An architecture degree can be an excellent investment, with the average US architect earning over $80,000 a year.
However, sometimes you may want to take your degree differently. Luckily, the skills you will develop to be an architect can be applied to other roles in surprising ways.
Keep reading to learn about some of the other roles you could apply for with a degree in architecture.
Town Planner
As an architect, you will have a vision and deep understanding of how buildings work. When you take that to the next level, you can see beyond just one building and use your skills and creative insight to build entire towns and cities.
A town planner needs to have a unified vision above all else. You can apply all of the skills you will learn on an architectural degree course to envision a new urban space. Bring together residential, commercial, and industrial zones in a way that makes people’s lives harmonious and creates a space that brings joy to the locals.
A town planner is one of the more traditional career options for architects but a very rewarding one that will enable you to make a big difference in people’s lives.
Historic Building Inspector
Ancient buildings need someone to look at and after them regularly. They need someone with an understanding of how buildings are constructed to comprehend how they were built in the first place. As an architect with a grounding in history, you could take on the role of a historical building inspector.
This is one of the architecture degree jobs that will allow you to spend lots of time in grand mansions and palaces and help keep them in a condition worthy of preserving for future generations.
Set Designer
This is one of the jobs for architects that may seem like a tangent but fits well within an architect’s skill set. Theatrical and cinematic productions these days build enormous sets that are essentially small buildings in their own right.
Set designers need someone who understands architecture to help put together these monumental constructions. They need to be solidly built and useable in a very safe way by the actors and crew day after day. Your skills could help them achieve this.
VFX Artist
As alternative careers for architects, becoming a VFX artist is not as big a jump as you may think. You can apply your IT skills to this role as there is a lot of overlap in computer-aided graphical design (CAD) and even with enterprise architecture jobs.
If you find yourself drawn to the visual design aspect of architecture, then you may find this a natural transition into designing photorealistic online imagery.
Interior Designer
Interior design can fall into the fields of architecture as it is about the design of a property but from the inside rather than the structural elements. You can use your ability to visualize spaces in different ways to make changes to buildings in a way that will improve their space.
Interior designers will often suggest minor structural changes to buildings to allow more light or create a large living or working environment. You need to have a creative mind and an ability to see what others can not. Skills that you will develop while studying architecture.
An Architecture Degree Can Open Many Doors
You do not have to be stuck just designing new houses with an architecture degree. There are many different routes you could try and use your skills and creative vision in another way. Start thinking about how you could use your degree differently today.
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