Tag Archives: Happiness

“Is It Too Late to Start Pursuing Architecture Again?” (Q&A #7)

January 29, 2015 Aldo Leave a comment

Got an email last night from Erika, a young, driven former schoolmate who had to put her architecture dreams on hold due to migration to a different country. Now she has a number of questions that I’d gladly shed some light on. Let’s check out what she had to say.

Hey Aldo! :)

I came across your website just recently. It's really refreshing to know that a Filipino site like this exists!

As a fresh graduate and someone already exposed to the working environment in the corporate world of Architecture, I thought you might be able to give me a lot of perspective on things. If you have the time to go through this, it would help me significantly! I'm sorry this popped in so randomly. Any kind of insight would be great.

This might be long and a little confusing; I apologize in advance, huhu.

Hey there Erika! 🙂 So nice to know that you appreciate the site. It’s really been my goal to put some Philippine context in the myriad of architectural learning sites for students. I’d be glad to help; go on and tell me your story. Continue reading “Is It Too Late to Start Pursuing Architecture Again?” (Q&A #7) →

Formation, Principles

6 Simple Truths Incoming Architecture Freshmen Can Expect.

January 13, 2015 Aldo Leave a comment

1. You don’t NEED to be excellent at drawing.

Contrary to popular belief, rendering like a true artist is a non-essential part of being an architect.

Sure, it’s an impressive skill to have, but for the most part, being able to draw clearly is of higher worth. Sketching is very important for the thought and communication processes of architectural work – but the clarity of your drawings holds more weight than their flashiness.

2. You’ll be using computers to refine your work.

Sketching is great for fleshing out broad ideas and moves. But during the tail-ends of each design project, it’s more time-efficient to refine your work and do the final drawings with computer software. And so you might be dipping your toes into a myriad of programs that your local scene gravitate towards.

The best bang for your buck would be to learn a 2D Drafting Software (like AutoCAD), a 3D modelling software (like Sketchup and 3Ds Max), and a BIM Software (like ArchiCAD or Revit).

You might also like: The BIG 4: Aspects of Architectural Education You Just HAVE to Focus On. Continue reading 6 Simple Truths Incoming Architecture Freshmen Can Expect. →

Feature, Fitness, Health, Principles

The Breakfast Experiment: DOUBLE Your Morning Energy in 2 Easy Steps.

December 17, 2014 Aldo Leave a comment

The holidays are just around the corner, and many of us are giddy at the chance to finally unwind, relax, and let go of the stresses of the previous year.

I say, why not learn an easy but life-changing productivity hack these next lazy days?

With all the free time and lack of responsibility, it’s also the best time to rethink the loose baggage of your daily routine – in order to discover enlightening ways on how to perform exponentially better this 2015. Chances are, simple things you take for granted are holding you back bigtime.

Enter my BREAKFAST EXPERIMENT: an open challenge that I promise will be an excellent learning experience.

What’s in it for you?

A chance to know your body better, discover a life hack that is in-grained in our physiology, never be distracted by ravenous hunger and energy crashes in the late morning, and live everyday with a sense of well-being and stable emotions.

So what do you have to do?

This little challenge of mine involves you doing two easy, eye-opening steps. Continue reading The Breakfast Experiment: DOUBLE Your Morning Energy in 2 Easy Steps. →

Attitude, Principles

Why Wealth Is Not Evil, And Why You Should Get Rich.

December 16, 2014 Aldo 2 Comments

In the previous post entitled On Smaller Firms: Low Pay, But High Value? (Q&A#5), I first mentioned the issue of money in the architectural profession. In line with this, today, I thought I’d do a short, principle-based post on my position on wealth and getting rich.

***

I used to think money was evil.

Growing up, I developed into a bit of a societal-conscious little kid. I gravitated towards the spectrum of geek-dom; I’d watch news whilst my peers watched Gossip Girl; i’d read about human trafficking and geopolitics while my best friends read about cars and airsoft guns. Due to these habits, I ended up having a large soft spot for the less-fortunate and voiceless.

On the other end, I was enrolled in a top private school in the country’s capital. I was also personally exposed to the highly exuberant lifestyles of some of the Filipino Super-Elite. While I had many rich acquaintances who lived with societal consciousness, there were a number who really just lived large, spoiled, and insensitive to the plight of the poor.

Witnessing personally this enormous dichotomy, for a large part of my life, I was repulsed by the thought of being very wealthy. Continue reading Why Wealth Is Not Evil, And Why You Should Get Rich. →

Attitude, Formation, Principles

22 Simple Guidelines for the Successful Architecture Student

November 27, 2014 Aldo Leave a comment

"Victory is the child of preparation and determination". ~ Sean Hampton

Today, I thought I’d give a bit of a token piece for the new readers, for them to get an easy overview of all the topics Archi Student Help has covered in its first 50 pages or so.

From me to you, here’s a 22 point summary of the blog’s take-home points for young designers thus far, geared at helping you become your best self yet. If you find them helpful, please – feel free to share them with your friends.

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1. Discover early on what it really means to design. And in-grain it into your thinking.

2. Understand that the best take-home from every project isn’t a pretty rendering, but a more-informed design process.

3. Prioritize your health. Consider that life is a marathon and not a sprint.

4. Invest in your brain power. Integrate life-hacks into a comprehensive program to keep you revved like a well-tuned car.

5. Become process-oriented. It will make you happier, more consistent, and will give you solid self-worth. Continue reading 22 Simple Guidelines for the Successful Architecture Student →

Attitude, Blog Info - Q&A, Stories

The Start of Something New: A Short Story

November 20, 2014 Aldo Leave a comment

Adam was a tortured freshman in Archi-torture school.

The first semester of his 5-year long bachelor’s degree had just concluded, and as he slumped down in a dazed stupor on his dorm’s dusty couch, he couldn’t quite imagine himself surviving the next few terms.

It’s not as if he hadn’t expected that it would be difficult- it’s just that no one is really truly prepared for the new kind of work and endless projects that come in design school. He thought it would be hard – he didn’t know it would be hell.

“But don’t you guys just draw?”, his high school classmates would ask him when he showed up zombified during their first reunion. He wanted to flip the table – they didn’t understand. Heck, no one outside the circle of the design profession seemed to understand.

“Come on Adam, it’s just a night of drinks. Won’t it like, take you an hour to finish your drawing?”
“You’re just going to make a building pretty. Sounds easy enough”.
“Ooh, architecture. Is that…. like engineering?”
“How hard can it be?”
Continue reading The Start of Something New: A Short Story →

Attitude, Happiness, Principles

You Have Hope: Why It’s OKAY to be A Clueless Architecture Freshman

November 13, 2014 Aldo Leave a comment

You enter the halls of your Architecture School. This is it. This is what you’ve chosen for the next five or so years of your life. And you admittedly aren’t sure if you made the right decision.

Maybe you’ve never taken a single drafting course in your life. Or you aren’t versed in the architectural scene at all -You have no idea what Zahaha did, or how much did I.M. pay, or what kind of music comes out of a Renzo piano. Or you may have come from a long line of lawyers, bankers, or doctors in your family.

The bottom line is, your personal background hasn’t been the most conducive one in pursuing a design course. And for the most part, you don’t know what to expect – from the course, and from yourself.

The first few weeks of plates and exercises hits, and you feel as incompetent as ever. You don’t know where to begin in drafting a sheet, you always get the feeling that you’re not understanding things enough, and you have no idea if you’re even designing properly.

This is helplessness. This is incompetence. This is cluelessness.

If this describes you, I’m here to pat your back and tell you why you shouldn’t dwell on it, and that with a bit of passion, you’ll get over the wall. Continue reading You Have Hope: Why It’s OKAY to be A Clueless Architecture Freshman →

Fitness, Health, Principles

The Biggest Secret to Success: Take Care of Your Health

October 27, 2014 Aldo Leave a comment

Today’s post is going to be the cornerstone of all succeeding entries on how to stay healthy in architecture school and beyond. Think of it as my guiding belief on how to achieve success – “Life is a marathon, not a sprint – so it’s extremely important to take care of your health”.

Are you setting yourself up for long-term failure by trying to achieve everything today?

I’ve been there, friends. For some time, I was a chronic workaholic myself – and then I smartened up.

For us young people who are still full of the vigor of life, we sometimes feel indestructible. This is especially true for many a gifted achiever who constantly seeks their next youthful success.

We take pride in our perceived resilience – so we brag about our week long all-nighters in getting a project done, inject ourselves into the roster of a number of councils and movements, and feel shaky and useless when our hands aren’t tied by new projects.

So what of exercise and sleep? Enter the commonly used maxim “Ain’t nobody got time for dat!”

There’s nothing wrong with being driven and wanting to pursue a meaningful youth, but once your health starts to suffer on a habitual basis, you’ve reached a point where you might be actually compromising your long-term well-being. Continue reading The Biggest Secret to Success: Take Care of Your Health →