Why more architects should drop out of school

像许多建筑师一样，当我坐在办公桌前听到我通过了我的第三部分考试时，我发出了一声宽慰而疲惫的叹息。周围都是同事，他们中的大多数人都经历了和我刚刚完成的同样艰苦的旅程，终于结束了，这让我感到欣慰。我可以开始我作为建筑师的新生活。与这种兴高采烈相匹配的只有一种坠落到现实中的感觉，一切如旧，因为我很快将注意力转移到处理电子表格上，以平衡我当时正在进行的任何计划的住宿安排。

Of course, those members of the Arb club should be rightly proud of their achievements, having worked through school, requisite GCSEs, A-levels, part l, part ll, part lll … It was a difficult journey, filled with terrifying crits, late evenings, nights that ran into days, and a yearning that if only life had a Ctrl-Alt-Del …

Not to reflect too negatively, studying did also have its high points – how many other university courses include spending hours on end making models, drawing and essentially letting one’s imagination take over?

And I made friends for life from my years as a student. It is inevitable that many architects’ social circles are formed of the friends forged in this relentless journey, with a shared sense of belonging, having made it out the other end. We then find ourselves looking for practices in which to launch our careers, which are outputting work that aligns with our interests and aesthetic sensibilities, and which are filled with like-minded people who share our values.

I often found myself spending weekends, and even planning holidays, with friends (inevitably architects) to visit and explore cities and look at architecture. We spent Friday evenings after work at the pub, where conversations eventually would veer towards architecture in some way. We played in the architecture softball league, inevitably to meet other architects.

Perhaps this was just the predetermined route of an architect’s life – but I feel it was fuelled more by my pig-headedness to complete the road to qualification than by anything else. And along the way, blinkered by sheer determination, we as a profession somehow forget that the world is not filled by people like us, who experience the environment similarly and whose brains have been forged by the years of university education to think a certain way.

I wonder how many fantastic architects we are losing to our profession because of the barriers we put up before their careers have even begun

Now, as I work contractor-side, I find myself among a much wider selection of people – those who have, yes, gone to university, but also those that have built successful careers from trainee schemes and apprenticeships or just simply by learning on the job. As well as making for an interesting mix, it better reflects the society that we are not only living in but building for.

While university is a great challenge for some, it is not for everyone. And I wonder how many fantastic architects we are losing to our profession because of the barriers we put up before their careers have even begun.

As architects we are infinitely versatile, and our jobs require this of us: to have a flair for design and thinking visually, to consider building physics, to understand how we interact with spaces, to be good at organising, planning and problem-solving, as well as to recall statutory regulations and understand contracts. Many of these skills are innate and are not necessarily learnt or proven through qualifications studied at school. When I look back on my own education and career, I see clearly the benefits of learning from my peers, the mentoring and office osmosis which helped shape me to be the architect I am today – but I ponder the use I have had for the A-levels gained in physics and maths.

也许建筑学是时候接纳那些不走传统途径获得资格证书，但却拥有所需技能的学生了。为了鼓励一个更包容、更能反映社会的职业，我们需要接受那些有顽固决心加入建筑师俱乐部的人。