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Perhaps you’re wondering, do I need a portfolio for architecture school? How long should an architecture portfolio be? How do I make a portfolio with no experience?
We have some answers for you. Making a portfolio is a different experience for everyone, but there are some guides to stick to for a successful application.
The most significant component of architecture school, the studio component, is broken down into two main factions. The first is the work you do (project content), and the second is how that work is made legible to other people (the portfolio). If you take anything from this post, please let it be this: don’t fall into the trap of making a graphically intense portfolio with lacking content. If in doubt, focus on project content. The portfolio should simply be a conduit to take your original and interesting work from its raw state to a legible state. If the portfolio itself is more graphically intense than the project content itself, then there’s a problem.
The architecture school portfolio is designed for you to develop your work content and, in a legible, relevant and clear way, present that work to other people. It is a coherent collection of 2D and 3D work that describes your projects.
While the content and representation of each portfolio is different, there is a guideline to follow for admissions portfolios. Some of our tips are below.
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“I had a very positive experience with Architecture Prep as they had a systematic approach to help me build my portfolio and personal statement that got me accepted into some of the top UK unis. I gained a deeper understanding into architecture as a degree and what to expect as well as the concepts and philosophies that inspired me to further pursue this career path.” R.A. – BSc 2023
You don’t absolutely need to have a theme, but it really helps. Sadly, admissions panelists are not going to remember your name after you leave the interview/submit your portfolio, simply because they churn through so many applications per cycle. Ideally, they will remember you as ‘the one that was obsessed with their local park’ (if your general portfolio theme is about your local park). This theme should speak to themes in your personal statement/essays, to make a holistically coherent application. Within this theme are your individual projects, which loosely tie back to the overall narrative structure. Make sure it’s loose though, otherwise you’ll restrict yourself.
You’ve been asked to, in a way, do the undoable. They don’t teach architecture in school; your physics teachers seem to think you should be focusing on learning about structural engineering and your art teachers are perhaps a bit too vague. You’ve been asked to:
-Develop your visual work,
-Create something that holds it all together, though
-Making sure it doesn’t include tons of work on standard architectural practice, whilst
-Making sure it is inherently architectural
It seems strange to make a portfolio architectural whilst making sure it isn’t full of ‘architecture’. This is actually a very understandable requirement that schools are setting. It essentially means that your work should exhibit the spatial, material, textural and representational traits of architecture without prescribing to preconceived notions of what you think architecture is by drawing building designs. Otherwise the school has to work hard to essentially have you unlearn some of your preconceptions.
Try to work in a way that captures your interest to bring out the best in you. Your portfolio will be far richer if you enjoy developing the work you believe is your strongest. However, this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t include your failed attempts at visual work. These are valuable development pieces which should be included to show how you think through projects.
Understanding that the language you will be using is a visual one is vital. This is a chance for you to prove that you can communicate work visually without words (or too many words) with 2D and 3D work; a vital skill to exhibit. You may not be good at it right now, but at least let the admissions officer know that you’re trying and willing to learn by showing these signs.
People on the admissions panel are probably not going to read all the text in your portfolio. An interview is around 20 minutes long, and that time is taken up with flicking through the visual work itself and talking about it verbally. If you submit a portfolio but are not required to go to an interview, the school may read 50% of your text but certainly no more than that. These schools have to go through hundreds/thousands of portfolios. They won’t read it. They read and process visual work exponentially faster. Make sure that text is to a minimum and describes the basic premise of your work. For example, a sentence or two describing each page and a few key words as titles or diagram descriptions if you have any. If you find yourself writing and writing; stop. Develop your visual work instead. The language of visuals is a far more complex and sophisticated one.
When applying for a job in architecture it’s not uncommon for the employer to ask for a sample of work (portfolio) no greater than 2mb in pdf format. That is a shockingly small amount of data, and unless you’re an absolute whizz at compression on Acrobat you won’t be able to submit more than 6 or 7 A4 pages. However, school is a bit different. You will find that your e-portfolio submissions for schools such as SCI-Arc will also be subject to mb caps, but they will be higher.
The basic format for any architecture school admissions portfolio is around 20 pages containing around 4 projects. Make sure you believe in these projects as they’re the ones you’ll be working on. Make sure they include a section on life drawing of some sort or another. Admissions look at these to gauge your skills in observational drawing. It’s hard to hide when it comes to life drawing. Also, they will know if you were copying a photo or if you drew from life, so draw from life! Drawing from life observationally is a rare skill, though it can be learnt, and it’s an important trait of any architect.
If you’re going to interview with your portfolio you have the freedom to make your physical page sizes larger, though the number of pages should still not exceed around 20. Top schools for undergraduate applications will want you to collate your work into A1/A2 portfolio pages and have your original drawings, 2D work and photos physically stuck down on those pages. If you’re unable to get your large portfolio on a plane (if you’re international), then a minimum size of A3+ would be ideal. Bring 3D work if you’re able. For e-portfolios, A3 is a good size, with a font size of around 9pt.
See this channel for Bartlett UCL BSc Architecture Year 1 students going through their Year 1 A1 portfolios: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlEypMG_nMQ. Notice how they aren’t cluttered. They’re super clear. They’re also designed to be easy to talk through, per page. Also notice that they’re loose sheets. This makes it easier to reshuffle work if necessary and allows admissions to take a sheet and look at it in more detail. It will also travel better as the binding won’t destroy the pages.
For clarity and ease of conversation at interview (or between admissions panelists if you don’t need to interview) the first page of each project should describe some sort of brief/intention. It should sum up the starting point and theme of the project itself. There should be one or two show-stopper pages per project which simply contain one amazing drawing or one amazing model photo (for example) at full bleed or nearly full bleed. This establishes a hierarchy of content to the portfolio. The project does not need to have an ‘end’, it can simply contain work of a certain quality that allows a conversation to appear. The phrase ‘quality over quantity’ cannot be emphasized enough. Do not fill your portfolio with endless amounts of work, instead…
In an effort to make quality work, be ruthless with yourself and don’t include those other pieces of work that took hundreds of hours to make but aren’t actually that interesting or original. Don’t put them in if it means your projects will come across more clearly. This will save you time at the interview as there will be far fewer tangents and your overall themes will be stronger. Having said that, if you’re saying no to really exceptional work that doesn’t really belong to a project, put them at the end of the portfolio in a skills-based section. Make it clear that those pieces of work are simply exercises or areas you’re exploring more generally.
These are just a few pointers. An objective overview. However, portfolios are personal to the individual and while following these tips will help, they are only a framework. This is where the value of consultation lies. See how we can help.
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