Future Architects
Every architect started by drawing a building they wanted to see.
Where to start at every age, from a first drawing to an accredited degree.
Grade School
Start with a pencil.
Draw the building you live in
The first assignment every architecture student gets is the one a seven-year-old can do: draw your house from the front, then draw the rooms from above. Two drawings, one building, and the idea that a plan and an elevation describe the same thing.
The Napkin Sketch Contest is open to everyone
One drawing on a five-inch napkin, judged by architects, with a General Public category. Kids enter beside licensed professionals and get judged the same way.
High School
See the work before you choose the major.
ACE Mentor Program
A free after-school program where teams of high school students design a project with architects, engineers and builders over a school year. Chapters across Illinois and Wisconsin, and many ALA members serve as mentors.
Chicago Architecture Center
Student programs, design competitions and teacher resources from the city's architecture center, along with the river cruise that has started more careers than any lecture.
College
Student membership is free. Use it.
What a free student membership includes
- The Student Merit Awards: one project, judged blind by practicing architects, published beside the professional winners.
- YALA, the community for students and early-career architects.
- Every ALA tour and conference at the member rate, with learning units that count once you are licensed.
Accredited architecture programs near ALA
A license requires a degree from a program accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board. These are the accredited programs in Illinois and Wisconsin; the full national list is at NAAB.
- Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago
- University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Champaign
- Judson University, Elgin
- Southern Illinois University, Carbondale
- University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee
After Graduation
The degree is the middle of the path, not the end.
Licensure takes an accredited degree, a record of supervised experience, and the Architect Registration Examination. The Path to Licensure page lays out each step and where to find your state's rules.