Architecture VS Mathematics
We’ve got our first guest post of 2022 lined up for you today! In this week’s blog post, I’ll be interviewing a fellow maths student from QMUL, and comparing our experiences studying Maths and Architecture and Environmental Design at university.
Q1 - Introduce yourself
Chloé: Hey there, I’m Chloe and I study Pure Mathematics at Queen Mary University of London. I’m in my third year and I’m currently a Buddy Scheme Ambassador.
Linda: Hey everyone! My name’s Linda, I’m in my third year of Architecture and Environmental Design BSc at the University of Westminster. I’m also President of Westminster Architecture Society (WAS).
Q2 - If you could go back to sixth-form, would you still choose to study your degree or would you choose something different?
Chloé: I have considered this question many times myself, admittedly I never really stopped since questioning whilst at sixth form. I thoroughly enjoy maths, it fits how I like to study, plus the satisfaction of finally finalising a proof or reaching the correct answer after many struggling attempts is a high achieved by little else. However, despite being better at maths over the course of my life, GCSEs onwards I realised English Literature came much easier to me, and my interest in working within the TV industry meant I was naturally good at Media Studies. In my second year at university, I decided to take a Literature module (which I’m glad counted towards my degree still so I didn’t miss out on credits) and gained insight to what life could have been like studying that subject. Admittedly, I feel I chose what was best in the end - I never felt I could truly progress with Literature and its skills (not that it’s perfected or anything) as it didn’t bring many prospects post graduation. I guess I’d like to pursue a Production degree, but I’m still going to pursue it as a career after graduating maths - as jobs in STEM aren’t the most interesting to me unless it’s teaching.
Linda: Thinking back to how I felt in sixth-form, I still think deciding to apply for Architecture was the best decision I could have made. However, it doesn’t mean that it came without doubts at the time. I knew that I wanted a career that would satisfy both my analytical strengths and creative side of my personality, and architecture complemented both. Whilst I still feel like I would have excelled more academically had I chosen a degree that followed on from the subjects I was stronger in (Psychology or French), I knew that I wouldn’t be satisfied with settling for what I was good at, when there is a subject out there that I’d find more rewarding and satisfying. Despite the application process taking a toll on my mental health (putting together a portfolio on scratch coupled with comparing myself to other candidates who had more relevant qualifications than me), I don’t think I would choose a different degree if someone gave me the choice to go back to sixth form and choose something else to study.
Q3 - How did you find the transition from sixth form to first year, and first year to second year?
Chloé: The work going into university was great; being at such a diverse university they are aware of how everyone would be at such different levels, especially as (though was a perk) a Further Maths A-Level was not required. They started from the very basics; to name a few, Calculus 1 started off with signs and symbols (i.e. what does = mean), Numbers, Sets and Functions obviously started off with different number systems. Obviously we didn’t spend long at these beginnings, but they definitely eased the way in so we could focus on the other important aspects of uni life to start with. Let’s be real, maths lecturers are very logical people so I think they understand freshers doesn’t end after just one week!
However, first to second year was very different; the lecturers expected you to be perfect on everything we were tested on in the previous year. It didn’t help that many forgot Miss Rona wasn’t the only struggle to hit us in 2020. Throughout the academic year of 19/20 there were many union strikes which meant we lost out on learning the full course for a few modules, thus not knowing everything we were expected to and in turn cut some other modules short this year, or were rushed due to having to teach last year’s content as well as their own module. These are obviously not problems that affected every university in the country, nor even every lecturer even at my university so I understand how unique this situation can be. For all that’s happened this year, I feel like I believe older students and friends that say third year is easier (in terms of jump!) so I am looking forward to my final year and hoping to exploit it as much as possible to make up for lost time!
Linda: I definitely felt refreshed going into university from sixth-form. It was a completely different world to me - new people, new subject, new lifestyle. There was little I could really compare to sixth-form because everything was just so different to what I was used to! In terms of work, I went from traditional academic subjects for which I had exams, to adapting to the nature of working over a longer period of time on creative projects and continuously perfecting my work on a 100% coursework based degree. I grew to enjoy my commute, and I especially reminisced on the luxury of being able to travel to uni once the pandemic hit. In addition, similar to Chloé, my course is very diverse in terms
Where transitioning to first year was pretty much about finding my feet in a new world of academia, the transition from first year to second year was definitely more challenging in terms of work. Year 2 demanded a more precise understanding and application of environmental design, whereas we just got introduced to the basic principles in Year 1 and mainly focused on the architectural aspect of our projects. I felt that I was going through second year with an incomplete foundation of knowledge since lockdown robbed us of being able to complete the previous year to our full potential.
Q4 - What does a typical week in your life look like? Did this change much from Year 1?
Chloé: You have to acknowledge that I am no means the best student and second year certainly proved that: I did the bare minimum work to go alongside my 15-16 hours of lectures per week to stay on top of my work and then on the days I skipped for my mental health I then spent ages catching up out of guilt. Modules in second year can get very tough, they become a lot more theoretical and expect you to have an eidetic memory in order to recall lemma 4.12 from semester 1 in first year in order to fully construct a proof despite having not covered it since that first lecture, so even that bare minimum can turn into a lot. I’d say each week, I’d spend at least two hours on the compulsory questions per module (of which I have four per term usually). Though that usually requires time reviewing the 3 hours of lectures for that module that week first so each week I probably spend another 16-20 hours on work. In first year, because my sixth form offered Further Maths only as an AS, I was quite lucky in knowing the ‘basics’ and only really had to spend my time on perfecting the new bits (like the introduction to algebra we had, where the lecturer expected us to be a lot more well versed than we were) so it was a lot easier for me to handle. However that could also be down to the lack of a pandemic and Zoomiversity, I guess we’ll never really know.
Linda: Across both first and second year, I had two studio days which I tended to wholly dedicate to studio work; and lectures on cultural context as well as technical environmental studies were what my other contact hours consisted of. Design studio work is the most time consuming, so I tend to spend a lot of my time outside contact hours to working on my projects. Especially during the deadline period, it feels like I’m constantly working on my design projects, and everything else like sleeping, eating and even other modules sometimes become secondary. Compared to first year, the workload became more intense because it felt like we were expected to know how to do everything, and to a high standard, so naturally more was expected from us. However, considering that the second year was largely online, certain deliverables were relaxed. Where a lot of first year entailed physical model-making and hand drawing, the following year was just a whole lot of 3D digital modelling, CAD orthographics and on top of that, being plunged into a new world of environmental simulations.
Q5 - How are you assessed throughout the year?
Chloé: Before the pandemic, bar one module, I was marked solely on exams: we would have a midterm (during reading week), sometimes we’d also have an exam in week 3, and a large weight on the final exam. This year, for obvious reasons I need not mention again, each module was weighted 25% courseworks (five at 5% each fortnightly) and 75% final exam. Although, in my Python course this past semester we had two midterms, totalling to 40% (in weeks 7 and 12) so the final project (which we had about 6 weeks to complete) counted to 60% of our overall grade. I used to think I thrived in exams, and I guess I have done in the past, however the weighted courseworks have been an absolute life line this year; without them I really wouldn’t have done well (or as well as I’d like to anyway).
Linda: My course is 100% coursework based, so we have no exams. In first year, we submitted two design portfolios at the end of the year which included our design projects and proposals across both semesters. Along with this, we also submitted sketchbook work and explorations of a chosen material for Sketchbook Studies and Material Studies. For the environmental design module, we had to submit an illustrated laboratory report with site visit sketches and measurements of environmental data; our lecture notes; and evidence of applications of our environmental design knowledge through testing parts of our design with the formulas and concepts we learnt over the year. We were also required to submit a group poster, essay and workbook for our cultural context module.
For second year, we had four shorter design briefs to submit and a design statement which made up our design module. For technical environmental studies, we had two reports to submit; the first being largely based on environmental site analysis, whilst the second focused more on building performance that linked in to our second semester design brief. Like first year, we also submitted a workbook and an essay for cultural context; the differences being that instead of a poster we had to make individual presentations about a building of our choice, the workbook was a group submission and the essay was longer.
Q6 - What have been the highlights and lowlights of your time at university so far?
Chloé: Admittedly, when I looked into mathematics at university, everywhere I looked the modules I really wanted to participate in were third year modules. So technically, I haven’t actually done these modules but they’re the ones I’m most excited about. My love for coding theory, enigmas and algorithms stemmed from watching The Imitation Game in 2014 (starring loml Benedict Cumberbatch but that’s besides the point #notspon) where I learnt of the roles codebreakers had in the Second World War. So next year I will be taking courses on cryptography and coding theory, but also to further my knowledge from A-Level Decision Maths I’ll be working on complex networks and Algorithmic graph theory. Plenty to be excited about as my modules until now have been building up to this! It’s also worth noting that modules I haven’t been particularly good at have also be some of the most enjoyable, for example my Differential Equations module was incredibly difficult for me (it’s mostly applied whereas I’m usually better at strictly pure) but I was completely in awe of the mathematics it was incredible to learn about, especially as my professor was female, and a POC.
Linda: I’m still reminiscing on pre-COVID times; my best memories from university come from first year before lockdowns and quarantines affected our daily life. The everyday moments I experienced, from passing by my studio mates and making conversation about their work, to running up and down between the fabrication laboratory and studio with my models and materials, are what I truly treasure looking back at uni life so far. I still participated in extracurricular activities over second year whilst studying online, like Korean Culture Society which I’ve been a part of since first year. And, at the end of second year, as unfortunate as it was that we couldn’t see each other in person, our studio came together and had a fun little games afternoon during one of our last sessions as a class (and also had a mini celebration for one of our tutor’s birthday!).
But, as there is with everything, there were difficult and challenging times throughout both years. Not performing to the level that I would have liked to definitely took a toll on me, and was one of the contributing factors to me questioning my place in the industry. I’m sad that our second year trip was cancelled, because it would have been a great experience to bond with my course mates and experience a new city as an architecture student. However, I try not to think about everything the pandemic took away from us all too much and focus on the positives that came out of my university experience.
Q7 - Tell us about your experience studying under COVID.
Chloé: My grades would be nowhere as good as they are now if Covid wasn’t around thanks to the faculty using courseworks to assess as well as exams. Simply put, my exam scores have flunked because of Covid-19 because I just didn’t feel the same urgency to study and my place to sit exams wasn’t the best. However alongside these courseworks, my lecturers were no longer just my lecturers and became our tutors also (in my first year my tutorials were run by PhD students or other professors in order to introduce us to more members of the School and to find our preferred learning style) and this allowed us to build a bond with them. They were no longer this incredibly intelligent person who would laugh in your face at your answer to their question, or at the question you think is too basic to ask - they were incredibly intelligent people still who appeared on memepages with their cat, people who not only had striking resemblances to Michael Whitehall but also a guy who just needed help with his iPad all the time. For such an isolating time, seeing these people in their homes and behaving just the same as everyone else made them just that little bit less daunting to approach and I will have fond memories from this year because of it.
Linda: I hated studying under COVID. I realised the importance of physically being able to interact with your site, materials, even your peers when undertaking group work. Honestly, I didn’t feel like an architecture student. I envisioned spending at least the duration of my degree working in studio, studying in the library, going to lectures, and going on site visits. The novelty of architecture disappeared when the pandemic rolled around, and I quickly became demotivated, especially since everything happened so quickly and our university experience was cut off so abruptly in March in first year. One minute, everybody was in studio; the next minute, half of my peers had booked flights or train tickets home, people were stocking up on materials to survive the last part of the academic year, and suddenly the interaction we took for granted until then was taken away from us. Waking up every day for the next year and a half knowing I’m only facing a computer screen was demotivating. I didn’t feel like I was developing my skills to the fullest, and I became concerned for my future career prospects as an architect. Some of my peers and I who were nominated as course reps organised some fun online activities to bring back the social aspect of our degree under lockdown, because we realised that this lack of motivation was a shared feeling amongst our colleagues. Some people found that they were able to produce more work and quality work in this kind of remote environment – I personally couldn’t stand it.
Q8 - Do you take part in any extracurricular activities?
Chloé: Next year I am trying to make the most of what I have missed; I am volunteering as a Buddy to help first years have a better experience than I did, planning on being a part of the LGBTQ+ Society (if I get the guts!!) and also rejoin the Mathematics Society as I did in first year. I was also a part of the QMUL Book Club to encourage myself to read more as well as just read books out of my comfort zone (goodbye crime drama hello… greek mythology ??) but unfortunately I never did read the books beyond the first one (though I didn’t finish that one either) and just attended the chats to be around company despite being able to input nothing. It was still worth it in my opinion and might as well do it again next year for the lols and as an escape from demanding maths!
Linda: Sometimes I wonder if I dedicate too much time to extracurricular activities outside of architecture… Aside from the blog, I also dedicate my time to working as an ambassador for the university, I’ve taken part in society activities (Westminster Architecture Society, Korean Culture Society) where I’ve made new friends outside of my course and I’ve also volunteered for Open House as well. In addition to this, I like to catch up on my hobbies outside of term time like photography and videography, collaging and learning languages. As Chloé stated, I sometimes consider my hobbies as an escape from architecture when I’m facing a mental block and need something to divert my attention. More often than not I find that this helps me to return to my problems with a fresh mind.
Q9 - What sort of career paths does your degree open you up to?
Chloé: Lucky enough for me, mathematics opens most doors you can come across - every employer is looking for someone who can solve problems, work in a team and simultaneously be confident making logical decisions independently. This is super useful for someone as indecisive as I am! You have the obvious choices with finance, actuarial sciences (both DOSH MONEY) or teaching. But you’d be surprised that maths is actually very useful in animation projects, production (of which I am hoping to pursue post graduation so if anyone has contacts or tips, please get in touch!) or pretty much any office space - everyone needs to know someone good with numbers.
Linda: I don’t think that this question can ever be answered simply. Architecture and Environmental Design not only enhances your career prospects as an architect with the additional knowledge of building performance and climate context, but it also opens you up to the possibilities of environmental consultation, parametric design, and other related roles in the industry. You pick up so many transferrable skills that even if you step outside of the field, you’d have a good foundation to pursue something like interior design, graphics or illustration just to name a few. Other career paths include architectural journalism or conservation-related roles. There are a ton of options that my course offers so even if I don’t decide to pursue architecture in the long run, I wouldn’t struggle with finding another career that I’d be interested in.
Q10 - What are you thinking of doing after your degree?
Chloé: If I decide on teaching, after gaining some experience in tutoring or in a school, I’d like to get my PGCE in Cambridge; having visited there recently I really wouldn’t be too disappointed living there for a while (😉😏) and then hopefully Linda, if she’s still pursuing this idea, will let me teach in her superior school she wants to design and govern. What’s more likely is me looking for work as a production runner, taking specific courses on film/TV production and maybe then a masters to help get contacts in the industry. Although, I am perfectly happy starting the journey from the bottom and dealing with the gruelling hard days because it is a dream to work anywhere in the industry.
Linda: This is something I’ve recently started to question more and more. My next step is to gain some experience as a Part 1 Architectural Assistant, and hopefully work towards studying abroad for a Masters programme. I’m still trying to work out what to specialise in – robotics in architecture has always intrigued me, and I definitely want to become proficient in Grasshopper scripting, potentially working in parametric design. But for now, my options are open and I don’t think my path towards becoming fully qualified will be a regular, linear one. It has always been my ambition to design and lead a school towards the latter part of my career 😊 and that remains in the back of my mind. For now though, I think I’ll stick around in architecture somewhere!
Q11 - Problem-solving is a skill that’s common in both maths and architecture. What does problem-solving look like on your course, and how have you applied this skill both inside and outside of your studies?
Chloé: Problem solving for me, as a Pure pathway student, is more about slotting the puzzle pieces together for proofs rather than typical equations or problems (unless it’s integration *sigh*). Outside of college I guess I use it pretty much everywhere: you take known facts and variables against what you want to achieve and you can solve pretty much anything. It’s just the way my brain is wired I guess. Be it an actual puzzle game I want to solve (not the Rubik’s Cube!) in my spare time or tasks that need to be completed efficiently like the order of a uni to-do list for example.
Linda: Problem solving in architecture is about trying to find design solutions that respond to your brief, your client and your site in creative ways. You can’t satisfy everything to an optimal standard with your project – that’s why you might not value the aesthetics of current net-zero projects that already exist or vice versa. In practice, you’re constrained to a budget and site restrictions so your proposals are about prioritising which issues need to be addressed the most and making your building function. I’m learning to apply this ideology outside of my studies and realising that the perfect decision doesn’t exist because there’s not always a right answer that satisfies everybody. The way I engage with problem-solving in architecture helps me deal with problems in other areas of my life, whilst also mitigating my ambitions with the constraints I have in each situation I face.
Q12 - Summarise your course in three words, and explain your choices.
Chloé: Not intending to evade the question, I think I would choose ‘lost for words’. There is simply nothing that could possibly cover the wide range of specialties, conundrums, theories or even brain teasers in just three adjectives. Maths is presumed to be difficult and of course it is, but the second you achieve the eureka moment, the bliss is like no other. Maths is intoxicating, and even when people want to escape it, they can’t - everyone uses it everyday without giving it a second thought really. But when you aren’t quite ready to quit, you’re sucked into this forever expanding wonderland and find yourself not even wanting to escape.
Linda: I don’t know whether doing multiple guest blog posts gives me an unfair advantage on this question, but I’d say enriching, diverse and exciting. Every day is different in architecture, and you learn so much from just engaging with your projects without even realising it. We have to be skilled in so many areas, in craft, mental agility, decision making, communication etc. But the novelty of the work we do is what keeps it interesting. With architecture, you graduate with more than a degree.
Q13 - Do you have any opportunities that allow you to meet people on other courses at your university?
Chloé: As many as you put yourself forward for. There was nothing they forced you to do to meet people on your course or in your tutorials, let alone meets to widen your circle. I went to a speed meeting event; I didn’t speak to anyone I met there after because I wasn’t prepared enough to actually get their details during the 5 minutes we had to speak to the various people. I sat with randomers in the mornings for breakfast at the canteen (turns out it wasn’t a student at all which wasn’t at all awkward) and people at night for dinners where I actually did meet someone who I spent most of freshers week with and got along well with but lost contact when lectures started. I even took a module from another school to try and meet some people (but the pandemic made that basically impossible as we turned on our cameras for the calls and couldn’t ask to hang out with people post lecture) and besides following a few people I thought were cool on instagram that’s as far as I got.
Linda: Societies, social events and volunteer/job opportunities are probably the main opportunities I can think of where I’ve had the chance to meet students from other courses. I think it’s harder to keep that ‘just go for it’ mindset when meeting new people as the academic year progresses because it sometimes feels like social groups tend to be more established as the years go on. However, there’s always an upcoming event or a social media group chat you can join to meet new people. Things did quieten down under COVID, but there were still student groups that made an effort to host online events which is surprisingly where I met a lot of my friends from other courses.
Q14 - What are some common misconceptions or stereotypes about your course that people believe? What’s your response to this?
Chloé: That people who do maths are somehow mystical geniuses and know the answer to any maths problem you can ask them: What's 58x762??? Tell me 75% of 323! I am very bad at mental maths for one, I actually find most maths hard anyway and chose it purely for the challenges (like Linda explained earlier, I could’ve excelled academically choosing something different, but the thrill of the chase seemed more appealing to me at the time, especially when everyone tells you to seek STEM related subjects). It would be quite refreshing to meet people who understand, like in every other discipline, there are people who are incredibly talented in the field and others poor, but also those in the middle who succeed whilst suck at some things and quite good at others (hi, nice to meet you). Also, that mathematicians are obsessed with Rubik’s cubes? I simultaneously understand but also don’t, I’d much prefer a sudoku or codeword problem myself.
Linda: Architecture students don’t sleep, they don’t have a sense of humour, and one that I wasn’t even aware of myself is that apparently we always wear black. I think whilst there’s definitely some truth behind these, it’s not entirely true. After a period of napping between the days preceding a deadline and consuming large amounts of caffeine in the form of coffee or energy drinks (each to their own) to get through said period of time, we definitely need some time to catch up on that lost sleep. And something that I don’t hear a lot about but have witnessed myself is the people who do sleep decent hours throughout the term and manage their time well during their studies – but it’s definitely challenging nonetheless. I disagree that architecture students lack a sense of humour – in fact, I know some pretty funny people in architecture, but I don’t know if that’s my bias as an architecture student talking). As for the black outfits… well, if you’ve come across an architecture student who has denied that they have at least one full black outfit in their wardrobe, you’ve either come across an anomaly, a fresh first year who’s still learning the tricks of the trade or someone who’s tried to be sarcastic and failed (in which case, that could be the lack of humour we talked about…).
Q15 - Do you have any advice for new or current students on your course?
Chloé: Just to try your bet and to not put pressure on yourself. You might not suck at everything, but it’s also a possibility you could. Also, come say hi to those who let you (I’d gladly sit for a chat with you! If new [QMUL] students saw me on campus next year, I’d be more than happy to be a friendly face in a big sea of fish) and don’t assume they’re saying that to be polite: 90% of the time people mean what they offer to you! On a studious note, I’d recommend learning how to effectively network. People who get the jobs you want aren’t always the best people for the job, they just know how to sell themselves and thus in turn get the people they know to put their name in big places. You never know who other people know, which is always another reason to always portray your best self - the possibilities that could come out of it are endless! On a completely different note, find me on LinkedIn (Chloe Hester)!
Linda: Don’t take your projects too personally, they won’t matter in the long run. Use them as a learning experience to gain as much knowledge on the areas you’re studying and try not to see them as something that defines you as a person. This will help you take on constructive criticism objectively and challenge or accept feedback you gain through your project development accordingly. Specifically for architecture and environmental design students, as I’ve mentioned before you’ll always be faced with the dilemma of building performance vs architectural qualities – your projects will never be optimal in all areas, with practice and hard work you’ll be able to prioritise the needs you address better. Trust the process – your whole degree and probably career will be figuring out the best way to do this! There’s no one right answer to your design issues, how you face them is what defines you as a designer.
That’s it for today’s post! We hope you guys got a good insight into the similarities and differences between maths and architecture at university.
You can find Chloé on Instagram at @chjwcgsh.
Come back next Friday for another blog post! Don’t forget to check out our Instagram @archidabble where you can find our Instagram posts, CAD releases and blog post reminders too.
