11 Things to know before starting architecture school

Top tips for students of architecture about to begin their course:
Tea vs coffee, power napping and when to ignore your tutor

1

Drink tea not coffee. Coffee is great for a sudden burst of energy
propping you up during late nights on CAD but beware! The caffeine
in coffee gets into your blood quickly giving you an initial rush that,
if sustained, will cause your body to burn out. A strong mug of tea
has a similar amount of caffeine but it’s released more gradually
keeping you focused but calm for longer. Tea is also an antioxidant,
relieves tension and is less of a faff to make.

2

Draw lots and draw by hand. Drawing isn’t just a way of
communicating with others it’s a way of thinking. From Le
Corbusier’s messy sketches to Zaha Hadid’s vast paintings, drawing
is essential to the practice, culture and progress of architecture.

3

When making models use a sharp scalpel. Scalpel blades are not cheap
when bought from craft shops and blunt quickly but don’t be
tempted to cut your costs by using dull blades. If you slip and cut
yourself a blunt blade will give you a messy and painful wound that
takes ages to heal. However, if you cut yourself with a fresh blade
the wound will be cleaner, will heal faster and if serious will be
easier for a medic to dress. You can save money buying scalpel
blades online in bulk.

4

Pin-up straight. Sounds like a no brainer but it is amazing how many
first year pin-ups lead to hastily taping drawings to walls wonkily.
Even a rough sketch on torn butter paper deserves better than
that. Invest in a huge box of pins and line up your drawings with
each other as well as the wall.

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5

Your tutors are an invaluable source of wisdom and ideas – use
them lots. Don’t just wait for your weekly tutorial to roll around;
actively seek out the advice, opinions and critique of your school’s
faculty. Knock on their doors, email them, chase them through
hallways, lie in wait near their office. Do whatever it takes.

6

Your tutors’ knowledge only goes so far. Intelligence, experience and
damning criticisms they may have, a monopoly on the truth they do
not. Sometimes the best tutor is the one who tells you to design the
blue house so you become even more determined to design the red
one. Listen carefully and understand their point of view but take
what your tutors say with a pinch of salt.
7

Power nap with caution. By the end of your time at architecture
school your friends will have experimented with every sleeping cycle
under the sun. Some will swear that 20 minutes sleep is more
refreshing than 40. Others will switch to sleeping in four-hour
bursts alone. You’ll see students making beds beneath their desks in
studio or going 80 hours without sleep. There may well be times
when you have to work late but the truth is that you’re never going
to produce great work when knackered – far better to stay
focused and productive during normal working hours than to let your
course steal your sleep and productivity. Keep a regular daily
timetable. Give yourself firm finishing times in the evening and
stick to them.

8

Subscribe to a journal. Regularly reading an architecture magazine is
an invaluable source of inspiration. A good journal should challenge
you to think deeply about architecture and its relationship to the
wider world but should also be a thoroughly good read and
beautifully designed. From a tutor’s point of view the difference
between students who are regularly reading articles or short essays
in architectural journals and those who are not is dramatic. Luckily
many architecture journals have great student deals on at the
moment if you can find them. The Architectural Review is just £1 a
week for students.

9

University grading systems are odd and architecture marking is
brutal. Students who’ve been at the top of their class all their lives
arrive at architecture school and find themselves struggling to get
middle-of-the-road marks. Take heart. Your final grade is far less
important than the skills and portfolio you’ll build on your way to it.
The line up of internationally acclaimed architects is littered with
designers who did badly at architecture school, dropped out or
didn’t study architecture at all.

10

Eat delicious food. With so many deadlines it can be tempting to buy
ready meals and takeaways rather than waste time cooking. This is
a false economy. A good diet gives you more energy through the day,
keeps you healthy and prepares you for a life of wearing slinky black
turtlenecks. If you’re not the next Bompas and Parr already learn to
cook some simple meals in large quantities that will keep for a few
days – soups, stews, pastas and pastries.

11

Explore. Travel often with an open mind. Understand cultures and
traditions different to your own. That doesn’t necessarily mean jet
setting around the world or hitchhiking to Morocco. Wherever you
are based there will be a myriad of unfamiliar communities and
landscapes within easy reach. Get to know the country you are
studying in better – even if you grew up there.

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