Finding the right balance between creativity and practicality is crucial. Creativity allows you to think outside the box and come up with innovative designs that push the boundaries of architecture. However, without a practical approach, these designs can remain unbuildable ideas.

Practicality ensures that designs are feasible, sustainable and meet safety standards. By blending creativity with practicality, you learn to create beautiful, functional buildings that can actually be constructed. This balance helps you become a versatile designer / architect who can tackle real-world challenges and design spaces that are both inspiring and usable.

No, absolutely not!

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Breaking The Barrier: Navigating the Transition from Architecture School to Practice | LinkedIn

Over the past couple months I've become more aware of the incredible benefits retrofitting brings to not only the profession but to the lives that will be impacted by bringing new life to forgotten or unused buildings.

The UK is currently facing a housing crisis with figures from Shelter England stating that "at least 309,000 people homeless in England today" (Shelter England, 2023) and that "homelessness rises by 14% in a year as housing emergency escalates" (Shelter England, 2023). These are figures that as an industry we cannot ignore and must work towards tackling together.

The strong push I see in practices today on working to tackle this national and international threat brings me hope that we can use architecture as a tool to provide logical solutions to these matters. I think it is also important to state that universities should also use these live-scenarios as opportunities to expand the student's development as young designers who will be entering the profession within a couple of years.

Whether we like to think of it or not, we are all working towards this together and bring a diverse, multi-faceted and innovative approach. It's time to double-down on our efforts to connect and communicate with each other more and work with our respective local authorities to tackle the UK's housing crisis.

During my architecture masters, I remember a guest lecturer saying to us, "architects need to start creating the solutions to their own problems". And that really got me thinking. And since that point, I've been writing down some of the challenges that I've gone through as a student and some of the possible solutions that could be created to solve them for the future generation.

I think one of the biggest challenges students face in architecture school is the non-existent feedback loop. After all the hours, days, weeks, months and years of studying to become an architect, we often lose ourselves in the process and find it hard to know what we're working towards. I know this as I too felt myself losing touch with the work I was doing and why, at times, there didn't seem to be any instant gratification from my efforts or even the final outcomes.

However, what I've learnt is that it's the accumulation and compounding growth of all of the challenges in architecture school that we manage to overcome that feed into the architects and designers we are today. So, for any students who are feeling like this right now, don't dismiss the hard work you've put in and continue discussing how you are with your friends, peers in studio and your tutors. Let's work to create a much more supportive and encouraging culture within architecture.

• Architectural Digest (Print and Digital)

• Abstract (Netflix Series)

• Karin Bohn (YouTube)

• The Interior Design Handbook (Book)

• @interiordesignmag (Instagram)

In architecture school, I think it’s extremely important for students to reframe the way they think about themselves and their work.
Working to create a much more encouraging and healthy environment for the designers of the future is a given. This also extends to how we conduct ourselves in practice.

Instead of comparing yourselves negatively to others, adopt a mindset of patience and continual learning. Embracing the idea that each project is part of a learning journey encourages creativity and innovation.

Ultimately, this change in thinking not only helps you navigate the challenges you'll face in architecture school but also sets you up for a path of ongoing learning and success in the field and beyond.

1. Set short term and long term goals both for your work in practice and individual projects you work on outside of the office.

2. Make sure you put time aside for personal things. Take breaks, spend time with your friends and just relax.

3. There really isn't a defined way of having a "balanced" lifestyle. You get to choose what you allocate your time towards.

1. Have deep/long conversations with your mentors. Discuss the ways in which things are designed and built. But also use this time to ask them questions about your personal and professional growth.

2. Ask them lots of questions. There's no such thing as a stupid question so don't ever feel like you have to stay quiet in case you embarrass yourself. You're there to learn. So, ask away!

3. Take a note of what gets discussed so that you can refer to it and ensure you work towards meeting any objectives or reflecting on actions later on.

Getting support from senior members of your team is the biggest gem of going into the office. Even if you're overhearing a conversation between other members of the team, you will subconsciously learn so much more and it's the best environment to learn and develop, especially in the early stages of your career.

• Embrace Challenges

View challenges and difficult projects as opportunities for growth. Overcoming obstacles in the schemes you work on is a crucial part of the learning process.

• Celebrate Small Wins

Acknowledge and celebrate small victories throughout the year. Completing the design for one of your projects, submitting a planning application, mastering a new software. Take pride in the incremental progress you've made and continue to make as it contributes to the overall success of your journey.

• Build a Community

There is great significance to building a strong support network. Collaborate with your colleagues and peers, seek mentorship from the senior members of the team and engage with other professionals within the field. The challenges you face today are shared by many. And having a support system can provide valuable insights, encouragement and a sese of camaraderie during tough times.

• Focus your attention on other areas of your project

• Study existing projects to inspire your design thinking

• Step away from the project completely