I am applying for my Masters of Architecture and Landscape Architecture in the up coming year, and I was hoping to get some feedback on my portfolio. I looking to apply for advanced placement as I have completed my undergraduate in Environment Design, but I am a little nervous as it is highly competitive. That said, it would be great to receive some constructive criticism.
your thesis needs better diagrams, certainly more than a wiggly kidney bean line and basic site analysis. it should have the polish and narrative cohesion of a capstone project and highlight your ability to think through complex spatial issues. right now it looks extremely rudimentary, bordering on non-thought. yes, rivers look bendy--so what? why is restoration ecology appropriate for this site? how does your representation strategy support the narrative thesis of the project? what site/program/theory relationships are you exploring through your project?
that said, you have clean layouts and have resisted the urge to pack each slide with horrible diagrams. you haven't succumbed to the urge to create a fuck ton of useless renderings. those facts alone put you into the top quartile of undergrad portfolios.
saqibm7575
Nov 15, 18 8:49 pm
That is very helpful. Thank you!
randomised
Nov 16, 18 6:31 am
If you're not very comfortable holding a pencil find other ways to communicate those concepts.
saqibm7575
Nov 18, 18 2:06 am
Hey! Thank you for your feedback, I am actually thinking about photographing my study models replacing the sketches. Maybe also re-do the sketches for some to keep a nice balance. These sketches I did during my initial iterative process, in which I just scribble until figure out what is it that I want to design. Thanks!
archinine
Nov 18, 18 11:57 am
I thought the reef was the most interesting. The others seem like they’re very much following a rule book of what you want others to see. However on the reef, it’s difficult to discern what your actual role was and it doesn’t list how many people were in that group, so it’s also unclear how much or how little of this was you. The other projects are neatly presented and check all the boxes but in some way are lacking personality. I agree with dangermouse, having gotten the technical aspects of putting a portfolio together puts you ahead in the applicant pool, but it’s still missing a certain character. That extra level where one can get a sense of your personality, design interests etc is what will put you at the top, especially if you’re applying to any ivy/relatively exclusive schools. I can’t advise how you should go about conveying it but it does seem your individuality is not fully on display here. Maybe put in some personal work if you have something that will read appropriately in this format.
saqibm7575
Nov 18, 18 12:11 pm
Hi Archinine!
saqibm7575
Nov 18, 18 12:16 pm
Thank you for the great feedback, I think I understand what you mean, I will look into it. Also can you further explain what you mean, by "Following a rule book of what you want others to see"? As for the reef, it was group 2 of and we basically worked on everything togather, for example, my partner did the V ray render, and then I did all the post production. He designed half of the form while I did the other half. However, I designed the how the whole reef with function... from spatial programming to functional operation. All and all the work was distributed equally with both of working on everything today but I'm still trying to figure out what is the best way to ID the roles on my portfolio... thank you for bring that up. Oh, and I planning to apply to UBC's Dual March and MLA program and U of T's M arch, which are highly competition and need to make my portfolio top notch! that said, your feedback is very helpful, THANK YOU!!!
Hi everyone!
I am applying for my Masters of Architecture and Landscape Architecture in the up coming year, and I was hoping to get some feedback on my portfolio. I looking to apply for advanced placement as I have completed my undergraduate in Environment Design, but I am a little nervous as it is highly competitive. That said, it would be great to receive some constructive criticism.
Thank you all!
Portfolio: https://indd.adobe.com/view/0e4c014e-c31c-4776-bdcc-985c548db36c
your thesis needs better diagrams, certainly more than a wiggly kidney bean line and basic site analysis. it should have the polish and narrative cohesion of a capstone project and highlight your ability to think through complex spatial issues. right now it looks extremely rudimentary, bordering on non-thought. yes, rivers look bendy--so what? why is restoration ecology appropriate for this site? how does your representation strategy support the narrative thesis of the project? what site/program/theory relationships are you exploring through your project?
that said, you have clean layouts and have resisted the urge to pack each slide with horrible diagrams. you haven't succumbed to the urge to create a fuck ton of useless renderings. those facts alone put you into the top quartile of undergrad portfolios.
That is very helpful. Thank you!
If you're not very comfortable holding a pencil find other ways to communicate those concepts.
Hey! Thank you for your feedback, I am actually thinking about photographing my study models replacing the sketches. Maybe also re-do the sketches for some to keep a nice balance. These sketches I did during my initial iterative process, in which I just scribble until figure out what is it that I want to design. Thanks!
I thought the reef was the most interesting. The others seem like they’re very much following a rule book of what you want others to see. However on the reef, it’s difficult to discern what your actual role was and it doesn’t list how many people were in that group, so it’s also unclear how much or how little of this was you. The other projects are neatly presented and check all the boxes but in some way are lacking personality. I agree with dangermouse, having gotten the technical aspects of putting a portfolio together puts you ahead in the applicant pool, but it’s still missing a certain character. That extra level where one can get a sense of your personality, design interests etc is what will put you at the top, especially if you’re applying to any ivy/relatively exclusive schools. I can’t advise how you should go about conveying it but it does seem your individuality is not fully on display here. Maybe put in some personal work if you have something that will read appropriately in this format.
Hi Archinine!
Thank you for the great feedback, I think I understand what you mean, I will look into it. Also can you further explain what you mean, by "Following a rule book of what you want others to see"? As for the reef, it was group 2 of and we basically worked on everything togather, for example, my partner did the V ray render, and then I did all the post production. He designed half of the form while I did the other half. However, I designed the how the whole reef with function... from spatial programming to functional operation. All and all the work was distributed equally with both of working on everything today but I'm still trying to figure out what is the best way to ID the roles on my portfolio... thank you for bring that up. Oh, and I planning to apply to UBC's Dual March and MLA program and U of T's M arch, which are highly competition and need to make my portfolio top notch! that said, your feedback is very helpful, THANK YOU!!!