Am I an architect?

G'day & Chao (hello in Vietnamese),

As you can see from my greeting, I'm Vietnamese. I'm an Australian born with Vietnamese roots.

The reason why I noted about my Vietnamese background is due to the fact that our culture sees 'architecture' as a 'difficult' profession who 'makes a lot of money.' They respond with "Gioi qua." - which means you're so clever and skilful.

Sigh, that was a bit blunt but this is what I hear from my environment of people. They deem an 'architect' as someone 'superior,' 'smart' and 'rich.' (I will add in that I'm also a girl - their admiration for my architecture degree is higher now). What do you think? Does your family/culture think so to? Or am I stating the obvious?

Where am I getting with this? Although the above statements can be true for architects, I am having trouble 'identifying' myself as a graduate architect with those representations above.

I want to be a different architect. I want to be an alternative architect who serves, who works with the local community, who learns about the world, who lives and experiences the issues of the world, who represents the experiences through art... and finally I want to be an architect who is 'human,' - someone who wants to build a real and authentic world.

--

Sigh, again. I will get to the point now:

I can't imagine myself sitting inside at my desk from 9am to 5pm. 

I graduated with a B.A in Interior Architecture at Swinburne University.
I am thinking, researching, reading, planning, networking, prototyping and still learning...
I am not working at the moment (still) and am doing those things ^above
I am seeking an alternative way to work differently, to think about architecture differently...

This is a blog that records my endeavours to find perhaps an 'inter-disciplinary' and even a 'transdisciplinary' understanding of architecture with the world around us.

I love a good discussion/dialogue. Feel free to share your thoughts/ideas/opinions. I want to use it to help others build their architecture career too! Share what you think in the comments or email me at: jn.sustainability@gmail.com