What do I need to do (as a 13 year old) to help me become an architect in the future?

1 - Try to experience as many buildings as possible and consider how they work functionally as well as how they are built. Try and think about how to improve the buildings you use. 2 - Make sure you're studying and getting good marks in Maths, Art and Physics as these are the principle subject areas and in the UK the best subjects at 'A' level for entry onto a University course in Architecture. My school included the history of architecture as part of the Art coursework and exams. 3 - At 13 read what you can and above all explore the fun of architecture, the hidden meanings, the visual tricks as well as the construction side. Architecture as a subject and career is a wonderful mixture of the Arts and the Sciences. You'll need to be good at both and have excellent spatial awareness, ability to read plans and think in 3D. If you can't draw and/or aren't academic you'll need to consider a career in the construction industry that is not that of an architect!

I will try to restrict it to 10 points Develop your spatial visualization powers. Play sports, games which require a lot of imagination. Visualize and solve things in your mind. Play with various materials, get your hands dirty. Try making things with mud, bricks, wood, anything, see how they hold up, feel, last, and do break them, observe how they break. See how can you make it better. Check if you are having fun. If not, architecture is not for you. Play with colors, see which colors go well, contrast, complement. Understand Light. Take a lot of black and white photos, see which images look great and more importantly why. Watch and observe people, in parks, schools, churches, temples, airports etc. See how buildings impact them, or change their behavior or don't. Interact with people, you need to work with them and design for them. Study climates, seasons. Observe what changes occur in different seasons. Observe patterns Travel. Learn tor respect people, viewpoints, nature, cultures, materials. Build patience. Buildings take time to build. Observe buildings. measure them, draw them, analyse them, study their planning, how different spaces are placed next to each other, the volumes, the decoration, their sizes - in absolute terms and in relation to other elements i.e, observe and question everything. Hope it helps.