Describe an architectural presentation that you find compelling, explaining how it uses graphic principles (i.e. proximity, hierarchy, alignment, repetition, contrast, balance), color, fonts, drawing viewpoint, etc. Link it in and include your initials.

Michael Cady, Elba Gil, and David Lillie's posters for the Burnham Prize Union Station 2020 Competition (http://www.deathbyarchitecture.com/viewFeature.html?id=59) had the most clear organization and effective graphics. They were capable of giving the viewer an understanding of how the building would fit into the fabric of the city through the use of larger images from different vantage points along with the clear diagrams along the bottom of the poster. The monochromatic use of color keep the images simple, to not distract from the dynamic/angular shapes of the building. The hint of color added highlights these shapes and effectively softens the sharp angles. YJK

I found Amit Price Patel and Kevin Markarian's enrty for the Portland Courtyard Housing Competition to be a successful design presentation. They use a small, muted color palette and use it very deliberately. The project also has a clear sense of hierarchy. A large perspective rendering draws viewers' attention, while smaller diagrams and technical drawings serve a supplementary function. The lettering is clearly legible, bold and all caps as titles, regular and lower case as body text. SM

Werner Sobek's website emphasizes graphic impact through upclose photos of his tectonic structures.   The three column layout allows insertion of text panels where appropriate.  In contrast to his generally subdued structures, the web navigation features a bold color stripe.  Overview renderings and models show scheme overviews, few architectural drawings are included.

The Queens Botanical Garden website designed by FatSpaniel Technologies provides both a thorough description of sustainable technologies and strong sense of place.  Using interactive wheel icons, users can explore the building and grounds either by Location or by green Theme.  The Flash-based website is filled with vivid photos and clear computer renderings. --2/16/09 nyc

The Tofte Project tells the story of a cabin, its inhabitants and their connection to the land, how that spawned a sustainable cabin.  The website weaves ecological statistics with historical narrative and sustainable principles, using voices to bring the site to life.  The enigmatic Flash site uses consistent white borders, old tinted B&W photos and contemporary color photos to bring the building to life. -2/16/09 nyc

The boards for The African Media Center - SIDAREC in Nairobi, Kenya are very strong in their minimalism and effective use of color, graphic, and font. The images are mostly monochromatic but with splashes of color to create interest. The white space of the paper is used effectively to boarder the images and give them a stage to speak. The text in minimal, using difference in size and darkness to give hierarchy to the information. - 2/18/09 CSW

The large rendering on this SIDAREC Ubuntu Exchange project made this one jump out at me and I like the way the smaller images surround the rendering on the upper righthand corner and lower left hand corner.  I liked the repeating circular elements in this Nyaya Telemedicine Nucleus project.  The circles fit the overall theme of the project and nicely tie together the different elements on the poster.  2/19/09 rem

Urban Ecotones - This submission won the Jury Award and the People’s Choice Award for the Integrating Habitats competition put on by Portland Metro. I was very impressed by the entire layout of this poster. There is a balanced mix of graphic information and text, and good use of a few colors to tie everything together. I think that the authors of this poster managed to use each design principle in such a way as to make a dynamic and exciting composition without losing any cohesiveness of the separate parts. I like the way that the edges of the aerial site view at the top of the page are faded out and create a gradual transition to the small images with supporting text that are clustered around it. I have not been able to identify anything in the poster that I could improve upon, and the only element that I’m not sure about is the little turtle in the bottom right hand corner...what’s he doing there? - 2/21/09, gm

MAKU PROYECTO DE VIVIENDA is a project from Galapagos Ecuador. I was drawn in by these two boards because of the ballance and figure ground reversal that is used to portray night and day. The figure ground studies in the lower left emphasize the night sky in the upper right. The image of the tree and two boys in the center help unite the two sides. On the second board, vertical and horizontal repetition are used to show a succession of plans, diagrams, and perspective renderings which are used to frame and emphasize a large image in the upper left. These two boards would read well as full printouts but as smaller web images it is hard to see all the text or detail. 2/21/09  np

Tarlton Intermediate School and Community Master Plan is a holistic answer to the numerous problems that arise in rural South Africa.  The boards do a great job of explaining all aspects of the project.  It entails many different levels of community, and expresses each of them.  There is not a consistent color theme, which did not bother me as I was going through all of the boards.  Each different aspect had a slightly different color swatch, an effective way to show that one is loking at a different board. The text on the other hand is consistent, which ties them all together.  2/21/09 jjc

Sometimes I find architectural presentations too busy and I have a hard time deciphering them. I think part of this is that we are usually forced to fit a lot of information into a very tight presentation space. Usually my favorite presentations are the really simple ones. I found several presentations that I liked: Pediatric Outpatient Rehabilitation Center, Feifei Feng's entire blog, East Darling Harbour Competition, and Elevating Biloxi. I think the Biloxi one is my favorite, but I noticed themes throughout all of the presentations that I liked: 1. Very minimal color palette, usually shades of grey with one or two additional colors; 2. Lots of white space, which gives the eyes a rest; 3. Very simple layouts with lots of repetition and alignment; 4. Strong hierarchy created by large variations in scale and darkness; 5. Callouts that point out specific pieces of information. One way I think that some of these presentations (and many computer-generated presentations) are weakened is that they tend to lack the sense of warmth that is present in a hand-drafted presentation. For my final presentation, I would like to use many of the techniques outlined above while also adding some hand-drawn elements. 2/22/09 knm

The Metro Integrating Habitats Competition Metro Oregon posted by Mario Cipresso is effective.   I with that it were possible to view the presentation in a larger format - still, the color choices, and grid created are pleasing.  I liked the addition of the section at the bottom of the poster - I think that it creates a kind of "grounding" for the piece.  What I might have done differently: larger and more solid text.  I think that the font the author chose is a bit too organic.  The soft green background color is also nice, I might have gone even lighter.  BCH

The Kallari : Maloca Chocolate on the open architecture site is a strong graphic presentation.  I think the font choice nicely complements the images, as does the color choice.  The rendered images are seductive and impressive and making them such a large part of the composition was a good choice.  I also like the organization of the poster, the designer chose to contrast the curvilenar shape of the building with a very linear poster organization, I will also use a very linear organization in my poster. CMG (GTF: Davina)

The project for Tele-Architecure for Nyaya Health: A Collaborative Solution links the different pages well with color scheme and repetition.  The background and layouts are brought together by the color scheme.  There are a few different types of basic layouts used throughout the pages.  There is a major/minor hierarchy in most of the pages that brings interest to the pages.  CJL

Make it Right Foundation is the post-Hurricane Katrina effort to rebuild New Orleans' lower Ninth Ward neighborhood, which was entirely devastated in the storm.  Founded by Brad Pitt, Make it Right's goal is to build a neighborhood comprised of safe and healthy homes that are inspired by Cradle to Cradle thinking, with an emphasis on a high quality design, while preserving the spirit of the community's culture.  The website offers a plethera of information, from the story of Make it Right, to the details of the homes built and the architects who design them, to the families living in the homes.   The website's organiziation does a good job of presenting all the factors that make Make it Right possible.  It is easy to navigate, the hierarchy is clear (notice that the most attention-grabbing item is the "donate now" key, seemingly appropriate in this case), and the colors are fitting to the message (by using muted earth tones the emphsis is on the images of the homes and the people who inhabit them).  I'm also fond of the film strip of home designs below the main image...easy to click on and enlarge.  AER

NBBJ is a design firm with 10 offices spread around the world.  They use images which continually change, acting to draw the viewer into the site.  The graphics and text are very simple and bold, allowing the primary focus to be on the images.  The site is very clear and easy to navigate, making the user want to look  further into the site. SJA

The Football for Hope: Cape Town presentation designed by Mario Gentile and Andrew Hart employs effective poster layout techniques.  Although some of their diagrams are overly complex and fail to convey major ideas in the clearest possible form, the organization of their presentation elements is very appealing.  The presentation uses heirarchy, both in sizes of photos and text, as well as background and foreground elements to achieve a straightforward organization and comprehendible sequence of information.  In addition, the use of thematic colors--black, grey, white, and green--creates a unity for the presentation and also calls proper attention to certain key elements, such as the soccer field.  Overall, the presentation demonstrates beneficial visual techniques that help communicate the information in the poster in a more understandable and enjoyable fashion.  -MN