Architecture school is a long haul and we all know it. Whether you get a 5-year professional degree or choose to take on a few years of graduate school (or both), it’s a grueling process. However, most would hopefully agree, it’s worth it for the knowledge you gain throughout those years (not to mention the friendships you form in the close quarters of the studio). Architectural education is about more than learning to design great spaces and whether or not you realize it at the time, architecture school is also a great teacher of other life lessons. All the skills below are those you’ll likely attain incidentally during your tenure in architecture school, but which will be an asset outside of academia as well.
1. Making Mistakes Quickly
In the spirit of doing things quickly, we might as well cover this one first. You may have heard the advice to not hang on to a bad decision just because you spent a lot of time making it. The bottom line is, you will make mistakes, both in design and in life. However, the important thing you learn in architecture school is to try things out, realize mistakes or unproductive ideas as quickly as possible, get rid of them, and then move on to a viable solution. It’s a version of “killing your darlings” that can be utilized in schematic design ideas as well as other tricky life decisions. If you master the art of making and realizing your mistakes quickly, you can cover all your options efficiently and you shouldn’t have to worry about spending too much time on something that’s fruitless.
