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For and Against All-Nighter Culture: ArchDaily Readers Respond

10:30 - 7 April, 2015 | by Rory Stott

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Nearly three weeks ago, the editorsat ArchDaily reached out to our readersto help us
investigateone of the most diicult challenges of architecture education: what do students and
teachers think of the 24-hour studio culture that has come to pervade the architecture profession?
As we mentioned in our original post, the idea that all-nighters are simply an unavoidable part
ofaneducation in architecture has come under fire recently, with some schools attempting to
combat them by closing their studios overnight. Is this the right approach to reducing the hoursthat
students are (over)working? If not, what should be done instead? Perhaps there aresome people
that still think a 24-hour culture can be beneficial to young architects?

The response we got to our question was astonishing, with 141 comments on the article itself
andover100 more on our Facebook post. From this discussion, two overriding themes emerged:
firstly,manycommenters seemed to believe that architecture students have too much work in the
first place; secondly, there was almost complete consensusthat closing the studios achieves nothing
but moving the problem of all-nighters from the studio to students' homes. For the sake of brevity
we've chosen not to include the many responses that mentionthese themes ideas in this post,but
foranyone interested in seeing the evidence of these opinions, we encourage you to visit the original
article.

As for theremainder of the comments, we've rounded up some of the most interesting
contributions. Find out what 15 commenters had to say about the 24-hour studio culture - taking in
argumentsfor and against it as well as discussing its wider consequences and ways to avoid it - aer
the break.

ARCHDAILY RORY STOTT

Is a 24-Hour Studio Culture a Good Thing in Universities?

Update: We have now published our follow-up post featuring a collection of responses from readers.
Read it here. Architecture students have the reputation - perhaps more than any other students - of
pulling all-nighters, sometimes disappearing for days at a time into what their non-architect friends
come to view as a mysterious and often intimidating place: "The Studio."
Read the article on archdaily.com >

COMMENTS AGAINST ARCHITECTURE'S24-HOUR STUDIO CULTURE

The perpetuation of the 24-Hour culture isthe fault of students who don't realize it is possible to
complete their projectswithin reasonable working hours:

I just graduated from a 3.5 year Master of Architecture program. While

it was an immense amount of work with long and very stressful days, I
got through the program without pulling a single all-nighter, and
oen finished a day ahead of major deadlines. I am a huge advocate
for time management, a healthy sleep schedule, and work-life
balance. My work and portfolio were positively aected my eiciently
managing my time and work, as graduate with well above average
grades and was hired at a respected firm less than 4 weeks aer
handing in my thesis.

While architecture school is definitely grueling, studio culture is

perpetuated by the students, not by the program. [Vanessa]
Architecture students (in US universities) are forced into late nights by their responsibilities to
other electives; this could be improved by connecting the curriculum across subjects:

A 24-Hour Studio culture? I don't think so. First there are lecture
courses, then other electives which have absolutely nothing to do
with our major, and all of their requirements (papers, assignments,
presentations, etc), and aer that the work on campus in case you're
in the work-study program, which gives us little time during the day to
even think about our design and all of its problems. Hence the all-
nighters. If universities really want us to stop pulling all-nighters, they
might wanna revisit the entire curriculum. They could draw bridges
between the design course and other major courses such as building
technology or Revit, Rhino, Autocad, enviromental systems, that way
instead of juggling three or four dierent projects for each course per
semester, we can work on one project but tackle a certain aspect of it
 within each course.The solution is not as lame as closing the studios
at night, we can pull all-nighters at home you know. [Chris R]
Part of the student's skill set should be knowing when to makesignificant changes to a design:

In hindsight, most of my all-nighters were caused not by the amount

of work or 'studio culture' but mainly because as a student learning
about design you are not taught how to make eective design
decisions and in a timely manner. So obviously if you make an
important design decision the night before your crit then you will
have to spend all night trying to represent it in some way. Working all
night is not productive at all. We really need to teach students how to
manage their decision making skills in design because in the real
world you have to be able to make definitive decisions within short
timelines. [Charlotte]
The idea that architecturecomes from random moments of inspiration simply isn't true:

Some of the most successful and brilliant designers I know are not
procrastinators, but are rather quite adept at putting out work of the
highest degree and creativity without compromising their sleep or
health. The mythos that every good designer puts things o til the last
minute then has a stroke of brilliance at 2 AM needs to be squelched,
period. Architecture is, aer all, a job, and the idea that our time lacks
so much value that we'll give up our sleep, health and personal life
just to perform our "artistry" is not only destructive personally, but
damaging to the profession as a whole. [Mike]
Spending all hours in the studio can prevent students from learning and practicing the other
skills that make a good architect:

Sheikh Farhan Asim

 Sheikh Farhan Asim

We need to start change at the root: in the studio. We need to practice
reasonable time management skills and support a well rounded
lifestyle. We all want to be healthy and a studio environment as it
stands currently is not healthy or well rounded. And as we all know, it
takes much more than a good designer to make a successful architect.
It takes a person with good connections and good communication
skills to be able to convince people that he/she is a good designer. You
don't get these skills by staying up until 3am. You get them from
interacting with others outside of the architecture speaking world.
[Leanne]

The hermetic character of studio practice is the WORST message we

can send young architects. You need to be in and of society, getting to
know clients and users, in order to be a genuinely successful architect.
We have locked our professional away in a monastery, and as a result
are isolated from the world around us and all that can make us
relevant. [ArchProf]
The all-nighter culture of university studios is a consequence of aconnection between
architecture education and humiliation:

Thats the root of the problem! Why do professors have to constantly

"rip apart" projects?!! There is no field of study that oers so much
humiliation as architecture. It's scary and it's entirely unproductive.
Why are so many professors self-centered douchebags that act like 3-
year olds? Why can't they give constructive critique in a friendly
manner? It is the thought of being humiliated at a review that is the
one of the biggest reasons people stay up all night. And the professors
act like they don't know, or care, about the problem. [kopmis]
COMMENTS IN FAVOR OF ARCHITECTURE'S 24-HOUR STUDIO CULTURE
Sheikh Farhan Asim
 Sheikh Farhan Asim

Combined with short breaks, the time taken to discuss things with classmates, read or watch
documentaries duringan all-nighter can give youthe insight to produce more challenging work:

Having gone through a five year architecture Program, I have noticed

the students who have always EXCELLED (not just good grades but
above... with recognition and awards) every semester are the ones
who spent countless nights up working. pulling all-nighters doesn't
always mean working on just designing all night, it also involves
reading more about a subject matter, or watching a documentary, or
giving and getting feedback to/from your classmates. These things
will easily take hours of your day in a blink of an eye... And i see it to
be healthier to space out your work thus taking few breaks while
working can keep one's sanity yet lead to an all nighter... during
studio time, little work is done, for it involves the student's
engagement with his professor... those of my peers who have always
le in timely manners, not only tend to just aim to complete their
work (instead of really challenging it ), but they also end up not
having a strong relationship with their studio mates... thus leading to
a poor architecture culture. [Adventus Di Cielo]
Sheikh Farhan Asim
 Sheikh Farhan Asim
The bonds formed inlate-night studio sessions can formthe start of your career or even of your
own architectural practice:

All-nighters are the life of architecture students...you get to share

ideas, create long lasting bonds and have fun while at it...I run an
architectural firm with my 3 best friends in Nigeria...it all started with
an all-nighter...yes, its a strain on the health and well-being of the
students but helps in preparing us for pressure of the workplace.
[Amanda Cole]
Keeping university studios open at all hours helps to accommodate the wide variety of working
styles of students:

I am currently a student of architecture. Yes, all-nighters do add stress

and maybe in the long run, it's not a good idea. But here's the thing
about work patterns, lots of people work in lots of dierent ways.
Some people prefer a systematic approach. Some work better last
minute. Some people work during the day and some at night. So
studios should be open at all time so that students can use them. It's
why studios are there. A place to work in solitude or one night before
crit when everyone's cramming. Shutting down the studio is not going
to put an end to 'all-nighter' culture. If not the studio, then students
would somewhere else. Architecture is never going to be stress free.
All-nighters, coee and glue on clothes are part of the package. Might
as well enjoy it. [Aishwarya Murari]

For my personal experience I think closing the studio at night is

inconvenient for students who have to work to pay for their tuition. I
am an international student and as you might know international
students have to pay double the tuition than citizens. I'm studying
architecture and I'm working at the same time. The only way to get
Sheikh Farhan Asim
 Sheikh Farhan Asim
my work done on time is to stay over at school to do my project. I

think people have to be responsible for their own sake. On the other
hand, closing the studio will give the opportunity to students to
manage their time more eiciently. But again, what about the
students who work? [Foteini]
If students are going to work late nights anyway,closing the studios creates inequality between
those who have the space and equipment to work at home and those who don't:

It doesn't make a dierence when institutions decide to close their

studios. Students who want to do all-nighters will.

Studio is a totally unique resource, not everyone can make a 1:100

full-scheme model at home and drive in with it, not everyone has a
workstation at home, not everyone has a large drawing board at
home - by adding time restrictions to these things in studio you create
a divide between students who do and those who don't, and
personally I think that's unbelievably unfair. Let the dedicated be
dedicated. [Andrew Hopper]
CONSEQUENCES OF THE 24-HOUR CULTURE

Sheikh Farhan Asim

 Sheikh Farhan Asim

By encouraging students to stay up late, universities are teaching architects not to value their
time:

I think the culture needs to be changed for the health of the

profession. Holding up all-nighters on a pedestal as if that's the only
way to produce work teaches us as architecture students not to value
our time. It's probably why we're underpaid as a profession - from
having no sense of how valuable those hours were that we were
giving up... [sarah]
Considering the self-image of architects, all-nighters are a hypocritical way tolive our lives:

I think it's ironic that architects are entrusted with the role of creating
a better place for people to live when they live in great stress and
poverty themselves. It may sound noble, but it is not smart. [Yoon
Meng]
Universities have bred a "Martyr for the Art" Culture which bleeds into professional practice (and
secretly we love it):

Sheikh Farhan Asim

 Sheikh Farhan Asim

Breeding a 'Martyr for the art' culture within architectural education
has destroyed the architectural industry. It has diused down from
education into the work place, creating a working environment of
excess in the name of success. Selling your soul to the God of
architecture is fundamentally wrong. That said, deep down part of us
all secretly love the late nights and busy schedule, and that's what
makes us Architects, not Accountants. [jim smith]
TIPS TO AVOID ALL-NIGHTERS

Nothing good happens aer 2 am:

Besides, all-nighters are not just bad for our health; over three years,
all the crappy design decisions that I have made happened aer 2:00
am. [Chris R]
Never change a design in the last 24 hours:

Sheikh Farhan Asim

 Sheikh Farhan Asim

One particularly memorable final review, the guest critics were
tearing apart a section drawing that had been produced at 4 am that
day. The student finally tore it down, saying it was the most recent
addition to the project, and what did they think of the presentation
had it not been added? They loved it. They said the rest of the
presentation was very strong and the additional drawing produced at
4 am had detracted from it so much that they were distracted from
the great design. From then on, my classmates and I tried to remind
each other not to do anything new in the last 24 hours. [sarah]
A final word from the editor:

As we're talking about ways to escapethe all-nighter culture - both as individuals and on an
institutional level - I'd like to have the final word if I may. One theme that emerged a number of
times among the comments was the problemof peer pressure; the idea that many students only
work long hours to keep up withwhat they see as the superhuman commitment of others in the
studio.

But if the 150-plus comments show anything, it's that there are almost as many ways of planning
your work as there are architecture students: some people work best on a strict 9 to 5 schedule,
while others prefer to wait until inspiration strikes; somework best first thing in the morning, while
othersgetthe most motivation working late into the night; and some like tocontrol theirtime and
force themselves to make decisions, others prefer to ruminate on an ideaover long working hours
and many breaks, while still otherswork best under the pressure of a looming deadline.

So perhaps the first step away from the 24-hour culture is to recognizethat, far from being a
requirement, pulling all-nighters should be a personal choice. If you're happy to do themthen
that'sgreat - but if you feel pressured to do them and have the sneaking feeling that there must be a
better way, perhaps it's time to shake things up and find a working style that works for you instead.

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Sheikh Farhan Asim