Architecture VS History
Interested in what it’s like to study history in comparison to architecture? We’ve got a guest post with a student from Royal Holloway talking about her experience studying history over the last two years, both before and during the pandemic.
Q1) Introduce yourself
Charleigh: Hi! My name is Charleigh and I am currently studying BA Modern and Contemporary History at Royal Holloway. This September, I went into my third year.
Linda: Hey everyone! My name is Linda and I study Architecture and Environmental Design at the University of Westminster. Like Charleigh, I started third year in September. I’m also the President of Westminster Architecture Society (WAS).
Q2) If you had to reduce your course down to one descriptive word, what would it be and why?
Charleigh: Challenging. Definitely challenging. I think when people look at History, they just assume it’s quite an easy subject, something to do for fun. In reality, it's so much harder than that - the content and the sheer amount of work that needs to be put into our essays and our presentations (and my dissertation this year) is a phenomenal amount and there’s so much to understand. Having said that, I love every second of it and I wouldn’t ditch it - no discipline is easy and that's just a fact.
Linda: Intense. Architecture alone is hard enough, but with the added challenge of having to consider environmental performance alongside the architectural qualities of our proposals, it feels like for every design problem there’s an environmental issue to resolve as well. Having to solve all these problems in such tight time-frames does get intense. At the same time, it keeps our projects interesting and stimulating because our designs become enriched on so many levels.
Q3) How did you find the transition between sixth form and university, and first year to second year?
Charleigh: I think the transition from sixth-form to university level was quite a jump; not necessarily in the workload increasing but it’s a whole new way of thinking and attacking a problem - totally different to how one might have done it at sixth-form. What I really enjoyed was moving out. It got quite hard at some points, but I really enjoyed having my own freedom. There are also a lot of liberties in terms of timetabling; I think in my first year I had about 8 contact hours a week which is practically 2 days at sixth-form and there’s a challenge in having a lot of ‘free’ time because you are more tempted to go on your phone or hang out with people. All I’m going to say is being at university requires severe time management skills if you don't want to feel stressed - the minute that slips, you're gonna be pulling those all-nighters just to get the work done.
Linda: University required a complete shift in my work ethic – the biggest challenge I faced studies-wise was trying to adapt from studying and revising for exams, to working consistently on projects and portfolios, consistently refining the same work throughout the year. I found this exhausting at times, because it wasn’t like an exam where I could just do the work for a couple of hours and forget about it – I was constantly faced with my flawed work that sometimes I felt like no matter what I did, I couldn’t fix. However, I eventually got used to this working style and learnt the art of treating my work as a marathon, not a sprint (so to speak). Struggles aside, on the whole I found the transition to university a mainly positive one – I saw my confidence grow and I became more open to new experiences and taking risks. Because I was ready to embrace university life, I settled in fairly easily into the new working environment and got used to my commute too.
Between first and second year, I felt the biggest learning curve in terms of the level of academic challenge I faced. I got a taste of the nature of the work I’d be doing from first year – drawings, modelling, site analysis, presenting etc. but the stakes were higher than I was prepared for. Having been interrupted from fully developing my skills at the end of first year due to the pandemic, I had gaps in my knowledge and confidence that held me back going into year 2. There were so many times where I struggled to keep up with the work, and being in an isolated environment where all my studies were carried out in a virtual world made the transition to second year simultaneously underwhelming and challenging. My creative juices definitely felt drained at times, having to go through 4 briefs in total compared to 2 in first year. Trying to implement more advanced technical environmental concepts across my design and technical modules was tricky as well, but I still finished second year with a bigger bank of knowledge to apply to my work going into my final year of study.
Q4) Did you feel like your A-Levels prepared you for your degree?
Charleigh: I think to an extent yes. I was a student who, in sixth-form, really struggled to keep up with the rest of my class. I would write essay after essay and get back bad marks and it was severely disheartening. Eventually, I managed to pull through and get into my university of choice. I think my A-Levels did a very good job of opening up newer periods of history that I could explore at university. At GCSE level, we only did Medicine and Medieval work with a little bit of World War Two, so when I got to study the British Empire or the history of the Mussolini regime, it gave me more chances to explore new areas of interest at university. As a consequence of my A-Levels, I was able to study ‘The Dark Continent’ (which encapsulated my Italian knowledge) and more modules on the British Empire like ‘The British and the World 1700-1900.’ I think it's important not to get too bogged down when your first essay or piece of work comes back really bad or not what you were expecting. Like I said, university is about a whole new mindset and whilst A-Level gets you to university, university pushes your boundaries.
Linda: The soft skills I gained from studying Maths, French and Psychology helped me more than the subject content itself. Maths at most helped facilitate my understanding of equations used in daylight calculations and some terminology in CAD software. The weekly speaking practice for French prepped me for tutorials and crit presentations that doesn’t always come naturally to me, and the essays that I did for both French and Psychology helped me in my written modules. However, the best preparation I got for my degree was building up my portfolio alongside my A-Levels, without having work from an art or design subject to include from the get-go. The experience of following through with my own idea of how to format my portfolio and deciding how to go about producing the work from scratch was the closest thing I got to how architectural education is structured – this independent creative journey prepped me the most for my degree.
Q5) What does a typical week in your life look like? How does this compare to 1st year?
Charleigh: I think it varies for me. During term time I’m generally a 9-5 girl, maybe an earlier start depending on what seminars or lectures I need to prepare for. During this time I’ll read for seminars I have and get all the pre-seminar work completed - I’m a bit scrappy on pre-lecture work but that's generally because I have fewer and fewer lectures as my university experience goes on. In first year, I studied stupid lengths - it took me ages to find a rhythm. For example, a 30-page article would take me no less than 2 or 3 hours because the articulation of the author was so much more complex than what I was used to. Now? It takes me 25 minutes to scan it and pick out what I need.
Outside of term time (i.e. Christmas and Easter break), my studying really fluctuates so there's no real rhythm to my work and this has been something I’ve had to tackle from 1st year onwards. If I have exams towards January or just after Easter, then I generally dedicate the last 2 weeks of my holidays to studying which is generally about 5 hours a day if I can make it (being on holiday and not doing too much puts me out of practice!).
Linda: My scheduled contact hours in second year consisted of two full studio days from 10am to 4pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays; Technical Studies between 11:30am and 1:30pm on Wednesdays and history lectures/seminars on Monday afternoons from 3pm. The majority of time that I spent around these hours were focused on my design studio projects, and I tended to dedicate the days where I had contact hours scheduled for history and technical for those modules. In my free time, I worked on the blog, caught up on sleep and tried to relax by listening to music or studying for my mandarin classes which I signed up for from second semester.
Q6) How are you assessed throughout the year?
Charleigh: Each module I take has a different way of assessing me and the assessment methods are what help me choose what modules I’d like to take. So for example in year 1, I was mainly given one or two pieces of coursework which were generally essay questions or gobbets (source analysis). I also had an end of year exam but thanks to COVID, those got bumped off the radar (whoop!). I had one module in year 1 called History in the Making and I absolutely hated it (besides the point I know) but in that module, we had to do a group poster presentation on a topic of our choice. We were split into groups and we had to research a piece of public history, then make a poster on it and present it to the other groups. Though COVID disrupted the presentation part, it was always good to work with others and see their ideas on things so we could collectively get a product we were proud of.
In year 2, my modules got very complex. So for my Genocide in the Modern World module, I had to do a 2000 or 3000 word essay every term (it depended on the term), a book review, and a presentation. In my Safe European Home module, I had to do a comparative gobbet exercise, a book review and an end of year exam.
Linda: Portfolios are used to assess our design work throughout architecture school (pre-COVID, these were also supplemented with physical sketchbooks to show our design development and thinking process behind our finished projects). History is assessed through workbooks (which were individual tasks in first year and group work in second year) based on lecture content, presentations, and essays (as well as a group poster which we made in first year). Illustrated laboratory reports were required for technical environmental studies – these contained site visit sketches, environmental simulations, lecture notes and data analysis (just to name a few). We also had smaller assignments like digital skills exercises, sketchbook studies and design statements to supplement our modules. In terms of weightings, first year doesn’t count towards your degree, second year counts for 30% and final year makes up 70% of your degree. For a more detailed breakdown of module weightings, you can check out our first-year and second-year module breakdowns here.
Q7) What have been the highlights and lowlights of your time at university so far?
Charleigh: Highlights? Definitely sitting in lectures. I feel it's the epitome of student expectations and there’s quite nothing like it. I think meeting my flatmates was also a highlight in year 1 - sitting in the kitchen and watching people cook and studying and finding my feet with a new friendship group has been lovely. I love my campus so any chance to be in my Hogwarts-esque campus is the highlight of my life. Also, I’m a crappy cook so trying to cook new meals in a flat was quite fun! I split an entire milk carton as I dropped it on the floor and broke a bin bag full of dinner I was throwing away which in turn also splattered on the floor.
Lowlights. Wow. To be honest I think homesickness after Christmas was the hardest. Leaving home for term 1 wasn't all that hard (save for a bit of sickness on day 1) but it was after I had spent 4 weeks at home that made returning really hard for me. I’m not a party person so I struggled a lot with being in a loud flat full of people who liked to drink, get back late and play music quite loudly which was often quite disconcerting. BUT! I’d like to stress, and I can't do this enough, that even if you don't like going out, there are people for you at uni! I found so many friends who didn't enjoy getting smashed and who actually preferred being inside and that was quite a surprise seeing as university life is advertised as low-key alcoholism.
Linda: First year definitely defined the best of my university experiences. The chaotic moments running up and down campus between our FabLab and studios; society events at Korean Culture Society and being inspired by site visits and the knowledge I gained from my studies are some of the things that stand out to me during my time at Westminster so far. On the flip side, losing motivation to continue producing my best work; not getting the grades I needed, let alone wanted, in my draft submissions in second year; and sleepless nights that ended up being more stressful and full of anxiety than productive were some of the things that I’d consider lowlights over the last two years. However, amidst all the difficult moments, the positive moments of studying architecture still outweigh the negatives, and there are still so many more experiences awaiting me in third year – I can’t wait to get started!
Q8) Tell us about your experience studying under COVID.
[struggles, new skills/things you adapted to, has this affected your future plans?]
Charleigh: COVID-19 wrecked my plans pretty much for my university experience. I had been lucky enough to get on a year abroad programme to Sydney University in Australia and I genuinely couldn't have been more excited for it. But due to the extensive dangers of COVID, the University of Sydney and the whole country of Australia shut down and my chance of going there was destroyed. It was quite heartbreaking because I had planned to go there with my partner who had gotten accepted there too. However, a man once said to me to ‘improvise, adapt, overcome’ from some war film and it’s always stuck with me. So instead of studying in Sydney, myself and my partner have planned a travelling year after we graduate to go and explore the gorgeous country I happen to have family from.
Though COVID smashed my studying abroad dreams, studying in lockdown has been a bit of a blessing. Whilst I hate breakout rooms (ew) and constantly feeling under pressure to talk, it actually made me more confident. I also liked being able to mute myself and turn off my camera to hide my boredom. The only problem I had with studying from home was the lack of resource availability. For a 5000-word essay module I had to complete in year 2, I needed to do a lot of research and a lot of that wasn't online via my library so I had to buy a lot of books that I won't need ever again. A good shout for second-hand uni books would be World of Books - they're brilliant and I can't recommend them enough!
Linda: Studying architecture under COVID was something I immensely struggled with. I found it impossible to grasp an understanding of concepts relating to the physical built environment through a virtual mode of teaching, especially studying a course that focuses on environmental design. Having no access to campus meant that we were studying in environments not suited to architectural work, we couldn’t access fabrication facilities to help build our modelling or representational skills, and trying to enrich our written assignments without certain archives and physical architectural material was harder. As much as I have learnt and adapted to remote studying to an extent, I realised that I definitely don’t thrive working online, and I don’t feel as confident going into third year and subsequently the world of work having spent half my architectural education online.
Q9) Do you take part in any extracurricular activities?
Charleigh: In year 1 I was hesitant to join any societies; as much as you get pushed to join every society you can, I was quite overwhelmed by it all. Of course in 2nd year, societies were not really possible so there was no point joining them. Instead in year 1 I got a part-time job and genuinely just enjoyed being with friends - my part-time job eventually exhausted me as I was doing a 6am-10am shift every Saturday and Sunday morning and let's be honest, who wants to be up at that time?
Now, however, my third year is going to be very different as I've been recently elected Secretary of the Conservation and Animal Volunteering Society (or CAVS for short). Already I've been having really productive meetings, getting to know the people on the committee and preparing for the freshers fair! I’m super excited to welcome new students to the society and I’m hoping we can boost the morale around the main issues.
Though I didn't do any volunteering in my first or second year, there were plenty of opportunities advertised to me and so I wouldn't ever shut out the possibility of doing any sort of volunteering scheme! Now I'm with CAVS, we have new ties to rescue shelters and preservation companies who work in helping maintain wildlife stability so I'm hoping to get a bit of experience from this opportunity.
Linda: I took up Mandarin classes in second semester of second year which I took part in for two hours on a Tuesday evening every week. As tired as I was after having a full day of studio on the same day, I’m glad I spend some time on something every week that I enjoyed and took my mind off of architecture. I think it got to a point after first semester where I needed to spend time doing something I could excel in, or not feel like underperforming according to my own standards wasn’t going to have a knock-on effect on something as important as my degree. I also attended some events as part of Korean Culture Society with Sude where I could socialise with people outside my course and also take part in fun activities whilst immersing myself in a different culture. Recently, I’ve been working as an ambassador for the University of Westminster so I help out with campus tours and school visits where I can with those events. Obviously, I also play my part in running the blog outside of my studies and writing up the content to share for you guys 😊.
Q10) What sort of career paths does your degree open you up to?
Charleigh: My degree opens me up to a wider set of possibilities than I think most people assume. Upon mentioning to someone I do history I think they expect me to jump into a museum and become one of the exhibitions but really that's not the case. My degree has paved the way for me to better supervise events in the future and replicate mistakes made in the past as opposed to duplicating them. There have been many successful graduates who have gone to be with the UN, publishing and other industries much outside the degree itself. Also it's a known fact that history students later take a law conversion course where they can become a practitioner.
Having a degree in anything I think awards transferable skills that can be taken into a workplace - analytical and critical thinking, group work, confidence to present and ability to be clear and concise. It has enabled students to be quicker at problem-solving and it has encouraged out-of-the-box thinking. Though my course has no accreditations, I’ve still got the opportunity to learn from people at the top of their fields and that in itself is inspiring.
Linda: Having been recently accredited in the summer of 2021 by the RIBA, my degree allows me to continue onto my Part II and III of RIBA accreditation that eventually lets me practice as a fully qualified architect in the UK. Architecture and Environmental Design BSc also provides the option to train and practice as an environmental consultant, following further study in a masters continuation of the course. Additionally, studying architecture gives you skills that can be transferred to alternative paths in the design industry such as graphics and illustration, set design, video games design or even architectural journalism. Even outside of these related industries, creative problem solving and pitching skills will be relevant to a whole array of other careers.
Q11) What are your plans for after graduation?
Charleigh: Oof big question that - don’t send me into an existential crisis! But if I’m honest I’ve fallen in love with the idea of being a secondary school teacher so I know that is my end goal. Between that though? As I mentioned I’d like to travel the world for a year or so - I’m currently working so I can achieve that. After my year abroad I’d love to do a Masters in Genocide Studies - something I definitely know my university can provide though I would like to maybe move away from Royal holloway and go to another university elsewhere to get a new experience. After my Master’s I’d like to earn my PGCE qualification and then go into teaching.
Linda: Currently, I’m divided in terms of whether to continue onto further study to traditionally qualify as a fully registered architect or take time to explore my interests within the field further. I’m really keen on studying abroad, and I have a few places in mind (some of which include RIBA accredited Masters Programmes overseas) but a few of the options are in countries with different accreditation systems, so this is something I have to consider carefully as my decision could affect where I can work immediately after my master’s education. Regardless of where I continue my studies, I will be searching for a placement to start as soon as I finish third year so that’s my main short term goal for after graduation.
Q12) What kind of course-specific interests have you developed during your time at university?
Charleigh: Before I went to university I knew I was a modern kind of girl; anything pre-1700 and I’m bored. Being at university has allowed me to learn new histories like the history of Ghana and the Gold Coast or the American Civil War which I previously knew nothing about. However having said this, from GCSE I was very fascinated with genocides and the Holocaust - I chose my 5 UCAS universities based on whether they had a genocide or holocaust module available to me. For my dissertation, I have specifically chosen to focus on the Holocaust and right now I am interested in further researching the Pink Triangle or Dr. Mengele.
Linda: I’ve really grown to love Rhino as a software, and its parametric modelling and scripting features fascinate me. I feel like I can use Rhino to my heart’s content with whatever project I work on – whilst this isn’t a topic in itself, it’s something I wand to hone in on in the near future and really master so it can be at the heart of my workflow as a future architect. In second year, we had a short assignment on designing in extreme climatic conditions, and if I’m honest I wish it lasted longer. Considering I found it really interesting studying under lockdown, I imagine it would have been an amazing long-term project to work on with access to more resources in a post-pandemic world. We didn’t actually design a building with this assignment, but it piqued my curiosity for projects designed in harsh climates. I’d love to take on the challenge of designing a building in a country with cold, harsh winters like Norway or Russia. It would really put my environmental design knowledge and skills to the test – to be able to respond to those parameters and come up with a design that can achieve human comfort in those conditions would be so satisfying.
Q13) Is there anything you wish you knew before you started your degree?
Charleigh: It's not the be all and end all if you don't make friends in the first week.
I think everyone always says “you meet your forever friends at university” and this just increases the pressure so much! And if this doesn't happen for you on day 1 it can feel very isolating. There is a lot of doubt that swirls in our heads about whether we will make friends or be alone and I just want to say that you will find people or at least one person. It will happen in its own time and even if you don't like the people in your flat, there might be another opportunity to meet people in a society or on your course and in your classes. It's okay to not have a dozen friends straight away - it will happen and you have to trust the process.
Another piece of advice I can give you is to try and join a Facebook or WhatsApp group to try and meet people. I actually met one of my friends through a Facebook post I had put simply saying ‘i studying history and I don't like going out blah blah blah’ and she spoke to me and we got to know each other - I later found out when I moved in that we were in the same flat! So try and meet people via social media if you can but sometimes that isn't successful either - don't get bogged down if you speak to someone over messenger and they turn out to be a psycho (it's probably for the better if it didn't work out with the psycho).
Linda: Stop trying to figure everything out in one go. One of my biggest issues is coming down to resolve a design concept and trying to finalise materiality, thicknesses, entrances and openings all in the first iteration that I don’t materialize enough work in time to progress with my project and meet my deadlines. I would have saved so much time if I got into the habit of trusting the design process sooner and embraced the art of working through imperfect work earlier on. A lot of it came down to not having the courage to go to my tutor with work that I knew wasn’t problem-free; whether that was a drawing that didn’t look polished or an orthographic with design decisions that I didn’t know for sure were the best responses to the site or clients’ needs. But you have to commit to decisions to move on with your design work, and sometimes you end up going back to change those decisions. That’s better than trying to conjure up the best design and hack it in one set of drawings straight away – that’s impossible.
Q14) Do you have any opportunities that allow you to meet people on other courses at your university?
Charleigh: Not too many actually. The only way I met people from other courses would have been by being in my flat - I met people who did Psychology, Criminology, IT and Spanish/Italian. Also, by joining societies not dominated by academic interest (so any sport or Harry Potter society will be fine for this) will open up more chances for you to meet friends and learn more about other courses.
Linda: Yes – although I would say you have to take the initiative to go and seek experiences that allow you to mix with other students. From societies to general university events, there are lots of student-led social opportunities to make friends with people who aren’t necessarily on your course. I’ve also met students when helping out as an ambassador for certain events like tours and school visits, especially on other campuses. But even during lockdown, societies were the main way I connected with students from courses like Biomed, Languages and even Law. One event that stuck out to me was a joint event between Photography Society and Korean Culture Society, where we spent an evening playing Mafia over Zoom during lockdown. I think it was one of the best social events held online that I’ve attended during the pandemic – it’s hard to believe that I made connections across the university through a screen. Because these events are open to everyone, you even get to mingle with students in different year groups as well which is a plus.
Q15) What are some common misconceptions or stereotypes about your course that people believe? What’s your response to this?
Charleigh: I get quite a lot of critique saying that “modern history isn't history.” To be honest I think anything that we can study and learn from what has happened in the past is historical and that’s all I can say. I think it freaks people out that studying something (like the Cold War) is too recent but this just interests me more that it was so close to my own timeline. I think you just have to take everything on the nose - not everyone is going to like what you do but as long as you enjoy it and you're having fun then they can't really affect you that much.
Linda: It’s widely accepted that architecture students don’t sleep. Whilst my sleeping patterns haven’t been ideal over the whole course of my studies (I’ve pulled a fair share of all-nighters amidst a plethora of late nights), I have been getting into the habit of prioritising sleep and I know students (such as Sude) who have never pulled all-nighters. I’m not saying that the industry is full of sleeping beauties – yes, sometimes we have to sacrifice a couple of Z’s to meet important deadlines if we’re behind. But at the end of the day, it just comes down to time management (and the great workload that we get in a given amount of time). Some people handle it better than others – I’d say it’s just not a forgiving course for people who are slow workers or slack off.
Q16) Do you have any advice for new or current students who are studying your course?
Charleigh: Go at it with an open mind! Your grades don’t define you and don’t feel too overwhelmed with the academic style of writing. It’s best to start reading introductions and conclusions - everything in between is generally waffle that can be skimmed or skipped entirely! Also just enjoy talking with academics and use every available opportunity in seminars to talk - you get so much more out of them by talking and learning and discussing. Also for my peeps joining Royal Holloway on a Modern and Contemporary History course, don't take Renaissance to Revolutions in year 1! It’s worse than they pitch it as and it's way too medieval; I hated it!
Linda: Don’t lose momentum, because that’s how you become susceptible to falling off track with your work. Whilst breaks are important, constant prolonged periods of time not addressing your work can make it hard to get back into the swing of things. I think this is more of a term-time piece of advice, because I definitely recommend prioritising rest during free time over winter, spring and summer break! It’s easy to go all in on design studio and forget about your technical or history modules, but this is one of the worst things you can do because you need to develop your work for all areas of your course over the year.
That’s it for today’s post! We hope you guys got a good insight into the similarities and differences between history and architecture at university. We also have other posts where we have compared architecture to other undergraduate courses with lovely guests. Next week we will be covering how to effectively use precedents when designing a new project.
We would also like to thank Charleigh for her time in answering our questions about History at university. You can find her on Instagram at @charleigh_gibson.
