There are so many iconic musicians, actors, and politicians who found their footing as students of architecture before their respective careers took off.
1. Brad Pitt, Actor
This is more of an honorary mention. He never actually went to architecture school, but his interest in architecture is well established. He has quoted himself to be a self-taught architect and has called architecture his passion on multiple occasions.
2. Ice Cube, Rapper
The rapper studied architectural drafting from the Phoenix Institute of Technology. He did not, however, finish his education, as his music career took off.
3. Samuel L.Jackson, Actor
He joined architecture in Morehouse College in Atlanta, however, he switched his major to acting within the first year.
4. Martha Stewart, TV Personality
This media entrepreneur and master of all things homemade, this amazing personality graduated from Barnard College in 1963 with a degree in history and architectural history.
5. George Takei, Actor and Activist
At the urging of his father, known for his role as Hikaru Sulu on Star Trek and his comical Facebook page, studied architecture at Berkeley for two years before transferring to the University of California, Los Angeles to study theater arts.
6. Art Garfunkel, Singer
He studied architecture at Columbia University for three and a half years but ended up graduating with a degree in art history.
7. Alfred “Weird Al” Yankovic, Singer
He holds a degree in architecture from California Polytechnic State University. It was during his time in this university that earned him the nickname “Weird Al”
8. Courtney Cox, Actress
This actor, best known for playing Monica in the hit series Friends, studied architecture at Mount Vernon College in Washington D.C.
9. Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, Model and Singer
When she was 19, model, singer, and former First Lady of France Carla Bruni-Sarkozy studied art and architecture at the Sorbonne. She abandoned her studies after one year before pursuing modeling full-time.
10. Tom Ford, Fashion Designer
He studied architecture at Parsons The New School for Design and spent his senior year at the university’s Paris outpost. However, after graduation, he turned his attentions to fashion.
11. David Byrne, Musician
This co-founder of Talking Heads, studies Bauhaus Theory, a functional design course at the Rhode Island School of Design before dropping out. He has admitted on multiple occasions how his knowledge of architecture helped his music evolve.
12. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Actress
Before she was a Bollywood sensation, and even before she was crowned Miss World in 1994, this actress was just another bookish architecture student trying to make earn her degree at the Raheja College of Arts, modeling part-time to pay the bills.
13. Tinker Hatfield, Shoe Designer
You might not recognize his face, but you have definitely seen his designs. This show designer serves as the Vice President for Design and Special Projects in Nike. He is responsible for some of the most notable Nike designs, for example, Air Jordan 3 through 20. He has a bachelor of architecture degree from the University of Oregon School of Architecture.
14. Tom Sachs, Artist
This contemporary artist primarily known for his sculpture received a BA from Bennington College in Vermont and studied at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London.
15. Mary Katrantzou, Fashion Designer
She started her education at the Rhode Island School of Design, where she studied architecture, but a growing interest in fashion led her to transfer to the prestigious Central Saint Martins college in London to earn a BA in textile design — and subsequently a Master’s in Fashion. Her designs have been work by the likes of Taylor Swift, Rihanna, etc.
16. Ratan Tata, Businessman
The chief of the conglomerate the Tata Industries and chairman of Emeritus considered the archangel of Indian e-commerce who completed his B.S in architecture from Cornell University and moved on to study an MBA from Harvard. He’s also an acclaimed juror for the highest accolade in architecture, the Pritzker Prize.
17. Seal, Musician
Singer and former husband to model Heidi Klum, Seal, after two years of study, received an associate degree in architecture, subsequently working at a series of firms while concurrently developing an interest in music.
18. Jimmy Stewart, Actor
The very famous actor from the early ’40s to the ’60s, was a prodigal student in the field of architecture at Princeton University, in 1928. His thesis gained him a scholarship to pursue graduate studies in the field, but he has bound a completely different thing with life altogether.
19. Tomas Hardy, Novelist
Thomas Hardy was a 19th-century English novelist and poet who wrote novels such as Far from the Madding Crowd and Tess of the d’Urbervilles. Hardy began his formal education in Dorchester, and then King’s College London. Before he was a writer, Hardy won numerous awards from the Royal Institute of British Architects
20. Thomas Jefferson, The third president of the United States
The Third President of the United States and one of the founding fathers of the Declaration of Independence. As we look back into his life, architecture the art has been his focus of study, even a style has been attributed to his method of design, the Jeffersonian Style, evident from the design of his residence “The Monticello” a combination of Neo-Classical and the Neo-Palladian with the amalgamation of the then trending European Architecture.
