The Single Most Important Skill for Architecture

Can you guess what the single most important skill is for an architect?

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I'm Dami, a licensed Architect living in Vancouver, BC. I make videos about architecture, career, and creativity.

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[stugryffin]

7:20 "Passion is not something you just find; it's a cultivated thing." I don't think this piece of wisdom has ever been articulated before. What a hugely helpful insight.

[dragonabsurda]

Honestly, I thought you were going to say "time management". What seems to get (forgotten... overlooked... misunderstood?) in undergrad is you can't manage your time well if the skills needed to perform the work are underdeveloped. You have absolutely hit the nail on the head on all fronts. Feeling all the feels! And thank you for the supplies company - definitely checking it out!

[blazedesign]

Facts. Drawing always come in clutch when your laptop or tablet fails. A good book to reference is "Architeture: Form, Space, & Order" by Francis D.K Ching. This book focuses on the basics in Architecture drawing. I highly recommend it.

[colaoliver]

I'm a retired millwork detailer. I worked for a high architectural millwork company in R.I. I whole heartedly agree that sketching is GREAT. At job site meetings the best architects I worked with had their roll of yellow tracing paper where we could work out issues and I left with a sketch to put into my AutoCAD shop drawings. AND use a fine point sharpie, pen or pencil so the details actually show up. I hated getting marked drawings where I could not read the hand writing or make out the detail in the SK. At the end of the day you are telling a story. Your medium is pencil and paper, SketchUp, AutoCAD etc. I can't read your mind so if it is not on paper I can't detail it and it is not real.

[giuseppenativo]

Finally a series of very good advices for students. I particularly liked the warning about the "primal instinct" of jumping into 3D before to have a solid idea. It's a real Black hole and you are definitely not crazy at all! Or I've been crazy too. Thanks.

[abinayae]

I think everything boils down to having a good imagination skill.. the better your imagination is the better you can sketch and the faster you can communicate ideas and designs

[squarepeg]

Absolutely! I see so many colleagues start in 3D software. They then get too much time invested in a concept that may be bad & are hesitant to abandon it bc they’ve “already put so much time into it”.

There’s also less experimentation. And 3D renderings give clients the false impression that an idea is 100% resolved. A looser sketch indicates that it is still a loose idea.

Thanks for your content. So great!

[joe_fabricator]

I absolutely agree. I'm not an architect, but I am in a design and fabrication industry. I sketch all the time in front of customers to confirm what they want. Great video, thank you.

[RuGCo]

Man I lost so many hours trying to find a concept in SKP. I 100% agree with your points in this video

[fferiag]

BTW, loving your videos, I am finding a renew pasion about architecture, and lots of inspiration in them. Please don't stop doing them, you are very good at it as well.

[Hard__Iron]

Agreed whole heartedly! No mater the direction you follow, sketching is really important. Architecture, Engineering, or Design Studio…all facets of sketching to share ideas and concepts is critical in business. You never know where you’ll end up in business. Architectural Mill Work was so much fun for me. I guess I liked the creative aspect of the work. Ultimately, do to a down turn in the architectural industry in the 80’s, I ended up in Mechanical Engineering. And now Electrical Engineering. But by far, the creative aspect of Architectural Millwork design was the most fun I ever had. And sketching was a huge part of that! And that ability helped me tremendously in the Automotive world as well.
Well done Dami. This rings SO TRUE! I like this one a lot. Thanks for your efforts.

[julianugentarchitect]

YES! Thank you for explaining why this is such an important exploration and communication tool! And thank you saying that it doesn’t have to always be pretty. I do all kinds of scratchy figuring out on trace or a sketchbook to work out thoughts floating around in my head - sometimes they are beautiful, often they are not, but they always move the design forward.

[manzawangata]

Really needed to hear that, thanks a bunch Mam’. Every single word just talked straight to me.
What you shared about your own experience at school really encourage me to keep trying. I’m not yet in an Architecture school but just kinda self-taught lady thanks to internet ressources! Thanks again 😊

[morninboy]

So true and good advice.
I start all my projects on grid paper. It is the first sketch that gives the project form. Sizing can be accomplished when the often strict parameters to build within can be taken into consideration on the first draft

[mekman]

This and the messy space video are incredibly helpful for getting creative! These are much appreciated!

Thanks!

[lolamoro]

Oh with me it's the opposite! I wish I could draw every single project, beginning to end! Unfortunately to get a job in the industry we need to know so many softwares now that we need to include 3D models in most of our projects.... but it is 100% a really important skill that is being forgotten rather quickly. As always I love your videos, Dami! ❤🥰

[hazza]

congrats for 100k!! you deserve all the hard work to help us. thank you so much!! much love from us.

[smolmei]

7:19

this is the quote i needed to hear and I shall write this down EVERYWHERE thank you

[rrhorner]

Watching your videos, it brings to mind that being a website designer (that's what I do) is much like being an architect. When developing a web page, I draw out what the page should look like by hand. As I draw out the page, I make notes of any special functionality required. Once the drawing is complete, then I'll copy it to a designing software to provide a cleaner view of what I want. Keep putting out the great videos!

[akibmahdi]

the little jokes and funny edits in between make these good videos even more entertaining👌👌