Earn Your Degree in Architectural Drafting

If you enjoy coming up with your own ideas and then building or creating a project to make your idea a reality, you may be the type of person for an online architectural drafting degree. Architecture is a challenging but unique discipline involving architects who design projects which are then completed by engineers. An architectural draftsman could be designing a building complex, a high way interchange system or any other new project, or he could be redesigning and modifying an existing structure. In either case, there is plenty of opportunity for originality. No two projects are exactly alike, but regardless of the type of project the architect has the opportunity to improve on old ideas and to include personal innovations.

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How to Become an Architect
The most common tool used in modern architecture is AutoCAD (Computer Aided Design or Computer Aided Drafting), a software program that allows you to design structures on the computer and to convert existing architectural drawings into an electronic format. Unlike the old drawing boards with the blue-lined drafting paper, AutoCAD allows you to create designs in three dimension and to “render” a finished drawing so that it looks almost like a photograph of the final project. In addition to learning AutoCAD, depending on the type of architectural drafting you are interested in, you will take courses in electrical design, mechanical or structural design, drafting and design technology, applied mathematics, communication, and design theory. Depending on the amount of time you can put into your study, it is possible to complete an architectural design program in as little as 18 months.

Outlook for an Architectural Design Career
The crash in the housing market has brought the field of residential design almost to a halt in many places of the country as there seem to be more foreclosed houses on the market than there are people to buy them. However, if you are able to relocate, some areas of the country are still developing sub-divisions at a phenomenal pace. Often the houses are sold before they are even built.

In spite of the economy, popular resort areas continue building time share units and condominiums. If you ever visited time share resorts, you would be amazed at the myriad designs in living arrangements. No two resorts anywhere in the country are built exactly alike. On the other end of the residential scale, modular and mobile homes have enjoyed increased popularity, especially among young families and among middle class retirees.  Wander through a mobile home display lot to see the  stunning innovative designs that were created by an architect who came before you.

When you think of a career in architecture/ architectural design, don’t limit yourself to buildings. Shopping malls, highway systems, amusement parks, golf courses, sports stadiums and many other structures we take for granted are continuously being built or rebuilt. In fact, the US Depart of Labor expects architecture jobs for architectural drafters to continue growing through 2010. Those with at least two years of post graduate courses will have the best opportunity for employment, particularly the architectural and civil drafters who had 43 percent of the drafting jobs in 2004. It will also help to be familiar with more than one type of architecture as most designers work as contract designers for various companies.

The median salary for an architectural drafter in 2004 was about $40,000.