How to Architect
Hi my name is Doug Patt and this is how-to Architects. This is the first video in a five part series called “Could you be an Architect?” I get a lot of viewer email from people wondering if they are cut out for the profession of architecture. In order to answer that question I think there are four simple questions to answer. The first question is can you draw well?
Architects can do many kinds of hand drawing from sketching, to drafting, to presentations but first, a little history lesson. Two of the most famous modern architects of the 20th century were Walter Gropius and Luke Corbusier. Gropius did very little drawing because he could not draw well and depended on the people he worked with to do it for him.
Corbusier on the other hand drew all the time and although his sketches may not have been the most technically beautiful, the ideas they can make were brilliant and that is the point. You do not have to be an artist to be an architect but you do need a medium to get ideas across especially when you start working through them. That is where sketching comes in. At the end of the day, sketching is part of the job of an architect. If you want to learn to do it well, it is possible with a little work. Sketching is a way in which the architect can convey ideas quickly and succinctly.
Today most of the architects drafting can be done on a computer. So drafting by hand could be considered obsolete although I know architects that still prepare their construction documents this way. When it comes to sketching it is very possible to do it on the computer but there is really nothing that can take the place of a quick sketch done by hand on a piece of paper.
If you can not draw but you would like to draw well, your lack of ability should not be the only thing stopping you from becoming architect. Take a drawing course, start sketching everything you see, learn to draft, look at other architects work and finally study the masters for clues about how to drawing is done well. Bottom line, you do not have to be an artist to be an architect especially today where you can use computer technology as the medium to convey your ideas but being able to draw well certainly comes in handy. See you for part two.
Transcription by:
Scribe4you Transcription Services