Simon is a hands-on software architect who works within 
[Book] Essays for hands-on software architects.
A practical and pragmatic guide to software architecture. Read more...
Patterns are about experience...
...and so is architecture
Why software patterns are important is a good post about why patterns are important within the context of being an architect.
In general term Patterns can help by trying to identify common solutions to recurring problems. The interesting thing of pattern is that they are captured by experience. They aren't designed upfront in a speculative way. They emerge from the field, from real software that works, from real teams.
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Pattern reading is an important activity for every software architect which hasn't a valuable experience. I think that pattern studying is an important activity in any computer science curricula. Students can learn a lot about software design and architecture without waiting to hurt in the war's field of a software development job.
Essentially, this is saying that while you can't gain real-world experience from reading, you *can* gain insights into what works and what doesn't. This is an important part of an architect's role and helps you make those critical decisions that balance the functional and the non-functional requirements.
