Travel Like An Architect (My Habits)

See how I travel as an architect from the gear I bring, to my sketching and photography habits. This simple process for observing and documenting your trips - near or far - will make you a better designer. (Be sure to stick around at 4:46...wait for it...!)

My travel kit is as lean as it’s ever been, just a sketchbook, a few drawing tools, my camera gear and a small laptop. You don’t need an expensive camera or special tools to follow this process. The DSLR is an intentional choice for me as it forces me to slow down when I'm traveling. It makes me think about lens selection and composition, the subject, the lighting. It’s probably the single best investment I’ve made in the past 10 years (aside from travel). Use whatever you have with you.

For lenses on this trip I brought a wide zoom, a medium zoom, a telephoto and a macro. And this was way too many. Lenses are heavy and to lug these things around in a backpack in the tropics is…well, sweaty. Of the four I brought along, I used the 24-70mm and the 100mm most of the time. The zoom is great because the 24mm end on a full frame camera is wide enough to capture landscapes or interiors, the 70mm is perfect for details and right around 50mm is great for portraits. So this one lens covers a lot of situations. An interesting challenge is to limit yourself to one focal length for a day and see how creative you can get with it. It’s especially helpful for forcing you out of a rut.

The laptop is super portable and light, it's a stripped down MacBook Air which I use to edit my photos + video and for writing a little each day.

You'll learn why I reject guidebooks in general, my process for observing, documenting and then cataloguing my travels and you'll see what I do in the downtime between destinations.

Time Stamps:
0:22 Start Now. Don’t wait until you arrive at your destination to start taking photos or sketching.
0:49 Travel Essentials.
1:28 My Routine (Shoot then Sketch)
1:55 Subjects. Not everything has to be architectural.
2:53 Details + Materials = Experience. Learn to observe the world this way.
4:46 Wait for it…
4:55 Has this ever happened to you? Relaxing on the beach and out of nowhere…!?

The Williamsburg Hotel in Brooklyn, NY was designed by the London Architecture Firm: Michaelis Boyd and completed in 2017. We actually had no plans to stay here, but we arrived in NYC to an early season snowstorm and our connecting flight back to Maine was canceled. Our flight the following day wasn’t due to leave until 10pm, so at my better half’s urging, we traveled from JFK airport to Williamsburg in Brooklyn and spent the next 24 hours exploring the neighborhood and staying in this fantastic hotel. Completely worth the little bit of extra effort to get there from JFK.

Links (**):

#architecture #architect #travel

**Affiliate links cost you nothing extra, but they send a small commission my way to help cover the cost of making these videos. A sincere thanks for helping support my work!

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Please watch: "Making a Site Model - The Outpost Project"
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[ozhazem]

Thank you
Sometimes architecture disappoint .but the way you presenting it . gives me the feeling of satisfaction and hope .

[Rascoh]

In my first semester of architecture school, we're told that we'll learn to see the world differently. This is a testament to that notion. We live in a fast-paced world, and oftentimes, everything around us seems to blur together to the point where the finest details go unnoticed. "God is in the details", as Mies once said, and I can absolutely relate to everything you've mentioned here. Thank you for reminding us to slow down and appreciate the journey, and to challenge our creative vision along the way.

[paulodeoliveira]

I was almost embarrassed to tell anyone that I sketch when on holiday. Then you go and make me feel normal again. Bravo!

[ShowItBetter]

Wow, wow, wow. This is just on another level. Thanks Eric!!

[RottenlyMoodyChild]

Wow, as an anthropologist, photographer and someone who has only a short time ago started to feel the aspiration to become an architect, this was superb! Very relatable and certainly resonates with me. Exceptional production quality too! Thanks for the hard work and inspiration!

[TheBluePandaNinja]

As an architecture student, god...you give me life man, Make me remember why I'm studying this beautiful career

[neerithedragon]

Its amazing how you bring these awesome things on a basic down to earth level. No false pretenses or cloudy artistic doodaa.

[GeniusD]

I love your channel man. I'm a Civil Engineer (In Training) and damn, I WISH there was a channel like this related to my discipline. Your aesthetic and high quality teachings/videos are unreal.

[mohmih]

Fact : I can never find better content on youtube than yours, truely apreciate your effort to make ART.

[lightwavz]

I am a mixed media artist and photographer, but I always gravitate back to my foundation, analog drafting and analog graphic design. Your channel hits me right in my core with a bolt of electricity to keep bringing the old back into the new as just another layer (even with the iPad, which is how I found your channel to begin with). Thank you!

[whitleybennett]

The way you talk about architecture and design spring joy in my heart and hope in my soul. Your perspective is beautiful.

[andrewwalker]

This is definitely one of my favourite videos that you've done. It has made me want to go back and look at some of my travel photos from years ago and see what i can sketch from them and try to re-live and remember those places.

[ericnicastro]

I stayed at that same hotel once and it was beautiful! My favorite detail was the woodwork when you walk in to take the elevator down to the lobby. I loved how the wall panels curved into the ceiling to create on continuous pattern. I really did not feel like I was staying in a hotel. It felt much more relaxed and very comfortable.

[TheNatachaTH]

I'm almost finished with my architecture and urbanism studies, I'm from Portugal, I'm doing my graduation project, it's been a very stressful period in my academic life and you gave me the motivation I needed. Thank you for the videos, I really like your channel, I haven't seen all of them yet but they are making me learn a lot, thank you for sharing your knowledge.

[UU-lsxy]

How you bring yourself fully into architecture is just so amazing. I'm in my final (sixth) year of architectural study and I feel like the humdrum of uni work to just 'produce, produce, produce' overrides my life experience of spaces. This is video inspires me to be more present in my here and now (as well as in my travel adventures). Thank you for this!

[arielzarate]

Since I am a one man operation, your videos help to keep me motivated and inspired. Thank you very much!

[jeffs]

As an architecture student, this is priceless. Thanks so much for sharing. Its very helpful and insightful.

[danplace]

I must say the way you make the most boring or weird things we see day to day an art form and you do that with lots of different things and it makes you videos brilliant and inspiring that draw people like me into the world of architecture

[guitarworld]

I'm not an architect, a designer, a drawer, or have any equipment or materials. But I find your videos therapeutic and interesting! I'm fascinated to the point I think your convincing me to become one out of sheer curiosity. Bravo, keep up the great work

[allanleonardo]

Man, I'm from Brazil. And I have to tell you that. I was giving up the architecture course, but watching your videos I could see that what I was doing was totally wrong. You gave me a light how to do it right. You're amazing dude. Congrats.