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ArtisticAthlete32
Joined: 22 Aug 2008
Posts: 6
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 Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2008 12:55 pm Post subject: ** From Med School To Arch?? ** |
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Hey, hey, hey!  I'm in the process of making a career change and I figured this would be a good forum to get information from. Like the subject says, I'm thinking about ditching the whole med school idea for architecture (but I have a B.S. in Biology). So, my question to you (whoever is reading this) is, is there a difference between being an architect and an architectural designer? I'm really interested on what the inside of a building looks like but I don't know if that's more along the lines of an interior designer or an arch?
My dream job would be designing aquariums & museums but I want an input on what the actual aquarium looks like on the inside. Any ideas? Just in case my thread is a little confusing, I'll give you a scenario: When I walk into an aquarium, I think they're all absolutely fabulous and I'd love to be the person who designed what it looks like!
Thanks. |
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onslaught61
Joined: 22 Aug 2008
Posts: 2
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| Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2008 4:54 pm Post subject: |
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Hey there, sorry I don't have any answers for you but I wanted to reply because I'm in a similar situation!..
Although I don't plan to pursue architecture / design as a career and still intend to go to med school, I'm still interested in it and am also curious about the whole arch. vs interior design differences. Good luck! |
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ArtisticAthlete32
Joined: 22 Aug 2008
Posts: 6
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| Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2008 5:10 pm Post subject: |
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| onslaught61 wrote: | Hey there, sorry I don't have any answers for you but I wanted to reply because I'm in a similar situation!..
Although I don't plan to pursue architecture / design as a career and still intend to go to med school, I'm still interested in it and am also curious about the whole arch. vs interior design differences. Good luck! |
2 cheers for a future-physician! What do you want to specialize in? I'm not sure about my arch adventure so I still plan on taking the MCAT in jan; pediatric orhopaedics and sports medicine was my goal but I'm not so sure these days. I think I'd be happier as an arch...designing aquariums/museums but I'm not sure if it's as "creative" as I think it is.
I'm trying to decipher fiction vs reality; kind of like how non-medical people think Grey's Anatomy and ER is an accurate representation of medicine...I want to make sure arch/design is as creative as I "think" it is. Just trying to make an informed decision  Anyway, thanks for the response and let's hope someone will answer us. |
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lekizz
millennium club
Joined: 11 Jan 2006
Posts: 1132
Location: UK
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| Posted: Sat Aug 23, 2008 1:20 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | ...is there a difference between being an architect and an architectural designer? I'm really interested on what the inside of a building looks like but I don't know if that's more along the lines of an interior designer or an arch? |
The title "Architect" is reserved (by law) in many countries for those people who are fully qualified and registered/licensed in the profession. An "architectural designer" is probably someone who is not a qualified architect, but has some of the skills to provide architectural services.
If you are interested in the interiors of buildings then, yes, Interior Design/Interior Architecture may be the best avenue for you. Obviously architects are also concerned with the interiors of their projects but are not usually specialists in that field. Architects are usually generalists, they need to know about everything!!! |
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onslaught61
Joined: 22 Aug 2008
Posts: 2
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| Posted: Sat Aug 23, 2008 4:22 pm Post subject: |
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| ArtisticAthlete32 wrote: | | onslaught61 wrote: | Hey there, sorry I don't have any answers for you but I wanted to reply because I'm in a similar situation!..
Although I don't plan to pursue architecture / design as a career and still intend to go to med school, I'm still interested in it and am also curious about the whole arch. vs interior design differences. Good luck! |
2 cheers for a future-physician! What do you want to specialize in? I'm not sure about my arch adventure so I still plan on taking the MCAT in jan; pediatric orhopaedics and sports medicine was my goal but I'm not so sure these days. I think I'd be happier as an arch...designing aquariums/museums but I'm not sure if it's as "creative" as I think it is.
I'm trying to decipher fiction vs reality; kind of like how non-medical people think Grey's Anatomy and ER is an accurate representation of medicine...I want to make sure arch/design is as creative as I "think" it is. Just trying to make an informed decision Anyway, thanks for the response and let's hope someone will answer us. |
Lol I know what you mean..being a physician seems like it would be a crazy adventure and a very rewarding career at the same time. I'm taking the MCAT this Tuesday LOL. Orthopaedics and sports medicine was initially my interest also but I've been leaning towards oncology/radiology, but right now is WAY too soon to tell..
I've been also pondering over the creativity factor..I love the imaginative and innovative aspect of architecture and always wondered how creative I could get. Like you said, in the real world things are a lot different than we imagine it to be so I'm also curious about what the actual career is like. |
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phansford
Joined: 18 Apr 2004
Posts: 601
Location: SW Ohio
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| Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 12:58 pm Post subject: |
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| ArtisticAthlete32 wrote: |
I'm trying to decipher fiction vs reality; kind of like how non-medical people think Grey's Anatomy and ER is an accurate representation of medicine...I want to make sure arch/design is as creative as I "think" it is. Just trying to make an informed decision Anyway, thanks for the response and let's hope someone will answer us. |
To be clear..... architecture is not accurately represented by The Brady Bunch or Mr. Ed. (Remember Mike Brady was an architect as was Wilber Post, Mr. Ed's owner) 
You need to go visit an architect's office and talk with people in the profession. Face 2 face. You need to see what their day is like and try and determine if you have the passion for this work...... and it takes passion.
The other thing you need to do is to check out some colleges with Master of Architecture programs for people such as yourself...... someone without a related undergraduate degree. There are programs for students like yourself. Miami University (the real one in Ohio.... the one that was founded when Spain still owned Florida) has such a program. Miami is my alma mater - I have a Master of Architecture with an undergraduate in construction. I had guys/gals who were teachers, has business degrees, and so on in my class. They actually added a lot to the program. Check out Miami's website.
BTW - what you are describing about art museums and the like is the result of the architects work.... not an interior designer. The things you see in an aquarium or natural science museums is the result of a museum exhibit designer. Check out Taylor Studios . One of my former assistants worked for them before heading to graduate school in furniture design.
Exhibit designers can work for the architect, but many times work for the owner and provide input to the architect during design. (I have been involved in a few musuems - so I am not talking out my rear)
So do you like the exhibits or the architecture. You might be better suited to obtain an industrial design or art degree for exhibit work. You should contact some like Taylor Studios and talk to someone there about what they are looking for in an employee.
So basically..... interior design is not too involved with museums. |
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ArtisticAthlete32
Joined: 22 Aug 2008
Posts: 6
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| Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 2:05 pm Post subject: |
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| phansford wrote: | | ArtisticAthlete32 wrote: |
I'm trying to decipher fiction vs reality; kind of like how non-medical people think Grey's Anatomy and ER is an accurate representation of medicine...I want to make sure arch/design is as creative as I "think" it is. Just trying to make an informed decision Anyway, thanks for the response and let's hope someone will answer us. |
To be clear..... architecture is not accurately represented by The Brady Bunch or Mr. Ed. (Remember Mike Brady was an architect as was Wilber Post, Mr. Ed's owner)
You need to go visit an architect's office and talk with people in the profession. Face 2 face. You need to see what their day is like and try and determine if you have the passion for this work...... and it takes passion.
The other thing you need to do is to check out some colleges with Master of Architecture programs for people such as yourself...... someone without a related undergraduate degree. There are programs for students like yourself. Miami University (the real one in Ohio.... the one that was founded when Spain still owned Florida) has such a program. Miami is my alma mater - I have a Master of Architecture with an undergraduate in construction. I had guys/gals who were teachers, has business degrees, and so on in my class. They actually added a lot to the program. Check out Miami's website.
BTW - what you are describing about art museums and the like is the result of the architects work.... not an interior designer. The things you see in an aquarium or natural science museums is the result of a museum exhibit designer. Check out Taylor Studios . One of my former assistants worked for them before heading to graduate school in furniture design.
Exhibit designers can work for the architect, but many times work for the owner and provide input to the architect during design. (I have been involved in a few musuems - so I am not talking out my rear)
So do you like the exhibits or the architecture. You might be better suited to obtain an industrial design or art degree for exhibit work. You should contact some like Taylor Studios and talk to someone there about what they are looking for in an employee.
So basically..... interior design is not too involved with museums. |
Thanks for the response; it was very informative. I've researched Masters programs that allow non-related persons to enroll. I've found quite a few...I was impressed. To answer your question, I like exhibits. I'm not that interested on what the outside of a building looks like...I'm just interested on the internal design. Obviously, I'd have to do both in arch school but maybe I could have an internal focus in my career? Is that a possibility or am I just making up something? lol
Basically, I'd be interested in designing the layouts of aquariums, science museums and sports arenas but I'm also interested on the interior details (i.e. color, lighting, seating, etc).
I've contacted the Director of Operations of a local aquarium so hopefully he'll be able to tell me who designed the aquarium. I called a couple of other people associated w/ the aquarium but they were clueless  Once I get in touch w/ them...maybe they can shed a little light on my dilemma.
Would I be limiting myself if I was only interested in the above? It seems like a lot of arch's focus on urban planning, commerical, retail etc. I'm not interested in any of that; I'm only interested in aquariums, science museums or sports arenas...
I'll look into Taylor Studios and industrial design. |
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phansford
Joined: 18 Apr 2004
Posts: 601
Location: SW Ohio
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| Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 2:11 pm Post subject: |
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I think you just talked yourself out of architecture school.
You want to be an exhibit designer. There are a lot of components to exhibit design. Interpreters, collection specialist, the craftsmen building the stuff, and so on.
Truth be known, the architect is really just designing a elegant black box for exhibit designer to do his stuff.
Talk to someone like Taylor Studios..... thats where you want to head. |
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ArtisticAthlete32
Joined: 22 Aug 2008
Posts: 6
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| Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 2:24 pm Post subject: |
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| phansford wrote: | I think you just talked yourself out of architecture school.
You want to be an exhibit designer. There are a lot of components to exhibit design. Interpreters, collection specialist, the craftsmen building the stuff, and so on.
Truth be known, the architect is really just designing a elegant black box for exhibit designer to do his stuff.
Talk to someone like Taylor Studios..... thats where you want to head. |
LOL "I'm not that interested in what the outside of the building looks like." <-- Yeah, I guess that screams don't go to architecture school  I just looked at Taylor Studios...it is more up my alley of interests. I'm assuming Exhibit Designers have to go to design school (although, I didn't see 'exhibit design' as a speciality in a couple of the schools I looked into)...what's the job market like for ED's? I just have a fear of going to school, getting out into the workforce and not being to find a job b/c the market is tight for exhibit designers. |
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phansford
Joined: 18 Apr 2004
Posts: 601
Location: SW Ohio
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| Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 4:51 pm Post subject: |
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| ArtisticAthlete32 wrote: | | I'm assuming Exhibit Designers have to go to design school (although, I didn't see 'exhibit design' as a speciality in a couple of the schools I looked into)...what's the job market like for ED's? I just have a fear of going to school, getting out into the workforce and not being to find a job b/c the market is tight for exhibit designers. |
That's why you need to talk to exhibit designers not architects. It could mean going to architecture school, it could mean art or industrial design. You need to talk to someone in the field.
There are two "Exhibit Design" firms here in Dayton only.
Exhibit Concepts
Display Dynamics
So there are a fair number of these types of firms. |
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phansford
Joined: 18 Apr 2004
Posts: 601
Location: SW Ohio
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| Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 4:52 pm Post subject: |
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Multiple copy of same post - deleted.
Last edited by phansford on Mon Aug 25, 2008 4:56 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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phansford
Joined: 18 Apr 2004
Posts: 601
Location: SW Ohio
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| Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 4:52 pm Post subject: |
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Multiple copy of same post - deleted.
Last edited by phansford on Mon Aug 25, 2008 4:56 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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phansford
Joined: 18 Apr 2004
Posts: 601
Location: SW Ohio
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| Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 4:52 pm Post subject: |
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| Multiple copy of same post - deleted. |
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phansford
Joined: 18 Apr 2004
Posts: 601
Location: SW Ohio
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| Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 4:55 pm Post subject: |
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Man..... sorry about that...... seems I had fat fingers on that last post.  |
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