What do you think?
Rate this book
Out of Architecture
Out of Architecture is both a call to reassess the architecture profession and its education, and a toolkit for graduates and working architects to untangle their skills, passions, and value from traditional architectural practice and consider alternate pathways. Written by design professionals and expert career consultants, this book is informed by numerous client accounts as well as the authors’ own stories and routes out of architecture. The initial chapters follow the narrative of a typical architecture training in the US, highlighting the many highs and lows, skills honed, and ultimately the huge disconnect that can occur between architectural education and practice. Subsequent chapters explore a disillusionment with the profession, unhealthy work cultures, mentorship, working with lead architects, toxic perfectionism, and the notion of a “calling.” Authors then present the hopeful accounts of many architects who escaped a profession known for its grueling working conditions to find fulfilling, well-paying, creative jobs that better utilize the skills of architecture than the architectural profession itself. Written in a unique combination of storytelling and analysis, this patchwork of client and author stories makes for an immersive, provocative, and enjoyable read. A wide range of architecture students, graduates, educators, and professionals will recognize themselves within the pages of this book and find prompts to reassess their working practices, teaching styles, and the profession itself. It will be of particular value to those students skeptical of joining the architecture workforce, as well as those further along and considering a career change.
- GenresArchitectureNonfiction
226 pages, Paperback
Published November 10, 2022
9 people are currently reading
104 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
November 23, 2022
I have never read anything that so accurately describes the disconnect between architectural education and the professional work environment. While it's no scientific study, the anecdotes presented here illustrate how an educational system and workplace culture based in a centuries-old apprenticeship system leads to unnecessary burnout and dissatisfaction in a field that should and could be filled with creative passion.
There is still room on my shelf for a tell-all evisceration of the architecture field, naming the names this book withholds and outlining all the toxic workplace practices that keep architects working reactively, always scrambling, failing at basic business management, and continuing to willingly relinquish agency in the face of risk. This is not that book, but it does sketch a basic outline.
Beyond the accurate identification of the problems in the field, the remainder of the book is a kind of self-help rag; and advertisement for the authors' career counselling biz. So, while no systemic solutions for the problems of architectural education or industry are forthcoming, we do get a number of case studies suggesting how individuals might pull themselves out of toxic work environments, recognize their own underutilized skills and refocus their career on what they valued in architecture in the first place, but haven't found in practice.
The authors do offer a few actionable tasks, like asking "what does your ideal day/week look like?" and thereby identifying what you value in work projects/tasks, or what kind of work you find enjoyable. They suggest contacting people you know in other industries, armed with the knowledge that architects are trained to be lateral thinkers and quick studies. They offer permission for self-reflection: if you don't identify as an architect, with all that old apprenticeship baggage, what possibilities now open up?
This is all well and good, and a motivated career-pivoteer could take a few pages of notes and have a decent action plan for getting "out." But for less pro-active career-questioners, Out Of Architecture is accepting new clients now!
That all said, this is an incredibly valuable book for architects, students, professors, and anyone who's truly concerned about worker exploitation, even and especially in "professional" fields where the work is not physically taxing and the pay is far above minimum wage (eventually, mostly, sometimes). What's made clear in this book is that the "professional" job can and often is exploitative, demanding employees take on emotional labor and manage interpersonal conflict to cover businesses basic lack of organization or HR strategy.
There is still room on my shelf for a tell-all evisceration of the architecture field, naming the names this book withholds and outlining all the toxic workplace practices that keep architects working reactively, always scrambling, failing at basic business management, and continuing to willingly relinquish agency in the face of risk. This is not that book, but it does sketch a basic outline.
Beyond the accurate identification of the problems in the field, the remainder of the book is a kind of self-help rag; and advertisement for the authors' career counselling biz. So, while no systemic solutions for the problems of architectural education or industry are forthcoming, we do get a number of case studies suggesting how individuals might pull themselves out of toxic work environments, recognize their own underutilized skills and refocus their career on what they valued in architecture in the first place, but haven't found in practice.
The authors do offer a few actionable tasks, like asking "what does your ideal day/week look like?" and thereby identifying what you value in work projects/tasks, or what kind of work you find enjoyable. They suggest contacting people you know in other industries, armed with the knowledge that architects are trained to be lateral thinkers and quick studies. They offer permission for self-reflection: if you don't identify as an architect, with all that old apprenticeship baggage, what possibilities now open up?
This is all well and good, and a motivated career-pivoteer could take a few pages of notes and have a decent action plan for getting "out." But for less pro-active career-questioners, Out Of Architecture is accepting new clients now!
That all said, this is an incredibly valuable book for architects, students, professors, and anyone who's truly concerned about worker exploitation, even and especially in "professional" fields where the work is not physically taxing and the pay is far above minimum wage (eventually, mostly, sometimes). What's made clear in this book is that the "professional" job can and often is exploitative, demanding employees take on emotional labor and manage interpersonal conflict to cover businesses basic lack of organization or HR strategy.
July 20, 2024
A really interesting read. Approaching the end of my first year in industry, this book reminded me of the things I love about architecture, and provided examples of the warning signs and pitfalls of toxic practice - something I have fortunately not experienced so far. Recommended reading for anyone involved in the field.
November 28, 2022
If you’ve taken Erin’s prof prac class, this book reads as a nice refresher of her course’s thesis. I like that this book starts to contrast the design toolbox as one that opens infinite paths against reality’s omissions of actual applications. Scratches a very specific yet satisfying itch :)
Some parts were surprisingly vague/gentle in commenting about rampant controversies within the field, eg sexual assault/harassment and the toxic power dynamic between students and teachers. I appreciated the verbiage about the role of class in an architectural generation but it felt it could’ve gone further. Perhaps that’s another book altogether though.
Some parts were surprisingly vague/gentle in commenting about rampant controversies within the field, eg sexual assault/harassment and the toxic power dynamic between students and teachers. I appreciated the verbiage about the role of class in an architectural generation but it felt it could’ve gone further. Perhaps that’s another book altogether though.
December 28, 2023
Reading this book was a cathartic experience for me. It was nice to feel a connection through the pages with others who had experienced architecture school, and shared the love and frustration of that experience.
I came to this book after having left architecture-proper, and saw it almost as a post-rationalization for my decision. I had worked at two different firms—one more abusive and dismissive, the other simply understaffed and lacking the technical staff it needed to function properly (and the second was during the height of the pandemic, which made it all the worse).
After having left a year and a half ago for greener pastures, this book and the experiences illustrated therein were somewhat of a validation that I had indeed made the right choice. I now work as a design & construction project manager at a large food and beverage company. It’s architecture adjacent, and feels like a natural extension of my skills developed over the last 7 years. But sometimes not as much of a separation as I’d prefer.
If I recall correctly, I had heard about Jake and Erin’s “Out of Architecture” service around the time I had been contemplating a shift in career (and was going through my own crisis and feelings of imprisonment), but wasn’t ready to commit to paying for career counseling. But I noticed they had published a book, so I added it to my Amazon wishlist and forgot about it once I succeeded in getting a better job. However, I received the book for Christmas and devoured it in 3 days between family gatherings.
The book provided a lot of good advice and perspective for those of us who have found ourselves thrust out of the proverbial Garden of Eden and into the cold, harsh world, forced to make our own way. I certainly wish I had had access to it when I was starting to get the inkling of doubt midway through my grad program, that maybe architecture was going to ask more of me than it gave.
Ultimately, I’m glad I read it, and I think I’ll return to it often, as I contemplate future career moves.
Lastly, I found Chapter 12 nearly unreadable, due to the proliferation of they/them pronouns. I ended up skimming most of the chapter because I was frequently confused by the grammar. Call me old-fashioned, or bigoted, but it was unnecessary and convoluted, and distracted from the message.
I came to this book after having left architecture-proper, and saw it almost as a post-rationalization for my decision. I had worked at two different firms—one more abusive and dismissive, the other simply understaffed and lacking the technical staff it needed to function properly (and the second was during the height of the pandemic, which made it all the worse).
After having left a year and a half ago for greener pastures, this book and the experiences illustrated therein were somewhat of a validation that I had indeed made the right choice. I now work as a design & construction project manager at a large food and beverage company. It’s architecture adjacent, and feels like a natural extension of my skills developed over the last 7 years. But sometimes not as much of a separation as I’d prefer.
If I recall correctly, I had heard about Jake and Erin’s “Out of Architecture” service around the time I had been contemplating a shift in career (and was going through my own crisis and feelings of imprisonment), but wasn’t ready to commit to paying for career counseling. But I noticed they had published a book, so I added it to my Amazon wishlist and forgot about it once I succeeded in getting a better job. However, I received the book for Christmas and devoured it in 3 days between family gatherings.
The book provided a lot of good advice and perspective for those of us who have found ourselves thrust out of the proverbial Garden of Eden and into the cold, harsh world, forced to make our own way. I certainly wish I had had access to it when I was starting to get the inkling of doubt midway through my grad program, that maybe architecture was going to ask more of me than it gave.
Ultimately, I’m glad I read it, and I think I’ll return to it often, as I contemplate future career moves.
Lastly, I found Chapter 12 nearly unreadable, due to the proliferation of they/them pronouns. I ended up skimming most of the chapter because I was frequently confused by the grammar. Call me old-fashioned, or bigoted, but it was unnecessary and convoluted, and distracted from the message.
January 9, 2023
As a professional who has 5 years of experience in the field after completing ehr Masters degree in architecture, I can honestly say that I am burnt out. I saw Jake and his profile on LinkedIn and immediately became a connection. He and his team's postings about real life truths involving architecture as a profession, burnout, deception, confidence and breaking down of skills lead me to this book. Jake and Erin's retelling of multiple types of stories involving the mistreatment, gaslighting and hard truths of the industry attempt to snuff out innovation and ethics to administer the mass agenda made me feel super seen and validated.
I feel like there was a point in my career where I was asking myself "have I made a mistake? Is this really what I want to do for the rest of my life?" It was fantastic to be reassured that my (very expensive) degree hasn't been wasted, even though I feel as though the profession no longer represents the pathway and ideals I desire for a career path. This book is a refreshing take on shaking things up and how to make your degree for work you, rather than slaving away for the sake of a label on a degree. I highly recommend to anyone at any stage of their architectural or design career. The perspective and narrative shifts in this book foster a flexibility of the mind. A big aid in open-mindedness, synergy and general well-being in the design field as a whole. Thank you for all you have shown light on in the profession!
I feel like there was a point in my career where I was asking myself "have I made a mistake? Is this really what I want to do for the rest of my life?" It was fantastic to be reassured that my (very expensive) degree hasn't been wasted, even though I feel as though the profession no longer represents the pathway and ideals I desire for a career path. This book is a refreshing take on shaking things up and how to make your degree for work you, rather than slaving away for the sake of a label on a degree. I highly recommend to anyone at any stage of their architectural or design career. The perspective and narrative shifts in this book foster a flexibility of the mind. A big aid in open-mindedness, synergy and general well-being in the design field as a whole. Thank you for all you have shown light on in the profession!
April 28, 2023
This book is a fantastic read that recalls long nights in studio, moments of pivotal importance in the lives of young architects, and dissections of the all-too-common traumas faced by designers working towards the title of “architect.”
I would recommend this book to any architecture student, professional or would-be architect who has wondered “how did I get here and where am I going?” It’s a cathartic read that is simultaneous celebratory or architecture and critical of issues within the profession.
The beauty is that it begins with a truly heartfelt and relatable story of falling in love with architecture. Most students who make it past the first year know this feeling. But it also highlights some of the less-rosy moments of conflict that arise when you professionals the business of Architecture in direct opposition to the art form.
If you’re looking for new ways to explore the skills you’ve gained and are curious about making a career transition, this is a great place to start. But it also prints a huge amount of reflection and highlights questions that would be critical for anyone looking to re-evaluate their career trajectory.
I would recommend this book to any architecture student, professional or would-be architect who has wondered “how did I get here and where am I going?” It’s a cathartic read that is simultaneous celebratory or architecture and critical of issues within the profession.
The beauty is that it begins with a truly heartfelt and relatable story of falling in love with architecture. Most students who make it past the first year know this feeling. But it also highlights some of the less-rosy moments of conflict that arise when you professionals the business of Architecture in direct opposition to the art form.
If you’re looking for new ways to explore the skills you’ve gained and are curious about making a career transition, this is a great place to start. But it also prints a huge amount of reflection and highlights questions that would be critical for anyone looking to re-evaluate their career trajectory.
April 11, 2024
This book is life changing for architecture students but more of a promotion of the out of architecture career consultants and their company. It was really empowering to have my experience in architecture school awknowledge- how hard, emotionally taxing it is and how underpaid architects are - very empowering and affirming for the first half! I will definitely use the company though in the future as I love design but don’t want to work a corporate firm architecture job forever. life changing for students/ young adults who love design but don’t want to fit the corporate mold!
November 6, 2025
Really relatable book. However the title is “out of architecture”. This book mostly describes what you are already experiencing. Gives a few well known pivots (UX design/PM/etc) towards the very end. Then tries to hook you with buy consulting time from us and we will help you get “out of architecture”…..thought it would of been more actionable book.
If you’ve been in the industry long this book won’t provide much, we get it the field sucks. Heard it from all sides including the case studies in the book. Now how do we get out already!
If you’ve been in the industry long this book won’t provide much, we get it the field sucks. Heard it from all sides including the case studies in the book. Now how do we get out already!
April 6, 2023
Even though my architecture path was pretty narrow, it was eye opening to realize how similar the case studies felt. It should be a required reading for Architecture students and anyone that deals in architecture HR.
August 17, 2023
Great content, would love to have read this as a first year architecture student. We need to realize our values! I enjoyed the section about case studies, only wish for more content on possibile careers.
January 13, 2026
Decent book, however, if you are looking for actionable steps, this book will let you down. The first two parts are mostly lamentations about architectural education and early career. The last part is the only helpful section and gives scenarios. It has a hopefull ending, which is nice.
February 1, 2023
A great overview of the profession and how toxic traditions result in exploitation of workers at all levels. Smart and engagingly-written!
January 13, 2025
The architecture industry is so bad they wrote a whole book about leaving it.
April 11, 2025
Had to read this for class and found it really interesting! It explains so well some of the feelings I’ve encountered in my education & my career so far.
April 6, 2023
Everyone related to architecture should read this book. Whether one is studying or already worked years in the field or even just planing to apply for a university...
4.5 stars from me because case studies at the end are a bit too long and sounded more like an ad for me.
4.5 stars from me because case studies at the end are a bit too long and sounded more like an ad for me.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews