Architecture: show the thinking behind the building

What will the practice understand about your contribution?

A beautiful image leaves questions unanswered: what was the brief, which stage did you work on, and what did you personally produce? RIBA’s portfolio guidance emphasizes explaining project thinking and execution. AIA Minnesota’s practitioner advice similarly asks for the project context, challenge and your role.

• Identify whether the work is academic, speculative, in progress or built.
• Explain your responsibility and credit the team, collaborators and image makers.
• Choose a drawing, detail, model or study that shows a decision you can discuss.

Let drawings and images answer different questions

Our suggested project sequence starts with the brief and constraints, then shows how the proposal developed. A plan might explain circulation; a section might explain light; a detail might explain a material junction. Include each image because it helps the reader understand a decision.

Prepare a portfolio you can talk through

RIBA encourages a narrative that makes your understanding visible during an interview. Practice explaining why the selected work belongs together and what you learned from it. Follow the practice’s submission instructions for file type, size and length.

Rowan’s fictional Eigenstory example explores an architectural website and career document. Use it to inspect hierarchy and project presentation; its generated scenes are not photographs of built client work.