need some information about architect things

[eintomre]

Hi!

I am a guy from Norway, im 24 years old and have a degree in technical drawing. I have also worked as a carpenter for some years now.I have also worked in a architect firm.. At nights, i have my own drawing firm. I have used Chief architect. And im very pleased ! I like the program very much. When i worked at the architect firm we used Autocad. But the 3 dimensional menu in autocad is not so good. But let me come to the case…. I realy like to draw houses, i have done it for many years now. But I do not have a degree in architect school yet… Can anyone give me some information about places on the internet, where i can find basic step by step, how to draw houses easy? Or with better words, how to think when you going to draw a house? Maybe a stupid question, but what do i have to lose?

[slatta]

hey cool,

I too am from Norway, at least my family originated there, Solberg I think it was, don't really know much about that..

as for the design stuff, keep working for that architect as long as you can stand it, they'll have some material for you, alot of reading at this point will help, as will your construction background, but really if you have clients, just get going on it, if you want, post your plan, you'll get more than enough input about it from this forum

not sure about any internet sites for design,sorry


NS

[David J. Potter]

eintomre,

My background is in remodeling but the process is similar for custom or tract homes in that a balance must be struck between cost and desires of those who will live in the additions or homes created. This is always the monitoring factor.

In design work you have certain barriers and freedoms. Barriers are the size of the lot the house is located on; the legal restrictions applied to that property by the local authorities and utilities; what the end-user or owner can pay or what they want versus what they can pay for that result. The freedoms involved are your own visualization or concept of how within the above barriers you can create and configure the home or addition as a compromise of the related factors. It is a melding of Science and Art and the designer IS at once a technician and Artist.

The basic vital elements of the designer are his Knowledge (technical skill and the various things which one must know in order to be Artistic within the barriers or finite factors that define his arena).
The second factor is Responsibility. This is basically how well he has studied and continues to study his field and its related subjects; how he/she applies them to projects in terms of legal and traditional restrictions and how well put together, how accurate his products are.
The final factor is Control. This is Control of his tools; his clients and others around him that participate and influence him, his work and his products. How Ethical he himself is and what Ethical level he demands of those he is allied and or associated with.
These factors determine your Power as a being and as a Designer.

An Architecture degree gives you a certain license and a certain "altitude" within your field because in order to earn one people know you have been required to study and it is a symbol of a certain level of attained Knowledge (and hopefully as well a certain Wisdom though a piece of paper is never proof of that). It does not insure that these things are present in the Architect only you can insure that for yourself.

The above is wholly my opinion on the subject for you to accept or reject as you will. Searching the internet will answer your other questions and perhaps other opinions posted here.

DJP

[eintomre]

I did forgett to write that I have begunn a new school last summer. Its a degree about tecnical buildning degree. After that im finish, that wil say in two years time, I am aloved to dimensjon a beems and trusses to houses.and do all of the paper work, i cant do right in this point. I know that you must go the architect school, to get trust with my customers. the last years i have drawen houses, but have got help from ingeners and carpenters to have my houses build! i wil go and take the architect school after two years. But i want to get alot of exsperians as i can get before i begin.

Im very pleased with the answers!

Slatta, are you are architect?

best regards
Espen

[MikePreble1]

Hei Eintomre som jeg var i Norge siden et par år. Det er et vakkert land.

A difficult step in designing and drawing houses is knowing how they are put together in terms of floor joists, stud walls, framing for windows and doors, roof rafters or trusses.

Houses in the USA are mostly what are called "Stick built" which means lots of wood pieces. The houses I've seen while living in Germany and traveling throughout Europe were block walls, poured concrete floors and stairways with large rafters set for the roof.

Chief Architect is made to draw stick built quite well. You'll have some difficulty trying to build a concrete block house with poured concrete floors and stairways.

Good luck.
Mike

[lbuttery]

Try a search on Amazon (also othere places) for architecture books, particularly those by Frank Ching. While doing that you will see references/links to other books. I did that for about 30 min. and found over a dozen books that looked good. Now I need to decide which one to start with.

[architect4stars]

When I grow up, I wanna be an Architect... lol. Just kidding. Here is something we didn't get in Architecture school---> "Complete sets of working drawings". I will recommend that some of you guys donate a few complete sets of drawings to him. Where Architecture school teaches how to think, especially in abstract, I have found more knowledge in studying working drawings.

Here is the thing I used to wonder about Richard and Dick (who was a real DICK)... They were our instructors in Architecture studio for 3 years, yet neither of them ever designed a building that had been built. They had only done kitchens.

My life lesson from Architecture school was... I learnt a lot of abstract, styles, history, and structures. Studying working drawings added reality to the formula. I.E. Flexibility of materials and cost factors. Avoidance of White Elephants that had no possibilities of construction.

My lil 2 cents worth

[lbuttery]

Espen:
Coming from a career in programming I too need to learn about the field of architecure and am considering getting a degree in architecture history (American) at the Univ. of Virgina.

Has anyone taken a degree like this ? Would it be of "real" benefit to a career as a designer using Chief or should I just concentrate on learning Chief?


Has anyone taken any of these online classes from AIA?
http://eclassroom.aia.org/courselist.cfm

[architect4stars]

Lew, it is a good idea to read as much as you can on styles etc... There is a lot of "bad" designs out there, and you wouldn't want to add to the collection... lol. But on a serious note, I enjoy and get gratification from being true to styles with my designs. Not just being satisfied with "look-likes".

There are times when a mixture of styles create an eclectic look which ends up being pleasing to the eyes,which in turn becomes a trend and earns recognition as a new style. But here's the thing... Our perceptions of "correct" or "looks right" are based on traditional styles that over time and exposure becomes inbedded into our brains. Am I preaching?

I was a member of the National historic society a few years back, and subscribed to a series named "Architectural Treasures of Early America" These were limited production publications which i got a few of. One of these is named "Colonial Architecture of Mid-Atlantic... It shows very detailed illustrations of proportions regarding Columns, balustrades and other fenestration.

All this sounds nice and dandy, but the bottom line still remains the Client. It is always a good thing to educate them about styles and what belongs to the character of their design. Better yet is seeing them smile and agreeing with you.

To get to the point, after reading this series, I got a better understanding of why some pseudo-colonial style houses looked "right", while some others looked ewwy.. lol. Respecting the rules of Historical proportions and styles tend to create the right character in design. Well, There are also some people who subscribe to the "Gaudi" look. YUCK

[architect4stars]

OOps, I got carried away in the last post and missed your question... Here's my outlook. School is not necessarily the best source to learn. Information is much better. Books are great, when you also mix it with what happens on the ground.. I.E. Staring at blueprints and other working drawings as well. Learning how to think is the best knowledge of all.

[RMorrison]

Originally posted by eintomre
Hi!

Can anyone give me some information about places on the internet, where i can find basic step by step, how to draw houses easy? Or with better words, how to think when you going to draw a house? Maybe a stupid question, but what do i have to lose?

Oh man, why do I always stick my neck out with topics like this?

Can you learn how to draw houses on the internet? I don't know, maybe. Can you learn how to be a really good designer of houses on the internet? I sincerely doubt it. You see, drawing a house is NOT the same as designing one.

After years of architecture school, and more than twenty years of designing houses, I can't think of anything more difficult. If you're doing it well, it is absolutely one of the most challenging tasks conceivable. You're juggling client requests, City requirements, contractor needs, product knowledge, cost, structural engineering, energy usage, topographical constraints, (hopefully) contextual considerations, and much more, before you even come to individual aesthetics. The ability to juggle all of these factors is not something that is easily learned and done well.

I think the advantages of architecture school are considerable, but not necessarily what you might think. It won't teach you how to frame a house; you can learn that later if you don't know it already. But it will teach you (if you're paying attention) how to THINK about design, how to talk about design, and truly understand why some designs are better than others. Intense design studios will constantly challenge you and cause you to grow as a designer in ways that someone who hasn't been through the process probably won't ever understand. But it will give you confidence in knowing WHY your designs are good or bad, and let you produce something that doesn't look like it was designed by an amateur. You won't get this off the internet.

Obviously many people are designing houses with very little formal training. So getting square footage built is not too tough. But if you want to make this a lifetime passion and provide something special to the world, I would encourage you to get formal design training. And engineering training is quite useful, too.

What do you have to lose? I don't know how the legal system in Norway compares to the U.S., but if you were in the U.S., not really knowing what you were doing -- you could lose everything.
Mistakes in construction can be VERY expensive.

[architect4stars]

There goes an Excellent example of a product of Architecture School. RMorrison is always eloquent and makes perfect sense whenever he chooses to pass comments.



I totally agree with you, RMorrison

[MOTHERLODEDAVE]

A very forthright question, with a myriad of answers; however, to be blunt, I do not see much on the internet that can teach you how to build houses.

I have 30 years experience as a licensed general contractor in California...not a friendly building climate, but I have been succesful. I went to the U of Nebraska school of architecture, but transferred to engineering when it became obvious budding architects dealt with projects that couldn't possibly be built or afforded by anyone! When I graduated, I found field experience was my very best teacher. After several years of field work, swinging the lovable hammer and being the general contractor, I was in a position to begin my design work, and the challenge to build interesting and affordable homes continues to this day.

One thought for you would be to find a construction firm that has its own in-house design team. This would afford you experience and direction under one roof.

It is my opinion that a designer without field experience is lacking. (I'm sure that statement will raise some hackles, but whatever.) I've had several experiences with licensed architects that have provided plans and details that simply could not be built as drawn. As such, we lost time and the owner lost money on redesign time. In all cases, each one did not have a summer's worth of field work. Their ongoing education was painful at best.

I encourage you to get your degree, but along the way get some field work. You will be the better for it, and your designs will be better. Good Luck....

[louis]

How about this for an architectural educational experience? I heard that the University of Houston School of Architecture students will be designing and building modular units to house tsunami survivors. They will be trying to create a flexible designs that will be inexpensive and adaptable to different cultural styles. What a way to combine learning with compassion and practical experience.

Here's a link to an article about it:


http://www.uh.edu/admin/media/nr/200...chtsunami.html

Katy

[lbuttery]

Dave:

Good points if one is tyring to design houses "from scratch". At this point I doubt if I will ever attempt that.

I will be concentrating on re-models/additions etc and
the mode of operation is to send the client to the builder we are working with, he meets the client and discusses needs/cost etc and then we design based on those specs.

We do the design presentation to the client and any changes will be approved by the builder who used to do the designs himself on paper.

I want to take classes/degree to increase my knowledge and improve my design capabilities, but swinging a hammer is not
for me. I helped my partner build a deck for my house and it was fun/not fun. Too old and too out of shape.

For those who have a different business model your advice sounds worth considering.