Dan Guenter with one of his architectural drawings.
Dan Guenter has wanted to be an architect for as long as he can remember. Despite his life-long fascination with the subject, however, the BCIT Bachelor of Technology in Architectural Science alumnus is just now realizing that, “this architecture thing [is] quite the beast.”
“[Architecture] blends art, building, history, philosophy, sociology, and many other things I love together into one nearly unmanageable package,” Dan says. “It is multidisciplinary by nature and…requires that I have to be a wannabe renaissance man, and I like that.”
Before choosing BCIT, Dan knew he’d one day like to study architecture at a graduate level, which, in most cases, requires a B. Arch equivalent such as BCIT’s BTech. Dan, who wanted to study in Vancouver, says he “preferred BCIT’s program over many of the other undergraduate programs in Canada because of its strength in teaching the technical wisdom of architecture that many other schools in Canada have sidelined in favour of focusing on architectural theory.”
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Dan presenting an architectural drawing.
He also appreciated that most BCIT instructors still practice in their trade or profession. “Having a faculty that was composed of progressive, practicing architects grounded the program in the essential concerns of ‘real world’ architecture,” says Dan.
Dan, who says BCIT was a positive stepping stone to higher education, found that BCIT’s Architectural Science program has “a great reputation, especially on the West Coast,” which made it easy for him to get summer employment between semesters.
“BCIT’s curriculum was very focused on sustainability in Architecture,” adds Dan. “The [program] boasts a number of great professors who are on the cutting edge of sustainability in BC. They were very intentional about thinking about sustainability in progressive ways that entailed more than just ‘green-washing’. I think this is something that employers are looking for.”
Last fall, Dan was accepted into McGill University’s Master of Architecture degree. He was one of seven students from his graduating class of 18 to go on to graduate studies.
As a graduate from a newly-established bachelor’s degree—the BTech in Architectural Science was limited to a two year diploma a few years ago—Dan was one of the first students to apply to McGill from BCIT and was the first to be accepted.
“The faculty at McGill has since told me that I am a bit of a guinea pig for them, so I’m doing my best to establish a good reputation for BCIT out here in Montreal,” says Dan. “As a guinea pig, I had a few extra administrative hoops to jump through in my application and enrolment to McGill, but it was nothing insurmountable.”
Once he graduates from McGill, Dan hopes to practice architecture “somewhere in Canada.” Eventually, he says, he would like to lead a firm with other like-minded architects. And much further down the road, he would love to teach.
“Teaching has always been an aspiration of mine,” he says. “Maybe I will show up at BCIT again in a new role someday!”
