I just read the rest of the captions and now I'm deeply depressed.
Most 43 year old architects don't run 13 person firms and have their name on the door. When they do, they can seldom afford a house like that. I'm almost five years older than the guy and feeling quite jealous now.
There is no way that I could ever afford Harvard or work for free for a famous architect like he did. My path was very different, taking 13 years to work my way to a Masters Degree. I run my own small firm, but I'm losing my mind trying to make it in Michigan's economy, a seven year recession they call it.
I should note that two of my local contemporaries, one with a six person firm, and the other with a 13 person firm, both extreemly talented, each had heart attacks. One of them died, the other lost his business and works for someone else part-time now.
You can kill yourself trying to make it in architecture.
Not for the weak of heart.
