A Day In The Life Of A Self-Employed Architect
A licensed architect's day begins with prioritizing physical and mental health, followed by client, contractor, and engineer coordination to advance projects, spending the remainder of the day and often evenings on design and drafting. When also teaching, the daily routine includes class preparation, grading, curriculum refinement, and individual student meetings, resulting in "very full days".
Project Management, Communication, Teamwork, Design, Problem-Solving
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Laurie Friedman
Architect
AIA Architect
University of California, Los Angeles and University of Illinois, Champaign/Urbana
Massachusetts Institute of Technology - Master of Architecture
Architecture, Interior Design, Fine Arts, Music
Architecture, Construction & Design, Consulting & Related Professional Services
Creative
Honors Student, Scholarship Recipient, Took Out Loans
Video Highlights
1. Working as an architect involves collaboration with clients, contractors, and engineers to coordinate and advance projects.
2. Architects often work long hours, sometimes extending into the evening, to complete design and drafting tasks using CAD software.
3. Balancing work and personal well-being is important; the architect in this interview prioritizes physical and mental health with activities like exercise and yoga before beginning work each day.
Transcript
What does a day in the life of a licensed architect look like?
I'm wearing two hats. I'm both a licensed architect with a practice and an instructor of architecture. These two roles make my days very different.
Both roles start out the same. A typical day for me includes taking care of my physical and mental health first thing in the morning, whether it's hiking, swimming, running, or yoga. Then I delve into my work.
With architecture, my projects involve speaking with clients, contractors, and engineers. I do the basic coordination and push my projects forward. Because I'm the facilitator, the responsibility is on my shoulders.
Once I interact with the team involved in my project, I spend the rest of my day and likely into the evening working. We developed this habit in school and in practice: working in the evenings. I spend the remaining time designing and drafting my projects in CAD.
When I'm teaching, I start my day the same way. I begin prepping for my class, as I like to have everything ready for my Zoom classes beforehand, around three o'clock. I have one day class, and an hour before, I need to caffeinate myself for a three-hour session.
For my evening class, I do my caffeine fix around 3:30 PM. This keeps me going until my class ends at 9:30 PM. During those days, I do a lot of grading of projects.
For the most part, I refine my curriculum according to the needs of the class. I also have one-on-one Zoom meetings with students who are having design challenges. So, they are very full days.