What it’s like studying Architecture at RGU

Architecture student Aya shares how she chose to study architecture despite fears of not being qualified enough, and the highlights of her course so far.

Taking the leap to study architecture

My expectations honestly were slightly vague, I did not have any guidance as to what I should expect when I went to university. But, I did know that I wanted to study architecture regardless of the circumstances, and that made the decision a bit less scary.

However, that did not stop me from asking my teachers what kind of things I should expect, like practicing sketching daily and reading about the fundamentals of architecture. There are many good books out there to start with but to get you going, read Architecture Form, Space, and Order by Frank Ching.

I went to university scared because I never sketched anything at all, but I did want to study architecture regardless of the skills that I did not have at the time. The advice is to never be scared because you will learn these skills during your time at university. There is a lot of software support available and classes that are given during the semester.

Overall, don’t be afraid to create, learn, fail, create more, learn more, and fail more. These years at university are meant for you to enhance your skills, and experiment with a lot of different projects that interest you. Constructive feedback is essential, don’t take any of it to heart, use it to strengthen your skills. Be open-minded throughout your journey. Learn as much as you can.

My highlight of the course so far

I have a few, but two stand out the most. The first one was when I first tried the laser cut machine in the workshop area. It was the final project of the semester, and we had this ground floor competition where we paired up with the third-year students and we had to join both my partner and I’s project with the two third-year students.

We did not win the competition, but we learned a lot during that week, trying and experimenting with new machines, and on top of that it was a lot of fun.

The second highlight is when I sketched one of the precedent studies that was allocated to my partner and I at the beginning of the semester. It was something new to me, I never sketched a building that was not originally designed by me. It was one of those eye-opening moments and it made me notice a couple of things in the building that I do not think I would have noticed if I had not sketched it.

Advice for current and prospective architecture students

Be yourself and do not ever, and I mean ever, be scared of creating or designing something new or that you are unfamiliar with, that is what university is all about. You have to get out of your comfort zone to allow yourself to learn and absorb everything that is happening around you. Do not shy away from enhancing your skills. Everyone started from point zero and that is okay because that is how you learn, you just have to be patient with yourself during that time.

Finally, time management. It is so easy to fall behind on your assignments, but it is so hard to try and catch up with the coursework, so do not procrastinate. Stay on top of all your coursework and if you need help, there is always someone at RGU who is happy to help you.

Do not be too hard on yourself, take it day by day. Plus, the view from where we are situated on campus, do not get me wrong the entire campus is beautiful, but we can see the view of the landscape every single day. That is why I like to sit next to the window; I cannot get over how magical and peaceful it is.