Jan 01, 2024
The moment has finally arrived! I am now officially a Registered Architect with the AAA. I am nothing but hopeful for the future, to blend the old-school with the new—traditional freehand with advanced computational design methodologies.
This achievement represents the culmination of ~8 years of practical experience and 8.5 years of education. Registration requires hours across diverse categories (some rare and particular), passing thorough exams, some coursework, and the final interview. The recounting of my career expedition below hopes to inspire how one can thrive in the face of adversity.
Originally beginning in Communication and Culture, I later pursued a Fine Arts degree. I worked Summers in carpentry, roofing, and tent installation, discovering my passion for fabric architecture. Seeking to distinguish my resume and broaden my experience, I pursued my Masters at the U of T. This period fueled my interest in parametric design and automation. Introduced to hand-drafting at the beginning of my career, and it has remained a valuable tool ever since.
Navigating a hiring freeze at Kasian, I suggested a two-week shadowing period. Bill Chomik’s response was unexpected: "Your contract is up!? Guess we're going to have to start paying you!" Deeper Revit training helped me gain the skills to become industry-competitive.
My mentor at the time, John Riddell, known for his firm's excellent project management, offered me a unique role despite no formal position availability. I joined the ID department to enhance efficiency and bring young innovative energy. I ran experiments to automate space plans with parametric design (using a ‘brute force evolutionary solver’), streamline leasing arrangement schedules with Lidar, etc.
Subsequently, I served as a design lead at JM Design Group. Despite no active hiring, my keen interest in hand-sketching pivotal projects impressed them, and we collaboratively made it work for three fulfilling years. Some of my most exciting projects were undertaken during my tenure at JM.
I was later recruited to join NORR, where I currently contribute to designing large-scale residential multifamily projects, such as managing 8-building sites with over 400 units, among others.
I opted for the ExAC Exams over NCARBs to expedite my architecture registration. I secured an appeal to write the exams, with just two months for preparation due to an hours-late application. Maintaining a disciplined routine, including cold showers, regular workouts, and 80% of my day dedicated to studying—I successfully passed all four exams during full-time work.
2023 was a year of success, receiving successful results from both the exams and the registration interview. Thank you to everyone who supported me on my venture: my family, friends, aforementioned leadership and team allies, my mentor Chad Zyla, and the AAA.
As a newly Registered Architect, I have confidence in my process, with awe and humility to the sublime limitlessness of the complexity of the field. I aim to uphold the nigh-innate ethics of being a mindful, competent building designer—developing my role to advance liberty in architecture by way of principle, emergent technology, and harmonic collaboration. I am also a firm believer in efficiency, optimizing values for the best set of alternate results. I believe the future will shift the role of the architect to embrace new tools and processes, improving the quality and scheduling of contract sets, flexibility, QAQC and ultimately, the increasing optimization of our design values. Thank you, AAA, for the opportunity to demonstrate my capacity as an Architect.
Video CV
Click the image below to view my Architecture CV as an animated video introduction.
