Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc)
Pratt Institute
Tulane University
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
Temple University
University of Oregon
Cranbrook Academy of Art
New York Institute of Technology (NYIT)
M.Arch Portfolio crit.
Hi all!
I'll be applying for M.Arch I (Fall 2021) and I'm hoping I could get some feedback on my portfolio. It's in draft stage and I expect further editing/cutting will be needed. I come from a non-arch background (civil engineering) at a Canadian university so most of my content is from my spare time. I did take two architecture electives though.
I'm planning on applying to UofT and UBC in Canada and some top US schools but that that could be unrealistic, so looking for perspective.
I would appreciate any input. Thanks!
Link: https://issuu.com/janumoto/doc...
I would say quite cool. I like the first project a lot. Second one not so much. The rest shows many interesting aspects of your work.
Perhaps present more drawings that are line weighted. Also, include any sections if you have any.
Interesting that you use blender to render Rhino files. I am thinking about using blender too....How well does it work for you?
Thanks so much for the feedback. Do you think the second project should be shortened / presented better or omitted completely? That's a good point on line weighted drawings; I was feeling like it could use more too.
As for Blender, I think it's great for certain applications, like city building. It has fantastic UV editing which makes it relatively easy to make realistic background buildings from photos. You can also import data from large sections of real cities using openstreetmap, extrude and have a 3D city. That said, using Blender definitely lengthens the workflow over just keeping your materials in Rhino and rendering in V-ray. I think it's worth a try and Blender's UI has improved a lot since the 2.8 so it's a better time to learn than ever. There is also a plugin for importing .3dm files to Blender.
If you have more work to show defly remove that project and show more of your other work. Also, I enjoy the cover photography very much, perhaps you like photography? those can be included as well, like a brief spread. Most of the US schools want you to have less than 30 spreads, so you have to cut out a lot
Glad you like the cover, I was pretty unsure about that. I do like photography but I thought everyone else does too so I left it out. Maybe I'll remove that second project and have a photography spread instead. I will definitely try to shorten the portfolio as a whole. Thanks!
Your folio should be good enough for either of the two 3y canadian schools. Technical drawings need more love, and you could use more progress/concept works, but it's not expected for you to know much about architecture anyways coming from a non design undergrad.
If you're canadian, do not bother with US institutions and US tuition $. Education is basically free here... so take advantage of this. No arch degree is worth $100k.
Thanks for the feedback. I really hope you're right about the Canadian schools; I'd be stoked to be accepted here. I'm a dual Canadian/US citizen so I have some faint hope I could get scholarships in the states that would make it affordable, but that may be a long-shot and I totally agree US tuition is too expensive.
For the technical drawings do you think I need more or just need to improve the ones I have? I agree the floor plan drawings are pretty rusty.
It's really awesome! My background is very similar to yours actually (civil undergrad, now starting M.Arch). It's really good that you are putting a lot of the structural side of things. I agree with the previous posts that maybe including more line weighted drawings. Some projects would benefit from more work to round out the narratives. I.e, the first project can have more technical aspects explained, and your first nation project could have more of an architectural component (context analysis stuff like that). Furthermore just echoing a lot of the previous points I will say your second project is more something that you want to put towards the back of the portfolio i would say. Overall you are in very good shape! Good luck!
That's cool you have a similar background and exciting you're starting M.Arch! Can I ask where you went and are now going to? Thanks for the feedback; it's really helpful to have reinforced what others suggested on line weights and the second project (which I now feel comfortable scrapping) and I'll definitely work on narratives like you said.
I did my undergrad in structural engineering at Columbia, starting at MIT in the fall.
That's amazing, good luck in the fall!
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