[Chruser]

I'm currently thinking about applying to a few architecture schools as I have interest in the subject. Frankly, I'm a bit concerned about how the programme is set up. I love art, and I can't live without it, and the few architects I've managed to talk to say that drawing is very important during the education. Does anyone know how extensive the art studies may be during architecture college? Do most schools have drawing classes, or do you simply draw in most classes, as it is necessary?

I just want to make sure that I'm not getting thrown into a line of duty where physics and maths play 90% of the role, while the remaining 10% is based on AutoCAD. Thanks guys.
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[wasssup]

Hello chruser, please be ware of that I can only speak for my experiences.

I don't know how you define "art", but if drawing/painting is what you are looking for stay away from architecture. I can't remember we ever had any drawing classes, not a sigle one, and I studied architecture at an art academy! I'm sure there are schools out there still offer architectural drawing classes for the first one or two semesters, rather than traditional training they are mainly programed for training students to learn how to observe things and express thoughts(also very important), in most cases traditional drawing is not encouraged.

But if you are interested in art in general, go for it! You will be amazed how much you learn. Actually many architects are doing art related jobs after their studies, such as comic, film making ect., some of them are doing really well.

Don't worry too much about the technical aspects, architectural planning doesn't really have much to do with maths and physics, engineers will take over the calculation, otherwise they lose their jobs.

[Alen]

Heh, encouraging words wasssup
I'm currently in my 2nd year of college, for architecture, but there's no way I'm going to trade my pencil/wacom for a mouse and autocad. Architecture will make sure I live a comfortable life, but I'm sure it'll become more than just a 'job.' I'm glad to hear that there are people that have studied this field and ended up going elsewhere, such as film making. Currently I'm not 100% sure of everything, but it's nice to have an open option should I have a life changing revelation or something like that.

[Impaler]

My understanding of architecture is that focus is directed more towards drafting and much less towards freehand drawing. Building plans have to be accurate and whatnot, meaning artistic interpretation is generally frowned upon.

A minor in architecture could look great when you're trying to land a job as an environmental concept artist, however...
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QED, sort of.

[ten]

edit

[Chruser]

Wow, you guys rock. I didn't expect to get great advice like this.

Okay, let me put it like this. I've been dealing with sciences forever, and I got started in the art field a little over a year ago. I don't like science and math much at all now, but I consider myself to be good at it. I've been advised to pursue engineering, but that'd kill me. I can't live without art any longer. I'd really love to get a job as a concept artist or something, but I don't trust my "skills" enough at this stage to pursue something like that alone. Architecture seems like a good, fundamental base to have.

Let's see. I'm currently located in Sweden, but I'm going to try to go abroad anyway. As long as the country has English as their native tongue, I'm fine with it. Cooper Union is among the top universities on my list. Other recommendations I've had (for US schools) are, in no particular order of preference: Cornell, University of Virginia, MIT and Syracuse university. I've heard about Columbia too, but I haven't looked into most of these schools yet, except for Cooper.

I'll have some research to do about this before I'm out of time. I think I've got until the end of December to apply.

Nevertheless, I'm continuing to push myself harder than ever on my spare time, and maybe try to participate more in the speed painting thread.

Got any additional thoughts? I'd definitely love to hear them.

Thanks again guys.
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[Chruser]

Okay, this is a horrible jumble. I might even be too late to apply for foreign Architecture schools, when looking at the amount of various TOEFL, SAT I and Letters of Recommendation I have to look into. And the application dates seem to vary greatly from school to school. I'm more lost and scared than ever now. Maybe I should just get into a good art school, but I feel that my skills are still very insufficient. And I'm NOT going to become an engineer, even if my life will be a financial disaster otherwise. No way.

So what's the drill with universities in the US, NZ, the UK and so forth? I have good Gymnasium (high school) grades in Sweden, but it seems to me that they might no longer matter at all. Darn.
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[woodface]

I am currently studying Arch in the UK. When I applied two and half years ago the process was like this:

You have to fill out a UCAS form with the top six courses you would like to get into, and include your grades or your expected grades. The deadline was January 12, for the academic year starting that September. Interested universities then reply back with their open days and interview dates. They tell you if they want you (they probably will, unless you have applied somewhere prestigious) and you pick from those positve replies.

This means that you are probably too late to get into an Arch course at a UK University to start this year, though there is no harm in emailing them and asking if they have open places still (they might). Private schools like the AA school can be more flexible, but also more expensive, and perhaps more competitive as well. (Though I know that the Swedish government supports its student very generously, so you probably wont have as hard a time coming up with the AA's fees as most UK students). As a citizen of the EU, If you went to a UK university, you would pay home fees of 1000-3000 pounds a year, compared to 13000 at the AA.

In NZ the Academic year begins around February, and you apply to the schools indivdually. There are two universities offering Arch: Victoria University, in Wellington, and Auckland University, in Auckland. You can apply at any time, but only start in Feb. International students pay high fees, but again, I think the Swedish government will have it covered. I have read that NZ Universities come "mid-table" when compared with UK Universities, though this was not about the two Architecture schools per se. I do know that the Wellington campus is a pretty cool place, and Wellington is a great little city.

One more thing to consider:
In the UK the route to becoming a fully qualified architect goes like this:
Degree (or AA Diploma) - 3 Years (RIBA Part 1)
Working in an architecture practice - 1 Year
Post Grad Diploma - 2 Years (RIBA Part 2)
Working in an architecture practice - 1 Year
Testing (RIBA Part 3)
Qualified

In NZ it goes like this:
Degree - 5 Years
Working in an architecture practice - 2 Years
Register

Both take seven years, and have the same number of studying and working years, but in a different order. If you were just looking for the basic design education, then you may be done after the 3 year UK degree.

Hope this helps. The UK option would probably be better, because you can pay home fees, and the courses are shorter, but you will probably have to wait till next Sept to start. In NZ the fees will be higher (but the living costs much lower), and you will be able to start next Feb. You also get to live in NZ.

[Francis]

I got my masters degree in architecture. I worked in architecture for a few years, then switched careers - now I am a senior concept artist at a game company.

There is some drawing involved in architecture school, but for the most part this is a *design* education. Drawing is a means to an end, which is communicating a design idea. The stuff that the other guys have mentioned, i.e. Autocad, drafting, etc. is one of several aspects of the education and the job. Art plays a significant role, but probably in a more abstract way than you think - personally, I did not encounter a lot of rigorous classical drawing, painting, anatomy, color theory stuff in any of my classes. I tried to fill out the art side of my education, but as a non-art major, I was limited to, well, the art classes for non-art majors. Lots of arm waving and self expression, and not enough rigor and basic skills.

It's a great, well rounded education. Depending on what you want to do career wise, it may be overkill though. Architecture school will provide you with a really good background in certain areas, but not really enough in certain other areas.
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TeamGT Studios

[Chruser]

I'm just impressed to see that some architects have attended art schools or gone freelance right away, some of which are producing stunning work. Anyway, I have a few architecture schools on my list to apply to, great info guys! I might be a little late out, but I could as well take art classes for 6 months, or a year or so and apply again. If anyone has any ideas for either Architecture or Art schools, go ahead and post them (I'm still very much a beginner in art, and attending an art school, plus working 5+ hours per day would surely be good for me. I'm not sure if I really need a degree if I go to art school though). I'm located in Sweden, and while European schools would be nice to attend, I wouldn't mind going to the US, NZ or whatnot.

I feel like I'm repeating myself a bit. I really appreciate the advice, and the schools that have been posted in this thread. Sometimes, I just wish there was some magic fortune telling glass sphere somewhere that could show me what to do. The only thing I believe in right now is to follow my heart, but for some reason, I don't know where it wants to take me. It WOULD suck if I ended up in some art school in the middle of nowhere that makes me lose my passion for art with too strict dicipline or something. Or if a chainsaw falls out of the sky and cuts off my drawing arm. I'd be what, 40, limbless, artistically devastated, and forced to have become an engineer and live the rest of my life in boredom and regret. But you only live once, don't you? I'm willing to take chances.

Okay, that turned into a weird ramble. I'll go hide now. Thanks guys.
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[Returner]

Hej!

Jag vet inte om du har t�nkt s�ka till arkitektur i Stockholm/Lund/G�teborg men om du t�nkt g�ra det s� rekommenderar jag att du tar n�gra konstkurser i h�st s� att du �r b�ttre rustad f�r arkitektprovet till v�ren. Om du nu inte redan har 2.0 p� h�gskoleprovet vills�ga.
Du heter inte maximillian f�rresten? k�nner en kille som passar in p� din beskrivning i �vrigt..(sysslat med matte tidigare osv).
Jag e sj�lv sugen p� arkitektur, men jag t�nker g� till arkitektfirmor f�r att se hur deras arbetss�tt ser ut i h�st, f�r att se om det �r n�got f�r mig. Tydligen sysslar arkitekter enligt dom jag pratat med hitills mest med probleml�sning och mindre med design. F�rm�gan att balansera budget/funktionalitet/design p� ett bra s�tt verkar vara grejen i deras jobb.

[Chruser]

Returner: Thanks. I'm really planning to go abroad for my studies, but any recommendations for good art courses would be great. I could always change my mind in the last minute and go 100% for painting or something. I live in the middle of nowhere, in the city of Vadstena, which is supposed to be a cultural location at large, but I haven't found any interesting art classes at all in the area. And no, I'm Chris, but Maximillian is a nice name.

Architecture = functionality and budget combined with design? Blah. Just give me a degree, and I'll start constructing flying, gauss-powered castles for myself, by myself.

Ugh, where is that magic button that will explain to me EXACTLY what to do upon pressing it?
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[Returner]

Varf�r vill du plugga utomlands? F�r att utbildningarna �r b�ttre eller f�r att du vill f� nya "kontinentala" intryck? Jag skulle nog �ka utomlands n�got �r av en svensk utbildning, inte ta hela utbildningen utomlands om det fanns liknande utbildningar i sverige redan.
N�r det g�ller konstkurser s� finns det en hel dr�s att v�lja p�.
Konstskolan och medborgarskolan i Stockholm har kurser som �r f�rberedande inf�r konststudier osv. S� att man har en chans att komma in p� linjer som Beckman eller konstfack ifall man inte redan �r som Craig Mullins. Det jag sj�lv tycker �r l�skigt med design och konst �r att det �r en s�n tuff marknad/bransch. Om man utbildar sig till ingenj�r eller ekonom kan man nog hanka sig fram hyggligt �ven om man �r halvkass. Men som designer/konstn�r s� blir det mycket tydligare ifall man saknar talangen/kreativiteten som kr�vs f�r att lyckas. Men om man verkligen vill satsa p� n�got s�dant kan man ju alltid ge det en chans och sen byta om det gick �t fanders s� man itne �ngrar sig n�r man �r 73 �r och sitter i gungstolen och beklagar sig f�r barnbarnen att man aldrig v�gade f�rs�ka.