Hello! I graduated from Riga technical university this june and currently doing some freelance stuff/travelling and looking forward to enroll in a school next fall 2016
I am aware already of the good schools but what I want to do/specialize is nowhere close to comercial/zaha hadid/grasshooper/digital architecture. I am looking more in the direction of sustainable/shelter type/humane architecture. So i am looking for graduate program - 2yrs professional master diploma, i guess in every country its called different. In latvia the program we have doesn't satisfy my needs. Nothing else except Lund uni in Sweden I haven't found yet(looking in europe), the price also matters, i don't want to be in a 5 digit debt.
I want a program that would teach me psychological aspects in architecture/ lightning design/ use of materials that reproduce themselves, like the bamboo houses that they are building in Bali. I want to design for the humanity. If i will have to fly the ocean to study that, I will.
In addition to my disdain for portfolios which prominently feature "PORTFOLIO" sprawled all across the front cover, I detest the listing of dates on portfolio. 2011-2015 - As if it's an inscription on some sort of tombstone. Anyone else?
Try off Hyphenate in InDesign. The type face choices are poor and hierarchy of the text and titles needs more polish. Sometimes titles are justified left, sometimes they are justified right, sometimes captions are below images, sometimes they are above. Unify the text arrangement, embrace a clear hierarchy with sizes/styles and be judicious in the way you implement it.
Having large bodies of text in ALL IN CAPS is a terrible trope of architectural portfolios. Make friends with a graphic designer or have an architecture friend who cares about typography help you. Hardly anyone will actually read the text but its presence and arrangement on a page has an immense influence on the feeling of the portfolio.
In your case I feel less is more. For each project, you should cut roughly 50% of the images. Only use your absolute best work. For example, in your drawing section you should only use A Man, The Square, The Beach, the Gelata Tower. These are the best drawings. You do have some skill, so show it off, don't let the good drawings be bogged down by mediocre ones because you think you need more content. You may need to color correct and clean these up more in photoshop. You have nice detail drawings, cut half of them, but zoom in on a few key areas of the ones you keep.
I feel you may need to illustrate better the intention behind your projects. In one you describe "Lego" dwellings without clearly explaining either visually (better) or within text what that really means. Spend some time making just a few diagrams to show what this means. Do this for each project.
Non Sequitur
Oct 25, 15 9:02 am
Loved that first dark perspective image, did not care for the rest with exception for those neat redish sketches.
The plans, elevations and details are bland and your hand sketches poorly laid out. If you cant give them a white background equal to the white of the page, you fail portfolio 1.0.1 in my books.
Also zaha =\= humane architecture.
Miles Jaffe
Oct 25, 15 9:20 am
Humane architecture isn't taught in schools, it's built case by case with attention to specific local needs, labor and materials. It's also in direct opposition to commercial interests.
kristinelv
Oct 26, 15 9:06 am
Thank your for the suggestions @spoons ! About the dates I may agree with you now when u say it looks like tomb, ironically it kind of is, actually i made it in illustrator and it was the first time i used it, indisign I haven't even touched. What exactly u are talking about here: You may need to color correct and clean these up more in photoshop - the ones u mentioned or the others?
Lately I've been thinking quitting architecture and going into something more related to arts like spacial design or environmental design in an art school maybe, but that wouldn't be completely distant from architecture. I hate doing detail drawings. I would rather build one million of scale models and do drawing all day than looking in the screen.
I will work on the diagrams.
Thankyou
Non Sequitur
Oct 26, 15 10:29 am
". I hate doing detail drawings. I would rather build one million of scale models and do drawing all day than looking in the screen. "
If the above was a real job, there would be a really long line out the HR office filled with idealistic grad students. Face it, details are more important than concept models at the end of the day.
curtkram
Oct 26, 15 10:40 am
movie prop people make models like that. might be a good direction to look.
kristinelv
Oct 26, 15 10:45 am
I am not saying details are not important, tho I dont want to do it all my life. @non sequitur
@curtkram Do you mean scenography?
curtkram
Oct 26, 15 11:06 am
no, but if scenography is something you're interested in then go for it.
there are people who spend all day building models that will be used in filming. those projects involve design, and don't really go beyond building the model. it just sort of sounded like that might be something you are more interested in.
@curtkram No, i dont think prop making is the thing... i still want it to be connected to architecture, planning, spatial design, environment, small scale objects.
Shirley Dawn
May 30, 16 2:57 pm
this is and old thread, but if you are still considering architecture programs your post reminded me of a program I read about in Finland, where education is free including the masters level. You do however have to prove you have enough money to support yourself for the duration of your stay in order to get the student visa.
thanks for the advice. No i have not yet started any program. I know that finland is a good choice but life has brought me now to Portugal, since last year october. I am in training at one office, but I am not that sattisfied with it. Anyways the employment situation here in south is even worth than in my country, and i m thinking about changing my carrier path..
Shirley Dawn
Jun 1, 16 10:07 am
That's too bad, whatever you end up deciding, best of luck!
Hello! I graduated from Riga technical university this june and currently doing some freelance stuff/travelling and looking forward to enroll in a school next fall 2016
I am aware already of the good schools but what I want to do/specialize is nowhere close to comercial/zaha hadid/grasshooper/digital architecture. I am looking more in the direction of sustainable/shelter type/humane architecture. So i am looking for graduate program - 2yrs professional master diploma, i guess in every country its called different. In latvia the program we have doesn't satisfy my needs. Nothing else except Lund uni in Sweden I haven't found yet(looking in europe), the price also matters, i don't want to be in a 5 digit debt.
I want a program that would teach me psychological aspects in architecture/ lightning design/ use of materials that reproduce themselves, like the bamboo houses that they are building in Bali. I want to design for the humanity. If i will have to fly the ocean to study that, I will.
Thankyou!
Also I would appritiate any suggestions on my portfolio: http://issuu.com/kristinebalta/docs/myportfolio
Front cover I feel is too busy.
In addition to my disdain for portfolios which prominently feature "PORTFOLIO" sprawled all across the front cover, I detest the listing of dates on portfolio. 2011-2015 - As if it's an inscription on some sort of tombstone. Anyone else?
Try off Hyphenate in InDesign. The type face choices are poor and hierarchy of the text and titles needs more polish. Sometimes titles are justified left, sometimes they are justified right, sometimes captions are below images, sometimes they are above. Unify the text arrangement, embrace a clear hierarchy with sizes/styles and be judicious in the way you implement it.
Having large bodies of text in ALL IN CAPS is a terrible trope of architectural portfolios. Make friends with a graphic designer or have an architecture friend who cares about typography help you. Hardly anyone will actually read the text but its presence and arrangement on a page has an immense influence on the feeling of the portfolio.
In your case I feel less is more. For each project, you should cut roughly 50% of the images. Only use your absolute best work. For example, in your drawing section you should only use A Man, The Square, The Beach, the Gelata Tower. These are the best drawings. You do have some skill, so show it off, don't let the good drawings be bogged down by mediocre ones because you think you need more content. You may need to color correct and clean these up more in photoshop. You have nice detail drawings, cut half of them, but zoom in on a few key areas of the ones you keep.
I feel you may need to illustrate better the intention behind your projects. In one you describe "Lego" dwellings without clearly explaining either visually (better) or within text what that really means. Spend some time making just a few diagrams to show what this means. Do this for each project.
Loved that first dark perspective image, did not care for the rest with exception for those neat redish sketches.
The plans, elevations and details are bland and your hand sketches poorly laid out. If you cant give them a white background equal to the white of the page, you fail portfolio 1.0.1 in my books.
Also zaha =\= humane architecture.
Humane architecture isn't taught in schools, it's built case by case with attention to specific local needs, labor and materials. It's also in direct opposition to commercial interests.
Thank your for the suggestions @spoons ! About the dates I may agree with you now when u say it looks like tomb, ironically it kind of is, actually i made it in illustrator and it was the first time i used it, indisign I haven't even touched. What exactly u are talking about here: You may need to color correct and clean these up more in photoshop - the ones u mentioned or the others?
Lately I've been thinking quitting architecture and going into something more related to arts like spacial design or environmental design in an art school maybe, but that wouldn't be completely distant from architecture. I hate doing detail drawings. I would rather build one million of scale models and do drawing all day than looking in the screen.
I will work on the diagrams.
Thankyou
". I hate doing detail drawings. I would rather build one million of scale models and do drawing all day than looking in the screen. "
If the above was a real job, there would be a really long line out the HR office filled with idealistic grad students. Face it, details are more important than concept models at the end of the day.
movie prop people make models like that. might be a good direction to look.
I am not saying details are not important, tho I dont want to do it all my life. @non sequitur
@curtkram Do you mean scenography?
no, but if scenography is something you're interested in then go for it.
there are people who spend all day building models that will be used in filming. those projects involve design, and don't really go beyond building the model. it just sort of sounded like that might be something you are more interested in.
http://www.allaboutcareers.com/careers/career-path/prop-set-design
http://www.jobshadow.com/interview-with-a-hollywood-prop-maker/
@curtkram No, i dont think prop making is the thing... i still want it to be connected to architecture, planning, spatial design, environment, small scale objects.
this is and old thread, but if you are still considering architecture programs your post reminded me of a program I read about in Finland, where education is free including the masters level. You do however have to prove you have enough money to support yourself for the duration of your stay in order to get the student visa.
The program is in the far north and has an emphasis on lighting designs. http://www.oulu.fi/degree/ad
Hello @shirleydawn,
thanks for the advice. No i have not yet started any program. I know that finland is a good choice but life has brought me now to Portugal, since last year october. I am in training at one office, but I am not that sattisfied with it. Anyways the employment situation here in south is even worth than in my country, and i m thinking about changing my carrier path..
That's too bad, whatever you end up deciding, best of luck!