ABSTRACT
Narratives of Architectural Education comes at a time when the field is experimenting with methods for educating future practitioners to preserve its professional prestige while adapt to ongoing changes to the architect’s role within the building industry and society at large. Indeed, the profession can take it as a positive sign that aspiring architects who fall into this narrative type are able to navigate architectural education, secure entry-level jobs, and ultimately locate themselves, however peripherally, within the professional community. While alumni who artfully translate their architectural education into alternative career paths are often lauded as success stories, the profession can only afford to “lose” so many capable and entrepreneurial graduates. Participant narratives, understood in relation to their local and institutional context, demonstrated that adapting to the culture of architecture school and professional practice also meant adapting to the particular cultures of one’s school and office, both of which are nested within their broader, regional cultural landscape.
