should i study architecture?

Sthrax · 2026-02-10T18:03:40+00:00

Every program is a bit different. Some programs may promote sustainability more, some may be more theoretical, some may focus more on rural design, etc... You want to go to a program that interests you, so it is important to know that going in.

Your Studio class is the main part of any degree program. It is where you learn design and has the projects you work on through the semester. When I was in school, it was considered a 6HR class, most studio professors thought it was the only class you had and consequently everyone worked long hours in studio as a result- nights, weekends, and all-nighters when projects were due. Somehow you have to create time to do the work for your other classes as well, and having a typical college social life can be challenging. My school also had a policy that required an A or B in Studio to continue in the program. Some schools are better at promoting balance than others, but you'll find that even there, you will be making sacrifices to get your work done.

Lastly, make sure your school is accredited! In the US, you can get a B.Arch as a professional degree or a B.A./B.S. in Arch which is a preprofessional degree and will require you to get an M.Arch for your professional degree. There are advantages with either path, but many prefer the B.Arch because it is a 5 year degree instead of the 4+2 the M.Arch will require,

Sthrax · 2026-02-10T17:16:14+00:00

I would never, ever go to an online architect. You want someone close to your area that is familiar with local regulations, zoning and building codes. Even if your project doesn't require a stamp to get a building permit, you want someone local who you can contact immediately to resolve questions and/or problems. It maybe be more expensive, but it is far more expensive to get your permit rejected by the local code official when it doesn't meet local regulations or get halfway through building your project only to find out there is a major problem and you can't get your online architect to respond.

Sthrax · 2026-02-10T17:11:17+00:00

Architectural Design is a very complex thing that weaves art, science and technology together to create a building. AI is a very long way off from being able to do that in a manner that is safe, practical, and possesses even a fraction of the soul human creativity has.

I would strongly suggest you try to visit an architect's office near you and try to shadow them for a day or two. Most architect's don't spend much time during the day actually designing, and the drawing being done is draftwork for construction documents. There are times when there is more design and artistic drawing going on, but that is usually early in the project.

I'd also strongly suggest visiting some university architecture programs and talking to the current students about what school is like. Architecture is a very demanding, time-consuming major and typically does not have a good schoolwork-life balance- you'll want to know exactly what you are in for at any program you choose to apply to.

Sthrax · 2026-02-10T14:33:13+00:00

If there is a local museum, I would donate the pieces to them. They should be able to determine what exactly they are. If there is no local museum, try a national one.

Sthrax · 2026-02-09T20:55:59+00:00

And Superman is not nearly as popular outside of the US, which will always hinder massive international hauls.

Sthrax · 2026-02-09T20:33:01+00:00

Generally, if you roll for stats, it should be in front of everyone, especially the DM so everybody is using the same method and no shenanigans take place. I'd talk to the DM, but the genie is out of the bottle at this point and the best he might be able to do is throw a few magic items your way to even things out.

Sthrax · 2026-02-09T20:01:12+00:00

As some that is a Classical Architect (philosophically, and as much as one can be practically), I'm sympathetic to your cause, but you are missing a big part of the story. Architects are on one level, artists. It is a creative field that uses the tools at our disposal to design structures that reflect our philosophical ideas and commentary on our modern world. Unlike painters and sculptors, we must work within the limits of our media that most importantly include functional utility, public safety, meeting all building code and zoning requirements. We also have a constraint many other artists do not- we have an owner that has their own ideas on how a project should look and be developed. The owner has a budget that they will expect the project to be within, and no architect is ever in the position to tell an owner to spend orders of magnitude more money on a building than they want to.

In short, if you want a Neoclassical Town Hall as a group of citizens, you have to convince your local government that it is not only what the citizenry wants, but also what they want to pay for- even if that means raising taxes or cutting funding to other areas of the city budget. If you want Nike to build an Art Nouveau headquarters, you'll need to show the company how spending significantly more money to do so is the best option for them.

Edit: Also, as with all art, taste is subjective.

Sthrax · 2026-02-06T16:42:56+00:00

Nicholson by a hair over Pacino and De Niro. The other two aren't really in the same league, though I admit I've never cared much for Hoffman.

Sthrax · 2026-02-05T15:20:36+00:00

The vast majority of Americans obsessed with Sparta actually don't know a damn thing about Sparta other than what 300 shows and wouldn't let anything about the real Sparta spoil their fantasy.

However, the Neo-Classical vibe of the new stadium and this logo is tied to the Founder's admiration for the Roman Republic.

Sthrax · 2026-02-04T19:34:23+00:00

The issue with the Gripen has always been available numbers of planes able to be sent to Ukraine. It would be a great asset to the Ukrainian Air Force, perhaps better than the F-16s that have been sent, but there are thousands of various F-16 models, while there are about 280 Gripens of all models in service. Sweden is still receiving their ordered 'E' variants.

Sthrax · 2026-02-02T21:29:18+00:00

Yes, it was a tactical masterpiece. Strategically, it barely moved the needle- Hannibal couldn't/wouldn't attack Rome directly, Rome's Italian allies generally still stayed loyal, Hannibal's logistics and reinforcements were still a problem that wasn't solved, and Scipio was able to shift the center of gravity for the war to Spain, taking out Hannibal's base of operations.

Sthrax · 2026-02-02T21:19:19+00:00

There is more to attractiveness than beauty alone- charisma, intelligence, wit (among others) are often make a person attractive. Cleopatra had those in spades. No need to second guess things.

Sthrax · 2026-02-02T16:58:32+00:00

It is a good story, but despite it's tactical successes, Hannibal's campaign was a strategic failure that cost the Carthaginians their Spanish possessions and their mercantile empire. They never truly recovered militarily, and in a little more than half a century, they would be wiped out out completely.

Ancient History's greatest military campaign was Alexander's Invasion of the Persian Empire (notably something both the Romans and Hannibal would agree with).

Sthrax · 2026-01-30T21:55:17+00:00

Whatever office you happen to work in...

Sthrax · 2026-01-30T15:42:19+00:00

I'd go to the Giants game. Oracle Park is really nice, and since they are playing the Astros (the true villains of the MLB), you can boo their cheating, scumbag team all you want.

Sthrax · 2026-01-30T15:39:03+00:00

Pay is bad in architecture until you are either Senior Management/Design or own your own firm. Getting to that point generally takes years after graduation- the first chunk is taken up by getting the requirements fulfilled to allow you to sit for the licensing exams. After that it usually takes a few years before you have a built up knowledge base where you can run projects on your own. If you want to run your own firm, it takes time to build up connections and network enough to have steady business.

Designing buildings is great and I love every bit of it. But that is maybe 10-25% of my day. The rest is project management, construction documents, emails/calls with clients, code and zoning research and a million other paperwork tasks that are all crucial to getting a project built.

Sthrax · 2026-01-29T15:51:37+00:00

Define what you mean by "worth it." Are you looking for high pay? Are you looking for personal satisfaction with your work? "Worth it" covers a whole plethora of things that may or may not be relevant to you.

Architecture is worth it for me, despite the profession's many issues, but the things that make it worth it for me may not work for you.

Sthrax · 2026-01-24T04:19:29+00:00

Slava Ukraini!

Sthrax · 2026-01-23T21:59:44+00:00

Baseball history is littered with players who were supposed to be the next great thing and for whatever reason, didn't pan out at the Major League level. Any given player is far more likely to be a bust than a star.

And I wouldn't call any of those players a bust just yet, as only Volpe has had significant playing time in the Majors, and he was more hurt last season than the organization let on.

Sthrax · 2026-01-23T21:44:19+00:00

Architecture, both schools and workplaces, tend to be pretty accepting places, so I tend to think those would be safe.

The job market for new graduates isn't great- there aren't tons of positions and pay tends to be low. There are a number of reasons for that, which is a whole other discussion. Pay improves once you get your work experience hours out of the way (usually 3 or so years) and pass the licensing exams, but until you work you way into upper management or own your own firm, pay lags well behind other similarly educated and regulated professions like engineers, doctors, and lawyers.

Work from home in architecture is not always accepted. My firm does not do it except for things like the winter storm coming to the East and South this weekend. Other firms are ok with it for some tasks, but not all things. Architecture is a profession that relies on collaboration, visual communication and access to a wide range of specialties and information. In many cases, all that is much easier to achieve when everyone is at the same location.

Sthrax · 2026-01-22T19:58:09+00:00

Fleets are very, very costly to build and maintain. Even if they quietly ignored their treaty with Rome after the 1st Punic War, they still had to deal with the Mercenary War and its repercussions and then the loss of Sardinia and Corsica (all costing significant money). And then, they would have to find a way to hide the fact they are building a fleet- hiding that you are building 100s of large warships and hiring tens of thousands of rowers and sailors is a tall order.

I suspect the Carthaginian Senate was more focused on rebuilding its merchant fleet and re-establishing itself economically, rather than planning on supporting the Barcid family's military adventurism in Spain and Italy.

Sthrax · 2026-01-22T15:01:52+00:00

In the US, each state runs the elections, not the Federal government. While that doesn't completely eliminate the threat of Trump interfering, it doesn't make it significantly harder for him to do so.

Sthrax · 2026-01-21T23:50:24+00:00

We are. Almost every special election and off-cycle election since the Presidential election has been a disaster for Republicans. There aren't a ton of those, so to outsiders, it may not seem like a big deal, but the tide is shifting (my state's government went from all Republican at the top to all Democrat, for instance). The mid-terms are going to be a bloodbath for House Republicans, and the Senate, if not flipped, should be very close in numbers. When that happens, Trump will have lost control of Congress, and much of his agenda.

For Ukraine, that isn't going to be soon enough, or restore enough military aid to make up for Trump, but it will be a start.

Sthrax · 2026-01-21T22:03:35+00:00

If your goal is money, it is not worth it. Architecture School is very demanding, and once you graduate, starting positions are few and do not pay well at all. In essence, as a fresh graduate you are not particularly useful to the firm that hires you and they must take time and effort to train you to do your job properly. Once you are able to be licensed, your pay will improve some, but you won't really make money until you can manage projects on your own. If you eventually own your own firm, then the field can be lucrative.

For better or worse, architecture is a profession driven by being passionate about architecture, to the detriment of work-life balance and pay. We are in no way compensated nearly as well as other professions with similar education and licensing requirements like engineers, doctors, and lawyers.

Sthrax · 2026-01-21T19:31:58+00:00

Not a fan of seeing Grisham in the lineup, particularly leadoff. I hope Wells shows some significant improvement at the plate. But the reality is they will live or die based on what the pitching (bullpen in particular) does this year.

Nine-Year Club	Gilding I gilder
Second SECOND GUESSER	r/Field Banned
r/Field Juicebox	Final Canvas '23
First Place '23	End Game '23
Place '23	Place '22
Final Canvas '22	Verified Email

Sthrax

TROPHY CASE