What is Architecture?
Architecture is the imaginative blend of art and science in the design of environments for people. Decision-making, team leadership, and creativity are key elements of making architecture, and there is tremendous excitement in seeing a design idea become a physical reality.

What do Architects do?
People need places in which to live, work, play, learn, worship, meet, govern, shop, eat: private and public spaces, indoors and out; rooms, buildings, and complexes; neighborhoods and towns, suburbs and cities. Architects -- professionals trained in the art and science of building design and licensed to protect public health, safety and welfare -- transform these needs into concepts and then develop the concepts into building images that can be constructed by others.

In doing so, architects communicate between and assist those who have needs -- clients, users, the public as a whole - and those who will make the spaces that satisfy those needs -- builders and contractors, plumbers and painters, carpenters, and air conditioning mechanics.

Whether the project is a room or a city, a new building or the renovation of an old one, architects provide the professional services -- ideas and insights, design and technical knowledge, drawings and specifications, administration, coordination, and informed decision-making -- that balance an extraordinary range of functional, aesthetic, technological economic, human, environmental, and safety factors, into a coherent and appropriate solution for the needs at hand.

Preparation to Become an Architect?
If you are interested in a career as an architect, it is best to begin early. Your own environment -- at home, in school, and in your community -- is a good laboratory for study. By learning to ÒseeÓ buildings, spaces, and their relationships, you will become sensitive to things that concern architects. Notice the effects of color, texture, light, and shape -- the ÒtoolsÓ of architecture -- and consider how spaces and places ÒfeelÓ when you are in them. Analyze your positive and negative reactions and see if you can connect them to design elements. Look for rhythm and pattern, simplicity and ornament, old and new in your environment, and notice the variety in your community. Think about the values expressed in the design of your house, school, and city hall.

When in high school, you should plan a college preparatory program strong in English, history, social studies, mathematics, physics, and foreign languages. If you can, add courses in business and computer science. It may surprise you to know that freehand drawing skills will be more useful to you than drafting ability.

Students are encouraged to visit the design studios of a school of architecture, tour the offices of a local firm and read books and magazines on architecture to gain a broad understanding of the nature of an architectÕs work and the values of the profession. Many schools of architecture offer summer programs for high school students.

Architectural Education
Because most state architectural licensing boards require a professional degree, you should pursue the first professional degree accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB).

The most common first-professional degree programs are the five-year (undergraduate) Bachelor of Architecture and the six-year (undergraduate/graduate) Master of Architecture. Many students also prepare for a career in architecture with a four-year (undergraduate) liberal arts degree followed by a three- to four-year (graduate) Master of Architecture.

An architecture curriculum is intensive and demanding, often requiring many hours of late-night effort. Design studio -- individual work guided by frequent review with a professor -- and lecture and laboratory courses in engineering, technology, history, planning, and the environment will be combined with studies outside the professional curriculum. Many programs culminate in a year long design thesis project.

Internship Examination and Licensure
In order to be called an architect, it is necessary to be licensed in the state in which you will work. Most states will require you to have an NAAB-accredited first-professional degree to have completed an internship period -- typically three years -- in an architecture firm. All states require applicants to pass a rigorous, eight-part architect registration examination (ARE).