Projects by People ft. Alvin Zhu - Exploring Architecture, Content Creation

In this Architecture Social conversation (about 40 minutes), Stephen Drew speaks with Alvin Zhu, founder of Projects by People, about building an online community for architects, discovering filmmaking, and the many directions an architecture education can take you.

Who this is for

Architecture students and early-career designers who feel uncertain about traditional practice, anyone interested in content creation and community building around architecture, and professionals weighing up alternative or complementary career paths.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this session you will be able to:

1. Recognise that an architecture education develops transferable skills that reach well beyond conventional practice.
2. Understand how an online community can recreate parts of studio culture and connect people across borders.
3. Describe how side projects and experiments can reveal a clearer career direction.
4. Apply a healthier approach to managing the demands of a platform alongside study or work.
5. Evaluate the difference between collecting credentials and genuinely learning through engagement.
6. Use iteration and failure as tools for improving a creative project over time.

From architecture to digital media

Alvin graduated with a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Queensland in Brisbane and came out of the degree unsure whether he wanted to practise. Reflecting on what he had gained, the experience that stood out was an exchange to Milan and the people he met along the way.

The idea behind Projects by People

Projects by People grew from a wish to give more people the connection that travel and exchange had given him. Alvin set out to build a global community, a kind of online studio, that focuses on the people behind the work rather than only the finished projects, using shared interests as a way to start conversations.

Discovering filmmaking

The project Alvin was proudest of at university was not a building but a film he made for the end-of-year exhibition. That sparked a lasting interest in filmmaking and production, which he went on to develop through volunteering and creative collaborations.

Alternative paths in architecture

Stephen and Alvin discuss how common it is to finish an architecture course and not want to become a registered architect, and why that is nothing to be embarrassed about. Recruitment, marketing, communications, media and journalism are all fields where an architectural background is an asset.

Balancing a platform with study and work

Running a community can feel like a second job. Alvin talks about taking time away from the platform when it became too much, and choosing to extend his master's so he could keep space for other things. The theme is balance, and giving yourself permission to step back.

Learning versus certification

Both reflect on the temptation to chase a certificate rather than the learning itself. The real value comes from engaging with a class or community, forming opinions, making mistakes and connecting with others, not from the piece of paper at the end.

Iteration, failure and community building

Alvin describes constantly reworking Projects by People, trying new formats and accepting that many experiments do not work. The pair discuss how honest iteration, rather than protecting an old formula, is what moves a creative platform forward, and how keeping people engaged and talking is the hardest and most valuable part.

Key terms

• Online studio - recreating the connection and culture of a physical studio through an online community.
• Content creation - producing and sharing media such as images, video and interviews to build an audience and community.
• Iteration - improving a project through repeated cycles of testing, feedback and change.

Reflective prompts for your CPD record

1. Which skills from your architecture education could transfer into a role beyond traditional practice?
2. Where in your own work are you chasing a credential rather than the learning behind it?
3. What is one experiment you could run, and be willing to fail at, to move a personal project forward?

About the guest

Alvin Zhu is an architecture graduate and content creator, and the founder of Projects by People, a platform connecting the global architecture community by focusing on the people behind the projects. He studied architecture at the University of Queensland and went on to a master's in Sydney, developing a parallel interest in filmmaking and storytelling.