a better-paying career, and it sounds as if your son is math-minded, if he likes robotics and programming.</p>
<p>My husband and I own our consulting firm (we met in grad school - my dad was my husband’s supervising professor!). We are the only two employees, and we work out of an office we added on to our house. It’s very rewarding to use math and science to design a building, then see it go up. Our kids like seeing “Mom’s building” or “Dad’s building” when we drive around down.</p>
<p>If you have any questions, feel free to ask!</p>
<p>Skrunch,</p>
<p>I highly recommend doing a summer program at a School for Architecture when he is old enough. I attended USC’s [Exploration</a> of Architecture](<a href=“USC School of Architecture”>USC School of Architecture) for a month when I was 16. Like your son, I was obsessed with Architecture from a young age and just “knew” it was what I wanted to spend my life doing.</p>
<p>I had no relatives or knew anyone that actually was an architect, save for one family friend. This guy’s parents gave him the funds to design and build his first official house in La Selva, CA the second he graduated (they live on 17-mile drive) to help him get started. Unfortunately, most of us mortals don’t have access to such funds and realities of the professions are quite different. As much as I loved that summer program with all the late nights spent building models with other like-minded people, the program really showed us what the realities of the profession entailed and how disillusioning and slow the career progress “normally” is, not to mention the liability issues mentioned before. </p>
<p>My idol architects included the likes of Gaudi, Hundertwasser, and Frank Lloyd Wright, so my view of the profession was seriously distorted. The thought of having to spend my life working on plumbing issues or whatnot, and not getting to do anything really creative until near-retirement age was not for me. I ended up going into digital art, when I realized that I could build in a virtual world and not have to deal with those pesky real-world problems. :)</p>
<p>My D was also obsessed with architecture, did a summer program as well as participated in a mentor program. She started an undergrad program and did quite well in studio as well as her intro classes. After the first semester she decided that it was not for her…she did quite well in studio as well as her intro courses…many of her profs encouraged her to continue but somewhere down deep she just knew. She did change her major and is very happy with her new path. I am happy she gave it a try because I knew that deep down she would have never come to this conclusion if she didn’t give it a go.</p>
<p>So long as my kid was truly passionate about architecture,
and supplied with an independent income, I’d have no hesitation :)</p>
<p>My former neighbor’s husband, an architect, lost his job, and his house all within 6 months. He took a lower paying job in another field and the family moved form the home because they couldn’t make the payments. The wife tried to find a job, but she was in the housing field so their wasn’t a whole lot she could do. The neighbor two houses down from that family also had a degree in architecture and, years prior to that, started applying for other jobs but had no luck. </p>
<p>I wouldn’t advise going into architecture unless you have an “in” with a company. The housing and business market isn’t bouncing back at a rapid rate and that means less jobs for students.</p>
<p>Aunt Bea, I could substitute the word ‘architect’ for ‘pharmaceutical chemist’ around here and your post would be pretty accurate still…</p>
<p>As for what architects really do for a living, if one expects to be designing the next New World Orchestra Hall in Florida right after graduation, it’s no more unrealistic than one of us expecting to code Windows 9 fresh out of college. Ain’t going to happen regardless of talent. </p>
<p>As long as expectations are realistic, things tend to work a lot better.</p>
<p>My Mom was not happy with my thought of wanting to major in architecture. After taking architecture class this term, I kind of agree with her. You should send your kid to architecture class and see how him/her adjust. If him/her actually really love it, then you should probably be supportive.</p>