I have an opportunity to enroll on a MA in architecture in the UK
My background is Building ONC,HNC which was 4 years along with 15 years experiance and a strong design based portfolio
the course itself, the MA sounds great design based and would give me a respected accademic qualification
I could enroll on the diploma and get my RIBA but have never found it important
I have my own company and already get good varied work
do you think I should go back and get my diploma
does the MA have a strong reputation amongst architects

thankyou in advance

How long is the course to final RIBA ? & how many years is this reduced by because of ONC HNC?

A lot depends on your age / Family support / Who you want to work for etc etc / Where in the world you want to work?
You have your own business will your clients pay more because of Extra Qualification? Will you get better more rewarding work?

All in all you may not be much better off financially.

Most important is your motivation in doing it ..self respect?.. If it is important to you then do it.

I have an opportunity to enroll on a MA in architecture in the UK
My background is Building ONC,HNC which was 4 years along with 15 years experiance and a strong design based portfolio
the course itself, the MA sounds great design based and would give me a respected accademic qualification
I could enroll on the diploma and get my RIBA but have never found it important
I have my own company and already get good varied work
do you think I should go back and get my diploma
does the MA have a strong reputation amongst architects

thankyou in advance

ONC? HNC? Not sure what these acronyms mean, but RIBA is the Brit version of the AIA? (or the AIA is the American version of the RIBA, however you want to look at it)

ONC? HNC? Not sure what these acronyms mean, but RIBA is the Brit version of the AIA? (or the AIA is the American version of the RIBA, however you want to look at it)

RIBA=AIA

His qualifications so far are on a technical level & he can't call himself an Architect but he can say Architectural Designer / Architectural Assistant etc

RIBA=AIA

His qualifications so far are on a technical level & he can't call himself an Architect but he can say Architectural Designer / Architectural Assistant etc

Thanks ReD, and you have offered some good advise.

“does the MA have a strong reputation amongst architects”

Probably, but you don’t build many buildings for Architects do you? IMO you should not pursue the masters for the label. The label architect no longer holds much status except among those with the label “Architect”. If you are doing the kind of work you want to do, then keep on as you are. However, if you think that the M.arch is going to challenge you to be more creative and do better work I think that it would be worth it.

I have an opportunity to enroll on a MA in architecture in the UK
My background is Building ONC,HNC which was 4 years along with 15 years experiance and a strong design based portfolio
the course itself, the MA sounds great design based and would give me a respected accademic qualification
I could enroll on the diploma and get my RIBA but have never found it important
I have my own company and already get good varied work
do you think I should go back and get my diploma
does the MA have a strong reputation amongst architects

thankyou in advance


It's always worth it, simply because you will gte More varied work, if that's your wish, and anything that furthers your education in any way should always be done.

Thanks for the replies
I understand what your saying about clients hire you not architects
but thats not strictly true, unless you run your own practise
I am coming at it from a different angle
my work has been like a trades aprentiship in my mind and, I'm ready.
looking around the end of year shows and having worked along side some very bright students, I feel a bit sorry for them that in a lot of cases they are now in the real world and they may never fullfill there design aspirations
my experience has been to learn the way things go together and the process and people who are involved in that process, learning from the existing built environment and technologies
so going back into university from a working situation would be great
to do some conceptual work
I'm 33, they say most architects do there best work around 50

The reason I am asking architects is as peers,I can imagine that some people would take a dim view of my education which was still 4 years at technical college
In buisness studies, if you have a HNC it only take a year to get the diploma and be fully qualified. there is no such route in architecture because of the RIBA
It's a shame because it's kind of a class divide still

Don't shoot me down I am going to do the whole thing just wanted some advice on wether it was appropriate

congellous...

I agree with Red :)

In terms of employment, I doubt whether having any additional qualifications would help in terms of landing work given a 15 year portfolio of work. Experience counts for everything in practice. That said, the initial hurdle will always be, is he a qualified architect before looking at CVs and portfolios...[potential client/architecural employer]

The MA would be a good qualification to have. Dont forget that to be called an 'Architect' in the UK, you need to complete all three RIBA exams before being able to register with the ARB. I would imagine that with your experience and completing an MA, that would cover Pt I & II. I think you need to speak to the University offering the course to get clarification. Before sitting your Pt III RIBA exam, you have to provide a log book with at least 24months of relevant work. Again the University should be able to help you out there.

http://www.careersinarchitecture.net/

Hope this helps...
:)

thanks mark
they have an office based course
but because I am self employed I think I can fit the full time course around my work

cheers