To architect or not to architect.

A profession in the arts that I would be interested in is architecture. An architecture degree usually takes five to six years. Most colleges and universities don't have architecture or even design programs, the only well known one in Kentucky is at UK's College of Design. There are many routes you could take with architecture; you could go the traditional route, or do landscape architecture, interior design, and then the many off shoots from those variants of architecture. Start up expenses for architecture vary from firm to firm, but the basis of those costs are from blueprint machines if you need to buy one, supplies to use in drafting (drafting table, pencils from the lowest H to the highest B, triangles, T-squares, etc.), and a computer for designs (many new firms prefer to use computer animated design software rather than hand drafting, but the companies that draft the old fashioned way, in my opinion, are better). A normal portfolio you would need to get a job at an architecture firm would have to show your skills at drafting, design, and knowledge of architecture itself and how it will make the occupants of the building feel. The recent economic downturns have hurt the income of architects with not as many people building homes and those who are building not using real architects. Architects in the US normally earn between $40,000 - $120,000 per year. I would be good for this job because it uses both elements from art and math. I can use my creativity to design buildings, but also math and physics to make then stable.