As long as I can remember I always had a fascination with cartography and graphic design, three-dimensional puzzles, lego, lincoln logs, etc. I was blessed with the ability to sketch and create detailed copies of still images with a good degree of accuracy, and did a lot of it - somewhere around 6th grade my mother looked at my sketchbooks and said "you should be an architect". Didn't know what that entailed exactly at the time, but I was able to obtain the Architecture merit badge in Boy Scouts (yep, they have one), then got hold of copies of Architectural Record at my local library in the mid-70's and became quite enamored with what I was seeing - couldn't get enough, in fact. That's when I knew I was hooked.
So I'd day, officially, I was about 13 years old when I "committed", but have to say I've always felt called !
David Barger Architects, Inc.
Original Message:
Sent: 07-19-2016 15:56
From: Steven Christopher
Subject: How young were you when you decided to be an Architect?
Wow, sure brought up a few memories. Several years back I participated in career day presentations for High School students. I did this for about 5 or 6 years, and always identified 4th grade as the year I knew I wanted to be an architect. My art teacher allowed us to choose the medium and complexity of an art project. I drew a house plan, and built a model from poster board and Elmer's glue. My mom was not very happy about the wall to wall carpet choice for my model (I had cut up our wash cloths!).
Rethinking that timeline though, I was probably first influenced by the Lincoln Log set and my grandfather's house, who ironically grew up in Oak Park during FLW's time there. I may have been as young as 4 or 5, and that's all I would play with. Jumping ahead to 6th or 7th grade when my grandmother moved in with us, I received my first drafting table (which I still have!). She was a model turned artist (she was the "modern" swimsuit model for Coca Cola's infamous 50th anniversary campaign of 1936). She influenced my interest in sketching, drawing, interest in color, etc.
Like many others have said, I was always fascinated by construction sites as well, and also built things from scrap materials I'd find on sites or elsewhere. My dad was lenient with his tools as well, and of course exposed me to many hands on projects, being the jack of all trades that he is. During high school, I took every drafting class, even becoming a mentor to others, and assisting the teacher with grading papers. But I knew from my dad's hard work, that I'd be a better architect if I understood how to build, and how things work in general. So in addition to calculus, physics and art, I took wood and metal shop, welding, basic industrial arts.
I realize this is maybe not a normal process for young people to follow a career path this soon and intensively, but it's my story!
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Steven Christopher AIA
Past Component President
State Farm Insurance Companies
Bloomington IL
Original Message:
Sent: 07-11-2016 20:54
From: William Devlin
Subject: How young were you when you decided to be an Architect?
Hello All
Recently, we were discussing ages of slowing down, or even "retiring" (yipe!). Finally, it occurred to me that I've noticed that Architects "start young", like I did. So, folks, any stories?
I'll start...
For a few years, I pondered being a naturalist (bombing-around the Everglades in a fan-boat, a-la Disney movies, + long-term catching frogs, turtles, snakes, etc.), or an Architect, after drawing sketches, building models, hanging-around at the new houses being built nearby, etc. Finally, it hit me; I was gonna be an Architect !
That was 5th grade.
Maybe 20 years ago, I started asking Architects about age-of-decision, and yeah, I get some pretty-young ages! Now, when people ask me for guidance / suggestions ("My son / daughter wants to be an Architect."), my first question is about the age at which the decision was made.
And maybe I'm dreaming, but I'm convinced that the younger the age, the more solid the commitment. At times, I've even suggested that "Architect" is NOT just something fancy-sounding, to be picked-off a list for a college application, etc.
Any thoughts on this?
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William J. Devlin, AIA
william j. devlin, aia, inc.,
ARCHITECT
Springfield, MA
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