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By Christina V. Rogers

So lately you've begun to wonder about your career in architecture. The economy has taken a turn for the worse, clients are hard to find, and those plumbing details that you spent a good part of last night finishing aren't exactly what you bargained for after three years of grad school. Time for a change?

In this month's WORK section, archrecord2 searches for life beyond the CAD station. We've found five architects who show that a degree in architecture has far more to offer than a working knowledge of construction drawings. They've ventured outside the boundaries of traditional practice, engaged other disciplines, and have resurfaced in fields of writing, animation, film, and fashion. One architect has even found himself working in outer space.

Some have done so out of necessity. A slow economy often offers no other alternatives and a job outside the profession is better than no job at all. Others were simply eager to explore new territory and delve into experiences that might, in the end, spark new ideas and perspectives. In a world where ideas and meanings constantly evolve, and information travels with the click of a button, it is almost impossible to not want to peek your head around the corner see what else is out there.

We can learn a lot from their stories. Whether their paths were intentional or not, they all seem to demonstrate that a venture outside the profession can provide invaluable insight and understanding to what is within. And who knows what new ideas their experiences might inspire. Through their discoveries we may also find solutions, new perspectives, new challenges, and—just maybe if we look hard enough—even a new direction for the future.

	Mimi Zeiger: Loud Paper Magazine Mimi Zeiger was still a graduate student at the Southern California Institute of Architecture when she printed her first issue of Loud Paper in October of 1997. Now at print in its tenth issue, this independent architecture zine has a circulation of over two thousand readers, a web presence, and is distributed internationally in Europe, Asia, and South America. Read more...
	Ed Keller: Game Designer Typically when you think of computer games, you think of alien spacecraft, industrial wastelands, slugging your way through a maze of wire-lined corridors with an oversized rocket launcher cocked and ready to blow off the heads of extraterrestrial opponents. Read more...
	Joe Day: Dayware Clothing Joe Day, founder of Dayware Clothing, said that he first became interested in disciplines other than architecture by getting involved with his own collaborative practice. After completing his master's degree at the Southern California Institute of Architecture, he and several of his fellow graduates decided to form Hedge Design Collaborative. Read more...
	Mako the Flower Girl "Flowers are like nature's architecture," says Mako Otaki, a 32-year-old architect and designer, better known to her clients as Mako the Flower Girl. A graduate of the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc), Mako now makes her living designing vivid, yet playful, floral arrangements for events, offices, and residences. Read more...
	Garrett Finney: Architect for NASA One day, architects may walk in space. Until then, it is more likely that they'll be designing habitats for astronauts already there, like Garrett Finney, senior architect at NASA's Habitability Design Center, Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. Read more...

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