[Critiquing the Architectural Design Industry] Standing at the Starting Line: The Story of Those Seeking Employment

Kwon Namhyeong Konkuk University, Kim Jihyun Dong-A University, Sohn Hyojie Sungkyunkwan University, Jung Wooseung Hongik University

× SPACE 

SPACE  In this first session critiquing the architectural design industry, architecture students who are in the process of seeking employment in an architectural design office have come together to share their experiences. Let’s make reference to the individual deadlines and critiques since you enrolled in the department of architecture. What did you learn at college?

Jung Wooseung (Jung)  To be frank, I learned how to start from scratch. You never receive a kind, considerate guideline. You just need to tackle the given assignment first. As you get to complete such assignments one after the other, one begins to gain confidence that there is nothing you cannot do.

Sohn Hyojie (Sohn)  I never got to learn the things I expected to learn. For example, the school never taught me how to use CAD or 3D programmes, which all architecture students must know how to use. Then I start to wonder what I actually learned during my time. According to my counting, I’ve completed a total of twenty-seven design deadlines in five years, ranging from my very first design assignment in my freshman year to my capstone design. In order to meet the deadline, you need to be able to select the significant ideas from the many and merge them a single result. This process offered me the opportunity to practice how best to organise my thoughts.

Kwon Namhyeong (Kwon)  I think I learned how to perfect storytelling. Storytelling became the first press of the button to start designing, and it also became the centrepiece that would lead a design to its conclusion. The criteria that determined the result was how much the story and concept of the project behind could be justified. Also, the process of creating a well- organised story into a visual outcome can simply be stated as a process that starts from scratch. I just refused to give up. Still, it was possible because I had affection for my projects.

Kim Jihyun (Kim)  When I was working on an assignment, I often pulled an all-nighter, and I got to spend a lot of time with my classmates as well as younger and older class students. Looking back, I learned a lot of things from the people around me during that time. Things such as self- confidence, attitude towards challenges, persistence, etc.

SPACE  Most of the university departments of architecture have adopted a five-year curriculum of architecture accrecited programme, while Konkuk University maintains a four-year curriculum. There are various views of and opinions on the current status of the accrediting system and the architect qualification system, but I would like to hear the thoughts of students approaching the field.

Kim  First of all, there is clearly a sense of mounting pressure due to the five-year-long duration of the programme. I feel nervous when I see my friends from other majors who graduated from the four-year curriculum now getting a job. There is also a financial burden due to another year; the not-so-small cost of tuition, material purchase, dormitory fee, and so on. It is also true that there are restrictions on taking courses from other majors or liberal arts programmes because there are many courses that we must take in order to comply with accreditation requirements. There are many friends who gave up pursuing a double major because it is very tricky to manage. Nevertheless, if you look at it from an outside perspective, I think there are more benefits to enforcing an accrediting system. If there is no accrediting system, wouldn’t it become far more competitive to qualify as an architect? Since the accrediting system guarantees qualification as an architect, to a certain extent, I think there are more opportunities for architecture students who begin to fear finding a place in architecture. This training provides them with a place to return to, a place to lean on, while they try out professions other than design. 

Kwon  As a graduate of a four-year programme, I know nothing about the joys and sorrows of the students who are enrolled in a five-year programme. This is the first time I hear about the restrictions when choosing between courses. The programme in which I was enrolled was framed in such a way so that is not difficult to pursue a double major, and I took the courses that I wished to take, as many as I wanted. I never thought that the preliminary architects qualifying examination would be abolished, so the four-year programme seemed like such a positive option. But things have changed. Now a graduate of a four-year architecture programme must enter a graduate school of architecture in order to become fully qualified as an architect. The school emphasises and promotes the merits of the 4+2 programme, but in terms of time and cost, it seems overly burdensome to go to graduate school simply to qualify as an architect. In my own case, in order to raise what is needed to pay the tuition fees, I plan to work at an office instead of going into graduate school right away. However, since I am not eligible to undertake practical training, my work experience will effectively be lost. While attending interviews at various offices, I felt that the labels such as ‘four-year programme’ and ‘non-accredited’ followed me. I wish I were in the shoes of those who graduate from a five-year architecture programme.

Sohn  I was at school for six years to pursue a double major while receiving an accredited programme. But I didn’t feel like the five years were regrettable or burdensome. I think architecture is a field in which there is so much to learn. However, I do think that there was a significant lack of options, such as architectural history, theory, and criticism, due to the accredited programme that had a design-oriented curriculum, which was biased towards training in design practice. Although there were theory courses, there was not sufficient instruction. Aside from the design studio, it seemed that there were a lot of courses that were structured and scheduled according only to the accrediting criteria. I always had a thirst for study in the humanities, such as theory and history, and I felt like my design work was but a piece of a shell. To quench my thirst for knowledge, I took on a double major. I hope that the accrediting system will serve as a standard for improving the quality of education by meticulously evaluating not only the education of design but also the overall curriculum of architecture education.

Kwon  If you look closely, even if courses such as history and theory are open, students do not always engage during the class. They just go to the class but sit in the corner to prepare and work on the design studio material. Ultimately, design-oriented education leads to design-oriented evaluation. Therefore, for students whose highest priority is the grade, they have no choice but to put their best efforts within the limited time to design studio, which accounts for an overwhelming proportion of a semester’s grade.

Jung  It is true that the accrediting system has improved the education environment and quality to some extent. Hongik University has started remodelling the old architectural department building prior to the next year’s upcoming site visit evaluation of accrediting, and also invited new professors in the field of architectural equipment. I think that the accrediting system is necessary, in terms of alerting schools to find a direction to improve and develop.

SPACE  As a student, an internship would probably be the only chance to acquire a taste of the architectural design industry. Did your architecture education have any connections to the architectural design industry that aided you during your internship?

Sohn  I’ve been a fan of professor Joh Sungyong since my freshman year. In my third-year, I had the chance to work at johsungyong architect office/ubac for about a year. He approached design in a very humanistic manner. The first thing I did when I was assigned a project, was to go to the district office and look into the history of the placename. It was right around this time that I felt doubtful of the architecture education that focused so excessively on visual results. Yet I got to see him, who, even at the age of over 70, was slowly and steadily gaining knowledge while designing. I thought, ‘if this is how one practices architecture, I would like to know more’.

Kwon  I’ve had a rather contrasting experience. At school, in the early stages of learning about design, I spent a lot of time building up a complete story by exploring the site and its use in principle. As a result, the project was slow- paced, making me frustrated. However, when I went to the office, all the initial stages were eliminated, and I was taught how to organise the necessary concepts within the given deadline. I was surprised to see that I was able to finish a project, which in a month was ten times more demanding than my semester-long project. Following a step-by-step, systematic, and fast-paced process, I was able to experience a different, hands-on approach to that of school. On the one hand, I thought that architecture education was too far apart from actual practice in the field. During a period of about six months, I got to participate in a design competition twice. It was a large-scale apartment project, of the kind that I had never performed at school, and I was really lost when I was studying the layout of the apartment complex. ‘Didn’t you ever study something of this kind at school?’ I was scolded severely. Seriously, I was never taught that kind of stuff!

Kim  At NOW Architects, I not only worked on fundamental drawings and models, but I was also directly involved in the design process by attending design meetings. Although I was an intern, I blended into the system and atmosphere of the office quite naturally, and that experience still remains as a good memory. In my case, I was lucky enough to find an ideal office, so I probably worried less about my career path. But in the cases of my friends who had rather disappointing internship experiences, it seems that they take on a number of different internships, two or even three, until they find an office most suited to them. They never give up immediately.

Jung  I did my first internship at an office run by a professor. As a representative of an atelier, she was a professor with a strong aspect of a ‘businessman’. She was excellent at communicating with clients and winning projects, but in terms of design, there were not many opportunities to learn. At the time when I was working there, I didn’t think that I’d be working in design in the future. Afterwards, I did an internship at Samoo Architects & Engineers (hereinafter Samoo), and I ended up printing and stamping 2000 drawings for the entire month. The new employee did the same task as I did as an intern, so I could well imagine what my future would be if I joined this company. For my third internship, I worked at an atelier, thinking that it would be my last shot. That was when I first began to enjoy it, and an opportunity to pursue the design. Although the size of this office was similar to that of my first internship, I learned a lot from the principal who had a solid grounding in design philosophy, and I realised that I wanted to continue within the design if I could become like him.

Can We Make Enough Money to Meet Living Costs in the Architectural Design Industry? 

SPACE  Even if you majored in architecture, the design is not the only way of pursuing work in the field in the future. Due to the negative rumours that circulate about the culture in architectural design offices, there must be people who hesitate over entering the architectural design industry.

Jung  Many colleagues prepare for employment in architecture-related fields such as construction-related public positions as well as public corporations related to architecture, rather than the design. Some are seeking employment in an architectural design office, but others solely aim at obtaining an architect’s license. They say that, to not waste the five-year- long period that they invested at school, they will first get the license even if they begin their career in different fields.

Kwon  It is a characteristic of Konkuk University that there are overwhelmingly more talseol (leaveing the architectural design industry) than talgeon (leaving the architecture industry). When people are in their final years, they look up the surrounding fields such as engineering offices, construction companies, and CM (Construction Management), but not many students wish to pursue the design. This may be because graduates of the four-year programme feel burdened by the fact that they have to go to graduate school in order to qualify as architects. Furthermore, architecture students make continuous and steady strides by handling new design projects every semester, and for the four-year programme graduate, there is pressure to overcome the disadvantages that result from starting a year earlier than the five-year programme graduate.

Sohn  Of the eight people in the same capstone studio, two wanted to pursue the architecture industry, and of the two, I am the only one who wishes to pursue the design. There may be differences in the mood every year, but there are many colleagues around me who are preparing for a completely different career path, such as in film, fashion, or fine art.

Kim  We have a slightly different mood. This may depend on individual will, but most graduates wish to pursue the design and hope to get a job in Seoul. Since students can apply for an internship at an office of their choice through the on-campus programme, they usually try out two or three different offices and seek employment in a place that best suits their own temperament and aims. Occasionally, even if the design feels unsuitable and difficult to pursue, they take a leave of absence to rest and realign themselves to new aims to give it another shot, and they rarely go into other fields to seek employment. Meanwhile, some colleagues wish to remain in rural areas. In many cases, this is due to the high costs of living in cities, but there are quite a few cases where they want to build a new foundation in the local area to open their own offices.

SPACE  The four of us here decided to get a job at an architectural design office. But there is more to consider. There are a lot of design offices, and they all vary by scale and project characteristics. What aspects of the office did you prioritise when seeking employment?

Sohn  During the studio class at school, we design without having a business feasibility review and operation plan after construction, so I felt frustrated and thought, ‘This is more like a painting than a work of architecture’. So, I prioritised looking for a place where I could learn the system of the architecture industry. A large-scale architectural design office seemed appropriate because it would be closely related to the CM or the developer. I also considered welfare as an important factor. As a woman, it was important that my career could be guaranteed after marriage and childbirth.

Kwon  The place where I worked for six months was a small atelier of  no more than five people. It was a place where you could make great strides because each employee’s competence played a significant role. But I wanted to work in a bigger company, a place with a larger number of employees. You can nourish yourself through work, but I believe that you can create a wider space for yourself when you interact with diverse people with their own philosophies. Moreover, I heard a lot of advice that networking is crucial when opening your own architectural design office. I think a large-scale architectural design office has merit in the broadening of the network.

Kim  As a person who was moving from a rural area to Seoul, my prior interests when seeking employment were salary and welfare. And I also wondered if it would be a suitable office for me in which to fully immerse myself and grow. My internship experience helped me figure this out.

Jung  The criterion I had was how much I would be encouraged to grow. I chose to work at an atelier rather than a large-scale architectural design office because I believed that I could take bigger strides in a place where each employee’s abilities and values would be recognised. It was also due to my memory at Samoo, of which I had a strong impression, while I was stamping the drawings like a machine, that this company would be running just fine without me. (laugh) The next thing I considered significant was my work-life balance, but I don’t mean a balance on a grandiose scale. As long as the company was to give me time to recover between deadlines, I would be fine with working overtime and even working on weekends.

Kwon  In the case of a work-life balance, I don’t think it is an issue that individual offices can resolve. It is rather a problem of the competitive structure of design competition. As long as there are deadlines, pulling an all-nighter in a typical architectural design office with limited staff will remain as the norm. I understand that staying up all night and working on weekends is unavoidable. But all I want is reasonable compensation.

Kim  When I hear from those around me, they say that they don’t care how late they work as long as they get fair compensation. Office culture is more important than the intensity of the workload. They say that if the office culture offers a non-coercive and equitable working environment, they can endure high workloads even if it is arduous.

Sohn  Salaries and workload intensity are not as high a priority as you might think. I think it’s enough if you can learn and grow as much as the salary and workload intensity is. When I was working at johsungyong architect office/ubac, I even thought would it be okay for me to get paid when I get to learn these many things. (laugh)

SPACE  You all were thrown into the job market. ‘Where should I start?’, you must have wondered at first. How did you access the recruitment information, and what was the piece of information you really needed, but no one told you about?

Kim  There is an architectural association of universities located in Busan, and they provide activities related to seeking employment such as inviting graduates of older classes to ask a question, and providing mentoring sessions as well as lectures. The school also hosts a special session on preparing a portfolio. Those who are actually in a position to review portfolios, such as executives of large-scale architectural design offices as well as principals of ateliers, visited and gave their personal advice, which was a great help to attendees.

Jung  A special session on preparing a portfolio! I wish I had been given such a privilege. I am starting from scratch in seeking employment. I spend all day looking at job postings on the SPACE website. In the case of ateliers, you can only get the information through their websites and Instagram. It was difficult to make an objective decision about which offices are good ones, and I also felt lost when starting to prepare my portfolio. Fortunately, the stories I heard from those senior to me were a great help. But that wasn’t enough, so I went to the professor of my design studio to ask for further advice.

Sohn  In Sungkyunkwan University, the department of architecture is affiliated with the College of Engineering. During the recruitment season, a large recruitment event is held on campus. Many companies hold recruitment briefing sessions, but most of them are targeting students from other departments such as the engineering college, and there is no recruitment briefing session from architecture-related corporates. For instance, there is a briefing session held by Samsung C&T Corporation, but not one by Samoo. Instead, there was a briefing session held by the student union of the department of architecture. Three alumni who joined Samoo the previous year came to explain points of information such as the recruitment schedule. Without a doubt, it was a great help, but since they were not in charge of human resources, we could not get all the answers to our more detailed questions. I wish there was a recruitment briefing session held by 

the school, as with the engineering-related corporate.

Kwon  I agree. At Konkuk University, whoever decides to pursue the design are prepared instead for graduate school or study abroad. Therefore, there are not many people seeking employment in offices during their final year. Perhaps that is why, as with the case of Dong-A University, that there was no support or special lectures about seeking employment hosted by the school. I could not rely on the school, and there was a limit to the research that I can do on my own, so I faced down the job field myself: I called the public relations teams of offices and asked them about their vision and their main projects. Surprisingly, they gave sincere answers without ignoring me. In the end, I believe is becoming a battle of how far you you are willing to go to get the information that you need.

Jung  If you look at the website of atelier, credits are posted every time a project is completed. It’s a really small thing, but in the future, I hope my name will be listed as the person in charge of design. In the next five years or more, I dream of opening my own office. I have a dream about pursuing the design profession and projects with my name on it.

Kwon  In order to gain the architect‘s qualification, I have to go to graduate school again someday, but currently, Konkuk University is the only place that offers a graduate school of architecture in Korea—so there is no other option. In 3 to 4 years, I plan to study abroad to pursue a master’s degree, just because I do not want to pursue this at Konkuk University. It is a bit extreme, but if I don’t get to go abroad to study, I will do something completely different from the architecture industry. This also means that the architect‘s qualification is that much more important for my future as an architect.

Sohn  For now, I’m open to the possibilities, and I plan to work at an office for at least a year before deciding whether to continue in the design. However, no matter which direction I proceed regarding my career, I would like to develop it based within the field of architecture.

Kim  During the design process, I got to know myself better, I learned how to express myself, and I found myself constantly taking new steps forward. I plan to continue within the design. I look forward to my continued growth in the architectural design industry alongside and encouraged by the new people I meet.

SPACE  You are all at the starting line of the architectural design industry. The road to be taken is longer than the road you have walked. How would you like to see the architectural design industry improve?

Jung  I hope society can recognise the crucial work performed by design and that design costs can be more rationally determined.

Kwon  It seems that there is already a lot of social awareness that people who work in the architecture industry are not adequately compensated for the hours they work. To see a better architectural design industry, I believe that such negative perceptions must be improved and that a higher-quality workforce should enter the architectural design industry. From a similar point of view, I hope that the opportunities and conditions for obtaining an architect‘s license can expand, and that a more open infrastructure will bolster the architectural design industry. 

Kim  I think the development of young employees contributes to the growth of the architectural design industry. Therefore, I hope that offices will spare no expense and effort in investing in the learning and development of their new employees.

Sohn  I think architects themselves also need to strengthen their roles as architects. When I went to Berlin as an exchange student, I has an assignment in a design studio to read a science fiction novel about a utopia and to find an architectural precedent for this vision. I wasn’t sure why I had to read novels unrelated to architecture and why I had to search for a utopia. Looking back, the objective was to demonstrate the belief to the students that architects should strive to create a utopia and a better society. However, it is not easy to learn such an optimistic spirit either in school or in the workplace. It is indeed difficult to design according to an architect’s ideal, but I hope we will all try to unleash the possibilities and true values rather than getting used to our present reality.