I'm an architect who likes to make things. Both physically and virtually. It is how I've learned it while a student.
We don't learn by seating at a table talking, or reading tons of documents. We learn by testing on visual immersive artefacts, as models and drawings. Frequently over the years an architect takes distance from getting his hands dirty, asking other architects, lower on the ladder but with the same education, to turn his thoughts into solutions. This is not my favorite regime, and I want to operate differently. I' m convinced that there is a special seed for architectural quality when visions/decisions making and actual technical practice are mixed.
Like a musician, or a gymnast, I want to keep exercising as a fresh architect every day, to maintain excellent agility across a rich fabric of skills. I'm doing as much architecture when I'm modelling, drawing, prototyping, going to the site, experimenting. To me those are noble tasks.
