Professional skills that architects should possess

It takes ten years to grow trees and a hundred years to cultivate people. The same goes for buildings. Therefore, there are many abilities that an architect needs to master and they are very important!

1. The judgment ability to make correct decisions and the macro-control ability to implement them

Architectural design The process starts with analyzing the problem.

The architectural constraints and cultural constraints of the surrounding environment, the needs of users, the market positioning of the project, and the nature and characteristics of the building are all influencing factors that architects must incorporate into the analysis and judgment system and form the initial design Conception. This is a test of the architect's comprehensive analysis and judgment abilities.

The gradual implementation of the original idea throughout the design process depends on the architect's macro-control ability. From conception to the completion of construction drawings, many specific issues require judgment, continuous tracing and implementation of initial decisions, transforming macro decisions into micro solutions, and avoiding the mistake of changing strategy due to tactics.

In 2000-2001, Beijing Wuhe was responsible for the planning, architecture and landscape design of a residential project located in the Beijing Economic and Technological Development Zone. After receiving the project, the architectural designers of Beijing Wuhe realized that project positioning was the key to the design and was also the core issue throughout the design. So we worked together with the agent Beijing Jinwang Real Estate Investment Consulting Co., Ltd. to grasp the two most critical factors: the location advantage of the project and the sales target.

The ?Yizhuang House? project is located in the Economic and Technological Development Zone. Since the establishment of Yizhuang Development Zone on April 8, 1992, more than 1,000 high-tech enterprises have been stationed here in the past 10 years, including famous multinational companies. There are more than 60 companies, including 40 of the world's top 500 companies, with a total investment of nearly US$4 billion on 15 square kilometers of land. The huge economic power has given the development zone a good living environment, forming a location advantage for the "One Bungalow" project.

Determined by the characteristics of the location? A bungalow? The sales targets of the project are mainly young white-collar workers with middle and high incomes, including foreign company workers in the development zone and car owners who work in the CBD and live in the suburbs. A transitional first home for successful people. Therefore, the architectural designer chose a vibrant, positive and bright-toned style that meets the needs of young people.

Accurate analysis and correct decision-making provide a clear direction for subsequent design. From the design to the construction drawings, the architectural designers avoided the accumulation of decorations and did not show luxury. They basically realized the original design concept from image to function, and became the top ten star real estate projects in Beijing in 2001.

2 Have sufficient accumulation of professional knowledge

Accumulation is an essential process for architects. Including: the accumulation of knowledge in construction technology, the accumulation of knowledge of building regulations, the understanding of domestic and foreign architectural works, and the accumulation of long-term practical experience. It is precisely because of the time requirements for sufficient accumulation that architectural design is inaccurately called "the industry of the elderly". Generally speaking, the maturity period of architects is after the age of 40 or 50, and architects under 50 years old belong to the category of "young architects". Modernist master Le Corbusier was 63 years old when he designed the most famous Ronchamp church. Architects need to fully accumulate in order to find a balance between knowledge and creativity.

The realization of accumulation also comes from paying attention to the little things in life. It is said that Mr. Liang Sicheng, the first person in the Chinese construction industry, carried a tape measure with him when he went to a meeting in Zhongnanhai. When he saw a comfortable sofa, he took out the tape measure to measure the size. For many architects, paying attention to architectural phenomena and details in life has become a professional habit.

3 Grasp the spatial scale of the city and the spatial scale of the building complex

Creating good urban and architectural spaces is always the primary responsibility of architectural design.

Spatial scale is a basic issue in architecture, and it is also an issue that some architects currently tend to ignore when pursuing architectural concepts. There are basic rules for the spatial scale of cities and building groups. Only by mastering this rule can we avoid directional errors in architectural creation.

For architects, the ability to grasp the spatial scale of cities and building groups is a relatively advanced professional ability requirement. Architects who do not have this ability may always be able to stay at the level of creating architectural sketches, or leave some large and unsuitable spaces and clumsy and scary buildings in the city.

4 Aesthetic quality and modeling ability

Sturdy, practical and beautiful are the earliest standards proposed by Vitruvius to judge the quality of architecture. Aesthetic literacy is a necessary prerequisite for becoming a good architect.

People create buildings, and buildings also change the people who live in them. The appearance of a building will subtly affect the aesthetics and emotions of users. The beauty of architecture has different forms of expression. The beauty of cultural buildings is expressed in elegance, and the beauty of commercial buildings is expressed in vitality. The aesthetic orientation of buildings represents the characteristics of a city and country to a certain extent, and is also an important component of local society and humanities.

Designers who lack aesthetic literacy are more like engineers than architects. Particularly important in aesthetic literacy is macro-modelling ability. Famous buildings that have been passed down through the ages, such as the Sydney Opera House and the Eiffel Tower, can be expressed as simply as a single line, and their macroscopic shapes are an important reason for shocking the world.

5 Prediction of the spatial and image expression of building components

People use the space of the building, and the building space itself is composed of a series of components with different functions and sizes. composed. Components are the most direct way for architecture to communicate with people, which greatly affects people’s feelings about space and their understanding of architecture.

Architecture is not a sculpture at will. Architects must be able to feel the actual effect of the building after it is completed through drawings of various scales, and have an impact on the future space and image expression of various building components. The effect has strong predictive power. This ability requires long-term practice and cultivation to gradually form.

6 The ability to comprehensively solve building functions

Including the internal functional layout of the building and the site design and streamline organization of the building group. Specifically:

Horizontal and vertical traffic within the building;

The arrangement and combination of each use space;

The surrounding environment of the building and urban roads The connection;

The organization of ground and underground parking;

The coordination relationship between various buildings, etc.

The solution to these functional problems requires not only the professional skills of architects, but also in-depth study and understanding of the operating rules of the corresponding buildings. The mastery of new technologies and new materials provides the necessary tools for architects to solve problems, and the most critical thing depends on the architect's care for the end user.

7. Attention and understanding of users

People from different regions, different nationalities, different industries, and different ages will have different needs for similar buildings. Architects must pay attention to their differences and propose targeted design solutions. This requires architects to have rich and accurate life experiences, actively think about various social phenomena, and be good at communicating with users, which is often more important than the design itself.

The same villa is a living place for ordinary people in the United States, such as Los Angeles. Two children and a dog, a house and a car are the standard mass happy family model; in China, villas are It is a luxury that only rich people can enjoy. It is a symbol of successful career and becoming a "superior person". Therefore, villas in Los Angeles can be simple and warm, but in China, they need to be able to express the noble status of the residents and surpass the noble taste of ordinary people, and it must be expressed in the most direct way, in a visible and tangible way. . Some people think that it is kitsch for architects to cater to this kind of psychology and needs, but architectural objects are inherently kitsch in real life. Only architects who return to kitsch as early as possible can save all sentient beings?!

8 Expression and communication skills

Expression and communication are collectively called "communication". It is the process of explaining one's intentions, conducting discussions, and receiving feedback. Including both architectural and ideological aspects.

The architect's architectural expression ability is to reflect his or her vision of space and form into a concrete image in the form of drawings. This is the basic skill of an architect.

The first is the ability to draw freehand, which is what we often call "handy skills". Freehand drawing can express design intentions quickly and summarily, and can also be used for recording, which is very suitable for face-to-face communication.

The second is computer graphics. Computer drawing can accurately draw drawings, is easy to modify, and can also express the architectural image and spatial atmosphere very realistically. It can shorten the distance between drawings and reality, and is indispensable in the communication between professionals and non-professionals.

The exchange of ideas is carried out through language and is necessary in all walks of life. An architect's good ability to communicate ideas helps to understand the needs of owners and provide better services. At the same time, full expression during the communication process also makes it possible for the architect's own ideas to be realized.

9 Organization and Coordination Ability

Architectural design is a complex process of division of labor and collaboration. The design of famous buildings in history usually lasted decades or even hundreds of years. St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, the center of the Catholic Church, was built in the 20s of the 4th century. It was originally a rectangular Basilica-style assembly hall. It was demolished in 1506 and rebuilt. It was completed in 1626 and lasted 120 years. It passed through Bramante, The work of 10 architects, including Michelangelo, Raphael and Sangallo, can be imagined as to the difficulty of coordinating the project. Even in China, where construction is astonishingly fast, the design and construction cycle for an ordinary public building is only about three years. During such a long period of time, architects are responsible for the design work on the one hand, and on the other hand they have to face many unforeseen contradictions and changes and coordinate and resolve them in a timely manner.

In the long process of a building from planning and design to construction, acceptance and use, architects contact users, investors and builders externally, and coordinate various types of work such as structure, water, heating and electricity internally. , plays the role of core and link. Architects must organize the collaborative work of various types of people, and at the same time must coordinate the inevitable conflicts among them. The contradiction between users' pursuit of high standards and investors' pursuit of low cost, the contradiction between the time required for high-quality design and Party A's requirement to shorten the design cycle, the contradiction between changes in architectural shape and simplicity and practicality of the structure, and so on. The architect's responsibilities extend far beyond the design itself. No wonder Mr. Liang Sicheng said that the work of an architect is like "dancing with shackles."

2. The basic requirements of society and the market for architecture graduates

After architecture graduates leave school, a large number of them will choose a professional path and join the ranks of professional architects . Their mentality varies, and their levels vary, but do they meet the basic requirements of society and the market for graduates?

As a leading architectural design unit in the market, it is also a direct employer of architecture graduates. We believe that graduates must be prepared in the following two aspects before entering the professional design team.

(1) A firm, clear and down-to-earth subjective mentality

1. Have a clear positioning of one’s own development direction

Whether it is an undergraduate, master’s or doctoral student born. Graduates first need to make a clear positioning based on their strengths and weaknesses and plan their future development direction.

Currently, it is common for students who have graduated from a bachelor's degree in architecture to take the postgraduate entrance examination for one or two years. About 80% of people want to take the exam, 50% of them actually review and take the postgraduate entrance exam, and in the end only those with 50% or less can pass the exam. Judging from the motivations for taking the postgraduate entrance examination, the most likely reason is to improve one's professional level and find another opportunity to continue studying; the second reason is to get a degree to increase income; the third reason is not to enter the society or hit a wall in society. , I want to hide in the ivory tower for a few more years. There are very few students who really think clearly about why they are taking the postgraduate entrance examination.

For those who want to improve their professional skills, completing a PhD can be said to have greatly improved their theoretical attainment, but their architectural design capabilities are by no means a proportional increase. Compared with other undergraduate graduates of the same period, Without several years of valuable practical engineering experience, we are actually lagging behind in this regard, and our competitiveness in the architectural design market has declined.

In foreign countries, most design companies are unwilling to accept PhDs with strong theoretical abilities and high salary levels, but weak design abilities and low creative output value. Looking at the architectural design masters at home and abroad, almost few of them graduated with a doctorate in architecture (most of them were awarded honorary doctorates after making outstanding achievements). This also shows from one aspect that the fundamental reason for the success of architectural masters is their ability to create Produce excellent architectural design works.

For those who want to increase their income by gilding their degree, there is always the idea that degree is paramount. This has something to do with China’s traditional educational concepts and is also a misunderstanding in social consciousness. It is generally believed that a degree represents a level, and the higher the degree, the higher the overall level. The typical joke is to treat a postdoc as a degree. In fact, the income a person receives is not determined by the level of his degree, but corresponds to the value of his labor in the social market. The experience gained from practical work will bring greater social value to architectural designers and correspondingly bring high income.

For those who dare not enter society and have an escape mentality, they should face up to their timidity, clarify their own characteristics, and choose a path suitable for their own development. If you are undecided, you might as well go out and give it a try. Only by having the courage to try can you gain a more comprehensive understanding in practice and better plan your future.

So graduates should first understand that the different social divisions of labor give architects and scholars different responsibilities. Scholars and teachers are also needed by society. Good scholars who are serious about scientific research and teaching can teach 10,000 good architects. Designers are needed by society. They directly serve society at the forefront and are also the main force in the architectural field. An architect's degree or advanced theory proves nothing; their value lies in their actual design ability.

Abroad, the two are clearly distinguished: those who study for a master's degree or a doctorate, and take the academic path, are likely to be unable to return to actual production. Most Chinese people go abroad to get scholarships and go abroad for the sake of going abroad. After studying abroad for several years, I gradually understood this truth. The higher the degree, the harder it is to find a job. Whether it is being a professor or doing research in a university, the path in the academic field is destined to be very narrow. Many people with master's degrees and Ph.D.s go to design companies to find jobs. They dare not say that they are Ph.D.s, or even master's degrees. They only look for jobs with undergraduate degrees. For individuals, this is also a waste of time and resources.

In short, graduates who have a clear positioning of their own development direction can avoid blindness and detours as much as possible; for society, they can save unnecessary investment in education and improve the efficiency of talent cultivation.

　2 Correctly understand one’s own abilities

Architecture graduates who have just left school are generally overconfident in their creative design abilities, ignore or despise society’s actual needs for architectural design, and refuse to Start from scratch in a down-to-earth manner. Especially graduates who have completed postgraduate studies are accustomed to the lazy postgraduate life and are not adapted to the strict schedule and work style of the design industry. When they apply for a job, their salary is several times that of others. They think that people with higher degrees are more capable than others. In fact, the opposite may be true.

Studying for a degree does not mean an improvement in design ability, nor does it mean that wages should be increased. The degree mainly represents the theoretical level and has no essential relationship with actual production capacity. Some design units even have misunderstandings on this point, thinking that students are creative and pushing their plans to new graduates or even interns. As a result, students also understand themselves from this point of view, and ultimately mislead others and themselves.

3 Have a long-term vision and avoid an impetuous mentality

On the basis of clearly planning for the future and correctly understanding their own abilities, graduates should have a long-term vision and a down-to-earth attitude. The impetuousness of the entire society makes most young people unwilling to be down-to-earth and start from a small place. They often look at the heights of mountains and constantly change jobs, always thinking that they have not found a suitable space for development. As everyone knows, what limits its development is not necessarily the company where it is located, but often its own impetuous mentality.

Many students admire or admire experimental architecture, are keen on avant-garde, alternative and more expressive architectural language, and pursue self-expression. This is also a manifestation of the unrealistic and impetuous mentality of graduates.

An architect can call himself or be called a master architect. Architecture is also often called art. Architecture has an artistic component. It is a discipline that spans engineering technology and plastic arts. It also includes many factors such as urban environment and social culture. Experimental architecture that only pursues creativity has its positive significance, but it cannot become mainstream in society.

Achieved an employment rate of 70% of graduates. It is foreseeable that in the future, the employment pressure for graduates will be increasing. Failure to quickly integrate into the industry and society due to lack of a good mentality can be said to be a common problem among graduates in all walks of life. For students graduating from the Department of Architecture, it is even more regrettable that the opportunity for self-development is delayed because of their mentality.

(2) Meet the basic requirements in professional skills

For graduates, it is demanding to possess the various skills of a mature architect, but some basic requirements should be met, mainly Includes four aspects.

1 Aesthetic literacy and basic architectural sense

The current situation is that the knowledge of creativity and spatial changes possessed by graduates is often unrealistic, and they lack the ability to appreciate high-grade architectural works. of cultivation. Moreover, due to relatively weak training in urban planning and urban design, graduates often lack basic feelings and abilities about urban spatial scale and spatial shaping of architectural groups.

2 A preliminary understanding of the various systems and procedures involved in construction

This requirement includes a basic understanding of the coordination of structure, water, heating, electricity and construction, and a basic understanding of construction. Knowledge, mainly knowledge of exterior wall construction. Due to the lack of perceptual knowledge in construction, even if the knowledge is relatively old, the designed plans are either divorced from reality and cannot be implemented, or they do not know how to use new materials and technologies to create new means of expression and formal language.

3 Drawing skills

Mainly computer drawing, which most graduates can meet the requirements. In terms of hand-painting, there are obvious shortcomings. In fact, the widespread use of computers cannot replace hand-drawing work after all.

4 Expression and communication skills

This is an essential ability for practicing architects. It is also what most graduates lack and need to be continuously improved at work.