aspiring architect

I've worked in architecture and engineering for many years.

Besides taking high school classes that would help in college (math, art, computers), a teen might be a summer intern at an architectural firm, or at least go for an extended visited (firms will often show a great deal of courtesy to a young person who wants to pursue a career as an architect).

The student could also practice their sketching and drawing skills on their own. Working drawings are done on computer (CAD) these days, but sketches are still used in the planning phase as well as to convey basic information to others.

If the teen was 18, they could also work in construction for a summer (laborer). I'm not sure what the labor laws are now, but they might be able to work in construction when they're 16 (probably residential or small projects).

My son aspired to be an architect. As AC said, he took every mechanical drawing class in high school (before the days of computer-generated drawings) and worked after school and summers for an architectural firm. He attended Montana State's five-year program, then after graduation, interned for an architect in Idaho for two years. He was hired by the firm he worked for in high school and passed his AIA exam first time around.

My husband is an architect ... he occasionally takes on high school "interns." I do some marketing for him.

Typical coursework for architecture students at the level you are describing involves mechanical drawing or drafting (CAD -- Computer-Aided Drafting in particular), art, calculus (or trig or whatever), art history, some types of engineering and any kind of design.

I would envision also such students getting involved in environmental sciences, as green architecture is very hot right now. Architects who know construction -- how to physically build and craft things -- are also in demand. So jewelry making and design, furniture making and design, and even toy making are also possibilities.

Also, some aspiring architecture students become fascinated by particular structures, materials or cultures ... yours might become inspired by domes or tension structures, or adobe, or Mayan temple construction. These interests then lead them to volunteer at museums or to work with builders, etc.

I'm sure other AWers will pop along with more suggestions shortly.

Meanwhile, I hope this gave you some food for thought.

In my experience, I read a lot of books on famous architects and different styles of architecture (post-modernist, deconstructivist, brutalist, etc), took art and photography classes, went to see examples of famous architecture, loved geometry and physics, etc.

Some high schools and community colleges offer technical drafting and computer modeling classes (the vast majority of firms use AutoCAD or BIM programs like Revit which allow you to generate photorealistic images and animations), so that may be an option for your character.

Some of my classmates did summer internships in high school, so perhaps your character or her parents know a local architect and can set something up. An internship at this age would probably consist of running errands and shadowing the architect on construction sites and zoning meetings and structural / MEP coordination meetings, maybe some physical model-building--absolutely no design. It's very unlikely that the architect will allow the intern to draft anything that's going into construction documents.

Let's see, what else? I started looking for schools pretty early on, because not all universities have accredited architecture programs (at least in the US). The higher ranked the better, of course. There are also two tracks that not all universities offer: one is called a "four plus two" (four year bachelor, either in architecture or not, plus a two year master in architecture), and the other is a five year "professional" bachelor degree (which is the route I took). And school itself is brutal. Lots of all-nighters.

In order to pursue architecture as a career after university, one has to "intern" for approximately three years at a firm. Then, you're eligible to take the ARE exam. After you pass all of the tests, you can then register as an architect.

If it sounds like a lot of work, that's because it is. On our very first day in architecture 101, my professor told the class we should all reconsider. I think my class started with about 120 people, and I graduated with 50.

If you need more info, feel free to PM me. I don't work in architecture any longer, as I left after my three-year internship to get another degree, but I can help you out with any nitty gritty details you may want to know. I'm still in the design industry, just on another side of it.

Currently, many of them would hang out on architecture forums , build with lego, play with Google Sketchup and Google Earth and try their hand at harder, more difficult software. They will take all the courses they can get and see if they can get some construction work. That's basically what they do.