Eh sorry i didnt notice u asked.


Interview for this intake is over. Perhaps next time.

those who're still using sketchup either have no idea what BIM is all about, or knows about it but couldnt afford it. to me, BIM is the way to the future. revit is just a tool for BIM, but BIM itself is a method of coordination that goes beyond our profession only.

meaning architects will once again play a critical role in the building industry and not just some elite designer whom everyone questions why they get paid the most .

if u can learn revit, do it. DO IT NOW.

Well thats the thing. Sketchup is a modelling software. It is so easy to use the learning curve is measured in mere hours. Revit and other BIM authoring tools are more towards how u work: it knows which wall to be constructed, how much it costs and everything that relates to it.

Sketchup can produce nice visualizations, but with revit u can do a presentation style AND working drawing in a matter of clicks!

im not fully verse about UPU's procedures regarding this matter. u should give them a call.

but as far as we are concerned, UTM will only consider candidates for any vacancies from a pool of interviewed students. so whatever happens, we cannot take somebody whom we didnt verify. in your case, there is no chance at all to be considered if u werent interviewed.

so is it possible for us to interview u now? i'm not sure, but i'm leaning towards "no".

try and sort out the issue at UPU level first. i'll ask around to see what else could be done. im sorry u had to go through such troubles, especially having prepared since last year.

Yes, a few during my student days. Ive only won once though, in 1999.

Nowadays i supervise my students into competitions. Most professional design competitions have higher requirements (must be practicing, must be built, must pay fees etc), while students competitions are generally free.

i dont understand. can u elaborate?

well, first of all, design and practice are quite different from each other. most of the time people are concerned about practice rather than design, because practice is what gets u the money at the end of the day.

simply put, design is the product that u wanna sell. but u cant sell it if u dont know how to market it, deliver it to the client, turn cost into profit and eventually sustain it as a business. thing is, about 80% of stuffs u learn in school is about creating the product.

anyways, assuming u wanna focus on design rather than practice:

i. attitude - u need the right attitude to learn and adapt. there's always somebody or some design better, so u have to set ur ego aside and learn and keep learning.

ii. design and creativity - this is core. u just cant survive in architecture without creativity. many think creativity means producing beautiful drawings. but it's more to that. it's a way of relooking into a problem and find new solutions.

iii. problem solving and critical thinking - this is another core skill required. it works in tandem with creativity. another point is problem seeking and identification, a skill most people overlook. most of the time designers already have plenty of solutions, they just need to find problems to match it too.

iii. persistence and resilience - architecture drains u down in ways u dont even know possible. u need constant drive and motivation to ensure u have enough strength to continue the next design cycle.

iv. forward looking - u need the ability to predict the next several steps in whatever u do. u cant just leave things to chance. design requires one to consistently solve problems creatively, but if u cant predict the kinds of problems u might bump into, u'll be repeating the design process, spending unnecessary time and resources.

v. bold and daring - pushing boundaries and expanding ur envelope requires some balls. some of the best solutions are most of the time unacceptable by common standards. but a designer just have to keep pushing for the solution that is best for all.

just some of them.

The list u r currently looking at LAM website expires 2017. Well technically u are still covered as long as u enroll by 2017 (grad 2020). That is the expiry date.

There will be a reaccreditation process (if the school wish it) just like the local schools every 5 years. This is to standardize both local and overseas schools.

So to answer ur first question, no u dont have to take the exam. U just need to register, thats all.

at the moment, the only thing that is sure is ALL overseas schools will cease from becoming accredited beyond 2017. if u want an accredited degree, u need to be enrolled by 2017. even if u managed to do so for part 1, it would mean ur part 2 wont be (as u will enroll at least 2020 or beyond).

reaccreditation now depends on them. most wouldnt care about accreditation from such a small country. but malaysia is the second biggest supplier of international students to the UK (read this figure), 2nd only to china. this is a big deal, since malaysia is a population of only 28mil and from non-EU to boot. even india fell behind.

it means our students are a source of income. if their schools are not accredited, students will be reluctant to go there. in fact, JPA and any sponsors that use JPA's standards will only sponsor students according to LAM's list now. this is a strong motivation for the UK schools to get themselves accredited by us. of course, this process will take some time. if u could land a place by 2017, hopefully there will be a variety of schools already accredited by 2020 for ur part 2.

So far it's proceeding as planned. PAM has been trying to get LAM to reconsider, but I dont think anyone will budge.

Part 3? Haha not a chance. Only up to part 2.

u graduated from curtin or LUCT? because LAM accreditation is awarded to the school where u trained and not the school conferring the degree. meaning if u want curtin degree that's accredited by LAM, u have to do it in curtin.

however, i believe one or two LUCT's degree has been accredited with part 1, but i cant remember which ones. please check at LAM's website if graduates of 2011 are covered or not. just give them a call.

The LAM part 1 exam is a pretty straighfoward process. Its just like the graduating review where u'll be asked a series of questions regarding ur design. They want to verify if u have sufficient knowledge and skill as other graduates from recognized schools.

If uve been trained appropriately, u will have little problem even with little preparation. Your portfolio should be able to speak for itself.

That said, i recommend brushing up on UBBL and bulding construction/services, as this is where most graduates flunk. They are really good in design and producing nice drawings, but struggle to figure out their water drainage system and that sort of things.

any i5 powered gaming laptop with atleast 4GB RAM.

this is a matter of preference really.

laptop has mobility. it is versatile and u can work anywhere - in the studio, at starbucks, while traveling and so on. so basically u dont stop working as time is very previous to architectural students. however, it has issues on heat management, limitations on screen, battery life, hardware expandability and customizations.

desktop on the other hand has more power:price ratio. at the same price u spend on a laptop, u can get almost twice the power. the expandability and customization part is also a big bonus, as u can buy a cheaper setup and upgrade later for the best money-for-power investment. u can also use multiple monitors that can boost work efficiency. of course the downside is it's not mobile. once set and started working, u wont be moving anytime soon. for some schools where they dont provide dedicated studios, this can be a problem as u'll probably be stuck at home/room for long periods of time = no life.

my recommendation?

get both .

what year are u in?

normally we wouldnt recommend getting serious hardware until u are 2nd year. it is only then would u know what software suite u best, hence getting the right hardware to compliment it.

i believe so. there are also CAD software on mac platform if u prefer. i recommend learning as many software as possible, as u dont know which software your office will use.

I dont use mac. But i wanna say probably. U should wait till u get into 2nd year before deciding what kind of equipment u wanna use.

If u need to get one now, just get a cheap one. Although macs tend to be a little bit more expensive than PC.

usually by the end of 1st year u'll get some idea of what software to use and what ur school supports. we in UTM offer virtually no support to mac computing in relation to architecture, although we do have quite a number of students who made their own support group for those who're into it. even for PC, we're almost exclusively focused on autodesk software and adobe application, despite many other options out there.

so if u're in UTM, getting a PC would put u in a good place to get official support. other schools will have their own architectural computing landscape. hence why i recommend u to wait first and see what's best for u in ur learning environment.

hello again,

1. i'm not sure what's the best advice here. u could take the offer, then wait for the rayuan results. this way u can atleast confirm a place in UTM. of course, if ur rayuan goes through, u can reject UTM then. but this wont reflect well with UTM, and would most likely hamper ur future chance to study in UTM (for part 2).

2. no. USM and UM will still offer despite u being offer or even accepted into another university.

3. masters of architecture is a professional course that requires u to fulfill LAM part 1 first. without it, u can only take MPhil, which is a research degree that dont carry any weight in architectural practice.

4. it is favourable. landscape jobs tend to be more frequent than architectural jobs. u see, once the building has been built, the architects job is done. but landscape designers will have repeat business every 7-10 years from that same building. so although landscape architects get smaller portion from the project, they have more frequent business.

Well, there are few things to consider. Rendering is almost exclusively a CPU affair, supported by a good amount of RAM. A rendering PC should be cheap, as u dont need strong display card or mboard or fast harddisk. In fact, i still use my 2011 PC for rendering, watching movies and general web browsing.

Dedicated PCs are fine. But u dont need to fork out more than RM1.5k for it. Just max out on the CPU with a bunch of RAM.

Alternatively, if u use revit, they have cloud rendering where u can send data online, and autodesk will render it for u. They'll send an email with 2-3 hours (depending on traffic and load). U get several credits free for hires renderings. When that is finished, u can buy more.

So thats a viable option.