V&A RIBA

1 Month Review: University of Westminster - BA (Hons) Architecture 3 years

There are a few things that I knew would disappoint me coming here to London to study architecture. But with every sacrifice there are certain gains. Ryerson and Carleton, actually, pretty much every Canadian university, all give each student their personal studio space, drawing board, cupboard and all. But here in London we don’t have any “personal” space of our own. We all share the 1st year studio and work on big tables. That was one of the most alluring aspects of studying architecture - being able to have my own place yet be surrounded by other students working on projects through all hours of the day/night.

But then you get the positives. Having studied and gained a BA in History and Theory of Architecture I’ve spent countless nights studying hundreds (and trust me, i mean HUNDREDS of buildings) and have memorised their date(s) of construction, architecture, location, and significance yet nothing compares to actually being able to go for walks and witness these sites in person on a daily basis. That is one of the most amazing things here. Every week for our Cultural Context course we have guest lecturers who come from different universities like the AA and the Bartlett but we also go on these “walks” to significant areas of London ever week. Also for our Drawing Tutorial is held at the Victoria & Albert Museum where they have the RIBAs architecture archives. We spent the day studying sketches and models in their collection.

Last week I got nominated to be one of 6 Student Representatives for the 1st year class. Usually I fucking hate getting involved in student union type shit but I’m finally studying the program I’ve worked the last 3 years to get into so I jumped on the opportunity. Afterall, in the end it doesn’t matter how amazing your grades are if you can’t hold a conversation with people. So hopefully this will get my name out there with professors and I can work on my networking. I am in London after all, if I can’t get a job after getting my Part 1 here then its hopeless.

Anyways, Sorry for the long delay in posts. I’ll have more crazy shit up soon. I’m incredibly sick right now so im going back to sleep.

night ottawa.