As a student of the Bernard and Anne Spitzer school of Architecture at the City college of New York, college life and the college experience differs greatly from that of other students. College graduates or current undergraduates attending the CCNY may speak about nights spent studying, or the pressure piling on because of the rigor the exams, or the paper that they must spend the weekend writing.
For the architecture student, papers, and written exams are the least of our worries. The job of the architect is to use his or her imagination to establish the fundamental ideas and workings of a structure that is to be placed on any given site. For this to be done, there is a combination of brain storming, rigorous sketching, site analyzing, case studying, precise hand made drawing, computer renderings, preliminary models, working models, final models, floor plans, sections, perspectives and animations, just to name a few.
A typical architecture student works with minimal sleep, does not leave the design studio often, works well under stress, produces all work with a great deal of passion, and designs with all aspects of architecture and society in mind. The architect combines the art of aestheticism, the desires of society, the needs of the owner, the imagination of the architect, and the use of all the sciences to create a dwelling or a structure that can perfectly in a site.
It is not just a matter of studying; rather it is the act of always producing work to further analyzes an idea. It is not a course with right or wrong answers; it is an investigation through a specific lens. It is not a classroom it is a workspace. A student here does not have a professor, they have a professional architect giving their opinion on the work at hand. Participation is not an option it is a must. Students are motivated by each other as they all realize the competitive nature of this field.
In the school of architecture, students are always in constant talk with their professors. Students not only speak via email to them, they are known to text and converge ideas verbally as class never really has an end. In the Siptzer and Anne school of Architecture building, the halls are filled with work. Students of all years carry long conversations on Frank Lloyd Wright's masterpieces, or the Capitol Complex in Dhaka, or how the new world trade center fits into modern society, or how simple architectural moves can rejuvenate South Street Seaport in downtown New York City.
The school of architecture is but one of the many accredited programs in this institution. Each has their environments, their cultures, their expectations, and requirements.