Median Salary $79,380 Unemployment Rate 1.4% Number of Jobs 11,200

Architects use their skills in design, engineering, managing and coordinating to create aesthetically pleasing and safe buildings that serve a purpose. They're artists, but instead of a canvas, they have cities, parks, college campuses and more to display their work. And their masterpieces are the shops, libraries, office buildings and grocery stores we frequent all the time. Architects are involved at each step of a project, from the initial planning sessions to the ribbon-cutting ceremonies.



Jordan Goldstein, global director of design and delivery at one of the world's top architectural firms, Gensler, was practicing to become an architect at age 5. At the time, his parents were house hunting, and they'd bring him along to see the different options. After the visits, Goldstein would return to his Legos – he had buckets of them – and recreate what he had seen. "Ever since that point, I was looking for the quickest path to becoming an architect and building things," he writes in an email.



Architects are perhaps a rare blend of creativity and practicality. They are artists with grounding in reality. After all, most Lego lovers will tell you that a firm foundation is a necessary component in making a soaring skyscraper.



One of the biggest advances in architecture is digital design and building information modeling, Goldstein writes. "3D models are now layered with information and the models themselves are actually databases on the design that can be utilized for construction, facility management and energy management," he explains. "With the growing usage of digital printing, architects are quickly able to study the 3D implications of design ideas and mature the project. The understanding of computational design is allowing architects to move right from design to fabrication, leaping over the more conventional aspects of the design process and expedite construction."



The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects 8.4 percent employment growth for architects between 2018 and 2028. In that period, an estimated 11,200 jobs should open up.