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HOW TO PROMOTE YOURSELF AS AN ARCHITECT?


Whether you are still an architecture student or just starting your career as a business owner, it is good to find ways to get acknowledged and build a solid network to support your work. In this article we are going to give you a couple of tips and tricks on how to do just that.

  1.  COMPETITIONS

Competitions are a great way to not only learn, but also to enrich your resume. For younger architects it’s an amazing opportunity to add something extra to your portfolio, which would raise the chances for a dream job. A good competition project can stand out in your portfolio and also show other skill sets that can be attractive to employers. As for practicing architects – an interesting take on a competition can give your studio a desired recognition. A boost in clientele, new projects, local or even worldwide acknowledgment. This is how many of now top architects, like Bjarke Ingels, started! 

Competitions are not only a great way to practice creativity and to enrich your portfolio. They are also a perfect thing that can get you acknowledgement – doing a winning entry in a competition may give you opportunities to work with other successful architects, publications and interest from the local community. 

So how do you find a perfect competition for yourself? After all, this should not be another chore – it should be an exciting adventure! First of all you should find something that sparks your interest. A great place to start looking for competitions is our sister site competitions.archi. It’s a great base of all sorts of architectural contests. We suggest checking it out every once in a while!

  1. WORKSHOPS, EVENTS AND TRAINING COURSES

Another great way of not only learning or enriching your resume, but also getting to know other architects are all sorts of architectural events. 

For students an amazing device is workshops. Usually you get to work for a couple of days or weeks with a group of people to design something according to the workshops’ theme. It may be a building, a place but also something entirely different – merely an idea which answers a certain problem. Even if a workshop is more connected to design than architecture, it is worth checking out. You may learn new tricks in a program, get to know other people and their points of view on architecture and also get something you can put in your portfolio! This also shows you are willing to do the extra work and can work with other people. During a workshop you are typically put in a group that works under a tutelage of an architect – which means you get to know them and promote yourself as a potential employee. The more you go, the more architects get to know you!

Both students and practising architects may use all sorts of events and training courses as a way to promote themselves. Events like lectures from well known architects or exhibitions will definitely educate you, but also, as any social event, may be a great opportunity to promote yourself as an archilover which may work great for your network!

  1. ONLINE PORTFOLIO

A great way to get your name out there is creating an up to date online portfolio. It is a perfect tool for other people to find your work and choose you as their architect. There are a couple of great sites that can help you like behance or issuu. Many young architects create their portfolios there. it is a quick way to show your work over the internet and promote yourself, as well as a baseline for you. Storing your old projects in one place may also help you in developing your style. 

Another idea is to create an instagram account and use it as your portfolio. It is a fantastic tool to show your projects in an aesthetic way. Moreover, as instagram is a must in social media world, it should be fairly easy to create a steady community over there and promote your work and yourself.

While thinking of creating an online portfolio you should also remember that it should consist mostly of interesting content – overly technical drawings may not be a way to go. Rather than that, create drawings like clean sketches, 3d schemes, interesting visualisations, gifs. Focus more on the idea behind the design and specific solutions rather than on technicalities that may not interest your future clients.

  1. LEARNING

Many architects are slow to adopt to new technology, so learning visualization and modeling software can give you an edge over your competition. There are programs that can help you make great renderings and even 3D animations, which will make for very impressive and innovative presentations to clients. You cannot underestimate the power of a good presentation!

3D software not only gets the job done, but can also help in managing expectations of your clients. With that you are able to convey your ideas and what you are working on fairly quickly and thanks to BIM technology you can work on many aspects of the building at once.

This means that you should never stop learning. Knowledge of architecture is not only a knowledge of buildings and technology surrounding them, but also software. Being up to date with newest trends lets you find the best tools for the job and can get you to the top faster.

  1. PRESS RELEASE

Often upcoming projects of many studios appear in magazines, which helps to spread the world about the studio and their work. A good idea would be to reach out to any architectural publications about your projects. Write to local newspapers about your involvement in local architecture. Therefore you should write your own press release about your work, events you are involved in. Maybe create a newsletter, which would further encourage the press to publish about you. This is a great way to build relationships with print and publications in the architecture world.

  1. A JOB WELL DONE

Last but definitely not least you should remember to just do your job well. A happy client is a client that not only will come back to you for more, but also possibly tell their friends about you. And this is the best promotion you can get as an architect. Being recommended is not only a great feeling (as this shows you’ve done a great job), but also it is from the beginning of time the ultimate tool of getting new clients. And how to keep your clients content? Manage their expectations, deliver on your promises  and remember to create architecture that you will be happy with as well. Doing good projects is the best way of promoting yourself. In other words your own work is your marketing!

We hope these tips will help you to become the best architect possible and to get you happy clients. Would you add something to the list? Did we miss anything? Comment below with your advice!



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