Previously we had a look at some of the strange habits of top architects. From drinking on the job to polyphasic sleeping, it turns out famous architects are a bunch of weirdos. But what about the rest of us? It’s not just the famous architects who are weirdos—it’s simply impossible to spend such long periods of time on the job without picking up a few strange habits along the way. Whether it’s the way we work, the way we interact with buildings, or things that don’t even seem odd until a non-architect points them out, those in architecture have some pretty strange habits.
1. Spending five hours looking for the right font
2. Smugly carrying a Moleskine around everywhere
3. An uncanny ability to spend hours in your office/studio and get absolutely nothing done at all
4. Planning travel itineraries around buildings
5. Always feeling like you deserve a coffee break
6. Thinking Bjarke Ingels is a bit cute
7. Having imaginary conversations with Bjarke Ingels in the shower
8. Feeling up walls, columns, floors
9. Misplacing your metal ruler every five minutes
10. Misplacing your scale ruler every two minutes
11. Getting way too excited over a nice handrail
12. Dropping $30 (or more) on a pen
13. Getting aroused by heavy paper stock
14. Thinking you have better taste than your non-architect friends
15. Alienating your non-architect friends by saying things like “tectonic” and “how have you never heard of Bjarke Ingels?”
16. Feeling incredibly grateful for hi-res transparent .pngs
17. Having way too many layers open in Photoshop
18. Finding your wardrobe become more and more monochromatic
19. Really really appreciating a well-designed public toilet
20. Pointing out the thermal bridges in every steel building you see
21. Judging books by their cover
22. Having terrible time management despite years of thinking “this year will be different”
23. Including a famous building in your profile picture
24. Feeling disappointed that your profile picture doesn’t have as many likes as it should, because of non-architect friends who don’t get it
25. Abandoning your LinkedIn profile because you don't like the way the website looks
26. Referring to architects by just their first name like “Zaha”
27. Referring to architects by made up nicknames like “Corby”
28. Referring to clients by made up nicknames... but only when they're not around
29. Not being able to afford any of the furniture/gadgets/clothes you want
30. Waiting until payday to splash out on furniture/gadgets/clothes anyway
31. Religiously using Muji stationery
32. Getting starstruck around buildings
33. Watching reality tv shows with judging panels and thinking they’re nothing compared to client meetings you’ve been through
34. Feeling way too important when wearing hi vis and hard hat on site
35. Finding masking tape in your hair
36. Fully understanding the business card scene in American Psycho
37. Spending all day rearranging furniture in a plan drawing
38. Overestimating how much you can do in a day
39. Underestimating the time you spend scrolling through the internet looking for “inspiration”