WHY BOTHER MAKING PORTFOLIO

Your portfolio is your passport and your visiting card, through which you introduce yourself to the new worlds you wish to enter and by which your value is established and compared to others.

Very importantly, it is also a document through which you make a contribution to how we understand architecture; it is your chance to clarify and share what you believe and aspire to, and to present new ideas, techniques, observations and experiences, mainly to others but sometimes just to yourself.

A carefully wrought portfolio of work will be the single most important record and outcome of your architectural education. The major part of your education is always going to be the design of buildings as executed through drawings, models and other kinds of visual representation, and your portfolio records the ideas, the processes and the result of your work as a designer in the architecture studio as well as in other visually oriented classes.

It can also contain other kinds of information, from your professional work in an architectural office, to your creative work in related artistic disciplines, your built work if you have construction experience, and your written work if that is an important part of your educational process.

It is a document with many functions and will therefore take different shapes depending on the situation for which you need it. If it is well considered and crafted it will certainly open many doors for you  to further study, to different areas of work in the architectural profession, and quite possibly work in related fields. You will also need it to get teaching positions in academia. It can also help you win prizes and scholarships while you are on your way.