EA162: The Pain, the Passion, and the Process of Becoming a Young Architect with Michael Riscica [Podcast]

The Pain, the Passion, and the Process of Becoming a Young Architect Let’s dive deep into what it means to be a young architect and what it takes to get licensed. This week at EntreArchitect Podcast, Michael Riscica of YoungArchitect.com shares The Pain, the Passion, and the Process of Becoming a Young Architect. Origin Story Michael is based in Portland, Oregon is the founder of YoungArchitect.com. You can hear more about his bike journey from one side of the US to the other, plus how to get licensed and pass the ARE, check out his last podcast appearance.   Young Architect Michael started Young Architect about three years ago after he got his license, with inspiration from Mark and many other bloggers serving their community. The mission has always been to help students, ARE candidates, young architects and other candidates be more successful. More recently he’s been talking more about how to share his mission and beliefs with others. Many young architects really need to be their own advocate, and, in Michael’s opinion, a lot of students graduate and flounder until they become a licensed architect. Although there’s a lot out there to create community with the AIA and other organizations, there’s an in-between stage that Michael wanted to address. He began writing blog posts clearly directed at those in different predicaments like looking for jobs, studying for the ARE and wanting to get licensed. Everyone has their own path, strengths and weaknesses, and the beautiful thing about architecture is that there’s such a huge place in jobs and opportunities with people with different strengths. Everyone has different gifts and passions to offer to the world. Different Roles Architecture school is a place for future architects to learn how to design and problem solve. It creates a safe place for students to experiment and take risk, while learning the fundamentals of design. They can learn to express themselves by learning from theory and from the past. Michael argues that so much growth and development needs to happen in architecture school, that having a complete understanding of how the profession works is too much to ask. You’re there to learn the basics of problem solving and design. The second part of an architect’s education begins once they finish school. He’s always believed that the young architect’s job is to advocate for their own development, but the profession as a whole should acknowledge their role in helping engender future architects. Although young architects may take an experience and learn from it and then move onto something else, that’s a necessary component of the process. Letting a younger intern person into your firm, acknowledges that, in some ways, they’re the future of the firm. They get to see the behind-the-scenes in the firm. In some ways, you need to treat the younger generation as though they may one day be your future client or even supervisor. On the other hand, young architects need to acknowledge the role they’re in: observing and learning to become the best that they can. You may not start out making what you want to make, but you can give everything you have to who you’re working with to get the knowledge you need to get to the next level. When you work hard and prove your value, you’re rewarded. Fluidity Like many other professions, architecture has moved into a space where people are not at one job for