Hi there all,

I have been visiting this site for a while now and have a lot of time for those who participate and comment on the forums - so your opinions are held in high regard.

I have been practicing architecture now for the past 6 years, an associate at a young design orientated firm and am absoltely passionate about architecture. My family are in the hospitatlity industry and i have been involved when i was younger growing up with the folkes. Ironically, as a an architect i have been involved with a couple of restaurant refurbs as well.

My diliema is that I have been offered an opportunity to set up a restaurant with my folks (who have over 25 years in the industry so iam in safe hands!) Nothing is guaranteed - but this is a really great chance of being 'financially secure'. which means relocating and quitting my job which I dearly love - on top of that a couple of jobs i have designed are due for construction mid year!!!!!!!!!!! which i would obviously miss out on doing the contract admin.

I have spoken to a couple of 'older' architects who are really disilluioned about architcture as a career path i.e. economic downturns, dickhead clients, low pay etc the list goes on.

I just wanted to get some opinions back in particular from the guys with a lot more experience to see what it is like to practice architects over many years as a career path. To put things in perspective my wife is pregnant and I have a sizeable mortgage over my head.

Cheers.

both!?

start the restaurant and design for yourself....

Hi there all,

I have been visiting this site for a while now and have a lot of time for those who participate and comment on the forums - so your opinions are held in high regard.

I have been practicing architecture now for the past 6 years, an associate at a young design orientated firm and am absoltely passionate about architecture. My family are in the hospitatlity industry and i have been involved when i was younger growing up with the folkes. Ironically, as a an architect i have been involved with a couple of restaurant refurbs as well.

My diliema is that I have been offered an opportunity to set up a restaurant with my folks (who have over 25 years in the industry so iam in safe hands!) Nothing is guaranteed - but this is a really great chance of being 'financially secure'. which means relocating and quitting my job which I dearly love - on top of that a couple of jobs i have designed are due for construction mid year!!!!!!!!!!! which i would obviously miss out on doing the contract admin.

I have spoken to a couple of 'older' architects who are really disilluioned about architcture as a career path i.e. economic downturns, dickhead clients, low pay etc the list goes on.

I just wanted to get some opinions back in particular from the guys with a lot more experience to see what it is like to practice architects over many years as a career path. To put things in perspective my wife is pregnant and I have a sizeable mortgage over my head.

Cheers.

Hmmm... not an easy choice... well, I'd say that you'll be able to eat daily if you go for the restaurant... :D But running a restaurant also means no more free evenings. Hope you'll make the right choice... good luck! :peace:

It will take time to give a decent reply

When faced with difficult choices like this I have resorted to tossing a coin .. not to make the decision but to find where my heart lies... Simply If you are dissappointed with the result of the coin then you have discovered something.
Equally if you are pleased with the result then you have also discovered something.

In this case my initial reaction is like Nicholas I would try to do both. The restaurant should give you the opportunity to be more selective in your projects & less dependant on doing the dross .. but that is only part of the answer.

Try the coin first & look up the recipe thread here.

In this case my initial reaction is like Nicholas I would try to do both. The restaurant should give you the opportunity to be more selective in your projects & less dependant on doing the dross .. but that is only part of the answer.

Try the coin first & look up the recipe thread here.
I agree to red's opinion. and the recipe thread is cool too :D

When I first entered school I was a business major. My plan was to take over my dads business. Though his business was quite lucrative, I did not enjoy the work.

I discovered architecture through a required fine arts credit. I was instantly hooked and switched majors the next year. It meant that I would spend an extra 2-3 years in school, but I felt doing something I enjoyed and was passionate about was more important.

The point is that I think you should follow your heart. If you are much more passionate about architecture than the restaurant business I think you should stick with architecture. If you are most passionate about spending time with your family choose the option that will allow you to do that.

A wise man once told me never to do anything for the money, find something you love to do. If you love something, you are more likely to be good at it, and if you are good at it you ultimately end up making money at it.

In the end, there are many more ways to make money than to be happy.

A wise man once told me never to do anything for the money, find something you love to do. If you love something, you are more likely to be good at it, and if you are good at it you ultimately end up making money at it.

In the end, there are many more ways to make money than to be happy.


Ditto,

Plus the restaurant business as lucrative as it is is very unforgiving. My restauranteur friends and past clients were never poor but they all had a passion for the details and fast pace of hospitatlity. Go with you heart.

Do architecture. It's what you are passionate about which means you won't have to drag yourself to the office.

I have discovered through a long, arduous and painful journey that if you're not doing what you're destined to be doing (in my case - architecture) then you will not enjoy life at all. You will be discontent and view life with regret and 'what ifs'.

The decision is yours, but I was faced with a similar decision years ago between immediate financial security, or doing what I love - and here I am.

BTW - practicing architecture doesn't preclude financial prosperity through investments.

well this isn´t an easy question so don´t expect an easy answer.
I think you need to think, think about your goals, think about your priorities, think about your life, think about how your life would be if did one thing or the other.
You know that whatever you choose it's not going to be easy, there are good things and bad things in both options.
Like red and ryo said you can always try to make them both, altought you know this is going to put alot more stress and hard work on topo of you.

So i would sugest that you talk with your wife, see how she feels about it, but attention, don´t let her decide. This is a decision you, and you alone must make.

I hope i helped. So good luck with all this process.

Thanks so much for your well considered responses.

Just to add a spanner, our plan was to start up the business (and yes i am also passionate about food) in order to generate capital which will allow me to pursue my own developments and businesses.

I guess my main sacrifice would be to give up a fantastic job which I enjoy for 2-3 years in order to achieve something which will be financially rewarding and look after my family. Something that will not happen if i kept the status quo.

At the moment my brain says start the restaurant and my heart says stay with the current job.

Thanks again guys!

Just my own thoughts ... you cannot be architect half-time.
You know it when anywhere you go you look at windows, façades, details.
Nose up, always. Holidays photos : the kids on the beach, a lintel detail, your wife with a funny hat, a panoramic of this group of houses...
I'm pretty sure some other jobs distort your mind this way too. And I'm afraid that hospitality biz is one of them. So do you turn your head more often on salads or on bricks ? ...

Geyer you should talk to Nicholas (see Architect Chef Poll )

Wow. I must be not multiprocessored...

Francesco is right
I droped out of work for a while, to do music, and at the time I could'nt of ran out of the profession quick enough, but could I stop thinking of how buildings went together the style and influences, detail
On a whole I prefer working in the architecture
your in the best position to decide knowing both worlds, you can always pick up architecture again in the future, keep current with magazines and the forums
All jobs come down to where you work, what you do, who with, and of course pay
good luck your in a good position

You really have to think about what why you love architecture so much. As a student, I hope that I can make the difference, change the course of mainstream consumerism and make a healther environment for everyone to live in. However, it seems that you have two passions in your life. It all comes down to decisions. But you have to remember that money doesnt buy happiness (although it can help), I'd say follow your heart, you never know the rewards that come when you do what you love, and love what you do. Maybe you'll still get into development by a strengthend friendship with a client.