Masters of the Universe

While driving through any city or town, you'd often find yourself staring at the most beautiful buildings that line the street. The great old houses, tall skillfully designed buildings that make you stop and stare. Often amazed by the talent that it took to design such a work of art, this is what many people think that architects do. The fact is that a person who seeks a degree in architecture can do more than just build beautiful buildings.

To give a better overview of what is possible with such a degree, here are a few professions:

• Architectural Historian
• Building Researchers
• Building Contractor
• Architectural Journalists
• Architectural Engineer
• Industrial Engineer
• Civil Engineer
• Technical Illustrator
• Landscape Architect
• Real Estate Broker
• Marine Architect
  

The list above is by no means exhaustive; it is simply illustrative of what is possible with a bachelor’s degree in architecture. For as long as humans roam the Earth, they will need a place to live, play, work, learn, worship, eat, shop, meet, hangout, and so on. These places can be either public or private; they can either be simple individual buildings or complex structures as well as vehicles and machinery. It is an architect that designs it all.



As an architect, you will meet with your client/customer and discuss what it is that they want to create. It then becomes your job to make their vision a reality; you are going to take their thoughts and make them a reality. The architect is responsible for every detail from the way a building is going to look to the functionality, safety, and economics that go into building it.

It is not enough though to be able to create a picture and then make it a reality. You also need to be able to communicate and work with others. You are involved in every aspect of making the project come to life. It is essential that you can design, supervise, manage, engineer, and talk with your client and the builders. You will spend a lot of time talking and explaining ideas to everyone.

Being able to keep an eye on finances is also important. Keeping an eye on the budget is also a key part of your job. It is important that you pay attention to costs, understanding that price is not always indicative of quality, think about the Titanic, beautiful, breath-taking, sitting at the bottom of the ocean. The architect is really the mastermind of the project; it is you that people will come back to if something go wrong.

Part of the reason that is important for anyone that is considering going into architecture is because the majority of architects are self employed. Your business, the type of projects that you get is dependent upon the reputation that you create for yourself. This is truly a profession where the work that you are capable of doing and the work that you actually do will say more about you than anything you can put on paper.