Now is an excellent time to be an architect, according to Ann McNicholl, education director at the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland, the representative body for professionally qualified architects in Ireland. It's a good time, she says, "because the construction industry is working at full-stretch and there's a shortage of architects and architectural technicians".
However, she warns, for those at second-level with an eye on a career in architecture, conditions may have changed in seven or eight years time and it takes this length of time to qualify for membership of the profession - a five-year degree plus at least two years working in the industry. "It takes a long time to qualify," she says. "And it's a very cyclical industry. It can be very busy and very slack. There's a very long lead-in time." So it can be the best of times and the worst of times in architecture, all depending on the economy and vitality of the construction industry.
"In 1999 there were virtually no unemployed architects is the State. On the contrary, there is a shortage of architects and architectural firms are having difficulty finding sufficient qualified staff," says McNicholl. This, she explains, "is a very significant change from much of the 1980s when the great majority of young architects had to emigrate to find employment. Like the other two schools of architecture - Queen's and UCD - DIT Bolton Street will take in about 50 first year students this year. It currently has approximately 250 students pursuing its five-year degree programme. According to James Horan, head of the institute's school of architecture, students who apply must have a keen interest in the subject and know something about it. There are three stages to the college's selection process - the Leaving Certificate results, a suitability test at Easter and an interview.
With an average of 1,000 applicants for about 50 places each year, demand is high and consequently points are also high, with a cut-off last year of 567 at DIT Bolton Street. The suitability test identifies motivation, creativity and maturity, explains Horan. The college interviews about 300 each year. Each interviewee brings a portfolio with artwork, photographs, models and other examples of their work, "which they feel illustrates their creativity properly", he says.
UCD on the other hand selects its students on the basis of points only. In UCD, Queen's and any British school you will get a B Sc in Architectural Science or equivalent degree after third year. DIT does not award an intermediate qualification after third year. According to the RIAI: "The advantage of the intermediate qualification is that it allows you to make a change in career direction if you find that you are not happy with architecture. Within UCD, for example, you can transfer to urban and regional planning or to landscape architecture."
`Architecture requires a very high level of input from the student and a high level of motivation," says Horan. "It's not something that you wander into and hope that you'll find your feet in . . . You need a certain level of creativity. Essentially it's a subject that combines artistic creativity and scientific study or information. It crosses the boundary between art and science."
After graduation, it takes a couple of years before it's time to sit the professional practice exam. After successful completion of this exam, the young architect is finally rewarded with membership of the professional body.
The work of an architect is about designing a building and this process involves a number of steps. These include visiting and surveying the site; discussing with the clients what kind of building they want; developing a preliminary design for the building and refining it to make sure it meets clients' needs; making sure it complies with the regulations and with the budget; applying for planning permission; preparing detailed drawings and specifications; obtaining quotes from the builders; administering the contract between the client and the builder; checking that the building is being constructed in accordance with the drawings and making sure that payments to the builder are in order.
