I should list my dislikes of the profession of architecture to finish off my frame of reference.
-
Project time frames are too long for me to remain interested throughout the length of the project. the creative side is a small fraction of the entire project. Typically we are designing in the creative sense for only a few weeks. after that, we are manipulating the original design for the next 6-12 months and then working on the construction for typically the next 6-24 months after that.
-
Architects never seem to retire. This limits the upward movement within the profession. Unless you get lucky and one of the owners of a firm makes you their chosen heir then upward movement is extremely limited in small-mid sized firms.
-
We are typically over educated and under utilized. The structure of the architecture profession is completely backwards. Masters level designers are doing the work that someone with a 2-year drafting degree is qualified to do.
-
The majority of the owners we work with want just a functional design and nothing really creative. The divide between what you think you will be doing in school to the real world practice of architecture is tremendous.
-
I miss prototyping concepts and getting my hands dirty. Real world constraints typically don’t allow this to happen.
I’m sure there are other things that I’m forgetting. But this should give you a start to my viewpoint.