Architect with international experience providing tutoring for Architecture students - and help on projects

Find out more about Valentin

• 1) When did you develop an interest in your chosen field and in private tutoring?

  I've always had a strong passion for design and the built environment - how things are made and how buildings come to life. As a child - I would always play around construction sites and carefully observe what's happening there and pick-up small debris like pieces of timber and plasterboard - to try and build small stuff for myself - such as tree-houses and forts. Later on, in 4th grade - we had an assignment in school - the task having been to draw a house - our "ideal house" - for us and our family. That was the "Evrika!" moment - the moment I decided I would become an Architect. I was 10 years old.
  
  During my university studies I would always help-out colleagues, both my age and from younger years - with their projects and tasks - so probably that was the time that my interest in tutoring came to fruition. Having younger siblings - to whom I always had to explain the world around us - also helped.

• 2) Tell us more about the subject you teach, the topics you like to discuss with students (and possibly those you like a little less)

  I have 2 majors that I teach: Architecture/ Architectural Design and BIM [Building Information Modelling] in ArchiCAD.
  
  In the Architecture track - we mostly go through the student's current project(s) and pin-point the vulnerabilities and offer assistance and guidance on those specific areas. No 2 students are the same - no to projects are the same - so this is mostly tailor-fit to their specific needs, deadlines, timeline, submission requirements, and so on. Same goes for professionals [I don't limit my tutoring to students] - we go through their specific needs related to current projects.
  
  In the BIM [Building Information Modelling] track - I teach BIM 3D modelling and 2D drafting of complete projects - start to finish - at any skill level: some of my students start from zero - others already have various degrees of experience in it. ArchiCAD is my tool of choice to do this - it's the first BIM software on the market [since the late 1980's] and the best, most straightforward and most intuitive.

• 3) Did you have any role models; a teacher that inspired you?

  My first Architecture tutor was my first and main inspiration - he was an old architect with excellent drafting skills - and we did 1-on-1 lessons together for just over 1 year as part of my admission exam preparation to get into Architecture university. He was a skilled, cultured, patient and kind man - I owe much to him.

• 4) What do you think are the qualities required to be a good tutor?

  - dedication
  - skill in the chosen field
  - can-do attitude
  - flexibility
  - patience

• 5) Provide a valuable anecdote related to your subject or your days at school.

  One of the major difficulties us architects are facing in real-life is meddling clients - clients who think they know better and direct us on what to do/ not to do and/ or veto our decisions, or - worst of all - build differently than what's in the drawn [and approved, and compliant] project. To them I always ask the following rhetorical question:
  
  "If you go to a surgeon to undergo surgery - do you tell the surgeon what to do, and how to perform the operation? I don't think you do...So then why do you tell me how to do my job - instead of letting me do it and trust my experience and expertise? Or go find a different architect otherwise - and trust his experience and expertise." This usually calms them down and addresses their concerns.
  
  Same kind of concerns that need to be addressed are those stemming from the "lowest price" mentality. When a potential client is looking for the lowest price project, lowest price design or lowest price building - I always ask them: "When you ask around for a recommendation for a doctor to treat you - do you ask for the cheapest doctor - or do you ask for the BEST doctor?". I provide my students and clients the BEST service - not the cheapest necessarily.

• 6) What were the difficulties or challenges you faced or still facing in your subject?

  The above-mentioned 2 mentalities coming from some clients.
  
  The painful fact that it's a severely underpaid profession - in comparison to similar skill-level/ years of study professions.

• 7) Do you have a particular passion? Is it teaching in general or an element of the subject or something completely different?

  I have a passion for universal history and travel. Whenever I go to a new country/ place - I like to explore off-the-beaten track and go to normal areas, where people live their normal day to day lives - and experience them and get a feel for the place and how it works - not the touristy areas with high-inflated prices and over the top expectations.

• 8) What makes you a Superprof ?

  I'm a problem solver :) When my students come to me for help - they can rest assure that their problem will be solved - their project finished - their submission completed - their tasks achieved. We work together - as a team - student + tutor - to get the job done!