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How to build a portfolio for architecture school
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There are years when it just so happens that the most talented people from all over the world have for some reason decided to apply to your favorite architecture school. Usually, this effect is transferred to other, less popular programs as well. One of course may say, no problem, all I have to do is avoid these years.
The problem is of course that no one knows when or where this spike in competitiveness will take place. Yes, there are years, when the guy with a 2. It all happened while others were procrastinating. Obviously, if you decide to apply to ten schools, you cannot produce ten different portfolios, however, it is recommended that you make some minor adjustments, or that you vary one project or so according to the school.
The main body of your portfolio should remain the same for all schools, which will allow you to refine and perfect it. Overall, reflecting the mission of the architecture schools you are applying to in your portfolio is a good idea. However, always make sure to remind them of your differences from the rest of the crowd. The best way to tie several seemingly disconnected ideas together is by developing a umbrella portfolio theme, and carrying it throughout presentation of all your projects.
So, what does a theme for an architecture school admissions portfolio look like? An architecture school portfolio theme is not a strategy, is not a mission, but is an extension of both. It defines a set of ideas and graphics, a system of personal branding and aesthetics, and a set of tools and processes, that appear and reappear throughout the portfolio, in an attempt to help integrate multiple ideas, while constantly repeating other ideas that characterize the applicant.
Therefore, in developing a theme, it is essential that you first develop your mission and strategy. You need to go in depth into the specifics of your background, and engage your portfolio reviewers in some sort of an indirect dialogue, in an attempt to help them grasp the complexity of the material that you are presenting to them in your architecture school portfolio.
It is therefore highly recommended that you be as analytical as possible in the pages of your architecture school portfolio , using all sorts of sketches and diagrams related to the project, trying to take the viewer through the important parts of the process of creating the work that is in your architecture school portfolio. Through doing this, you can define what the essence of the project is and try to explain it through your sketches and diagramatic sequences, as quickly as possible and as early on in the portfolio narrative, as possible.
Keep the main point of the theme is in line with your mission and strategy. This will allow you to create exciting in-between sections, which introduce the examiner to the upcoming projects as parts of preceding ones.
In terms of understanding the portfolio, your theme must be a reflection of your strategy and mission, and should allow the reviewer to instantly grasp what your book is about by simply looking at the main umbrella theme.
This is when you will know you have a clear organization. Then, begin w orking on the development of potency in the presentation of your process. After you have described the design problem, continue with a seed of an idea, a concept, and develop it as you go.
Use primarily sketches and diagrams in the beginning to explain your idea development, and eventually begin placing in the more finished drawings and renderings, until by the final spread you have narrated the whole process and the only thing left is an image or two of the final product. Your Design-thinking Process is by far at the most important element of a portfolio. The reason is that architects live and die by the processes that they use when working on architectural design projects.
It therefore makes sense that the process of creating a project is actually more important in an architecture school portfolio than the product itself. As you are narrating your story , you have to take your reviewers through the entire process of project development, starting at the pre-schematic level. The reasons are two: First of all, it allows you to engage them more easily.
They begin by wondering what you are trying to do, and eventually they see it. This process sticks your project and you in their mind. Ideas that make you special can all be potential influences that you could filter into your concept.
By using your own influences in your portfolio you are able to tell them about you and what makes you different. When we are talking about process we mean a process of development of the project, and b process of taking the viewer through the presentation. Do not forget that architecture is itself based on individual sequences of spaces that an individual stitches together and forms perceptions and memories of moments in time and space.
In the same way, a sequence like the one of taking someone through the process of development of your own project is like a miniature architectural project. Do not make your presentation static. Take us on a ceremonial walk through the memory of how you generated and developed your ideas. When you show your work, it is ok to show the finished final pieces, but it is more important to show the conceptual models that led you to them.
If at this point you do not have any conceptual models left perhaps you are missing photos or threw them out , simply remake them as if you were in the process of developing your project. Build up your conceptual analysis through post-rationalizing.
Post-rationalizing is an essential technique in making a portfolio work perfectly with a strategy. You can go as far as adjusting the program of your projects and even the story behind some of your them, to present them as if you are trying to solve some serious social problem. Adjust their location to be in a type of neighborhood that you would want to serve, addressing urban issues as well as the life and culture of a particular place that you feel you can identify with and represents what you care about in this world.
Finally,develop diagrams and conceptual sketches. Use pencil and ink to create new ones. Develop a more complete presentation of the issues related to the environment and the world we live in. The rule of thumb is that at least half the concepts in an architecture school portfolio should stem from some kind of a social cause and be spread relatively evenly throughout the portfolio. If you are able to develop more than that, even better, but if not, then half is fine. Try to use a variety of media , specifically for conceptual drawing and sketches in order to capture your involvement in the study and development of concepts stemming from different social arenas, so that you can demonstrate your own passion for using architecture to create positive change.
The ability to communicate ideas quickly with a stroke of a pencil will be essential throughout your career, from team-meetings at firms where you will work, to meetings with clients or general contractors. Diagramming is particularly significant when putting together a portfolio for architecture school admissions , because simply put no one will read your text. Effective diagramming of ideas and processes can make the difference between an acceptance and a rejection letter from your favorite architecture schools.
Architecture school admissions reviewers will take a quick look at some of your pages, and unless they capture their attention immediately, your lofty dreams will not materialize.
The projects in your architecture school portfolio exist nowhere but in the imagination of the reviewer, and therefore mastering the art of diagramming is essential because diagrams and sketches help you establish that rhythm to your analysis, which is important for telling the story of each project in your architecture school portfolio.
This rhythm is important because it allows reviewers to quickly grasp various patterns in your work. A great diagram captures the essence of your ideas and designs, and presents it in a way that captivates and often inspires the reviewer, without necessarily fully resolving the project. By allowing your projects to remain unresolved, you give the reviewer a chance to picture the final result in their own way, which helps them remember you.
How you visually synthesize your portfolio can mean the difference between a successful and a failed portfolio. Your presentation demonstrates your understanding of your ability to express things graphically. Good graphic representation of your projects allows you to mask the weaknesses of any project, while unsuccessful graphic representation can ruin the impression of an otherwise great project. There are a few rules of thumb that one needs to follow in order to avoid unpleasant and unexpected surprises, and one of the most fundamental ones is that you cannot have substance without absence.
It is recommended that you avoid overstuffing your architecture school portfolio with too much information just so it seems like it contains more work. Your ability to synthesize your book is a reflection of your ability to synthesize spatial sequences as well.
You would not want to create overstuffed spaces, would you? Think the same way about your portfolio, and your projects will shine!
How easy is it for you to get all your points across as efficiently, effectively, clearly and accurately as possible. Clarity is essential because it establishes trust in the mind of the reviewers, but most importantly communicates the exact ideas that your portfolio is supposed to represent, based on your architecture school admissions strategy. By making sure that the portfolio is clear enough and accurate enough, you ensure order, which is essential in the first few moments of one reviewing your portfolio.
This is a very important foundation for establishing trust, but also for creating positive labels that will help you stand out from the crowd. Being able to pull together all the ideas in your architecture school portfolio under the umbrella of a unifying theme that itself has lots to communicate about you and your personal brand.
Integrity is also established when you do your best to pull the many layers of ideas associated with you, under a unifying umbrella, that will help the architecture school portfolio reviewer to understand how to relate all these ideas to you.
You have to remember that the portfolio is nothing but a branding tool, and its sole purpose in this architecture school admissions game is to help you win by persuading the architecture school admissions reviewers to pick you over someone else. Therefore, the more you are able to explain to the reviewers how all the ideas that appear in your architecture school portfolio relate to your own mission and strategy, the more successful you will be in establishing your message and persuading the architecture school portfolio reviewers.
Establishing graphic harmony is all about getting a general sense of cohesion in your portfolio. The best way to achieve this, is by looking at all the different graphic approaches that you have used literally print stuff out and put them on your wall and then look at them , and build a strategy for bringing them together. Sometimes all it takes are minor changes, as well as adjustments to the placement of projects and images and perhaps some adjustments in the story-telling aspect of your graphics.
Create a set of very simple rules for your whole book and follow them throughout it. Design firms and graduate schools all want go-getters with personality. Big images, little text. Ready for some shocking news?
Nobody is going to read your portfolio. Now take a deep breath and be at peace with this fact. Keep the text minimal and include only the facts: the project type, studio or professor, year, medium, materials or techniques. Drawing and sketching by hand will always be essential. Glossy high-end renderings are great, and if you can do them well, you should definitely include them in your portfolio.
USC, B. Arch Tomas Espinos. RISD, B. Arch Danielle C. AAD Jun H. Arch Mary McConnell. Arch Emily McGowan. Arch Sebastian Almeida. Arch Youcong Li. Harvard GSD. Follow a manual added link Anita was pursuing a successful career in finance, when she realized that she wanted to become an architect.
– How to build a portfolio for architecture school
Artistic Photography. Graphic Design. 1. Great graphic work that demostrates how well you can represent an idea or theme on paper. 2. Design drawings including floor plans, sections, details.
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