Architect? : A Candid Guide to the Profession

This revised edition includes information pertinent to educational practice and addresses issues and concerns of interest to students choosing among different types of programmes, schools, firms and architectural career paths. The author is a practising architect and educator and in this book he takes a look at the education of architects as he covers such topics as curriculum content, pedagogical theories and methods, programmme and faculty types, the admission process, internship, compensation, computer-aided design and the culture of small and large firms. He tells how an architect works and gets work and explains all aspects of architectural services, from initial client contact to construction oversight. The benefits of becoming an architect are described, including the opportunity for creative expression, to improve the environment and to achieve notoriety. The book also shows the other side, the lack of steady work and appropriate compensation, the intensity of competition, the restrictions imposed by clients and the high degree of anxiety and disillusionment among young architects. The book is accompanied by the author's illustrations and an appendix.