Illinois Institute of Technology - College of Architecture

Ever wondered what going to architecture was really like? There are a lot of stories about going to architecture school – the long hours, the absolute dedication, the commitment needed to complete the program … and guess what? They are all true but that doesn’t mean that if you are thinking about going to architecture school that you should avoid it.

I get more emails from people considering going to architecture school than I deserve, I suppose I’m lucky that way. You might think that they are all from potential students but it turns out that a fairly high percentage of them are from the parents. Since I have been removed from the academic environment for more than 20 years (going back for juries or design crits don’t count) that I thought I would at least put together some posts that illustrate the culture behind architecture school – the good, the bad, and the awesome. I have an open call to anyone who is willing to participate by submitting images of your architecture program. The idea of this really came from the time I have spent as the Committee chair of the Digital Communications Committee for the Texas Society of Architects. One of their most visited page relates to architecture schools but if you actually visit those pages, you’ll realize that they aren’t very helpful.

All of that changes today as I run the first of what I hope will be several posts on architecture school and the culture that surrounds each program. Since I didn’t attend these schools it’s really difficult to show culture – that’s why I am asking current students to send in pictures of their architecture school – something that future students can take a look at and get a feel of the spirit, the camaraderie, and the atmosphere that exists within today’s architecture programs.

First up … Illinois Institute of Technology College of Architecture.

Illinois Institute of Technology: College of Architecture student displays during the first annual MCHAP (Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize) event

Illinois Institute of Technology: 4^th Year Studio second home

Illinois Institute of Technology: SR Crown Hall sunrise

Illinois Institute of Technology: 4^th Year Studio

Illinois Institute of Technology: 3^rd Year midterm reviews

Illinois Institute of Technology: SR Crown Hall just after sunset, during midterm reviews

Illinois Institute of Technology: SR Crown Hall just after sunset

Illinois Institute of Technology: 3^rd Year studio, aftermath of midterm reviews

Illinois Institute of Technology: Cloud Studio

Illinois Institute of Technology: MCHAP (Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize) Round Table

Illinois Institute of Technology: MCHAP All-COA student social in Shop

IIT Alumni & other guests viewing the MCHAP awards from behind the panel.

Illinois Institute of Technology: MCHAP Lunch Break on SR Crown Hall steps

Illinois Institute of Technology: MCHAP Lunch Break on SR Crown Hall Steps

Illinois Institute of Technology: SR Crown Hall just after sunset

Illinois Institute of Technology:3^rd Year studio

I’d like to thank IIT student Taylor Schaub for helping me assemble today’s post. Obviously I am not at IIT and she was gracious enough to be the first person to respond to my call for images of architecture schools and culture.

This is the first post in what I hope become a recurring series here on Life of an Architect. I really do want to show other people what exactly goes on in architecture school … and if you are currently going to architecture school (or work at/for an architecture school) I’m talking to you. I plan on posting pictures from any and every school of architecture that people care to submit. If you would like to have your school “featured” this is my plan:

Send me between 10 and 20 photos from your school of architecture. These need to be 300 dpi and for the love of Le Corbusier, in focus and if you are savvy enough to make them 600 pixels wide, I will make a karma deposit for you in ‘Bob’s Bank of Awesomeness’.
Include a short description of what we are looking at in the photo. Remember that most of the people who will be reading this post don’t know anything about your school.
These pictures should show a variety of student life in an around the studio. I think it would be a good idea to take a picture of a pin-up crit session but it should be generic in nature – not focused on a specific project.
Because I am an upbeat guy (most of the time) I would prefer the pictures to be upbeat in nature. That means I would rather have a group photo of people smiling over a picture of someone who has cut their hand with an X-acto knife. Are there social events that take place in your school? That’s the sort of thing I am talking about showing.
It would be nice to include a picture of your actual architecture school building – something that identifies it as whatever school it happens to be. I regret not having done this for the University of Maryland.
Think of the photos you send in as part of your design curriculum. While I know you (most likely) are not a professional photographer, you stand a better chance of getting your school featured if the pictures look good and were tastefully – if not artfully – composed.
Make sure that you tell me the names of any people who want to get labeled in the pictures. I am going to assume that everyone who shows up in any of the submitted photos has given you their permission. If someone contacts me and lets me know that they don’t want some picture they’re in on my website, the picture is coming down.
While you are assembling your images, the overriding strategy for image selection should be this: think of what someone who is thinking about visiting your school would like to see – what is the culture of the architecture program, and what is studio like … pretty simple. In short – what makes your school so awesome.
If you would like to participate and send in pictures of your school, send me an email letting me know – bob [at] lifeofanarchitect.com

I am excited to see what everyone’s architecture studio looks like, let’s get this going!

Cheers,