arch vs. draft course: construction, drafting and detailing.

kashmir

Design aesthetics aside, I would like to know which course better and more completely outfits a person with drawing, construction and detailing skills. I'm talking straight taught silibus, not skills garnered on the job.

thanks...

Mk3

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kashmir

thanks for the response, could you please elaborate on the "construction" portion of your silibus? Very curious to know what this entails...

Mk3

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JMex

Wahey. This is pretty much the exact question I joined up for in the hope of having it answered.

Thanks for that.


Meanwhile, I might as well hijack a little. I'm having a serious internal struggle between going all out and going to uni to study architecture or going to TAFE to study drafting. I have heard architects make alot more money (I dont want to be a poor.. anything) but I have also heard it is very arty-farty. I'm not entirely sure I want to be designing things. I dont have any crazy visions of how to improve on anything. I pretty much just want to be able to draft & draw. 2D, 3D, landscapes and internal room views. Etc. I wouldnt mind making models too.

My pickle is that Im not sure if I should go with uni/architecture first and then if I like it, I'm already on my way, if not, I can go to tafe & do drafting. Or if I should start with tafe/drafting or something.

It's all a big kerfuffle for me. I'm very much leaning towards TAFE but I dont want to be poor. Not that anyone does. And the Cert IV of Residential Drafting that I was thinking of doing isnt available at the moment. "Register your interest" it says. So I did.

Sorry for the ramble. Just needed to get my thoughts out before I go insane. I'm extremely indecisive.

And Im not sure if this is able to go in here or wherever. Sorry.

audrieau

Well, if you don't want to be designing things I would certainly not undertake the degree course. You will definitely be designing.

I am one who has done both the drafting certificate and the degree course - and while it was interesting to learn the finer points of drafting and construction the tech course did not hold a candle to the degree course, which took us through infintely greener pastures of environmental science, history, sociolgy, law, business practice, et el. where does it stop. If I had stopped at drafting certificate I would have missed out on so much that has influenced my life in every way thereafter.

kashmir

thanks but your reply skirts my specific question..

I would like to know which course better and more completely outfits a person with drawing, construction and detailing skills

I'm talking straight up drawing, detailing and construction knowledge.

audrieau

I think your question is too simplistic.

Well it looks on the surface as if it is the drafting course that equips one best for drafting, I would say I learnt more about construction doing the dregree course - as for detailing, a lot of that has to do with the effect you want to create in your building.

Drafters know a lot about generic applications, but they often aren't equipped to be able to think around the problem and create something new & different. While drafters are great at the standard stuff, it is more likely to be the Architect that gives them the details for the innovative.

Do you just want to be a documentor of plain buildings, or do you want to be an innovatorr? Therein lies your answer.

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kashmir

so straight out of the blocks architects are better at detailing and producing working documents and have a better knowledge of the finer points of (real) construction?

how many people from your course went on to the degree? what was the attrition rate in the degree course (if any)?

FBE Rocks

An arch course basically introduces you to the topics that would concern an architect, but the studying and research is up to yourself. I would go as far as to say nothing is 'taught' in architecture.


sounds like to me a TAFE course is better suited to your needs. but you might need to take more than just one course to be competent at drafting/detailing and drawing.


But nothing would ever get done if everyone wanted to be 'innovators'. Detailers are essential to the practice of architecture. So dont let anyone make you think architects are any more important than the person who drafts up things according to regulation and makes everything coherent and in a format that a construction foreman can understand.

most graduate architects know very little about detailing of complex buildings.

frank & beans

kashmir the tafe course gives you the skills you mentioned. drawing, construction and detailing is the core of the course but it won't make you an expert you'll have to learn that on the job.

i love to have a dig at architects so i will also say that if you want to become innovative as mentioned earlier & design things like curved carparks become an architect.