Essays on Becoming an architect: Stages of education

The list is the universities that can be located in Canada that provide the architecture course:

• Carleton University (Ottawa)

This institution has a leading positions the field of architecture, offering a wide range of courses and programs. It has an innovative and modern approach and suggest to its students specialized programs in environmentally sustainable architecture, urban design and heritage conservation, as well as one of only three Canadian doctoral programs in architecture and ten graduate-level scholarships awarded each year to promising Azrieli Scholars.

• McGill University (Montreal)

This university makes an emphasis on socio-economic and cultural development of Quebec. It focuses on the responsibility in the process of the design, construction and interpretation of the built environment. McGill University suggests various programs for the architects, including B.Sc. (Arch.) and M.Arch. (Professional), and post-professional research programs, including M.Arch. (Post-professional) and Ph.D.

• University of Manitoba (Winnipeg)

Well known education institution in the western part of Canada pays a lot of its attention to the issues of innovations and sustainability. It offers its students a freedom to experiment with ideas and methods as they develop their own personal critical approaches to architectural design.

• University of British Columbia (Vancouver)

University of British Columbia ranks as one of the top three Canadian universities, and its department of architecture is a respective one among the professionals.

• University of Toronto (Toronto)

It is a serious educational institution, the largest university in the country with a wide range of programs and good resource base. It concentrates on the following fields: architecture, landscape architecture, and urban design. Students not only have the city to use as a resource, but also have access to Toronto’s large professional design community, many of whom teach at the school.

• University of Calgary (Calgary)

The architecture education in this respectable university has been provided since 1971.

• Ryerson University

Ryerson University has the Department of Architectural Science and it provides students the opportunity to participate in the two-year program, six-semester, studio-based course of study designed for students with a strong technical background in architecture.

• Universite de Montreal (University of Montreal)

This university is based in Quebec and it’s the fourth largest in Canada. It offers it students an opportunity to study at the faculty of Landscape Architecture, Design and Urban Planning;.

• Laval Universite

Laval Universite is the oldest centre of education in Canada, it provides higher education in French.

In these universities, they expect students to get involved in regular semester classes.

The classes include: History, Behavioral, psychology, Socio-cultural studies, Programming, Building sciences, Construction Regulations, Safety Structures, Electrical and mechanical services, Quantity surveying, Environmental assessment. The classes are combined with studio projects (design studio) that enable students to enhance creativity and self-reliance, so to be able to judge their own work and to make responsible decisions in design.

Completion of the classes will result in an undergraduate degree after 3 to 4 years. The honors include:

• Bachelor of Architectural Studies (Carleton);
• Bachelor of Environmental Design Studies (Manitoba);
• Bachelor of Architecture Studies (Toronto)

Third stage: Graduation

In the Graduate programs, they tend to be more flexible for students making them more convenient; they allow students to investigate and the study the specific theories that are the basis of architecture. The program will also require students to complete a set of classes, along with their individual studies. Typical graduate programs take between 1.5 to 2 years to complete; depending on the university. The graduate programs provide students with the opportunities to travel abroad to complete their in course after one semester in another institution. The idea is meant to open the student’s eyes to other potential design opportunities that may present themselves elsewhere.

Students in regular Stream programs are eligible to register in the Internship in the Architecture Program (IAP), if they complete at least 50% of the course load. This opportunity reduces future requirement of experience in the architecture field, that a student must have post graduation. The registration process as well as the hours required to be completed in the prior to graduation, falls under the jurisdiction of the provisional regulating board. It is recommended for students to pursue such an opportunity so as to benefit as they proceed along the process of graduation.

The final process of the graduate degree is the thesis process. In this process, students work with their chosen mentors in order to pursue a specific avenue of Architecture studies. These studies are design oriented, technical in nature, or probably theoretical depending on the student’s chosen topic. Upon successful explanation of the chosen thesis, student will then proceed to graduate with a master’s degree in Architecture (M.Arch).

The co-operative programs; the follow the same format of the regular streams studies, but in the co-operative university programs, there is the Guided office/architectural experience; it is a required component in the studies. The program allows the students involved to gain hands on work experience in a realistic setting, while at the same time continuing with their educational studies. The co-op work periods last for 14 weeks (Work term 1), and 28 weeks (Work term 2). They are integrated into the continuous education calendar.

The co-op programs offer students the chance to work abroad, mostly in the second work term. The opportunity provides experiences through additional learning through visitation, observation and participation of alternate or differing cultures. This experience is often important in the development of the architectural expression and knowledge; furthering the students experience and education in same manner in which the regular stream students; having the opportunity to study abroad during their education process.

The problem to the program is that the student activities; both school and work term are pre-planned on a yearly calendar. The schedule may require students to attend at school; even though it may be in the ‘summer months’. This can be uncommon and unfamiliar to students accustomed to regular stream programs or even the high school calendar year.

The co-op programs offer the same benefit as the Internship in Architecture Program (IAP) in terms of the early registration and credit of work. Students, who have completed the Undergraduate course, may go on to register for the Intern Architect Program (IAP); thereby getting necessary work experience needed before accomplishing the educational experience.

There are differences between universities that provide the Co-operative Education program, articles that should be confirmed before the application by the student. The universities that offer the co-op program are:

• Carleton University (Ottawa)
• Dalhousie University (Halifax)
• University of Waterloo (Waterloo)

The final educational section of the program is the Architecture Thesis. It follows the same format as the one for the regular stream program. Upon successful completion of the convincing explanation of the thesis, the student graduates with a Master’s degree in architecture (M.Arch)

The RAIC program is referred to as the ‘accessible alternative to university’. The syllabus/course is an apprenticeship-style program that combines work experience, educational studies and design studios/examinations in a program of the architecture education. The program is open to students directly available after completing High School; however the syllabus lasts for 10 to 12 years, on average; and it s often daunting to enroll.

The syllabus is self-directed by the students with regard to the duration of their involvement. The set of the program courses are divided into 3 parts:

Part 1 – Introduction to Architecture
• Average duration is 2-1/2 to 3 years

Part 2 – Skill Development, Knowledge Acquisition, and Understanding
• Average duration is 2-1/2 to 3 years

Part 3 – Synthesis and Application
• Average duration is 5 to 6 years

The syllabus program has work experience as necessity in the educational process. The work experience, with direct supervision or being mentored by a registered architect is needed as follows:

Part 1 – Introduction to Architecture
• Experience Recommended, not required

Part 2 – Skill Development, Knowledge Acquisition, and Understanding
• Experience: 1340 logged hours

Part 3 – Synthesis and Application
• Experience: 4000 logged hours

A benefit of this part of the program is the fact that experience obtained may form a portion of the required experience of the Intern Architect Program, once approved by the relevant provincial architectural associations. The level of recognized experience will differ amongst the associations.

The program uses the semester system that is similar to the university regular stream systems, suspending study during January and June of each calendar year. In the program, the student takes full responsibility of developing time management skills and self motivation; so as to keep their learning continuous. The program contains 3 components:

1. Academic Courses: a total of 24 independent courses including: Theory, History,
Technology and Management curriculum. The student is required to pursue self-study,
Complete assignments, and write exams for each course.

2. Design Studio Workshops: a total of 8 levels plus a final Thesis. The student will work with volunteer monitors and a local studio coordinator to finish tasked design studio problems. The level of complexity for design studios increases as the student progresses through the program. The final design studio is the thesis, similar to that finished by students enrolled in the university programs.

3. Work experience: should be at least a total of 5,340 Hours. The work experience is combined with the academic and design courses to ‘round out’ the student’s education.

When the three components are completed, the student graduates with a diploma of Architecture (Dipl. Arch). The diploma is recognized by the CACB as meeting the requirements of certification, permitting the graduate to register with their provincial association in the internship in Architecture.