Architecture Student Ultimate Horrors
I would say this is a bit of fun for Halloween but thinking back to these times during university genuinely made me twitch. 11 in total, which for me is a very unsatisfying and annoying odd number..
1. Realising you’ve forgetting your headphones after getting to the library for a late night
This is a very accurate representation of me getting to the library at 9pm after a long day in studio to make some progress on my dissertation, finding a computer, sitting down and realising I have nothing to listen to.
2. Starting a model at 4am knowing that you’ll have to stand in front of it in 5 hours for your presentation
From first year especially I have very vivid memories of finishing my drawings between 3 & 4am, knowing I then needed to start and finish a model. One that I remember not being able to finish was an observation tower that was basically a giant spiral staircase that I made out of thick balsa wood. Never. Again.
3. Finishing your essay at 3am and realising you still need to do proof read and do the bibliography
For pretty much all of first year I left my bibliography till the last minute, proof reading is a necessary evil once you have finished your essay but the bibliography… Having to go back and find those images, label each figure, find that journal, back date the source…
4. You have 3 deadlines for different modules the first day back after the holiday break
Having one deadline to work over the holidays is manageable, not ideal as it’s actually meant to be a break but when you have to juggle 3 different deadlines for different modules and tutors thats where things get a bit hairy.
5. Checking your model making stock at 4am and seeing you have half a tube of UHU left to make your entire model
What can you even do at this point other than wait until 9am when any shop that sells UHU opens and stand in a queue like its Black Friday Weekend.
6. Going to the print shop and seeing the total price for your 3 A0s, 2 A1s and 10 A3s all printed on 300gsm Matt paper
For the first project you go you don’t even think about it, shouldn’t even be an issue, you have your debit card - what could go wrong. For your final project you transfer a minimum of £100 into your account, check its there before you even leave your accommodation and cry a little as you hand your card over for the grand total of £153.75
7. Plotter stops working at 8am as your printing for your 9am pin-up deadline
Is it my fault for leaving all my printing until the morning of or is it the fault of the university for not making sure that all of their equipment is ready and waiting for the 3rd Architecture pin up at 9am on Thursday.
8. The computer program your using crashing as your click save for the first time after being super focused for 2 hours
This is an actual photo from work. Luckily I have learnt my lesson from this happening countless times as a student when I had not saved for many hours.
9. Your studio tutor hates everything you did over the holiday break
It was first year Masters after a nice and productive Christmas break. I arrived back at uni with a spring in my step knowing that I was ahead for the first time. I book a nice and early tutorial and walk over with the utmost confidence. My tutor looks at my printed work takes a pen and starts to draw over my design with what ‘I should of done’.
10. You’re put in a group of 5 for a project knowing that 3 won’t do any work and won’t turn up to the final presentation
Luckily I was never in a group like this, but the very idea of it is terrifying. For a group project so much more is exploded because you’re sharing the workload. More terrifying if the work is graded and counts towards your degree, you might just need to pick up the slack!
11. Seeing the sunrise when you thought it was only 2am during an all nighter
Oh the actual horror. It is scary how different a sunrise can feel when you are working towards a deadline that is in less that a few hours. You don’t even see the sun coming up as you’re so focused but then you feel the warmth and realise your window of time to complete your work has got a lot smaller.
