Architect in the Making

Thank God it's Sunday!

Exhausted. Weary. Tired. Words that may as well describe my days from Thursday to Saturday last week cramming over my Design plate (Recreational Center and Internet Cafe). I will never forget this experience that led me into a conclusion that BS Architecture really is BS Architorture! Torture not in the sense of dragging yourself over something you don't want to do, but torture in the ironic sense of 'come hell or high water', you really have to sacrifice a lot of time, sweat and sleep, dramatically pushing yourself over this delicate passion, or quoting from one of my professors, a lifestyle.

Yup. Being an architect is not just a profession. It is continuous process of learning and development. A lifestyle. A statement that sends me bits of inspiration to continue on my chosen process of growth, and as well as shivers for the uncertainty of what my future has in store for me.

Below are some of my personal Dos and Don'ts of drafting. Some personal lessons (of I'm not sure) I learned from this weeks cram.

Do Make a table of your tasks to monitor your accomplishments and to budget your time wisely.

Do Take short 10-minute breaks to stretch, to go to the bathroom or to take some snack. Working straight from the moment you wake up until 3 in the morning of the next day is not really healthy. Have a break, have a Kitkat.

Do Make yourself comfortable or make your workplace conducive to long hours of drafting so as not to get bored. You may open the radio to stimulate your mind or sing while you draw. Have an electric fan at your feet to prevent mosquitoes from feasting on your legs.

Do Have a decent drafting table to work with. Never be content on an improvised stomach-high wooden furniture with a flat surface as your table if you don't want your feet sore from standing all day or your sleep interrupted by an excruciating leg cramp.

Don't sacrifice your lunch so as not to be late on your 1pm class. You may prefer to have your lunch early or end up stuffing yourself with an indecent meal of junk/street food at around 5:30pm.

Do Be alert and ready. Anything can happen on your way to school. Always carry an umbrella just in case a sudden freak heavy downpour happen a few steps after you got off from your doorstep(that's exactly what happened to me) And yes, a tracing tube that will protect your precious design plate from getting wet.

And lastly (okay, you can now ignore my last 6 ranting), Do plan ahead and start early so you'll never have to cram at all.

I know its lame. But either way, it's more of a lesson for me and not really for other architecture students out there. It’s just a small reminder of not doing the same mistakes again.

Well, the finished product turned out really great. Am very proud that I finished early enough to make a few adjustments in the rendering of my perspective though I have to admit that my proposed plan wasn't really that perfect. I made a mistake in my space programming in the early stage of my research that I decided never to mention in this post because it was down-right stupid and shameful. But it's okay. I'm a student and this early stage of learning is the right time to make mistakes because it is in those stupid things I did I learn how to make things right.

After that one heck of a week I had, I'm very much happy to relax this weekend. For today, I'm only planning to soak under the warmth of the morning sun as I make my way through my newspaper route I retired from for a week, play with our kittens and dogs and read the Sunday paper. The rest will spontaneously unfold in front me.