Architecture degrees are among the most popular in the country, with the University of Sydney having ten times more students putting the degree down as a preference than the number of places available.
A student wishing to be accepted into a Bachelor of Design in Architecture at the University of Sydney this year required an Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) of 96.25 out of a possible 100. This is up from last year's requirement of 94.45.
"It's quite a jump and effectively the jump is a product of increased demand for places," said Chris Smith, associate dean of the faculty of architecture, design and planning at the University of Sydney.
Smith believes that the degree has become so popular because architecture is more prominent in the media these days and the definition of an architect has broadened.
"The old definitions of what an architect does have broken down, so it's no longer a masculine profession," he told Architecture and Design. "In terms of increasing its breadth of appeal there's a high end, creative, experimental aspect of architecture but it also caters to a lot of people that are technically focused."
On average, graduating architects earn somewhere between $43,000 and $45,000 - "reasonable" according to Smith who says that architects often complain, unjustifiably, about their salary.
"If you were an artist earning what an architect earned, you'd think that you were brilliant," he said. "Maybe they [architects] are worried about putting petrol in their Saab, or something like that."
Despite being hit quite severely by the GFC, architecture is bouncing back and employment opportunities for graduates should not be a concern, Smith says. He believes that the architecture industry in general has diversified, increasing the number of opportunities available, and that architects are no longer seen as professionals serving the prosperous.
"Like the popularity of the idea of studying architecture, I think the industry itself is growing considerably. There are a lot more people using architects for design work than there ever has been. Where Mum and Dad used to ring the local builder and get the builder to decide what they want, these days people use an architect to design something specific."
