So what is it like to be part of architecture culture? Architects are a wide-ranging group of people who tend towards the creative, the energetic, the hard working, and the stressed out. We can have big egos and soft hearts, be incredibly knowledgeable and creatively insecure. It's a special life full of intense efforts, but also many, many rewards, not all of which are recognized by the broader public or even our families. Projects can last for years, be filled with struggle yet be enormously gratifying when complete. We can change people's lives, most of whom we'll never meet.
I had all of these friends... and then I never saw them again...
Architecture students commonly talk about the people they knew who slipped away after their first year, but also about the new bonds they form with people in studio, many of which last a lifetime. It's also common for people in the same class to not date each other because they feel akin to brothers and sisters supporting each other through a tough environment. Even though there are common school experiences, individual student bodies can be quite different in personality. You might find one that tends to attract driven type-As, nerdy math types, experimental artists, or the socially minded.
Another latte, Mr. Koolhaas?
Perhaps it stems from the studio experience, but architects really like to hang out with each other and have even developed our own rockstar culture. Younger designers often idolize avant garde or famous architects by buying their books, attending their lectures, or going to schools where they teach. These "starchitects" are very well known to the architecture community but rarely have an identity outside of it. Ask anyone on the street to name five architects and you'll likely get two or three names at best, mostly likely from generations long past; ask anyone in school, and they will likely name five from an unwritten list of about ten.
Suuure you were at studio until 3 AM...
Architects also have a way of finding partners in the profession because the life is unusual enough that only another architect might understand the late nights, dedication, and even language. The profession is full of so-called mom and pop shops, couples who open practices together. And while you might imagine that work stress would cause problems at home, architects actually have a lower divorce rate than the general US population, about 10%, and low rates of depression when compared to other professions, just over 4% (this percentage includes engineers).
Architecture should never begin before lunch...
So...What are the unwritten rules in this culture? What's the experience all about? Learn more about what it's like to be an architecture student and a future architect...