What Is The Difference Between Civil Engineering and Architecture?

Last Updated on July 21, 2021 by Admin

Both Civil Engineering and Architecture are involved in planning and designing buildings & structures. However, Architecture focuses more on the spatial functionality and aesthetics of the development work and is more concerned with the design’s artistry, look, feel, and functionality. At the same time, Civil Engineering concentrates on the structural elements of the invention, making certain that the structure can endure normal and extreme conditions. You can check below the difference between civil engineering and architecture.

Civil Engineering and Architecture

You may already have an idea of the process of designing and the construction of buildings, mansions, and other edifices, and you know for a fact that the job requires professionals like Architects and Civil Engineers.

Here we explored both Civil engineering and Architecture in terms of Definition, Scope, and significant Differences. This article explained civil engineering vs. architecture in detail.

Table of Contents

What is Civil Engineering?

Civil engineering is about constructing, managing, and maintaining the infrastructure that supports modern society, including buildings, bridges, roads, railways, tunnels, airports, mines, dams, ports, harbors, water supplies, and sewerage schemes; and irrigation systems and flood mitigation work.

Civil engineering is based on maths, mechanics, and physics, but it’s about creative problem-solving at the same time. Civil engineering, also referred to as structural engineering, specializes in the structural elements of systems, ensuring that facilities can withstand regular and extreme loading conditions. Civil engineers work closely with architects, and they are responsible for making architects’ vision into a realization.

Civil engineering is broken down into several specializations. The main ones are environmental, structural, and transportation. Structural engineers can specialize in buildings or infrastructure. Environmental engineers handle the design of water and sewerage systems. Transportation engineers design roads and other transport systems.

We have described below the difference between civil engineering and architecture. Civil engineering may also tackle design particulars, but the practice is often not concerned with structures’ aesthetics and intended function.

Civil Engineers will instead focus on innovative ways to make the design work. When they see something in the design as impractical, they can suggest a design modification from the ones involved in the architectural department.

Job responsibilities of a civil engineer include:

Testing building materials
Following regulations and considering possible project hazards
Performing surveying operations
Supervising maintenance of infrastructures
Using design programs for projects

Read About The important subjects in Civil Engineering

What is Architecture?

One who studies Architecture Called as an Architect, Architects design buildings. They choose how the building will look and its relationship with the site. They design the interior layouts, and they often sketch in structural and mechanical systems. Sometimes they design the building envelope (wall and roof sections), and sometimes they hire a building science specialist to do it.

Architects design various buildings and structures that include office buildings and houses. They can work on projects as small as rooms in a building to designing the entire building. They must have experience with civil engineering software such as CADD to create scaled drawings to provide plans to workers.

Architects must have great creativity and vision to ensure the project looks attractive to clients. They are also responsible for taking care of many parts of the project, so they must be very organized to keep track of all aspects of architectural development. Architects with extensive experience can advance into higher-level supervisory roles as architectural managers. Find here the difference between civil engineering and architecture.

Job responsibilities of an architect include:

Organizing structure specifications
Estimating budget and time
Creating drawings and plans
Presenting plans to clients
Developing contracts

The subject areas include, but are not limited to the following fields;

Architectural Drawing
Architectural Style
Architectural Theory
Biomechanics
Building Materials
Coastal Engineering
Construction Engineering
Control Engineering
Earthquake Engineering
Environmental Engineering
Geotechnical Engineering
Materials Engineering
Municipal Or Urban Engineering
Organic Architecture
Sociology of Architecture
Structural Engineering
Surveying
Transportation Engineering

Read About: Best Architecture Colleges In India [2021 Updated]

Scope of Civil Engineering And Architecture

An extensive scope exists there for civil engineering and architecture professionals. They are together involved in many different types of projects. A project requires many various activities associated with these people. Projects may be related to high-rise buildings, skyscrapers, tunnels, roads, bridges, waterworks, canal systems, drainage works, steel structures, etc.

Civil engineers are concerned with preliminary surveys, measurements, execution of projects at the sites, structural design making, quantity surveying, supervision, planning site activities, procurement of materials, billing, construction safety, structural detailing of steel, etc.

Civil engineer’s job profile includes a surveyor, quantity surveyor, estimator, billing engineer, structural designer, procurement manager, planning engineer, site engineer, quality engineer, etc. They lead the teams under the manager post once they get a promotion based on experience or qualification. Project manager, deputy project manager, assistant project manager, etc.

Architects are concerned with planning, architectural drawing, architectural designing, structural drawing, utilization of space, application of building bye-laws, application of principles of the science of human settlements (ekistics), interior design, aesthetics of the environment, pleasant appearance, etc.

They work as an architect (designation), and an architect may have specific roles depending upon the post at which he is hired. An architect working in landscape architecture specifically can be entitled to the designation of landscape architects, and in this way, other titles are also created.

A post-graduate architect working in industrial design is an architect (industrial design). An architect with a post-graduate degree (M. Arch) an MBA or PGDM or managerial experience can be designated as an architectural manager.

Also, the transformation of civil engineering to architecture can make great architects as they would then understand the structure holistically, and there would be good synergy between aesthetics/utility and structural efficiency/constructability. It is highly advisable the civil engineers should take proper formal training before they venture into architecture.

Read About: Civil Engineering Basics Skill To Become A Successful Civil Engineer

Difference Between Civil Engineering and Architecture

There are marked differences between the fields of architecture and civil engineering. The two practices have well-defined responsibilities that make them distinct from each other.

A good engineer-architect relationship is vital to have a more efficient, high-quality project result. The following are the significant differences between civil engineering and architecture.

Difference Between Civil Engineering and Architecture
Civil Engineering	Architecture
Civil engineering focuses on innovation to realize that design.	Architecture is more into the creativity of designs.
Civil engineering mainly deals with the mathematical and scientific aspects of a building.	Architecture deals with the look and other artistic aspects of designing a building.
A civil engineer oversees the construction of roads, flyovers, and underpasses, among other things.	An architect designs buildings, monuments, bridges, among other things.
Equipped with a B.Tech in civil engineering, you can apply for jobs directly.	To practice as an architect, you need to register with the Council of Architecture.
Civil engineering deals more with the strength of the structure.	Architecture deals more with the aesthetics of the structure.
Civil Engineering deals with the material used for the building and designs the structure to support its weight.	Architecture deals with making the floor plans of a building and designing the shape of the building.
Civil engineering’s responsibility is to ensure that the design can be implemented safely and reliably.	Architecture’s primary concern is designing the development work.
Civil Engineering concentrates on the structural elements of the design, making certain that the structure can endure normal and extreme conditions.	Architecture focuses more on the spatial functionality and aesthetics of the development work and is more concerned with the design’s artistry, look, feel, and functionality.
Civil engineering involves studying drafts and examining the practicality of the design; civil engineers ensure that the design can withstand regular and extreme loading conditions.	Architecture initiates the project through architects’ drafts.
Civil engineers will be guided by the architect’s outlines and dimensions.	Architects will need engineers to help to make their designs work.
A sound civil engineer will always give the best effort to make the design a reality.	On the other hand, a good architect will always consider the practicality of the design so it can be built at less cost and a faster rate.

Civil engineering vs architecture salary

As per the Payscale data, the average salary for the fresher Civil Engineer in India is around ₹300,000 per year. And the average salary for the newer Architect is around INR ₹350,000. You can see the avg. Salary is slightly higher for architects than the civil engineers.

Advice for the Career Aspirants

The aspirants who are good at drawing and mathematics with innovative ideas about planning and drawing the above-said environments should go for architecture.

Aspirants with excellent knowledge of physics, chemistry, mathematics and a great interest in structural design, construction & real estate should go for civil engineering.

Also, one should check the institute or university for recognition before taking admission.

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Conclusion

When you think of architects, you would only visualize a person making drawings on large sheets of paper. Imagine someone with a hard hat analyzing the construction field, yelling instructions to workers involved in the assembly when you think of civil engineers. If you were thinking along these lines, though stereotypical, you are, to some extent, accurate.

To put it simply, architects design whole buildings and civil engineers design the structural systems in buildings – and there are other specializations that civil engineers can take on. So if you read it carefully, this article rightly explained the architect vs. civil engineer differences.

Civil engineers and architects may sometimes overlap each other’s work, but a good relationship between the two professions will make the construction job more effective and successful.