Architecture portfolio
An architecture portfolio is the set of drawings and projects that an architect or a student sends to the firm to show the work, and it is the document the interview is built around, the sample the firm reads before it meets the person. The discipline it belongs to is architecture, the practice of designing buildings and the spaces people live, work and gather in, and the portfolio is where that discipline is shown at the scale a hiring room reads it in. The portfolio runs on the 3 things that make it work, the size, the selection and the order, and the 3 are the decisions that separate the portfolio that gets the interview from the one that does not. The standard size is the A3 sheet, the 297 by 420 millimetre page that the drawing is set on, and the standard length is the 12 to 20 pages that the firm reads in the 10 minutes it gives the portfolio.
The size and format the portfolio runs on
The size and format of the architecture portfolio are the 2 decisions that set the sheet, and they are the page size and the delivery. The page size is the A3 sheet, the 297 by 420 millimetre page that the architecture drawing is set on, the size the firm expects and the one the plotter prints, and the A4 is the size the cover and the index carry, the smaller sheet that opens the set. The delivery is the 2 forms the portfolio takes, the bound book and the digital file, the PDF that the candidate sends and the print that the candidate carries to the interview, and the PDF is the one the firm screens and the print is the one the room reads. The 2 sheets the set runs on and the job each one carries are set out below.
| Sheet | Size in millimetres | What the set puts on it |
|---|---|---|
| A3 | 297 by 420 | The drawing pages, the plan and the section and the elevation |
| A4 | 210 by 297 | The cover and the index, the sheet that opens the set |
The projects the selection carries
The selection of the architecture portfolio is the 3 to 5 projects that the set carries, and it is the decision that matters most, the work the candidate chooses to show. The first project is the strongest, the one that the candidate does best, the drawing and the model and the detail that carry the work at its highest, and it is the one the portfolio opens with. The middle projects are the range, the 2 or 3 that show the scale and the type the candidate works in, the residential and the civic and the interior that the range covers. The last project is the current, the one that the candidate is working on now, the drawing that shows the work is present and moving, and it is the one the portfolio closes with. The 3 roles the projects play in the set are set out below.
| Role | Position in the set | What it shows the firm |
|---|---|---|
| The strongest | First | The work at its highest, the project the portfolio opens with |
| The range | Middle | The scale and the type the candidate works in, the residential and the civic and the interior |
| The current | Last | The work in progress, the project that says the work continues |
The strongest opens the set and the current closes it, and the range runs between them, the 3 roles that the 3 to 5 projects fill, the selection the firm reads in the 10 minutes, the work set in the order it was chosen.
The order the pages run in
The order of the architecture portfolio pages runs from the cover to the strongest to the range to the contact, and it is the order the firm reads the set in. The cover is the first page, the name and the title and the contact, the sheet that names the candidate. The index is the second, the list of the projects and the pages, the sheet that tells the firm what is in the set. The projects run in the third, the strongest first and the range after and the current last, and each project runs on the 3 to 4 pages that carry the context, the drawing, the model and the detail. The contact is the last, the sheet that repeats the name and the number and the link.
The mistakes that lose the interview
The mistakes of the architecture portfolio are the 3 that lose the interview, and they are the length, the order and the gap. The length is the first, the set that runs past the 20 pages the firm reads, the portfolio that the candidate fills with every project rather than the 3 to 5 that carry the work. The order is the second, the set that opens with the weak project, the strong work buried after the weak. The gap is the third, the project that shows only the result, the drawing without the process, the board without the sketch and the model and the detail that made it. The 3 mistakes and the check that catches each are set out below.
| Mistake | How it shows in the set | The check that catches it |
|---|---|---|
| The length | The set runs past the 20 pages the firm reads | Count the pages and hold the set to the 12 to 20 |
| The order | The set opens with the weak project | Read the first page and confirm it is the strongest |
| The gap | The project shows only the result, the drawing without the process | Confirm the sketch and the model and the detail are in the set |
How the portfolio gets the interview
The way the architecture portfolio gets the interview is the 3 things it does, and they are the show, the match and the send. The show is the first, the work the set carries, the 3 to 5 projects that show the candidate can draw and design and carry the project. The match is the second, the work set to the firm, the portfolio that shows the type of building the firm does. The send is the third, the delivery to the firm, the PDF that goes with the application and the print that goes to the interview, the thing that puts the work in the firm's hands at the right time.