The Life of an Architecture Student

By — Filed under: Architects ,Videos
 

A narrative slideshow that depicts a day in the life of a Berkeley architecture student (played by Chris Torres). Photography and editing by Peter Hess. Music by Nine Inch Nails.

Thanks Brian for sharing this with us!!!

 
 
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varia says:

Pretty lame if you ask me, bad music, wrong voice, ok pictures. Weak.

 
# May 3, 2009 at 12:05
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Ana Rúbia says:

Aaaa, muito bom este vídeo, as imagens dizem tudo
só um estudante de arquitetura entende!

=D

 
# May 3, 2009 at 12:24
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Mina says:

Sick
Have been there, know exactly how you feel…

 
# May 3, 2009 at 12:25
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Peter says:

This is missing a good 23 seconds of slideshow. The full video can be found here: http://vimeo.com/2877163. It changes the tone at the end almost entirely.

 
# May 3, 2009 at 12:57
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Elisabeth says:

Thank you! It makes me feel a little better now :)

 
# May 3, 2009 at 13:04
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Palau says:

muy bueno….

 
# May 3, 2009 at 13:09
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Opium says:

omg…this so true…wonder why there isnt more movies about architecture and architects…architecture is everything and it can reflect so much of who we are as people…This hole idea of stress and architecture being linked forever and always…i don’t know…shouldn’t we demand something better afterall we are humans.This romantic idea of working beyond your phisical capabilities is very seductive but are you playing the game because you like it…because it’s good?or because someone else want’s you to think it’s good?

 
# May 3, 2009 at 13:17
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George says:

It’s always pretty funny to me to see stuff like this. Unfortunately, for my taste, its too staged. I was hoping to see something a bit more intimate in a way. Personally having gone through Architecture school, I can say I can relate, though the way that students seem to posture the crit seems so ridiculous. Your not in a lion’s den. There not out there to destroy you. Any criticism they give should be appreciated not taken to induce some sort of fear or suggest they’re “tearing you a new asshole” if the work is bad, its bad.

 
# May 3, 2009 at 13:29
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omeg says:

Brian…awesome! guess what!?? after you graduate, it continues only you get an OUTSTANDING 30K p/year! But then again it’s not about the money this life is about progressive thinking…At least that’s what I thought untill the real world of architecture hit me straight in the face!

 
# May 3, 2009 at 13:45
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krock says:

When is someone going to acutally stand up and say this is a bunch of BS!!! When are we as architects going to wake up and realize we’ve been brain washed…I totally agree with OMEG!

 
# May 3, 2009 at 13:51
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    Jessica says:

    As a potential future architecture student, I’d really like to know what you mean by that..

     
    # June 8, 2010 at 21:55
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      Maria says:

      there is no way to explain it but in 1 year in the system you will know it :)

       
      # January 13, 2011 at 07:43
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PaulR says:

Former Columbia University student. Was up for 39hrs straight (not 1 min of sleep) for my final thesis. Got rave reviews for my presentation. Graduated! Started working in NY for very well know (elite) architect. 172 employees. Started making 22K. Could not afford to live or eat. 5 years later…Working for other well known architect. Now at 39K. Could not afford to live, eat, get married, have children, visit my mom (florida), visit the inlaws, watch porn, pay my phone or even go out to eat with my 6 rooms mates in harlem!

 
# May 3, 2009 at 13:57
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B R says:

Thanks for making me feel a little better about never having had the opportunity to go to school and become an architect like I always dreamt of since I was young. Still, I sometimes wonder what if I had.

 
# May 3, 2009 at 14:27
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provecho says:

A (dirt poor) friend of mine worked his ass off to get full scholarship at Princeton. Graduated top of class. Applied to ‘elite’ architecture firms in New York and quickly got interviews and tremendous positive feedback. Received two ‘job’ offers–both of them paying the exact same amount: $0. And so the cycle continues: the only architecture graduates who can afford to live in NYC and work for free to gain entry into high-profile firms are those with rich parents footing all expenses. Those with talent but no money have to make other plans.

It’s shameful that highly recognized and profitable firms exploit graduates in this way. I’m so glad that I got out of the architecture rat race and into an industry with more professional integrity: advertising.

 
# May 3, 2009 at 14:31
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denitsa parleva says:

If this was a video about the life of a Bulgarian architecture student, there should be some more slides:
1. between 14- 20h you are projecting shitty residential building in some architecture studio for 3,5 euro of an hour, thinking of your great student project.
2. between 22-02 drinking beer with one hand with your party roommates and drawing your project with the other hand.
3. between 02-04 making happy your boy/girlfriend.
and then printing and presenting the work of your life in front of a venerable architects, till they telling you how the console of your building can not be more than 1,5 meters long!

But we are surviving :::) !!!

 
# May 3, 2009 at 14:32
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kc says:

There must be ways around the ‘rat race’ for chill people like me. It’s possible I know for sure!!!

 
# May 3, 2009 at 17:22
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thane says:

At the end of the day, there is no one forcing you to be an architect, you do it because you love it, not because it pays well, not because it’s easy, and certainly not because you like getting 8 hours of sleep nightly.

Also did anyone else not notice the horrible model this guy was presenting? This project deserves criticism!

 
# May 3, 2009 at 18:44
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    Skylar Kitchen says:

    Haha, I thought the same thing.

     
    # July 26, 2011 at 17:17
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مكتوم says:

that’s a great video. so true in every architecture school!

 
# May 3, 2009 at 18:45
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Ismael says:

Triste… pero cierto.

Sad, but true, really sums ups my mondays… review days…. ROFL (or not)

 
# May 3, 2009 at 18:56
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CA says:

Heh, this is all so horribly true… Working throughout the night and suddenly hearing the birds sing outside your window is one of the worst realizations one can have. I always end up pulling AT LEAST 1 or 2 all-nighters before a review.

 
# May 3, 2009 at 20:04
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Peter S. says:

I cannot count how many sunset/sunrise combos I greeted from the 7th and 8th floors of that building…hearing the cheers in the stadium as I spent another Saturday working on models…listening to the Campanilie play “Under The Sea”…ah, the sleep-deprived memories…

 
# May 3, 2009 at 20:45
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erz_arch says:

hehehe, yes, that’s how it is.
greetings from a bavarian architecture student :)

 
# May 3, 2009 at 23:14
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freddy wolf says:

Yeah , had the feeling. I once worked 72 hours straight for a review, pausing only for eating/drinking/toilet. For my final thesis I worked 10 days straight with 3 hours of sleep per night. You really get a love/hate-affair with architecture. You work while others sleep/relax/live their lives. I am glad I did it though, because it really pushed my boundaries psychologically, physically and most of all intellectually. I watched many other students get beaten by it, leaving architecture with slamming doors. The real world however is also stressing. The same 0$ in Europe for working for an elite architect/ starchitect.If you want to get paid, work for commercial architects that don’t do competitions, and that work particularly in residential design. Negative point in many European countries is, that you have to be an independent architect (freelancer), so you have to pay taxes, insurances, social security, … all by yourself ($$$). But for a good architect with five years of experience, a commercial architect pays around 30 euro an hour excluding tax, which is liveable enough to buy a car, buy a (small) house, and pay your bills. No time for competitions and magazine architecture however.

 
# May 4, 2009 at 05:12
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UNDFTD says:

video and comments all true, true, true… lesson learned, don’t get a job in NYC?

 
# May 4, 2009 at 06:52
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J.OBRIEN says:

From an student beginning his M.Arch with 2.5 years in the field:

What I’m not looking forward to is people who complain about how much they work or how little sleep they’ve had. Get your work done and stop complaining. Everyone has long nights.

 
# May 4, 2009 at 07:46
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Sander says:

start earlier…

 
# May 4, 2009 at 10:14
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Ahoy says:

Still have the time to do a video like this? Not bad at all.

 
# May 4, 2009 at 12:13
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K says:

Try having a wife, 18 mo baby, 2 jobs and a mortgage on top of it all. Just did that. One more year to go.

 
# May 4, 2009 at 12:57
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as it is says:

complaining is so miserable, especially from students.

life is about choices – choice of profession, choice of environment you are studying/woring in.

if you find yourself in a place where you do not want to be, you start complaining. it shows that you have not been prudent enogh, to choose your way of life- blame yourself.

process can be enjoyed, but it is up to you to make it happen, be wise!

and if not, it is never too late to change lanes.

 
# May 4, 2009 at 14:23
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xiaofengzi says:

Never think about get rest while get 3 projects at same time………ToT
Enjoy the process and always hear my tutors say: just …keep going.
Long nights, and waste the light, play with models and do some detail-construction

 
# May 4, 2009 at 15:45
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Marcus says:

I’m an architecture student and I don’t agree with complaining about the load of work and the lack of sleep. Everyone did it and its all in the territory. To be honest we probably have it a little easier than the people that came before us. Stick with it and it will pay off in the long run.

 
# May 4, 2009 at 16:01
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eltion says:

more end more coffee …..

 
# May 4, 2009 at 16:18
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mart says:

i did it. and i miss it already…

 
# May 4, 2009 at 16:41
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Lachie says:

The stupid thing about it is i did a 52 hour stretch to get work done, presented and had another crit in a week or so. Got so sick because of the sleepless work, that i ruined any chance of a good mark for the next crit…

Being a hero and staying up for days at a time is all well and good but you are putting yourself to serious harm, you do what has to be done but is it worth your health?

Of course, it is…

 
# May 4, 2009 at 20:55
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bobroth says:

This is the difference between a Cal ARCH grad and a Cal Poly – SLO ARCH grad… they stay up working out the theory of their existence via video and we just get our projects done and head to happy hour.

 
# May 4, 2009 at 23:03
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    E says:

    haha the 5am happy hour in studio. because really… you’re never done.

     
    # June 9, 2010 at 02:45
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    E says:

    but seriously… this video vs. this project. DONE. http://www.archdaily.com/63013/metous-studio/

     
    # June 9, 2010 at 02:52
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    dsh5016 says:

    any thoughts on Cal Poly SLO master of science in Architecture? (Im also trying to have a good time haha and not sleep in studio)

     
    # September 11, 2010 at 07:29
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Peter says:

haha. so true bout cal vs cal poly slo! i spent a semester there, and you folks sure know how to have a good time!

 
# May 4, 2009 at 23:10
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M. says:

True story, but I was a bit disappointed with the quality and content of the video: might be interesting for other students to know a bit more of our world, but for me, it just sounded like more of the same.
Cheers from pertedetemps.

 
# May 5, 2009 at 03:40
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ithacan says:

maybe less focus and much more do.
sleepless as always, but loving every minute of it.

 
# May 5, 2009 at 04:09
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ivan says:

nice, really that way, really))

 
# May 5, 2009 at 11:19
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mojo says:

stop making lame videos and you’ll have more time for studio

 
# May 6, 2009 at 15:04
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Anon says:

Disagree with the first comment, excellent music. I’m an architecture student and I listen to NIN’s Ghosts album all the time, it’s awesome. Very good video indeed, man I hate the workload but nevermind.

 
# May 6, 2009 at 16:50
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Memo Beatle says:

Well, this is like a HOLLYWOOD version

 
# May 7, 2009 at 12:05
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Vittorino3 says:

What about the beauty, the passion for architecture? Isn’t that the most important matter, isn’t enjoyment the ultimate purpose? Or it’s just for the money, like most of my collegues do it ? Sleepless nights, exhausting physical and intellectual effort characterize every person’s work for excellence, an architecture student should be portrayed for his vision, for his understanding of space….this clip has nothing to do with Architecture with the big “A”…

 
# May 12, 2009 at 12:32
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croatia says:

true, true, true… school of architecture the same thing everywhere!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i hate that sound of the birds in the morning;)

 
# October 10, 2009 at 17:34
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maya says:

i could enjoy sleepless nights of doing work. IF ONLY the sleepless face doesn’t show apparently0_o

 
# March 5, 2010 at 04:44
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architist says:

Has an architecture students we all know how it is in our working environment. having less sleep, very less time to think about other things rather than how to get our project done. I think that video shows a little bit of it. If archdaily could bring up at least one good video about architecture student that may help them to ease the hard time they face during there course. Advised can also help!!!!!!!!!
only a suggestion.

 
# June 2, 2010 at 01:10
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    Peter Hess says:

    I completely agree with your sentiment. When I find those kinds of answers I will definitely make a followup video. Also, just so you are aware, the version posted here is missing a good 30 seconds or so at the end that suggest how one copes with these issues. The full video can be viewed here: http://vimeo.com/2877163

     
    # June 2, 2010 at 14:17
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Vero Pear says:

Reveals the true colors of this difficult major. I thought it was brilliant and bold. Well done.

 
# July 21, 2011 at 19:57
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3:06 PM May 3rd

http://tinyurl.com/dgwtuv 为毛别人的学校都是帅哥 我们学校却全是美女。。

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9:51 PM May 3rd

RT@archdaily Daily life of an architecture student http://tinyurl.com/co8326

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10:05 AM May 4th

The life on an architecture student http://tinyurl.com/dgwtuv

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2:53 PM May 4th

The Life of an Architecture Student – http://tinyurl.com/dgwtuv

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3:05 PM May 4th

RT @archdaily: The Life of an Architecture Student:
narrative slideshow depicts day in the life of Berkeley arch student http://ow.ly/4Xo2

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3:22 PM May 4th

RT @MHBuildingBooks: RT @archdaily: The Life of an Architecture Student: slideshow day in the life http://ow.ly/4Xo2

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7:05 PM May 4th

RT @archdaily: The Life of an Architecture Student:
narrative slideshow depicts day in the life of Berkeley arch student http://ow.ly/4Xo2

Thumb up Thumb down 0

11:45 PM May 5th

The Life of an Architecture Student – http://tinyurl.com/dgwtuv

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10:00 PM May 7th

The Life of an Architecture Student via @archdaily http://bit.ly/vmLrI

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