architect54

Monday was good. I practiced the interior layout on my laptop on the railroad. I’m using commute time to study. Turns out I’m not using my car and the subway right now. This happens to work to my advantage, because the 50 minute Long Island Railroad commute should be the time (or less) to finish the NCARB problem. During an actual exam, that would leave 10 minutes to check. 10 minutes to check isn’t much, but it is a goal to reach.

I came across an AREforum post recently, that had me thinking this exam could be hard for some. Yes, I failed, so this exam was hard for me. But I mean maybe hard for others. Well I have every intention of finding out again. I don’t feel very confident, but I feel ready to take the Schematic Design exam again. Like most of the architectural registration exams, I also like to think it is easy! I know, time constraints and everything on the interior layout. But I see this Schematic Design exam for the abstract exercise that it is and I’ve conditioned my approach to suit that.

Happy March everyone! February was a short month full of snow. Hopefully Spring is around the corner!

For me, last week wasn’t so great study-wise. Then Friday got sabotaged with 10 inches of snow. Then class got canceled and it was a good opportunity to catch up. I mostly caught up on sleep. I spent time reorganizing the books on my desk. I’ve let a few slip into the mix that don’t pertain to the architectural registration exam (ARE), like “Exploding the Myths of Modern Architecture” by Malcolm Millais. The 6th chapter is on Google books and it basically explodes idealized academic images of Corbusier. I recommend reading the 6th chapter here. Two other non-ARE-related books that slipped into my pile are “Architects and Firms, A Sociological Perspective on Architectural Practice” by Judith R. Blau and “Architectural Practice, A Critical View” by Robert Gutman. These books just happened, and I have to put them aside to focus my time on what’s most important. Keep the ARE books on the ready, and those others on a faraway bookshelf.

On the weekend I’ve been looking at my PPI flashcards for Structural Systems. I want to start studying for it, while studying for Schematic Design. I’ve basically got no problem with that as long as I’m comfortable with my Schematic Design study progress. Which I’m not really. So I need to work on that.

Ok. Here’s something I said I wouldn’t show in the last post. You know the “ideal” interior layout solution for NCARB’s practice problem. See this youtube clip at 2:30 minutes. That’s basically the spacious ideal solution, I was talking about. I know some of you are like, “Wow, I didn’t know there was that much space.” Some of you got the same layout, but with door locations didn’t have such a comfortable furniture layout. I know. By the way, that solution does have errors. None that appear fatal. But I’d only be sure by printing and scaling the drawing to check dimensions. Which, by the way, I encourage you to do with the NCARB solution.

Oh, and Canada rocks gold in hockey! The US team looked too sad faced during the award ceremony. Come on. Be proud! You not only had the opportunity to represent your country, you also brought home a medal as well. Congratulations to both teams on a very competitive game!

I’ve been thinking about bringing my Schematic Design (SD) exam forward. I would like to, but I need to put in some good practice on the building layout. I’ve read thru tips and what not, but I haven’t applied them in practice sessions.

I may have mentioned before on another exam, how I might bring it forward if I was ready. I have to admit this is very unlikely. I don’t recommend scheduling an exam and saying to yourself, I’ll bring it forward. There is a slim likelihood of that happening. In my case I adjust to the time I have. So even though I’ve been studying daily, I haven’t progressed to a point where I think I could take the exam earlier.

Having given this warning, I still like to think I might be able to bring Schematic Design forward. I want to restart studying for structures without distractions from another exam. Well, somehow if I’ve practiced enough, maybe. Otherwise, I should really focus on passing Schematic Design and stop fooling myself.