Guiding Creative Futures with Dr. Tim Parker

Architectural education can often be mysterious to the uninitiated. 

“I find that a lot of people don’t have a good idea about it — they’re not sure what it means,” says Dr. Tim Parker, graduate director of the School of Architecture + Art and associate professor. “What’s an architect? What’s involved in designing buildings?”

 “I think one of the most significant aspects of it is the very fact that it encompasses so many different things — everything from art, to science, to economics, to technology — and in the end, what you’re learning when you are learning design in the School of Architecture + Art is not just how to draw things up or how to solve narrow problems, you’re actually developing a skill that has application for a lot of things,” says Parker. “The way I like to think about it is that every building that exists — especially ones that are really well designed — is the product of synthesizing or resolving conflicting factors. You’ve got to keep it on budget but also make it beautiful.”

“You may have never thought about it or studied it, but most of the things you do in life are in or around buildings. You’re living, sleeping, eating, working, and everything else in a building,” he says. “And so, they inevitably reflect what a community or culture has valued, maybe consciously, maybe not. In turn, they tend to foster or encourage some sense of who we are collectively.”

Faculty Like Family

Parker credits the school’s size and committed faculty for creating a unique learning atmosphere. “The opportunity for students to connect really personally and closely with our faculty develops a community among our students,” he says. “This is a major where you’re in the studio space of Chaplin Hall a lot, you have access to it 24/7 and there’s a real sense of community that emerges from this.”

“You can get some version of that in other places, but in the small scale of rural Vermont, it is really wonderful,” says Parker. “This is especially true because we eventually push you out of that small scale and send you to Berlin for one semester — Berlin, Germany, not Vermont — among other things like field trips. We then try to broaden your horizons.”

The faculty works together to offer such opportunities to their students. “We really get along as a faculty and there’s a community at that level, too,” he says. “We each have our own strengths and interests that overlap in interesting ways — we work together really well. It’s a joy to be on the faculty here, and that really matters. It filters down into the teaching — honestly, it’s not just a job, it’s a vocation.”

Design Your Pathway

As for every college student, time management is crucial in this major. “You’re going to have to learn to manage your time, but throughout the course of your study, you’ll be given more and more independence,” says Parker. “It’s a good thing to lean into. Don’t be afraid of it, because this is not a field where there’s a single right answer to any of the design problems. We say, ‘You got it? Then move on.’ There’s a lot of iteration — try this, try that. In a sense, it never ends, so make your peace with that.”

While students are progressing through their coursework, they will have a wide variety of potential career options to explore and lean into. “There are clear pathways. If you find yourself interested in health care, you can find firms that specialize in health care,” says Parker. “We can make sure you take a related course or two by talking to the nursing faculty. We’ve had students who find a path they’re interested in and make sure that they do a thesis on that topic in their research, or reach out to people that are practicing and get an internship at a firm in their chosen field. There are all sorts of possibilities.”

“One of the wonderful things that has broadened me — speaking distinctly of what I do in my role — is that there’s an automatic built-in variety of all the things we’re studying, reading, and writing about,” says Parker. “I really cherish and love being able to share all of that and see what catches somebody’s interest and the sparks it creates. You never know what it is that a student will discover and run with.”

Learn more about the undergraduate Architectural Studies program.