Should You Study Architecture? 5 Questions to Help You Decide if Architecture is for You

Summary

In this enlightening video, Kyle Sinko guides viewers through a critical decision: whether or not architecture is the right career path. He offers insightful questions to self-reflect on before making this choice, focusing on personal passion, skill sets, and the long-term commitment required in architecture. The video is divided into three sections: preparation, skill sets needed, and long-term dedication to the profession. Kyle stresses the importance of understanding both the creative and interpersonal demands of the field and encourages viewers to visualize their future in architecture to make an informed decision.

Highlights

• Deciding on a career path is tough; Kyle guides you through questioning if architecture is for you. 🤔
• Think about your true motivations for choosing architecture—passion or peer pressure? 🔍
• Visualizing your future can help decide if this is the right long-term career. 🏙️
• Creativity isn't just art skills; problem-solving is also crucial for architects. 💡
• You'll need to collaborate—architecture isn't a solo profession but a team effort. 👫
• Commit to putting in effort for the long haul—it's about passion, not just a paycheck. 💼

Key Takeaways

• Explore your 'why': Understand your real motivation for choosing architecture. 🎯
• Visualize your future: Imagine yourself in the shoes of an architect 10 years from now. 🏛️
• Creativity is key: Problem-solving is a form of creativity vital for architects. 🎨
• Work with others: Architecture is a team-driven field, not a solo endeavor. 🤝
• Long-term commitment: Consider if you can devote 110% effort for decades. ⏳

Overview

Kyle Sinko provides an insightful guide for those considering architecture as a career path. He starts by urging viewers to reflect on their motivations—whether they're driven by genuine interest in the field or external pressures like parental expectations or peers. Understanding your 'why' can greatly clarify if architecture is truly the path you want to pursue.

The video delves into the skill sets required for architecture, emphasizing that creativity is not just about artistic skills but also about innovative problem-solving. Kyle discusses the importance of being a team player, highlighting that while introverts can succeed, they must still engage and communicate effectively with diverse people like engineers and clients.

Finally, Kyle encourages viewers to think long-term about whether they can sustain high effort and passion for a career in architecture. He challenges the notion of working for the sake of financial security alone, advocating for finding passion and joy in your work, which he believes is crucial for a fulfilling career in architecture.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction The chapter titled 'Introduction' discusses the challenges many people face when deciding on a career path. It acknowledges the significance of this decision and focuses specifically on those considering a career in architecture. The speaker plans to explore whether architecture is the right choice by asking five critical questions and structuring the content into three parts.
• 00:30 - 05:00: Preparation - Questions to Ask Yourself The chapter focuses on the questions one should ask themselves before choosing architecture as a career to determine if it aligns with their passions. It emphasizes assessing personal passion for architecture and evaluates the necessary skill sets required, such as proficiency in mathematics, science, and English. The chapter also hints at revealing a final, important question at the end while promising to provide advice for aspiring architects.
• 05:00 - 09:00: Skill Sets for Architecture The chapter explores the considerations one should take into account when deciding whether to pursue a career in architecture. It encourages readers to reflect on their motivations for choosing architecture, questioning if the decision is influenced by external pressures like family or peers, or if it is a genuine personal interest. The chapter aims to help individuals make an informed decision about their career paths in architecture.
• 09:00 - 13:00: Final Segment - Sustaining Effort in Architecture The chapter, titled 'Final Segment - Sustaining Effort in Architecture,' emphasizes questioning one's motivations for pursuing a career in architecture. It begins with a light reference to Ted Mosby and humorously acknowledges he might have inspired some to choose this path. However, it warns against choosing architecture solely for financial reasons and suggests considering options if that is the primary motivation. The crucial part of this chapter lies in introspection - understanding if there's a genuine passion for buildings, design, and problem-solving. It presents the idea that answering why you are truly interested in architecture can alleviate many concerns and help in making a well-informed decision about entering this profession.
• 13:00 - 15:00: Conclusion The conclusion emphasizes the importance of self-reflection and preparation when pursuing a career in architecture. It suggests that individuals might choose architecture due to external influences such as friends without fully understanding what it involves. The chapter encourages writing down answers to key questions about architecture to help visualize and understand what the career would mean personally. This reflective exercise is presented as crucial for making informed educational and career decisions.

Should You Study Architecture? 5 Questions to Help You Decide if Architecture is for You Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 a lot of people have a difficult time deciding what career path they want to choose for their future and that's quite understandable because it is a big decision to make if you're watching this video you're probably considering architecture as a career path for yourself and good on you because it's quite a good career path but i want to ask you five questions whether architecture is the right choice for you let's get into it [Music] i want to split this video up into three parts first of all we'll be considering
• 00:30 - 01:00 the preparation these are the questions that i would have asked myself before i chose architecture to decide whether it really is something i'm passionate about and the second question that i'll be asking you is or the second set of questions i'll be asking you is about the skill sets you know whether you're good at maths and science and english and all these kind of skills that an architect needs or apparently needs we'll soon get into that in the final segment of this video we'll be looking at the final question which i won't reveal until later but i will also be giving you some advice as
• 01:00 - 01:30 to where to go from here if you decide to choose architecture or even just some good advice for you even if you don't decide to choose architecture as a career so the first question i would ask myself is why am i considering architecture as a career path like do you really have a clear reason as to why you're choosing architecture or thinking about architecture are you getting forced into it by your parents are you choosing it because a friend's doing it or because you've seen something on tv that makes you think that architecture is going to
• 01:30 - 02:00 be great there's definitely nothing wrong with those things ted mosby definitely played a part as to why i'm choosing to be an architect or on the flip side are you thinking about the money but if you're thinking about it for that reason i would probably consider doing something else do you have a passion for buildings do you have a passion for design and problem solving what are the reasons that you're considering architecture as a career this question alone should solve a lot of problems for you or a lot of concerns for you because a lot of the time we don't actually think as to why we are choosing
• 02:00 - 02:30 something that we're doing it might be that we apply for architecture because a friend's doing it and we kind of just don't even know what it is so that kind of leads into question two of preparation which is what do i think architecture would involve as you're going along i would probably write the answers to these questions down it will really help you out trust me write down what you think being an architect would mean to you actually see yourself doing it by visualizing it you know think 10
• 02:30 - 03:00 years down the track you're an architect what are you doing every single day do you see yourself doing that every single day do you even know what an architect does if not that's okay but now you can research about it visualization is so powerful if you can see yourself doing architecture 10 years from now you know and you can visualize what that feels like what it's like for yourself you can decide from that whether it's something that you would like to do every single day five days a week for the rest of your life so now we'll be moving into
• 03:00 - 03:30 the skill set and the first one is are you creative and this doesn't necessarily mean that you have to be good at you know art drawing painting those kind of creative skills i honestly don't think you need any of them to get started as an architect but what's more important is do you have a creative mindset do you think outside the box do you enjoy problem solving are you good at problem solving ultimately it's a job that requires you to solve problems for a client problem solving is a form of creativity so are you creative are you a
• 03:30 - 04:00 good problem solver that is the first skill set question i would ask myself secondly are you a people person if not that's okay i'm a pretty big introvert myself but there's such a wide scope to the profession that there's a place for everyone really however saying that architecture has never really been a sole profession it's not just about working by yourself for yourself of course there are people that do everything themselves that is very rare in the architecture
• 04:00 - 04:30 engineering construction industry the idea of there being the head architect who you know manages a whole team and does everything themselves you know that's kind of a concept from you know the olden days architecture now is very much a team game it's very much a team profession and it involves working with a lot of different people from contractors engineers specialists and clients and the list goes on and on and on it's unavoidable that you have to work with people and you have to be effective at
• 04:30 - 05:00 doing so but in both situations with the head architect and the team architect both of those situations involve working with other people so are you a people person are you good at communication and communicating with other people i don't mention having to be good at maths or science or any of those kind of practical skills because i don't really believe you need them in order to study architecture obviously there's you know some kind of problem solving and creativity involved in maths and science and art and any kind of drawing and painting those kind of skills but they
• 05:00 - 05:30 aren't necessary to study architecture any mathematical or scientific equations that you'll need to learn as an architect will be learnt once you actually start your architecture education any kind of painting or hand drawing skills or software skills you need to know they will be taught to you in architecture school so i wouldn't get too caught up about them right now if you have those skills definitely definitely a good idea to practice those and to have those skills beforehand but if you don't it's not setting you back
• 05:30 - 06:00 any further than anyone else starting architecture so we are now into the final segment the final question which is do you think that you'll be able to sustain putting in 110 effort for the next 50 years of your career and your education a job shouldn't be something that you just do five days a week to pay the bills it should be something that you're passionate about something you enjoy something that isn't considered as work because you can get paid for anything you do you can get paid for
• 06:00 - 06:30 anything you love doing you don't have to do something for the sake of paying the bills if you're deciding to do architecture because it's a safe job and it pays well it's got job security etc you might want to reconsider why you're choosing architecture it's when you get paid to do what you love that it's not considered work that's when you can sustain a 110 effort for the next 50 years of your career in education because you wake up you're fired up to do what you're doing and you get paid for it that's much more rewarding than
• 06:30 - 07:00 waking up to do something pay the bills go to bed start your next day to do the same thing so that would be my final question to you are you willing to put in 110 effort and sustain that over the next 50 years is architecture something that fires you up and gets you really energized or is it something that you just want to do for the sake of doing whether it be for money or whether it be for status or doing it for the sake of doing it because ted mosby did it and i'm not going to claim i'm like that i definitely couldn't say yes to this
• 07:00 - 07:30 question when i was deciding to choose my future career in architecture but over time you find that passion by doing it you can build it up by actually doing it and finding what you like finding what you don't like and then scrapping and ignoring the things you don't like and then just focusing on what you really enjoy inside the profession often in high school our teachers will tell us you know if you're bad at maths and you're really good at art they'll say you know maybe spend a little less time on art and try and get better at maths
• 07:30 - 08:00 they say to focus on your weaknesses not your strengths if you're not good at maths and you hate it but you're good at art and you love it drop maths and go all in on art that's my kind of advice to you if you just double down on the things that you're good at you'll become great at them and you'll attract success and you'll find ways to make money doing it you don't have to do something just to pay the bills so there you have it that's my ramble i hope you guys enjoyed this video if you did please do leave a thumbs up on it i always appreciate you
• 08:00 - 08:30 guys leaving comments down below as well i love uh commenting on all your comments i love replying to them if you haven't subscribed already make sure you click that subscribe button hit the bell as well so you don't miss out on future videos and until next time guys i will see you in the next video merry christmas to everyone and a happy new year [Music]