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Architect's Confessions Made Anonymously

Architect's Confessions Made Anonymously

Use the form to make your anonymous confession, read others confessions (numbered and updated regularly) under the form. Confessions are also posted on a dedicated Facebook Page.

Most recent confessions:

#96 I am surrounded by lazy and uninspired Architects. They just want to recycle the same details and design elements across all our clients. It is soul crushing and I feel bad for our clients that are paying us good money. 

#95 It's a bit disheartening to hear that some of my peers only care about how cool a building looks. Architecture is much more DEEPER than that. It's not about designing some crazy façade.

#94 Can some people be constantly good at every design or is it just stereotypes and favoritism?

#93 I wish architect’s competency will stop being put at doubt by clients or general public, as well as the money we need to be paid for the job we’re doing. No one involves when a doctor or a lawyer are doing their work. They are just being paid without hesitation or other unnecessary questions. And we do study our profession as much as they do. 

#92 Architecture is largely pretentious and unobtainable to the people that need it most.

#91 In Architecture, you always have to think ahead to be prepared for whatever changes a professor will make to your submission.

#90 I hate that we ourselves romanticize suffering for our work.

#89 I hate networking!!! I don’t mind the workload, but I hate the fact that zero networking means zero opportunities! I wanna cry...

#88 
I have been working on my thesis for over a year and I'm far from finishing it.

#87 
It is so hard to be creative on demand. That is why most of my school work looks rushed or unfinished. 

#86 
Professors who give a lot of boundaries for students and make them stick to their own rules during studio classes are really (with the full respect) fruitless professors who kill the students imagination in a very awful way.

#85 
Architecture had sucked the life of of me.

#84 
I’m a second year student who’s required to submit a project that an architect with 10 years of experience would.

#83 
Only Architects are so passionate about design unlike the clients.

#82 
Yes I’m an architect. No. I don’t want to build houses.

#81 
I’m tired of this competitive and elitist environment.

#80 
I’ve never been on top of the class and that makes me feel that all my projects suck.

#79 
Some architecture professors are overpaid, incompetent, who are so useless at their job, that the moment s**t hits fan, they blame all their hardworking students for doing badly, instead of taking responsibility for doing a trashy job! 

#78 
Designing brings so much anxiety into my life and I hate that my teachers want everybody to be really good at it, yet they never let us explore new possibilities.

#77 
I want to design and build for the homeless and underprivileged not for the rich and influential. 

#76 
There needs to be more diversity in this field. I hardly see any ethnic architects and they aren’t even taught in the curriculum which is sad. 

#75 
There needs to be more awareness of the role of an architect in society. We design the spaces people reside and work in. We need to be acknowledged just like lawyers, doctors & engineers. 

#74 
Procrastination is very real with this degree. I struggle with it so much and I don’t know how to cope. I don’t even want to procrastinate and it’s the reason my models and work aren't as great.

#73 
I hate how professors have inflated egos just by making commercial apartments and then entering the teaching profession like they've received Pritzker.

#72 
I feel like my course is so euro-centric. I don’t understand why they don’t discuss more places.

#71
 Architects take themselves too seriously. We are not that important.

#70 Architecture is under valuated by architects. Using the latest software and making "cool" designs are two toxic activities and ultimately can be made by anyone without an architecture background. 

#69 Architectural "theory" is bullshit.

#68 I love every positive and negative points in architecture, except the concrete minded lecturers.

#67 Life of an architecture student is a total bull****. You don't get appreciated for your work even if it's good. If you want to get recognized in college, you have to lick teachers' boot.

#66 I hate the stereotypical "architect", obsessing over wearing black, lives for the long hours, thinks too highly of themselves and lets everyone know it. Shout out to those who love a splash of color, humility, taking the nontraditional career route, and those who give equal time to their families.

#65 I love architecture but also my family. The way we are compensated is forcing me to look at other industries. 

#64 Literally 100 percent of my graduating class is a sell-out now. Can’t have a future/family working at minimum wages.

#63
 When tutors say they understand while constantly criticizing ruthlessly and making me self-doubt so much that my creativity and self-esteem just stoop to the lowest.

#62 There are entirely too many architecture schools. Most of them need to be shut down, as they produce crappy professionals.

#61 Stop bashing architects by saying stop whining. We love architecture, but everyone knows it’s toxic.


#60 It is quite depressing to be constantly compared and criticized, even though that is part of the architecture pedagogy.

#59 Running an architect office doesn’t work without ripping off graduates because fees aren’t high to begin with.

#58 Working on my final work in the university in a state of existential dread.

#57 WE MUST NORMALISE HAVING HEALTHY LIFESTYLES AND WORK-LIFE BALANCE. "You can sleep when you're dead", but what's the use if you live until 40 and the quality of life is shit? Hustle culture is a sham. 

#56 All years of studies so hard and the all sleepless nights go to trash when you are a newly graduate architect and see job advertisements with at least 10 years of experience.

#55 There’s much more to architecture than what they teach us in school. 

#54 
I hate super realistic renders.

#53 I wish professors would appreciate us at least once, at least for trying hard.

#52 Except "ARCH." in front of your name, nothing good will come out of doing architecture.

#51 Behind all the glitter are frustrated individuals and teams who have no life and are unhappy. There needs to be regulated pay and hours... But on the bright side, we are changing environment and lives. The only positive takeaway!

#50 I love being criticized by professors. At the very least, you learn something you probably missed.

#49 I don't want to be an architect. I don't have any passion for it. Only studied because of circumstances.

#48 The amount of time spent doing something is minimal compared to the time spent being frustrated at it.

#47
 Indecisiveness early on and even far into the design process is hindering and deliberating. Constantly plagued by what ifs. 

#46 I busted my *** out this studio and everyone told me I did good. Even the TAs, but the professor chose to give me a bad grade... I lost all my passion even though I believed so much in my design.

#45 I saw someone say that architects should stop whining because we knew what we’re getting ourselves into. That’s such a flawed way of thinking, one should enjoy what they are doing and be happy doing. We have to if we’re designing for people.

#44 I think architects are full of ego and always try to romanticize designs to make them seem better. The project will speak for itself, stop being so insecure.

#43 I hate my class. Everyone is a cheat, no one cares about originality, even not the professors.

#42 I hate my architecture school. They teach everything related to architecture, but they don't give a **** about the design itself.

#41 I am an architect. I hate all other architects. Even my architect friends.

#40 
I just want to afford my taste as an architect! 

#39 
I hate urbanization. There's so much peace in the past, the traditional architecture. People were happier. Happiness should be the ultimate goal of anything. Even of architecture. Yes. 

#38 
I hate how the architecture world gravitates around competitions, prizes and prestige, even for small firms. It looks more like a fashion celebrity show than something serious.

#37 I am a new graduate and I am so scared of the future in the profession, can we live from architecture?

#36 I suck at software and I hate it.

#35 
I hate how after you have presented at final review not sleep for weeks the professors only want to tear apart your design and ask questions they know you will not have the answers to.

#34 
The professors must want to see how many days we can go without sleep.

#33 
I love Brutalism. I love the look and feel of raw concrete. I long to work towards saving and retro-fitting Brutalist buildings to meet new green energy standards. I am ridiculed for this all the time.

#32
Honestly I hate the designing part of each new project so much, I struggle hard to find new, innovative solutions and to come up with something original. I get a lot of self doubts in that phase... But I really love visualizing and rendering projects!

#31 I’m amazed how there are so many good architects in my country, but sidewalks/ pedestrian lanes are nonexistent.

#30 Too much focus is put on starchitects. Architecture is for people! I can't remember the last time starchitects were honored because they made a great livings pace. Don't forget: even if you make one design, make sure people enjoy it a lifetime!

#29 I wish architects would stop whining. You know what was involved when you signed up... Love what you do and put every piece of passion into designing a better future. Remember why you started... We can sleep when we're dead.

#28 Its not right, the way they treat young architects in India like a cheap labor...

#27 Whenever I look forward to a subject I get a professor for it who makes me unmotivated.

#26 I was told at my junior year that I will absolutely fail architecture school because I'm not good at drawing.

#25 Always the same students get the highest grades, I don’t know if professors build a stereotype or someone can be good at everything all the time...

#24 These posts are scaring me as a architectural student...

#23 I always start the year very motivated, by the time of final reviews I feel overwhelmed and depressed...

#22 I've always met architects and felt like they were so down on energy, enthusiasm and optimism. Coming to architecture college has explained now what happened to their vigor.

#21 It’s really hard to make a living from architecture that you pursue with passion.

#20 Students in younger years that are already consistently doing all nighters for their course work are burning themselves out.

#19 I hate Le Corbusier and his work... So overrated and he wasn’t even an architect!

#18 Studio culture is so toxic. We have to stop praising this culture of "The busier you are, the better". Sleeping is good, a healthy work life balance is good, and very essential to mental health.

#17 Architecture is so wonderful until you find architects that make you feel like trash on purpose and want you to work 24/7 with a minimum wage.

#16 I completely suck at AutoCAD and using software and don’t know how I’ll graduate at this point.

#15 Taking architecture feels like choosing a life full of anxiety where you get no time to do anything apart from that.

#14 I wish I had chosen a job with a better work/ life balance.

#13 I hate it when firms don't use BIM and do everything in CAD, I feel like they waste my time and also their own.

#12 I just don’t get why architects are still not working from home like any other computer based job.

#11 No matter how many sleepless nights you spend on your work, it'll still belong in the trash, that's the only thing our professors have taught us in 5 years. 

#10 I hate being an architect. Almost feels like a trap.

#9 We've been told multiple times by our faculty that they don't care if we don't sleep, but want our submission on time, because they know that the amount of work and time don't match.
 
#8 I hate manual drawing with rulers and tools.

#7 Every time I close my eyes I see the AutoCAD interface.

#6 I don't remember when I slept...

#5 I wish architects/ designers would be appreciated as much as healthcare professionals.

4# I should have studied engineering.

#3 I love architecture.

#2 Concrete is aesthetically pleasing but not good for people.

#1 I was a free spirit, so motivated! They made me feel like I would never be a good architect... Today I've been top of class for three times, it's fulfilling, but I can't find my enthusiasm.

Yes, some confessions may seem confusing and stressful, but remember that we have a Free Products Section to get you into a better mood 😉. Check it out here.

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