This is the fourth video in a five part series called Could you be an architect? In the last
3 videos I said that there are four simple questions you should answer if youre thinking
about architecture as a profession. The fourth question is Are you creative? That is, are
you inventive, imaginative and good at coming up with ideas in your mind. By the time your
ready for college you should already have an idea as to whether or not you are good
at this. However, contrary to popular thought being creative is not the same thing as being
a good designer. Design involves problem solving and that is something you should be learning
in higher education. When it comes to architecture, Problem solving is about taking an idea and
turning it into something real, like a building. Problem solving involves working through every
aspect of a particular challenge through research, sketching, drawing and other modes of expression.
Problem Solving will generate even more ideas that one will eventually coalesce into a real
thing. And thats Design. You should come to school being somewhat creative, but you dont
have to be proficient at Design. All that said, the reality is that architects are not
creative all day long, in fact what they really do is a lot of problem solving. Among many
tasks the architect is asked to, design a better detail, fix this contract, make the
bathroom work, find a better material, talk to the contractor, settle this dispute, make
changes to drawings and specification, etc. In fact, The job of an architect can be like
many other professions. Long hours, lots of stress, headaches that dont seem to go away
& long stretches of monotonous work. So, being creative is one part of the education & job
of an architect but when the rubber meets the road its about a lot more. See you for
part 5.
