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Careers: Architect 210 Views


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Transcript

00:00

smell architect a la shmoop Elizabeth lives here right [woman on front door of a large house next to a sky scraper]

00:07

next door to her is a 55 storey skyscraper

00:11

okay so the urban design planner assigned to her Street and a little

00:15

haywire well but let's take a look for a second Elizabeth and her next-door

00:19

neighbor well they couldn't be more different really Elizabeth just one [wide view of house and sky scraper]

00:22

person while the skyscraper houses over 200 companies and thousands of employees

00:28

Elizabeth lives at her place everyone in the skyscraper merely works at theirs [people working in offices]

00:33

well Elizabeth doesn't really have to worry about low-flying aircraft in the

00:38

skyscraper does and yet they have one thing very much in common both of their

00:43

structures were designed by who's that poker players neurosurgeons lawyers

00:48

architects yeah that well yeah granted they were [architects at sunset]

00:51

designed by two very different types of architects the architect who designs a

00:55

single-family dwelling and the one who designs a high-rise building have about

00:59

as much in common as a neurosurgeon and a pediatrician but yeah whether we're

01:03

talking a single-story residential abode a towering skyscraper a large industrial [pictures of different structures]

01:09

complex a football stadium or some over-the-top artsy concert hall well it

01:14

originated in the mind of an architect which if we're talking about the guy who

01:17

designed this monstrosity is probably a scary place well then you can break each [hammer breaks screen]

01:22

of these things down even further there are two major elements to Architecture

01:27

functionality and artistry well you may have heard about the whole left brain

01:31

right thing yeah well where the left side of your brain controls all your [brain in space]

01:35

cognitive thought language logic all that good stuff the right side handles

01:39

all the emotions and creative thought well for most careers you really just

01:44

need to excel at one of those if you're a doctor your brains left hemisphere had

01:48

better be firing on all cylinders and if you're a pianist well it's the right

01:51

hemisphere that should be you know hitting all the high notes but an

01:54

architect well they need to use their entire brain when it comes to designing [architect using both sides of brain]

01:59

a building there's a staggering amount of math needed

02:01

aside from merely having all the dimensions of the walls ceilings and

02:04

floors determined within fractions of an inch [modern building]

02:06

you'll also have to know enough about physics to decide whether this structure

02:09

of yours is gonna sway too much in the wind or buckle in earth

02:13

but at the same time architecture is art visit the Duomo in st. Mark's Square in

02:17

Italy or the Taj Mahal in India and try telling yourself that these are just

02:21

places people can go to you know hang out from the rain entering one of these

02:25

magnificent structures can be aw inspiring and even life-changing and it

02:29

doesn't need to be some wonder of the ancient world to blow you away either

02:33

the Sydney Opera House finished construction in 1973 the Lotus Temple in [Sydney Opera House]

02:38

New Delhi was finished in 1986 even this place has a you know certain charm to it

02:43

because yeah even a modest privately owned home can be a work of art like [modern home]

02:47

look what a difference crown molding can make check out what a difference it can

02:51

make having an open-concept kitchen as

02:54

opposed to one that's you know small and closed off like backroom and McDonald's [comparison of a large and small kitchen]

02:58

well this might be an unusual place to put bookshelves but it must work for

03:03

somebody know whenever there are creative choices to be made art can be [man contemplating tiny house toy]

03:07

created long story short you've got to be a particular type of person to excel

03:11

as an architect you have to have a lot going on upstairs you know in both

03:15

bedrooms okay so why let's move on what's involved ie how do you become one

03:19

of these architect people well assuming you've got both the creativity and brain

03:24

power required you'll need to put in a lot of time in order to get where you

03:27

want to be you'll need to start by getting your Bachelor of architecture [diploma framed on wall]

03:30

degree usually a five-year program less than you'd need to become a neurosurgeon

03:34

but more than you'd need to run a Waffle House and keep in mind if you're set on

03:39

designing big important commercial buildings rather than just sticking to [modern city scape]

03:43

residential you can plan on at least another three to four years of school

03:46

you'll have to spend time learning the craft learning how to convey depth

03:50

learning how to you know sharpen a pencil how to draw in both physical and

03:54

virtual mediums and yeah you'll need to master CAD or computer-aided drafting [virtual mediums for architecture]

03:58

software so that you won't actually need that pencil very much all right and then

04:02

you'll need to master newer design software where you can practically see

04:06

the finished product in all its glory in 3D before it's even built then you'll [house in 3D]

04:11

need to learn about building codes like all of them and [building code books on table]

04:14

then maybe you can get your license and then you can wait

04:17

usually for quite a few years as you in turn then work your way up from the

04:20

bottom kind of like one of those elevators you'll be designing because

04:24

yeah this isn't the kind of thing where you can jump in on day one scribble some

04:28

rough plans and get a construction company to well you know make your [baby on a conference table]

04:31

vision a reality as with the film industry and the Mafia

04:34

you'll need to put in your time well once your ship finally comes in though

04:38

you can make some awfully nice Bank the average salary for an architect is

04:42

around seventy three K but there are opportunities to make vastly more money

04:46

than that if you can survive the lean years when you're trying to survive on

04:50

ramen noodles and 35 grand or less you can make in the 60 grand range as an

04:55

associate and then into six figures once you've mastered the craft and built

04:58

yourself a book of clients and you can make millions after that if you end up

05:02

being really really good well in general a firm will receive 10% of whatever the

05:07

build cost is for providing architecture services it was just you

05:11

well you'll keep that 10% but if you split the work with four other

05:14

architects while you'll split the pay - leaving you just a skosh over two

05:19

percent of the build cost but yeah if you're designing a $500,000 construction

05:23

project and you're the sole architect well you'll pocket 50 grand roughly for

05:28

whether that work and it's worthwhile to note that many architects also hire an

05:31

interior design firm to handle things like lighting placement color schemes

05:35

flooring materials and so on and their fees come out of that 50k but their hope

05:40

is to upsell the owner into buying furniture through them as an interior [architects on construction site]

05:43

decorator where you know they can make some serious money commissions and all

05:47

that all right well are you joining an architectural firm or going it alone

05:50

because yeah that makes a difference if you're building homes that are part of a

05:54

large new development it might be you and a team of 11 other architects

05:58

banging out the plans for 150 residences and then just moving on to the next

06:02

project if it's custom home it'll take longer to design require more creativity

06:07

and ingenuity and mean more money in your pocket than what you'd make for one

06:10

of those hundred fifty cookie cutter houses or you might be designing bridges [arial of suburbia]

06:14

or military buildings or airports or nuclear holocaust bunkers for paranoid

06:20

Wall Street investment bankers yeah the range of projects and potential income

06:24

is design a premier high-rise in New York

06:26

City well you'll be getting a fat check for millions just don't expect to retire

06:30

on what you make from designing this thing there are a couple other reasons [run-down shack]

06:34

you might want to go the architect route aside from dollar signs the one thing [money falling down]

06:37

you're helping to create something of value

06:39

someone will live work and play in the building you design ever moved out of a [family hugging]

06:43

home and felt genuinely sentimental about leaving it behind and we're

06:47

talking just a pile of wood and drywall and get a home can burrow its way into

06:51

your heart so in a sense you're not just building housing you're building

06:55

memories also the artist half of you is gonna feel an incredible sense of [people on construction site]

06:58

achievement every time you get to watch something go from blue lines on a piece

07:01

of paper to a structure that towers over people's head most other artists can't

07:06

say the same their work can you know hang on a wall or fit on a shelf but

07:10

yours would need a literal wrecking ball to take it down as for the actual

07:14

process of architecting well you'll generally start by being commissioned to

07:18

design a specific project either by an individual or by the firm you work for

07:22

you'll work closely with the client to make sure the plans fit their needs

07:25

probably less closely if your name is Frank Gehry and you've already

07:28

established yourself as a genius whose train of thought shouldn't be

07:31

interrupted but yeah you'll have to kiss some derriere the client is boss you

07:36

might have a vision for the most butt-kicking building in the world but

07:39

if the client doesn't want a gazebo on top of their jewelry shop well then

07:43

you'll have to go back to the drawing board

07:44

then once construction begins you'll work just as closely with a construction

07:48

team to ensure that everything is going according to plan

07:50

and that they haven't decided to you know do something weird like put

07:54

plumbing in a clothing closet as automation and Technology chug ahead you [closet opens]

07:57

might find yourself losing out on some jobs like well it might only be robots

08:02

designing boring tract housing in the coming years but for anything that

08:05

requires creativity the human brain both the right and left side of it still

08:09

reign supreme so good architects will be in demand for a long time to come put in

08:13

time vote yourself passionately to the craft and you should have the blueprint

08:17

for a promising future

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