This week I am turning the blog over to YOU.
Below are five questions. Please take a few minutes to share your story. Answer these five questions in the comments below and we will all have a great time reading the stories of others.
Don’t wait. Take the time to contribute now. I look forward to reading your stories here at Entrepreneur Architect.
1. How old were you when you decided to become an architect?
2. Why did you choose to become an architect? What was your inspiration?
3. What part of the profession most ignites your passion?
4. What is your greatest achievement (within or outside the profession)?
5. What is your greatest ambition (within or outside the profession)?
When you finish posting your answers, please share a link with 2 of your architect friends.
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Photo Credit: Shutterstock / KieferPix
1. How old were you when you decided to become an architect?
I was 10 as I decided to become an architect and only because I realized that my grades in school were actually too bad to get on a good higher school… So I had to hurry a bit.
2. Why did you choose to become an architect? What was your inspiration?
As a child my dad took me to his office and to some building sites (he is construction engineer) but this was not the thing I wanted to do. I wanted to do more creative things.
3. What part of the profession most ignites your passion?
I love to create spaces, good spaces, handling with problems and finding the best solution in that case.
4. What is your greatest achievement (within or outside the profession)?
Hum… difficoult. To handle 3 hours a day committing and having a bit of a freetime life beside 😉
5. What is your greatest ambition (within or outside the profession)?
I love to write (blog, articles, etc), to read and to draw and to sketch. I love all with graphic and motion pictures from creating business-cards to cutting a short movie clip for friends.
Cheers Julia from Germany / Architect gone astray
1. How old were you when you decided to become an architect?
I was either in the 5th or 6th grade, so I’d say 10 or 11 years old.
2. Why did you choose to become an architect? What was your inspiration?
I had discovered early on that although I was always drawings something, there was not enough satisfaction in just drawing the world around me. I enjoyed structure and order but also composition. A book from the library by an architect sparked more interest, but my junior high art teacher inspired me to be creative and think differently.
3. What part of the profession most ignites your passion?
Making things – but these things are environments, spaces and ultimately memories for other people.
4. What is your greatest achievement (within or outside the profession)?
Being able to have my own firm which has afforded me the freedom and privilege to be at home while my son is growing up. If I would be working for someone else, I would have missed countless moments and events in his life.
5. What is your greatest ambition (within or outside the profession)?
Making a difference in my own community first. It’s personal and I try to affect the environment of where I live, thus my family and I get to benefit from it.
1. How old were you when you decided to become an architect? >> I was 17 years old. A senior in High School. I was taking a mechanical drafting class that was set up so we could work at our own pace. I finished the years worth of curriculum in 1/2 a year, so the teacher had me spend the second half of the year ‘designing’ and drawing a house. This was my first exposure, to my recollection, of what an Architect was or did.
2. Why did you choose to become an architect? What was your inspiration? >> Once i had decided to pursue Architecture in college, i just could not really imagine doing anything else. That being said, it was not really until my working towards my Master’s degree, that i really developed the passion for it. Before that, it just seemed like a good fit. It was during my Master’s courses that i was really exposed to the power and possibility of Design.
3. What part of the profession most ignites your passion? >> First and foremost, it is design. That and being able to help people solve their problems. Whether that be merely getting a building permit (though that is usually the least of their problems, whether they know it or not), or creating a space that reflects their goals as a business.
4. What is your greatest achievement (within or outside the profession)? >> Right now, i would say it has been surviving some very tough economic times. Raising a large family while struggling to run a business has been no easy task. Things seem to be turning on this front, but we are not out of the woods yet.
5. What is your greatest ambition (within or outside the profession)? >> To be part of a larger cultural revolution in Mansfield, OHio. There are seeds of it occurring already, but we have a long way to go. Much like Lee, i most want to make a difference in my community.
1. 17
2. In my home town, there was a faculty of Landscape Architecture, and I really loved looking at the sketches, designs and models every open house. I was determined I was going to be a Landscape Architect! But I had a eureka moment when I was 17 and realized I was not very interested in plants and trees, so if I dropped the the ‘Landscape’ from the title, I could be an Architect!
3. I love designing. I love figuring out problems and it doesn’t matter what scale…site..building….room…detail.
4. I was a licensed Canadian Architect but I was not eligible for reciprocity when we moved to the US. I studied and passed my licensing exams some 27 years after graduating. It took me a year to re-learn and study for my structural exams. They were a killer!
5. I want to have a thriving architectural practice. Part of that is because I want to be able to earn a living and support myself as an old lady. But I also want to be able to contribute to my town, design building that suit this place and will be ‘good’ buildings enjoyed by their owners and users for years to come.
1. How old were you when you decided to become an architect?
I’m sure I was much younger but didn’t realize it. I was through sowing my wild oats at 25 and decided it was time.
2. Why did you choose to become an architect? What was your inspiration?
Working in construction is back breaking work and I chose it to get behind a desk! Besides, I enjoy the design process more than the putting it all together. My inspiration has always been the rebels in our industry, i.e. Wright, Hadid, Ando.
3. What part of the profession most ignites your passion?
Everything is Architecture and Architecture is everything.
4. What is your greatest achievement (within or outside the profession)?
Graduating with a degree at 31!
5. What is your greatest ambition (within or outside the profession)?
My ambition is to design and build my own home on my dream lot with my own hands.
1. How old were you when you decided to become an architect? I was around 14. (middle school)
2. Why did you choose to become an architect? What was your inspiration? From the time I was about 5 my mom and dad started building a cabin (later our home). So I was exposed to building and construction at an early age. I always liked to draw and with the construction exposure being an Architect seamed like the best course for a profession.
3. What part of the profession most ignites your passion? Problem solving.
4. What is your greatest achievement (within or outside the profession)? Starting my own firm
5. What is your greatest ambition (within or outside the profession)? To make my firm more successful.
Mind you i am not yet an architect – still taking ARE’s 🙂
1. How old were you when you decided to become an architect? 18, up until working at an arch. firm i wanted to be a prototype & patent engineer.
2. Why did you choose to become an architect? What was your inspiration? I had mentors that brought me up to PM level in a matter of 5 years (from off the street, as in no architectural education whatsoever), i figured i’d just stick with it as it seemed to come naturally for me. I was always intrigued to be a part of something from early concept to final completion, the reason i stuck with architecture was because i got the chance to coordinate and work with all the various disciplines of the building design, i really liked being a part of the ENTIRE building project not just one aspect.
3. What part of the profession most ignites your passion? I believe the satisfaction and pride of ownership from the clients. Every job i have ever had, has had clients who wanted repeat work.
4. What is your greatest achievement (within or outside the profession)? Within, would probably be that i got to design and manage a few projects valued over 20M, it was stressful but it was a blast! Outside of the profession, i guess i would have to say, living somewhere i can surf everyday and still get to preform one of the best jobs on the planet!
5. What is your greatest ambition (within or outside the profession)? surprisingly I got into architecture by learning how to fabricate, weld and machine… i self taught myself auto-cad years and years ago simply because i wanted to develop precision plans and parts to cut on CNC machines for my hobby projects. I build harley’s, dune buggy’s… all sorts of stuff, i guess its my own way of personally designing, building and enjoying my own projects since the bulk my architectural projects are for other people 🙂
1. I was 5 years old. I wanted to do what my best friend’s father did. He got to draw all day and had more colored pencils than a 5 year old could conceive of. He was also in graduate school doing, I learned later, research about spatial perception. He used a corner of their basement, which was in constant flux. The floor levels changed, the ceiling changed, the walls changed. The corner was different every week, but it was the same corned. It was my first exposure to the idea that rooms could be different depending on how the form was manipulated.
2. I chose to be an architect because the idea of making beautiful and useful places for people seems like the best possible service. I read every book in the public library in the architecture and architectural history sections when i was in middle and high school. I discovered Palladio and Frank Lloyd Wright and Le Corbusier and realized that buildings could be beautiful as well as useful. Corbusier’s and later Richard Meier’s work inspired and continue to inspire me.
3. Solving my clients problems in a beautiful and artful way is what I get most excited about. Guiding my clients through the process so that they understand that function doesn’t have to be ugly or boring.
4. My greatest achievement in the profession has been my mentoring young architects when I worked for big firms and when I had an employee. Educating the people who are just out of school in the ways of the profession and real world design thinking has by far exceeded my own design achievements. Outside of the profession, seeing a dozen books published under my own name and three pen names has given me great satisfaction.
5. My greatest ambition in the profession is to get the opportunity to design a house from the ground up. My career has been spent adding on to, remodeling, and repairing existing buildings. I’ve only worked on one project which was a new building, and I was working for the architect of record, not the design architect, and didn’t join the team until Construction Administration. But I’ve only been working in architecture for 29 years. I still have hopes. Outside of the profession, I’d like to continue writing and build up the passive income so that I won’t have to keep working until I die.
1. How old were you when you decided to become an architect?
18, a senior in high school taking architectural drafting
2. Why did you choose to become an architect? What was your inspiration?
I thought “This could be fun”
3. What part of the profession most ignites your passion?
Designing. The mental process of working out solutions
4. What is your greatest achievement (within or outside the profession)?
Within -Been in the profession for 34 years (self employed for 27)
Outside – Great family
5. What is your greatest ambition (within or outside the profession)?
Within – To practice for another 27 years.
Outside – To practice for another 27 years (and spend more time with my lovely bride)
1. How old were you when you decided to become an architect?
I was 16 years old when I decided to be become an architect. In my second year at high school.
2. Why did you choose to become an architect? What was your inspiration?
I chose to become an architect because I loved both the physical sciences and art. It just seemed like a perfect fit for me that architecture is a subtle combination of science and art. I was the school magazine cartoonist I was inspired to follow this path by a talk from one of the architect who came to our high school when i was in my second year ( I was 16 years old )for a motivational talk on the profession as a whole..he had a nice car…
3. What part of the profession most ignites your passion?
Going to site to solve problems on the ground together with the rest of the design team, I love that collaboration.
4. What is your greatest achievement (within or outside the profession)?
Greatest achievement within the profession is working for a small firm where i get to do everything and learn how to handle all issues especially in running a successful firm.
Greatest achievement outside the profession is starting a family.
5. What is your greatest ambition (within or outside the profession)?
Greatest ambition within the profession is to start my own successful architectural firm and I am convinced that with mentors like Mark R.Le Page, I will be successful.
Greatest ambition outside the profession is to mentor kids by writing books and performing motivational talks..
1. How old were you when you decided to become an architect? 20, when I first saw student pin-ups at the Architecture School at UT Austin, and wanted to be an architecture student. This is after living with my aunt, an architect, for a year in Santiago, Chile. I decided to get my license when I was 33, before starting my firm.
2. Why did you choose to become an architect? What was your inspiration? I enjoy the process of designing spaces that impact lives for the better. I find inspiration in listening to others and visiting unassuming places.
3. What part of the profession most ignites your passion? Seeing the construction, especially the first week of framing!
4. What is your greatest achievement (within or outside the profession)? Marrying my husband. He is supportive, smart and a wonderful father.
5. What is your greatest ambition (within or outside the profession)? To leave a legacy. Homes that get passed on to the next generation, and stories that my kids will want to tell their kids.
. How old were you when you decided to become an architect?
I was 17yrs, when i had to choose my subject of study.
2. Why did you choose to become an architect? What was your inspiration?
I felt this is a profession where i can balance my family life and career,also i was impressed by the term creator. My inspiration was seeing the beautiful designed spaces which were close to nature.
3. What part of the profession most ignites your passion?
In listening to the dreams of the client and finally when i transfer that to reality. Get the high when the user feels satisfied.
4. What is your greatest achievement (within or outside the profession)?
My greatest acievement is to see the users of the space satisfied and when we were in architecture school we used to dream that one day even our projects should be featured in magazines, this got realised that was like pinching ourself moment. Awards also followed.
Outside profession is My family, 2 kids, Spiritual learnings, sharing my learnings through teaching, also Go to rural schools and tell instill a spark in them that thy can have a dream of growing big.
5. What is your greatest ambition (within or outside the profession)?
Love to see the spakle of dream in the eyes of the rural or less trodden children.
1. How old were you when you decided to become an architect?
16.
2. Why did you choose to become an architect? What was your inspiration?
Placed second the the Alaska AIA Student design competition
3. What part of the profession most ignites your passion?
turning space needs and dreams into custom architectural solutions that meet and exceed expectations through personal attention and a focus on details. (yea, that’s from our mission statement)
4. What is your greatest achievement (within or outside the profession)?
We rehabbed the exterior of at downtown Lewiston building and it has now become a landmark, use in City advertising and the logo background for Beautiful Downtown Lewiston (Main Street Business Cooperative)
5. What is your greatest ambition (within or outside the profession)?
To build my own house
1. How old were you when you decided to become an architect?
Without knowing how the first seed got planted in my head, I remember interviewing an architect for a school project when I was 12. After that project, I knew architecture was for me.
2. Why did you choose to become an architect? What was your inspiration?
Initially I wanted to be an architect because it allowed me to use my analytic and creative skills together. After finishing school, getting registered, and working for some time, I realized that I also enjoyed using architecture to help people achieve their goals.
3. What part of the profession most ignites your passion?
In whatever I do, I love to help people find the best way to accomplish tasks, solve problems, and bring ideas to life. Architecture lets me do this every day. There’s nothing better than to drive by a building that you created from a sketch or hearing from a client that you made their life better.
4. What is your greatest achievement (within or outside the profession)?
Being offered partial ownership in a firm at 28 years old.
5. What is your greatest ambition (within or outside the profession)?
To develop a unique firm structure that puts ‘life’ at equal status with ‘work’ and, of course, designing and building a home with my wife