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Have you ever seen Coldplay’s interactive music video? It’s titled Ink and it is an animated tale that allows the viewer to select their own pathway within the video story. Every decision sends the narrative in a new direction. I thought this could be the perfect contextual tool to copy in order to construct scenarios that explore life after architecture school. Specifically, how architecture careers feel like branching narratives and alternative timelines that are too often disregarded or forgotten.
Two paths, one protagonist. The first stays close to the traditional architectural path, the other wanders somewhere entirely new…
Chapter 01: Career Beginnings
Another late evening in the office. I am zooming aimlessly in and out in AutoCAD to try and catch even the tiniest of errors in the staircase detail drawing I have been working on for the past two months.
Tomorrow is my six-month anniversary in my very first architecture job. Finally, a junior architect, ready to change the world, or at least my city. So far however, the most exciting moment of my career was when I finally learned the difference between “revision” and “issue” on the title block. Truthfully, six months in and my architecture life has been mostly stairs, coffee, more stairs and the emotional rollercoaster of sending a pdf to the printer without checking the scale.
But tonight, as I stare at risers and treads with the intensity of a detective solving a crime, my mind wonders back to the email I received this morning from a job board I don’t remember subscribing to.
The subject line: “You might be a great fit for this role.”
The job position: Environmental Designer (Contract), Narrative Worldbuilding Team, Indie Game Studio
“Contract.” – The word sits there like a warning label. I scroll: 3–6 months, project-based, remote, freelance possible, ‘We are a small, experimental team….’
Translation: Total instability disguised as a dream job.
The role description however is maddeningly alluring:
- Create immersive narrative worlds
- Design spatial story sequences
- Collaborate with writers, concept artists, sound designers
The list goes on…
I look around the office, almost empty now. The culture has been great, the structure is solid, predictable, the salary is very good considering the job market. The work may be a bit blunt and exhausting but there is a long chain of senior architects, all dressed in black turtlenecks, who prove that you can survive this profession and (around your mid 40s) actually make some impactful design decisions.
The job listing on the other hand, feels like a shot in the dark; I will either “make it” or I end up unemployed in 3-6 months. And yet it still feels tempting.
My hand hovers over the keyboard, ready to reply.
Insert Photo – Midjouney Prompt: A hand-drawn, painterly animated scene in the style of a storybook graphic video, soft ink textures and watercolor washes. Depict a young architect sitting alone at a dimly lit desk in a large open-plan office at night, glowing monitors showing abstract CAD stair drawings. The protagonist is shown hesitating over the keyboard, with an unread email notification floating like a symbolic icon above the screen. Warm, nostalgic lighting, gentle shadows, subtle dreamlike distortions, quiet mood, slight melancholy but hopeful tone. Soft lines, muted blues and ochres, delicate animation-style render, magical realism, narrative illustration.
–ar 16:9 –v 6
Chapter 02a: The Architect
Another late evening in the office. I am frantically reading and rereading my presentation for tomorrow’s event. Funnily enough it coincides with my ten-year anniversary of being at the firm.
It is a great way to celebrate. Being the lead architect on one of the year’s most acclaimed social housing projects – and presenting it to the largest audience in the city – is no small accomplishment. Who would have thought that after countless years of grinding and producing door schedules and architectural details, I would get to design a building that I am truly proud of.
And yet, the pride comes with a strange, familiar companion: imposter syndrome wearing a well-tailored black turtleneck.
It seems almost impossible to describe this project honestly. Some parts are either too dry or too sentimental, and others are either too technical or too academic – especially after thinking back to the early briefing meetings, when the client wanted “an affordable but iconic (I hate this word) building”; or when the façade design almost got value-engineered into oblivion. But eventually the building happened and that should be enough to feel proud.
Honestly, in architecture, success feels strangely exhausting. And what if tomorrow, when I stand in front of hundreds of people, someone asks: “So, what’s next?”, as if a decade of work is just the warm-up.
I stare at the screen once more and suddenly my phone buzzes. A message from an old colleague, who left the profession years ago: “Saw the promo for your talk! Congrats. Also, call me when you’re free. I want to ask you something about an architectural course I am setting up for the university.”
Insert Photo – Midjouney Prompt: A hand-drawn, ink-and-watercolor animated style scene, soft lines and textured washes. Depict an architect ten years older, sitting alone in a dim office late at night, surrounded by scattered drawings, models, and glowing presentation slides on a laptop. The protagonist looks tired but proud, adjusting notes for a major public talk. Soft, warm desk light contrasts with the dark office backdrop. A phone on the table lights up with a message notification, symbolizing an alternate path. Reflective, mature atmosphere; subdued blues, ochres, and ink textures; gentle melancholy mixed with accomplishment; storybook-style illustration with magical-realist undertones.
–ar 16:9 –v 6
Chapter 02b: The Wonderer
Another late evening in my favorite coffee shop. The barista kindly smiles at me, while he cleans the espresso machine – a sign that I should finally go home.
My screen is open to a sprawling, colorful map, an early draft of a game environment that simulates the mythical island of Atlantis. Three concentric circles, alternating between land and water have become the setting for this new videogame – “a mysterious but navigable island”, the brief’s exact words.
Who would have thought that after my first project, where I was drawing details of the stalagmites and stalactites for a virtual cave, I would still be a fully operational freelancer that constructs whole fictional worlds. Somehow, against all probability, I’m still here.
Tomorrow, I’m showing the newest world map to the studio’s writers and sound team and, although I am quite nervous, I can’t wait to hear their brilliant feedback. I love having conversations about how the forest “needs more emotional pacing” or how Poseidon’s temple should be “filled with unpredictable traps”, instead of discussing “how we can build the façade with cheaper materials” or how “the square meters need to be reduced to match the planning requirements.”
I go back to the model, ready to adjust the topography once more when suddenly, my phone buzzes. A message from a close friend: “Hey, how are you doing? I know you don’t ‘do buildings anymore’ but I want to design a pop up shop for my comic book brand. Can I call you tomorrow?”
Insert Photo – Midjouney Prompt: A hand-drawn, ink-and-watercolor animated scene. Depict a lone worldbuilder sitting in a cozy coffee shop at night, warm ambient lighting, the barista cleaning the espresso machine in the background. On the laptop screen: a colorful, stylized map of Atlantis with concentric circles of land and water, glowing softly like a magical portal. The protagonist leans in, adjusting the topography, surrounded by sketchy notebooks and empty coffee cups. A phone on the table lights up with a message notification, symbolizing another possible path. Soft textures, whimsical colors, dreamlike magical realism, narrative illustration, gentle and imaginative mood.
–ar 16:9 –v 6
Chapter 03: Interlude
The Architect
The applause is still ringing faintly in my ears as the auditorium empties out. The presentation went better than I hoped, the questions were spot on, and it felt as if the city truly appreciated the end result.
On the walk home, I detour past the housing project. It’s surreal to see that what you once envisioned only in your mind, is now aa reality. Someone is watering their plants, a couple of kids play in the balcony, and a young girl stares out of the window peacefully.
This. This is the biggest recognition I could ever ask for.
The Wanderer
The review ended in the most chaotic manner possible. A room full of enthusiastic professionals running on coffee and adrenaline were arguing about myth arcs, temple designs and sound effects.
On my way out, my cheeks hurt from smiling. What I have spent months designing is finally entering the production stage. My Atlantis island will become real, already being inhabited through the imagination of my crazy coworkers; and suddenly, I’m struck by the same quiet certainty as an architect walking past their building. I have designed something thrilling that people will occupy.
Insert Photo – Midjouney Prompt: A hand-drawn, ink-and-watercolor animated scene, showing a split or mirrored composition. On one side: an architect walking past a softly glowing social housing building at dusk, balconies lit, silhouettes of residents watering plants and children playing. On the other side: a worldbuilder leaving a cozy studio or café at night, smiling as a fantastical Atlantis island map glows from a laptop screen in their bag. Soft ink textures, dreamlike magical realism, warm lighting, gentle shadows, parallel narratives represented visually. Emotional, reflective tone, muted blues and ochres with subtle pops of color. Storybook illustrative style with branching-path symbolism.
–ar 16:9 –v 6
This interactive-like story is published after two articles I recently wrote: The Red Flags of the Architectural Profession and The Green Flags of the Architectural Profession. What surprised me, both in research and in conversations afterward, was how often architects imagined these conditions as opposites, as if one set defined a failing career and the other a successful one. But this article attempts – in a playful way – to remind architects that the discipline is a framework, not a track. Frankly, the field is so wide that staying, pivoting, or circling back are all legitimate ways of practicing it.
Architects: Want to have your project featured? Showcase your work by uploading projects to Architizer and sign up for our inspirational newsletters.
Featured Image: Prompt – A hand-drawn, ink-and-watercolor animated illustration. A single protagonist stands at a branching path shaped like an architectural plan, one branch leading toward a softly glowing city building, the other toward a fantastical illustrated island map. Soft ink lines, watercolor textures, dreamlike magical realism, warm and cool tones blending. The figure appears contemplative, standing at a fork between architecture and worldbuilding. Storybook narrative energy, atmospheric, poetic, reflective.
–ar 16:9 –v 6
