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(Designers of Buildings) |
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Researched by Jimmy W.
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Architecture is where you design buildings. You might design homes,
classrooms or large structures. You draw a design of a building. This means
that you draw on a piece of paper what the building will look like.
Architects usually have two aspects. The first aspect requires architects to be licensed by the state in which they work in. The second aspect is to design a safe building and a structure that will satisfy the client who is asking them to design the structure. This aspect begins with learning what the client wants which is the first process called Programming. The architect takes many factors into consideration. Then he prepares a set of plans that, upon the client’s approval, will be developed into the final design which is the second process called Schematic Design. The design shows the exact dimensions of every portion of the building, the location and size. The third part of the process is Design Development. This is where the architect questions the client about what they want to have in their building, such as how many bathrooms, electrical outlets, fixtures, plumbing, and even the heating and air conditioning. This is where the client tells the architect all the last and final details of what they want in the building. The fourth process is Construction Documentation. This is the exact detail of the building all on paper for the contractor to use to build the building. The last process is the Construction. This is the actual building of the structure.
There are 5 basic architectural drawings:
1. Isometric is a three-dimensional drawing that shows two
of the sides and the roof of the building at the same time.
2. Elevation is the view of one of the
sides of the building
3. Roof Plan is a view of the top of
the building.
4. Floor Plan is a view of the floor of a building
looking strait down on it.
5. Section is
a view of the section of a building looking from the side.
Architects don’t really have a fixed work schedule. They just work whenever they want to or need to work. A lot of times they stay up all night and work.
Architects can work in an office all over the country. They can work
in one state one year and another a different year if they get a license
for that state. They can work in any city or state they want to.
There are landscaping architects, design architects, architects that
build road or train tunnels, and building architects. Those are some different
kinds of jobs that some architects do.
There are a lot of materials used when designing a building. There are
drawing boards, drawing pencils, pens, tracing paper, and rulers. They
also use a lot of math materials and their brain a lot of the time. Computers
are very important, as they are the heart of designing a project. All the
information is kept in the computer and then put into the program "Computer
Aided Drafting" for finalizing your project. You are constantly adding
information to this program to help you design your project.
There are several good things about this job. First of all, you get
paid a lot of money and you get to draw a lot. You also get to take a lot
of time off if you want to. You get to design your own house, and other
buildings such as baseball stadiums.
You don’t get to be an architect until after you have at least a Bachelor’s degree, which is around age 24.
In High School, you need to take Drafting, Art, Math, Science, Writing
and Wood Shop.
In College, there are two professional degrees of architecture.
Bachelor of Architecture Degree ( 5 year accredited degree)
Master of Architecture Degree (optional, not required)
Bachelor of Science/Arts in Architecture (non-professional degree)
These require additional time in an internship before being eligible to
take the licensing exam.
Technical Drafting Degree (technical drafting degree from a community
college or technical school)
Architecture License (must have a total of 8 years combined education
and experience in the field of architecture. Have a professional architecture
degree (B. Arch. Or M. Arch.) and 3 years practice in an office under an
architect.
Most architects do not get a Master of Architecture.
You need to be able to draw very well to be an architect. You also need
to be good at math and a lot of other subjects such as science, computer
and art.
You need to take a lot of math and art. You need to take these subjects
because you need to be able to draw very well and you need to know math
because you need to measure accurately, compute areas and volumes, and
calculate angles.
In the US you can average about $16,000 if you are a beginner. You make
$20,000-$22,000 dollars if you are licensed and $33,000-$40,000 dollars
if you have been working for a while. If you have a partner, you can make
from $73,000 to over $100,000 a year. If you are in Washington you make
about $30,000 $34,000 a year if you work 40 hours a week.
The outlook for the future is good for architects. So as long as the
economy is good there will be many architects needed. The buildings will
be designed with more energy saving components than they have now. Rather
than relying on expensive air conditioning, architects are more and more,
using methods that take advantage of the direction of the wind drawing
it through the building. Certainly, technology will play an increasing
role in how buildings are shaped, such things as solar panels, will take
increasing advantage of the sun wherever they can. One of Joe’s projects
in downtown Boston is working on a dormitory that will use a large, glass
atrium to collect heat in the winter for use in the building. During the
summer, photoelectric cells, triggered by the sun, will cause panels on
the face of the glass to close over the glass, so there is not too much
heat in the atrium. An atrium is like a large glass dome over a room. Nowadays,
architects as a profession have to be creative problem solvers.
There are about 85,000-90,000 licensed architects in the U.S. today.
These do include some that are retired.
Architecture is considered by some to have begun at the time that ancient
civilizations began to congregate in one place, and not traveling as a
nomadic people. As a society rooted in one place, the easily dismantled
tents disappeared more and more and were replaced with a house of some
sort. It started before the time of Christ. The ancient Greeks and Romans
designed amazing buildings that have stood for thousands of years.
There are some jobs related to architecture. There are construction
workers and landscape architects.
After you go to college and get your degree, then you can apply anywhere
an architect is needed. There are various places to apply. Some architects
work for the government. There is a wide selection of jobs such as landscaping,
history, interior design, industrial, graphic, engineering, and even teaching
architecture to students.
The job can lead to designing a better building. You can go as far as
you want to go by applying yourself and working hard for a good career
in architecture.
There are the best web sites for architecture, www.architects.org and
www.architects.org/education.html.
You can put your ideas on paper and then have someone build something.
It is fun and unusual. It’s everywhere around you. You can reflect about
someone’s buildings that you see when driving around. You can tell what
year a house might be built around and why because of the styles.
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