The Scotsman

Today marks the start of architecture week (17 to 26 June), heralding a chance for all sorts of people who've never much thought about the discipline to consider it not only as a career option but also for the influence it wields over the environment around us. It shapes the homes we live in, the schools our children learn in, the hospitals we are treated in, the services we depend on, the places we go to relax, and the places in which we work. Architecture first came into my life when I was 17. The pressure had been on - not from exams (tough as they were) but from the bigger and ultimately more important question of what I was going to "be".