Part 2: So You Want To Be An Architect?

Welcome to part two of our three-part series, So You Want To Be An Architect? A Q&A With Chronos Studeos Architect and 3D CAD Animator Hassan Anifowose.

Please CLICK HERE to enjoy part one.

Hassan, in the first part of our series you discussed what you find the most rewarding aspect of being an architect. What do you actively enjoy the most about your job?

Analytical thinking. I enjoy that architecture has made me much more of an accurate thinker. Critically analyzing designs can also be translated to real-life scenarios, and, as such, gives one the liberty of making choices when confronted with many possible solutions. It is also most enjoyable to supervise a construction process of one’s design ideas/solutions, and ultimately seeing it come to life.

Most importantly, though, the fact that we create and design is enjoyable on the job more when you can pause your creation, grab a nap, and come back to it with even more inspiration than before. Now that is what I call enjoyable CREATIVITY!

Is this the main reason you were drawn to your work as a CAD visualization animator?

Oh, well, let us say the creation process was real fun for the Creator of the Universe. The big oceans, the vast lands, the high mountains, winds, rain, earthquakes, clouds, and man, all coming to interact together in a scene called nature. In essence, creating things and watching them get life is real juicy fun, and I expect every architect to understand this as I think we appreciate seeing our designs gradually breathe life.

The same goes for CAD visualizations and animations since you can put a lot of time on work, starting from scene population, lighting, materials, keyframing etc., up to rendering the sequence and watching it play at a big presentation. It is a tedious process but the joy one derives makes one eagerly embark on that very next job.

So, in essence, it started with a love for creation, inspiration from nature, and it’s sustained by even more love for the works because that is what keeps you going during the crazy deadlines, the late nights and never-ending work sessions.

I just love seeing all the keyframing play out, further projecting the architect’s idea to his client about the building without sparing details.

We have a flair for details. We show it in our works to our very, very best capability. Every single member of the team is driven by different fun-in-creativity levels and, yes, sometimes we go crazy with ideas too.

What is Chronos Studeos’ largest, or most important, project to date?

To start with, all our projects are important.. maybe not equally large, but we do treat each project as a new challenge, even the smallest of them.

We have worked on numerous projects, from still shots, animations, high res renderings. For me, some of the most challenging was the OFON offshore animations (below left), Project Monrovia Animations (2nd & 3rd images), SOHO Living, Twin lakes and Omega towers (below right). They were heavy tasks with critical deadlines leaving no room for errors with expected – and achieved – high-end results.

If my understanding of “largest” or “most important” is correct, I will say it was the SOHO Living. The SOHO Living project went beyond visualization. It was a project that consumed more than just rendering as it took a lot of man-hours for conceptualization and architectural design.

How do you perceive the value of architecture in your own community?

Can I claim the global community? [Laughter]. I say that because I base my thinking on global terms before I break it down to local.

In my local community, architecture is perceived by many as a money-making profession. I both agree and disagree with that notion because I see architecture as a solution-provider to human needs/requirements and then, probably, one can make money from such when good services are rendered.

There has been a drastic reduction in the quality of submissions and levels of details in the architect’s work right across the globe (a discussion I read by professionals on a LinkedIn, architecture-affiliated group helped lead me to this conclusion).

To improve this perception, the solution will have to come from each professional in exuding more of a desire for training, a boundless knowledge of their jobs and a passion which will also make them strive to achieve that ‘perfect’ touch expected of architects. We should really all pay more attention to what makes us architects and then deliver above and beyond expectation.

What words of advice would you give to anyone who is attracted to a job in architecture?

Being an architect requires so much resilience, a lot of precise thinking, and a strong desire to be better than average. Your client expects you to know a great deal about other fields. For example, a project could involve a knowledge of financing, medicine, radiography, and, most of all, behavioral architecture.

The key, therefore, is preparing yourself for all these different scenarios, gathering much knowledge and a vast range of abilities in the profession, and also, mastering to do something differently can give you an edge over others. There will always be someone better than you out there, so be different and in a different way too.

If you could purchase just one air ticket to anywhere in the world to view – for the very first time – your favourite architectural structure, where and what would that be, and why?

JAPAN! I would go to Japan; Osaka and Tokyo most likely. I’ve admired their sleek towers on Discovery HD TV channel and I crave to be in those streets, in those business districts, in those towers. I don’t have a favourite building in Japan, but I do admire the country’s university/campus architecture, and also private Japanese homes and gardens incorporating Koi ponds and wooden foot bridges.

As Hassan dreams of that distant land, we’d like to thank you for your continued support and interest in our work.

CLICK HERE to enjoy the third and (probably much to Hassan’s relief!) final installment of So You Want To Be An Architect?

We’d all love to hear from you via the Comments section before, or feel welcome to contact Hassan and the team via the Chronos Studeos Facebook page or Twitter feed.

In the meantime, you can read more on architect and CAD animator Hassan Anifowose at LinkedIn