Would you like to be an architect?
Also go to www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUgWssXzkps (hyperlink this) for a glimpse of what projects
are like.
Visit us at the Wits Information day to meet staff and ask questions. Register on the Wits website
www.wits.ac.za/prospective/12322/information_day.html (hyperlink this)
A personal note from the BAS convenor – what you need to know
Architecture at Wits is a full-time study programme. There is no part-time option except for doing each
year over two years and even that would require that you are present on campus 2 to 3 full days a
week. This is because most of the courses are studio based and require that you are in the studio.
The timetable consists of Monday to Friday classes from 08h00 to 17h00 every day and students are
expected to do much of their project work after hours.
The fees cover tuition, project handouts and certain excursions. There is no set list of prescribed
books. Recommended reading will be specified in each subject. Students should allow a budget for
project materials which will include buying basic drawing and model-making equipment (once off),
CAD printing costs as well as drawing and model-making materials for every project.
Every year we find that some of the candidates admitted to first year deregister, not because they do
not have the right talents, but because they did not know that THIS is what architecture would be like.
We can only accommodate as many students as we can interact with on a one on one basis, so we
can only offer 75 places. Last year we received more than 500 applications, of which half met our
minimum requirements.
There is no hand book on “how to be an architect” in which one can catch up if one misses a lecture.
BAS students have compulsory attendance at lectures/ tutorials/ design studios from 08h00 to 17h00,
five days a week. In the time after this (evenings, week ends and study breaks) they do their
assignments, reading and studying. One can expect this to occupy another four hours a day at least.
Because the whole learning process is based on integrating the theory that one has learned in
different subjects by applying it in assignments, most assessments are in the form of projects. If a
project is not submitted on time, it counts as a non-submission, since time management is one of the
skills an architect must learn. Students are only admitted to exams if they have submitted all projects.
One cannot “spot” for a project, however well you may understand what it entails: it takes the time it
takes to do it.
Nearly all your waking hours will be spent on architecture, with your fellow-students, in the studio. If
architecture is your passion, you will enjoy this challenge, even when you literally haven’t slept for two
nights. If architecture is not your life and if it doesn’t give you energy, you will miss the socializing,
sport and leisure you have to sacrifice and be frustrated that you do not have “a life” any more.
Remember, the career is much the same as the course: constant deadlines, ideas that take more time
to draw than you allowed for, unexpected delays. If architecture is to be your life, you must be able to
handle it along with other things. It will not work to postpone life until you have finished studying: this
is your new architectural life!
If you successfully complete the 3 year BAS degree, you can register as a senior architectural
technologist. If you want to become a full professional architect, you will need to do a “year out” in
which you gain real architectural practical experience and then you can reapply for admission to the
BAS Hons degree. Since there are about 70 BAS graduates each year and we can only presently
accept 40 students for BAS Hons from all universities, this means that it is essential to do well in all
your subjects. At present, only Wits graduates who attained at least 65% in Architectural Design and
a 65% aggregate for all their other subjects, have automatic acceptance. All others (including
applicants from other educational institutions) again undergo a selection process. Should you be
accepted for BAS Hons, you need to complete this one year course to be admitted into and pass a
one year M Arch Prof degree. This entails doing a research document and a major design based on
the research. You then spend another two years working for a registered architect before you are
allowed to write the final professional exams which will qualify you as a full professional architect.
Since every subject follows on from others, even one failed subject anywhere in the process will add
an extra year to a BAS degree. Understandably with such a long route to becoming an architect, no
one wants to prolong it unnecessarily. In view of the extreme time pressure in the course and the
necessity to do well in order to be accepted into BAS Hons, we would very strongly advise applicants
who have any other serious commitments or known adverse stress reactions to spread their first year
subjects over two years. This will not take any longer than failing one subject along the way, but will
cost far less in fees, give a better academic record (a better chance of qualifying for BAS Hons) and a
better outcome in other areas of their life, which otherwise tend to pay the price.
Examples of such other factors would be having dependants (spouse, children, siblings),
financial circumstances that necessitate part-time work, training for an Olympic team or being on
chronic medication for a condition which could be destabilized by stress, e.g. a bipolar condition.
We have students who are doing well who are juggling these kinds of factors, but most of them found
out the hard way that it was not possible to combine everything at once in the minimum time. Give
yourself a fair chance.
Architecture calls for particularly good management skills. You need to be pro-active, to be able to
work in a team and to be able to visualize things in 3 dimensions. You need to be a creative problemsolver, to be able to integrate a lot of requirements that cannot be measured into one solution. It must
be fun for you to do this!
Please use the time before places are offered to really find out what architecture as a career is about.
There are many highly gifted, intelligent people who find that this is not a career that will make them
happy, even if they are able to do it well. If architecture is not your first choice, it is unlikely that you
will stick with it, as it is likely to be the choice that will demand more of you than the alternatives.
Preparing yourself for entry into a BAS degree
Apply at several institutions, even though Wits gives you the edge! The competition for places is
high and it is recommended that applicants also apply to technical universities offering B Tech
courses, which give a possibility of entry into the BAS stream at honours level. The cut-off point for
acceptances depends entirely on the number and quality of applications each university receives
every year. Each university has different selection procedures.
At Wits we base our offers of places on a point score based on

the graphic and written exercise, which evaluates whether the student has the right talents for
architecture

the interview, which evaluates whether the applicant has the right attitudes to succeed in the
course and in which the applicant can show a portfolio of creative work which enables us to
judge not only skill (less important- students will be taught skills) but motivation, initiative and
real interest in the field. Applicants can also bring letters of motivation to the interview.

academic results
You need an above average score in all three categories to be considered.
With specific reference to the admissions processes, the following applies:
There is no right or wrong answer!! Your answer enables us to evaluate your suitability for
architecture.
A good command of English and effective communication skills are important. Read as much as
possible!
In the interview you have five minutes in which to put across who you are. Do not hold back! We
consider applicants who go to the trouble to bring a portfolio much more seriously.
There are no specific requirements for the portfolio: we keep it as open-ended as possible, since it is
also useful to see how applicants interpret a portfolio which would show their potential as architects,
but ideally, it should showcase the widest possible range of creative work. We assess applicants on
their potential to learn architectural skills rather than on the skills they have already, so we are rather
looking at the thinking behind a painting and an ability to communicate an idea than acquired
technical skills. An applicant who has never done art and cannot draw a correct perspective would not
be at a disadvantage if they were to only bring pencil portraits of friends done in an exercise book, a
toy made for a sibling and play-dough models of ideas. We want to see evidence of creative problemsolving ability; the integration of different (conflicting) requirements; imaginative thinking; aesthetic
sensibility; a real interest in the world around us (including architecture); the ability to explore in three
dimensions; the ability to take a concept through into practical execution; the ability to express
meaning in a visual medium; an interest in and understanding of different materials; the ability to
manage processes in time….
A portfolio of creative work in this context could then include drawings, paintings, graphic designs,
sculptures, collages, models, doodles, house designs, events, built projects, fashion design (and the
actual made item), poetry, creative writing, calligraphy, drama productions, jewellery, photography,
toys, wire cars, woodwork, doodles…. Preparatory explorations (rough sketches) for completed
projects are the most important of all- they illustrate thinking processes. The least informative material
is a technical drawing: it is sufficient to include one example, just to showcase skills you have already
acquired. Where possible, an original model or item of clothing tells us more than a photograph, but
obviously it is not always practical to bring these and then photographs that communicate well (overall
and close-up views) are a good substitute.
It is also important how this is all presented: It would be an important plus-point to manage and
present this assortment of items in such a way that they can be safely and easily transported and
displayed in a way that has some sort of logic or sequence, which conveys who YOU are, and is
related to your application for architecture in a way that shows that you understand the relevance of
these items.
Get hold of books and magazines on architecture: from the library, from your employers… Join the
Wits library as a guest and come and browse in the new international architectural journals, or look
at architecture books in book stores.
Look at good buildings, (famous architects) think about what you like about them, what makes them
work, draw them: keep notebooks on your reading and YOUR ideas about the things you look at/
read about. Go and look at interesting buildings and record what you think about them. This is the
kind of work that will improve your ability to do the admissions exercises and this notebook is an
important part of your portfolio. If you want to be an architect, you should do this for your whole life!
Come to our weekly public lecture on architecture, the Wits SoAP “School Talks”. To get onto the
mailing list for school talks, you can contact Sarika.munnie@wits.ac.za
If you do not get in at once, use your year of waiting for reapplication constructively. Because
architecture involves pro-active, creative management and presentation, it is important that you
exploit the opportunities that you have to present your potential. To spend a year actively improving
your potential as a candidate shows that you are serious and will be helpful. We also find that
applicants who have spent constructive time after school have gained experience which helps them
mature as people, and the way in which they perceive and answer the admissions exercises is likely
to be different after such a year.
Useful things to do during a year of waiting are to do a course which develops your weakest skills
that are needed for architecture. A very structured candidate who has done technical drawing and
not art may do and art course, or an artistic candidate who did not do Physics may enrol for grade
12 Physics. Architectural design colleges offer general all-round preparation, although this will not
give you credit for university subjects. It is difficult to find architecturally-related employment without
some qualification, but that would be helpful.
You do not need to wait for a place at Wits to start educating yourself as an architect.
Very best wishes for your future, whether or not it may be with us!