Must do’s & Must have’s for Architectural Students!

Today, on the eve of Holi my usually cribbing and complaining mind churned out an idea of adding a page into my blog listing all the things I(or any Architecture college student) must do before we don the graduation hats and fly away from the lush green campuses where we were the happy “slaves” to our whims and fancies to the dull and boring place where we will be expected to atleast of all “seem” interested/be proactive to the client’s whims and fancies!

I will keep updating this page as and when I come across an irresistible idea that I wish to add into this “Must do things for an Architecture college student before graduation”.

Now, let me introduce you to the pattern of this page:

My experience from the previous years to the present day as an Architecture student gives me a lot of information about the ‘bits and pieces of must do things’ picked up from here and there, from the lectures/online interviews of eminent Architects to the leading Industry specific magazines  & materials to the Internet.

Deriving from my experience till date, it is inevitably a matter of fact that we are the Jacks.Let me make this clear that I don’t find anything “glorifying” in this, though some people foolishly boast themselves as “Jack of all trades and Master of none” which in truth means that the fella is considerably good at all the undertakings but not necessarily a “master” of atleast one of his undertakings!

We all know about this famous old saying that “Half knowledge on anything is always dangerous”.In the 1600’s (it is believed now) that the Jacks were the most disgraced & dreaded people in the market & the society.Though it is also said that they used to spend most of their lives living like nomads.

Here, I am not saying that we are ‘the jacks of all trades and masters of none’ but it is said by the older architects that this was ‘how it used to be’ 20-30 years ago or maybe it still exists.The 21st century has bought in a new pattern of working and delivering products to the clientele.It is said by some individuals that these ‘Jacks’ still exist in the industry(Architecture,Engineering and Construction) in contrary to the opinions of the ‘Greats’(pioneers of the industry) who readily insist and emphasize on ’specialists’ based detail-production in the projects which bring them quality and sensitively designed end products which obviously brings them the most coveted “starchitect” title.

Leaving the Jacks & their masters lets hop back on the Must do things list. These must do things include:

1. Must see places(for now in India).
2. Must read books/Must have books.
3. Must have gadgets & Must learn softwares.
4. Must read Internet material.
5. Must do-miscellaneous things.

1.Must see places in India for Architecture students:

Travelling makes us more knowledgeable and is a great teacher! So pack off some of your belongings and take off!

There are ‘n’ number of places which reflect the cultural and the lingusitic diversity of this country in its architecture.

Julia Mrgan says” Architecture is a visual art, the building speak for themselves.”

Oh! yes, it certainly does. The scale, proportion,texture,materials,design,placement/location of the architectural monument talks a lot about itself and tells a story about its existence and its experiences about the past till the present, the only pre-requisite here is that, we should be sensitive enough to comprehend the story the place/the building tells us and maybe learn a thing or two from it.

Any internet travel guide can tell you about the traveling information and the importance of the chosen destination.Historical places are quite popular with year round tourists in North,South,East and West India.These historical places boast some of the amazing Architectural achievements in terms of technology and skillful use of materials which harmoniously blend themselves into the surroundings as if giving an impression that an unknown force had its powerful intervention in erecting these brilliantly designed buildings which reflect and even going to the greater length of telling a quiet story of its evolution & existence.

The story telling phenomena can be evidently found in these below mentioned types of architecture:

The Vedic Architecture, The Hindu Architecture,The Islamic Architecture,Influence of Western (specifically Gothic Architecture),Vernacular Architecture, Modern Architecture so on and so forth.

2.Must read books/Must have books for Architecture students.

• Principles of 3-D,2-D and colour compositon in Design by Wucious wong.
• Building construction by W.B McKay(all volumes)
• Building Construction Illustrated by Francis.D.K.Ching.
• Architectural Graphics by Frank K Ching.
• Rendering with Pen and Ink by Robert Gill.
• Time saver standards for Architectural design data by John Hanock.
• Architectural rendering by Hales,Albert- McGraw mill book co. NYC
• History of Architecture by Sir.Banister Fletcher.
• 101 things I learnt at architecture school by Matthew Fredrick
• The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand.
• Arab-Islamic cities: building and design principles by Besim Hakim.
• ‘Invisible Cities’ by Italo Calvino
• Towards a Phenomenology in arhitecture by Genius Loci.
• Architecture: form space & order by Francis.D.K. Ching.
• Thinking architecture by Peter Zumthor.
• ‘Invisible Images: A Silent Language of Architecture’ by Ar. Beverly Willis based in New York.
• Architecture theory : A reader in culture by Andrew Ballantyne published by Continuum.
• Seven Lamps of Architecture by John Ruskin.

3.Must have gadgets and Must learn software.

Architecture students are one of a kind! It is impossible for them to depart from their studios or their respective tables for longer time of the day because the nature of the work commands the students to pry,probe and work tirelessly improving,recognizing the problem areas,fixing them up immediately with solid,secure,simple,practical, and innovative solutions.They put in long hours of work into their designs to achieve the  desired end product.So here while doing so, an I-POD/any good Music playing device becomes the savior and saves us from boredom making us to sit through long hours slogging away to meet the deadlines.

The popular choice among students here in India is a music player-cum-Cellphone.Best example is Sony Ericcson,Nokia,Motorola cellphones while some prefer I-Pods.

Another important gadget in an Architecture student’s life is a  Desktop computer/Laptop.It helps in preparing Computer-Aided-drawings, presentation plates and for multimedia purposes.It also helps in doing initial research work- a popular initial design approach using Internet.A desktop computer is good for stationary work,economically lighter on the pocket compared to a laptop,can be highly configured and customized according to the user’s needs  but inhibits portability.In my opinion it is better to go with a laptop as it gives you the freedom of portability and can be of assistance to update your instructors on the progress made upon the work frontier.

Cell phones are an inseparable part of the today’s lifestyle as it helps to connect and is a critical communication tool(sometimes more than just a communication device) to your family,friends and your loved ones.Therefore it is a Must have gadget!

For hardcore gamers there is always Sony Playstation 3 portable(PSP 3) series which is addictive and equally entertaining! I suggest and advice architecture students to keep away from this deadly device if you really have the determination to survive the Architecture course and graduate as an Architect.

USB drives/Portable hard drives – They come in various shapes and sizes with attractive price tags.2gb,4gb,8gb etc.Most popular ones are Transcend USB flash drives.Portable Hard drives come in 120gb,160gb,320gb configurations.Popular brands are Seagate Barracuda and others, here it basically depends on the money available to be spent and the purpose.Don’t worry about the brands or the price tags, there is room for everyone!

For example: If you have a fabulous CAD lab at college and fear that the exotic viruses can take over your flash drive which inturn infects your laptop or desktop computers then you can any day go in for an external hard drive,change the settings in the system BIOS to “boot from an external hard drive/disk” and voila, the OS in your hard-drive gets started!It is a pre-requisite to make a small partition on your hard drive where the desired OS(operating system like Windows XP,Vista) has to be installed.

Must learn softwares for Architecture students:

It is well known by now that most of the prestigious Architecture internships are bagged by those who are well versed in computer softwares.A sound knowledge of Autodesk and Adobe softwares can any day get you into almost any wildly imaginable AEC Company/Office.At the recent conference(NATCON) Gehry Architects and Associates gave a fabulous presentation.They emphasized on usage and growing popularity of Building Information Modeling software.So if you happen to be a master of such software no one can stop you from joining such a prestigious association and get the honor to be a part of it!

Now, let’s concentrate on the software part:

Autodesk CAD(popularly called as Auto-CAD)- helps in generating 2D drawings.A basic tool which is a must learn software even if you are not acquainted with the others.This is the primary lifeline.

Autodesk Revit Architecture(a BIM software) a boon to Architecture where Sustainibility and Green Architecture is the need of the hour! Like the product says “The possibilities are endless… and so are the solutions”

Autodesk 3DS Max(a popular 3D modelling software) used in generation of virtual environments of the building which is still at the developing stage on the drawing table.Aesthetics,Form and Form evolution is mostly done using this software.It is also used to produce photorealistic renderings for design proposals and virtual walk-throughs.

Adobe Photoshop: used for photo-montaging and to create graphics on presentation plates for the final studio crits.

Adobe Indesign:A Desktop publishing software used primarily to create final presentation poster-like plates for Juries/Crits.It is popularly used because of the file flexibility it provides to gel along with Photoshop and fantastic presentation softwares like Adobe Flash.

Adobe Flash: The more you become expert at this, the better!You will probably wont get another chance to witness your bank account and your pass-book jump with joy everytime it  recieves your pay cheque in the first week of every month with atleast 6 figures imprinted on it!This might seem like a little too exagerating considering the current situation of the economy.

But hey! the IPL isn’t getting affected in any way and so does this! At the end of the day presentation is all that matters on the descision table! Haven’t you ever watched ShahRukhKhan’s home produced movies?! A quientessential example of crap wrapped in a beautiful and attractive red’s-yellow’s gift-wrapping paper!Look at the money he makes out of it! Huh!

Microsoft Office Package: Last but not the least, MS Office is an extremely essential software that has to be learn by anyone and everyone!Esp. in our field Onenote,Powerpoint,Excel and Word are quite important tools that are used in day-to-day working pattern.

Microsoft Onenote: Personally, I am a huge fan of Onenote.Click on the links and get to now how onenote helps in Architecture:

In collaborating design projects by using MS Onenote.

In Communicating design changes effectively using MS Onenote.

Nowadays, Microsoft Office Project is also gaining a good amount of popularity among the AEC industry greats.It is essentially a project management software which can be integrated and synchronised and every inch of progress and development can be kept in check using this software.So some amount of (virtual..obviously we are just interns afterall) experience is always desired on the resume to make the applicant look responsible and capable of managing assigned tasks.

4.Must read Internet material on Architecture:

50 must read blogs and resources for Architecture Majors.

5.Must do miscellaneous things in Architecture:

1. Attend atleast one National/Zonal Competition Annual Fest organised by the Student Associations. ex: NASA and ZONASA.
2. Work on atleast one trophy/ competitions esp. Design competitions.
3. Go pub hopping on the last day of the semester exams obviously after finishing it.(optional)
4. Night-out- working for straight 3 days with no or little sleep.
5. Travel around the country/world with friends.
6. Everyday atleast for an hour resist the urge to think about anything remotely related to Architecture.( i bet you can’t do this one!)
7. Make time for socializing, otherwise I am damn sure when you die on your drawing table no one will notice you. Apparently 35% of the  Architects have taken their last breath on their drawing tables!
8. Resist the urge to talk about Architecture/Design all the time when you come across any aesthetically appealing structures or designs at a mall or at a coffee shop.
9. Let us not forget that a  home-studio is not a bedroom. So please let us try and keep the home-studio and the beds at different angles if possible or at different poles of the room/house.After some time it will be evident that it only helps us to get better!
10. Too much Caffeine consumption can kill us.So let’s limit our coffee,red-bull or any other type of energy drink intake and please don’t smoke.It is injurious to your and others(non-smokers) health.
11. Let us try and keep our studios clean and tidy.OK.. I know it is nearly impossible to achieve.. but it wont hurt to try! or does it? ‘Cleanliness is next to Godliness’ remember!?!
12. We should all become sensitive and reduce the amount of people-less pictures.The pictures of the magnificent structures are also equally important but i wouldn’t hurt to take pictures of Actual people standing next/in front of the building. Oh! common! Don’t frown! Look at the brighter side,it will help us in gauging the scale and proportion of the structure with respect to the human scale and proportion!

More to come… watch out this space!

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Life is too short to fight pointless battles,hold useless grudges, take superficial revenges or any other kind of negative emotions! Though for some people its hard to forgive or forget the past. In this fast-paced life no one has ‘extra’ time for others. Its like a world of Metro(Rapid Transit System). It briefly stops by.. for a minute or two and moves on! Life transports you from one world/status into another in matter of minutes and few words! So let us all learn to choose life’s battles wisely and try to negotiate a fair deal(must do things) in an individual’s perspective without having to care about the mistakes.It is the best way to learn. Others judgment about your/our deal while in the process of making choices does not matter as long as the confidence,determination and a passion to succeed is safe within you/us!

The eternally inevitable truth is that “We are what we are Today, because of the choices we made Yesterday & it’s ironical that Today will be Tomorrow’s Yesterday!”