Papers, pens, pencils, rulers, and a marble floor messed up with stationary – these things sound familiar, don’t they?
Well, that’s perhaps what one would call a typical conventional architect’s set-up. Over the years, an architect’s tasks might not have changed much, but a modern architectural design studio is way different than its conventional counterpart. Few things, however, that have remain unchanged are the questions that young designers have. If not worked out properly, the familiar smell of paper and basswood can turn into a spell of despair. So it’s necessary to know few things that can help one survive as well as thrive into design studio.
1. Pen the Details
Studios mean paper work and paper work means detailing. Keep track of your work and do make a habit of carrying a notepad. Amidst all the sketching, you might forget to pay attention to some other work. Not all the time you are equipped with necessary tools for specifying your task. Your notepad shall help you to jot down things which you can attend to later. This habit also assists you in carefully editing anything that you’re about to publish.
2. Time Management
Architecture students come under the lot who hardly work in a methodical manner. They are terrible at managing their time and the total output of their productivity is lost during this time management endeavor. There are some freshly graduated architects who brag about being all-nighters. But, the actual grown-ups of the industry know that all-nighters are not needed if you can manage your time efficiently. You already spend 8 hours of the day in the studio, and those hours are enough to get oodles of work done. So, time management is a must for those fresh architects.
3. No Last Minute Change
There is always that little more in designing, especially when you are in the learning phase. You will be tempted to present your concepts or make that model more presentable. This urge to make your designs better even at the last minute can turn out to be disastrous, especially when you are about to present your work to clients. Work carefully before you finalize everything. Once you are done with building models and rendering drawings, there is no looking back.
4. Be Author of Ideas
It’s good to be a good designer, but it’s great to be a design author. After all, no one likes to be known as the ‘blind follower’ in the studio, the one who only carries out instructions without any further contribution of his or her own. Don’t always stick to the status quo. Build your own ideas, design them, share them and get feedback. Undoubtedly, you will need to put some extra efforts, but compared to the hard work, the opportunities that your ideas may bring are also diverse.
5. Remember Your Clients, Always
What your clients think? What do they need? What can they afford? How can they afford? Once you have been assigned a designing task, your ideas should strictly work in accordance with the needs of your clients. They should be the only ones who should be at the back of your mind. You don’t need to overstress yourself with the minutest details, but, of course, they are the ones who should direct your work.
6. Don’t Stop Learning
Starting from Gothic styles to the comforts of a six year-old, an architect needs to know almost anything that can find even the slightest use in architecture. Designing is all about learning on the go. Fortunately, architects now have plenty of sources by their side to learn, design and implement new things. Read good designing blogs, participate in forums. Consider starting your own blog. In short, don’t ever stop learning.
7. Do Your Homework
It is next to impossible to know ins and outs about your clients’ businesses, but as a responsible designer, it is your duty to learn possibly as much as you can about their businesses. This learning is necessitated at the inception of a project as it helps you to know about your clients’ objectives, their spaces and of course, gives you a clearer view of their requirements. If required, dedicate a half-day session to shoot all queries that you have.
8. Break Few Rules
Most of us choose to go by the norms as they ensure safety and evade chaos. But, if need be, there is no harm in breaking a few rules. Remember, designing is all about ideas. While most of your execution will be directed from your college time, sometimes you need to bring up your own ideas and execute them in your own ways. If your hard work is able to garner complements and turn heads, then who cares what methods you inculcated?
9. Learn Through Criticism
A creative mind should be as open to criticism as it is to ideas. By all means, seek criticism. It not only helps you to assess your work, but also opens gateways to improvements. Designing is a genre where perfection comes by correcting your flaws, and if you don’t know your flaws, there is no question of correction. Connect with your mentors, show them your work, seek advice and of course, learn from criticism.
10. Appreciate Yourself
One must remember that seeking criticism doesn’t mean demeaning oneself. This is a common mistake which is made by most of the designers at their early careers. If you don’t value your work, no one will. You have put lots of efforts and sleepless nights in designing those models, so there’s nothing wrong in appreciating yourself.
Your design studio works as an excellent learning habitat where you will find yourself surrounded with experiences. Every day will teach you something new but, knowing the basic rules will at least help you to survive and overcome the initial struggles.
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