Architecture in Renaissance Italy was purely practical, there was no core set of skills. Most architects began their careers working with stone in one way or other; Michelozzo di Baertolomeo, for example, was an apprentice alongside Donatello de Betto Bardi in Filippo Brunnelleschi's workshop, which was active in sculpting, painting, and architecture. The workshop produced, among other notable works, the dome of Florence's cathedral, and was one of the pioneers of prospective in painting.

When Michelozzo and Donatello set up their own workshop (they were both in their early 20's, and had worked for nearly a decade in Brunnelleschi's workshop) Michelozzo decided to focus on planning (edit: sorry for my redundancy, copy-pasting will do that!) took over planning, drafting, and business matters in the workshop, while Donatello concentrated on the more artistic aspects of their work, becoming one of the (if not the) most well known sculptors in Florence. So there was no set path; Michelozzo just turned out to be more practically minded than Donatello, who in turn was comparatively better at sculpting.

However, aspiring architects need not have studied the arts; Andrea Palladio, the premier architect in northeast Italy active the century after Donatello, started off as a much more humble stonemason. After gaining a reputation as a patient and pragmatic worker, he was hired by Giangiorgio Trissino, a relatively minor Vicentine nobleman and patron of the arts who fancied himself an architect. Palladio handled the construction of Trissino's classical-inspired design for his country home outside Vicenza. The house was lauded as brilliant, and from then on Palladio received increasingly large commissions to work. The smartest thing Palladio did was invest in himself, and he studied classical architecture extensively in order to gain new inspiration and keep his clients happy.