Making plans. Drawing plans (See what I did there?)
You did it!
You got into architecture school! Woohoo!
All those exams and pieces of coursework is now all behind you. A-levels no longer have to haunt you in your sleep anymore. It is over, a new chapter beings.
First year.
This year is a fresh start, for everyone, no matter what you did prior to this. This year is all about getting to grips with what university life is actually all about. For some of you, it means settling into a new place, with new people and a completely different style of teaching. You’ll be relieved because you don’t have to do exams anymore!
In the beginning, you might feel like your timetable is packed or at least you tutors might make you feel like you have tonnes of work to do. Oh and tutors, there a new thing, the teachers who will basically guide you throughout your three years. They aren’t as scary as you might think, they are simply teaching you there way of seeing things. They are important, the bread to your buttered toast, an abundance of knowledge under their belt you want to learn as much as you can from them. The workload is very different, the rules of submitting work is very different too. But as long as you are doing the work continuously throughout the year you’ll see progress even if it’s baby steps.
Drawing will be a second language you’ll learn if you aren’t already fluent in it. Don’t worry if you aren’t good at it yet, you will get better over time without even realising. Remember, baby steps.
Your sketchbook is the most vital tool you’ll ever use, among the other contraptions you’ll learn to draw with, this is what you’ll find yourself reaching for the most. Take it with you everywhere, you never know when inspiration strikes and you’ll be glad that you have something to sketch out your ideas at whatever o’clock. Unlike your Art coursework, it affects your grade in the same way essay plans don’t guarantee you a high grade. A sketchbook it will help you figure things out . And you’ll be doing a lot of that.
Speaking of essays, yes you’ll be doing them. And lectures too.
Essay writing isn’t so bad, as long as you have a coherent line of argument and enough strong reliable sources for your essay you should be fine. Just don’t submit late. I know it’s tempting and don’t leave it to the last minute, it takes a lot more brain power than you might think. You’ll enjoy it, especially if you choose a topic that is interesting to you. Makes architecture seem less two dimensional, it is so much more than just drawing - it’s about the past and people - learning why something is the way it is or why it has become what it is today, we are complex and deciphering this complexity in architecture can be fascinating.
You’ll see that architecture isn’t about being a great artists or mathematician, it is a load of many different things merged, you’ll learn to love certain parts of architecture but other things you’ll just learn from. Don’t rush things, especially things like computer skills that you think you are missing out on. You have the summer and next year to learn these, for now you want to be a natural at expressing what you experience in the most rawest form from your fingertips to paper. You are building your vocal chords for the stories you are trying to tell. I hope you find the courage to tell them through your work.
It will be messy and there may be tears along the way because there is so much you need to learn, you already know that. This is an experimental phase, so experience what this industry has to offer you, explore all your ideas, leave with no idea left unturned. Experience what it is like to travel to places - especially the ones you create inside your head. I hope that architecture teaches you about the world in the ways you never imagined it could.
Remember if it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you.
Welcome to Architecture.