The Folio

AN INTRODUCTION

RMIT UNIVERSITY
BACHELOR OF ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN
ARCH1000 Design & Communication
Author: Michael Spooner, 06/03/2018
 What is a Folio?

A folio is a document that collects, curates and

communicates the design studio work you have
undertaken during the semester.

It evidences your critical engagement with the artefacts,

methods and approaches of the studio streams and
records your many attempts at considering their
relevance to architecture.

It is also a platform for provocation; the

discernment of your ideas, the positioning of
your values, the refinement of your taste and the
characterisation of your practice.
The ‘process’ wall taking shape for Thursday night’s book launch at Pin-up for Cities of Hope
Conrad Hamann, Edmond & Corrigan, Cities of Hope, 2013
Conrad Hamann, Edmond & Corrigan, Cities of Hope, 2013
 What is a Folio?

The folio collects your final completed project and your work in
progress.

It will include documentation of your presentation models and

conceptual models, final drawings and working sketches, diagrams,
writings, as well as precedents (architectural, literary, cinematic,
philosophical & artistic) that you have engaged with. It will also
include notes that you have taken during class and evidence your
consideration of other studio projects, along with photos of your
inclass activities including critiques. It may also include notes or
photos you have taken during events, activities or lectures outside
the requirements of the design studio but that you feel are important.
Marcel Duchamp, Box in a Valise (From or by
Marcel Duchamp or Rrose Sélavy), 1952

During his lifetime the famed surrealist

provocatuer Duchamp made a number of
small suitcase sized works that reproduced
minature copies of his paintings, scultpures,
and photographs. The constituted not just
a folio of sorts, but were also extensions of
the gallery environment that his work was
placed into.
Marcel Duchamp, The Bride Stripped
Bare by Her Bachelors, Even (The
Green Box), 1934

This work also by Duchamp is a

compilation of the artist’s notes,
sketches and photographs relating
to the production of his enigmatic
masterpiece The Large Glass. Rather
than explaining the origins of The
Large Glass, the collection of artefacts
has provided only further controversy
as to Duchamp’s intentions.
David Hockney posing with his two dogs, Stanley and Little Boodgie and the portraits her paint-
ed of them in 1993

David Hockney,
Gregory Swimming, LA, March 31st 1982
George Machiunas
Learning machine 1969

Three-dimensional plan of all knowledge.

An attempt to get away from a linear
collection and collation of knowledge
through the spatialization of information.

Nobutatsu Tansai & Gikei Dansai,

Chashitsu okoshi-ezu,
Pop-up Japanese Tea-Houses, 1840

Measured documentation and 3d

representations of japanese tea houses
 What is a Folio?

The folio curates the work you have undertaken.

It is a considered document that pays particular attention to how the

the outcomes of your studio undertaking wish to be read and thus
assessed and moderated.

The curation of the material will evidence the extent to which you
have critically reflected on your undertaking.
Kuniyoshi, A Human Textile Pattern to Stop You From Yawning Joseph Gandy, A selection of Parts of Buildings, 1818
Anna Johnson, drawing building (Teaching)PhD Exhibition, 2014
OMA Living Vivre leben, 1988
Contents page from Peter Corrigan studio folio
CONTENTS PAGE

Yoshitoshi, One Hundred Aspects of the Moon Title Page

Roger Connah, Writing Architecture Shin Dokho, book cover for Works 100716-101015
 What is a Folio?

The folio communicates your undertaking.

It is a clearly laid out document with high quality and professional

reproductions of your models, drawings and sketches.

The document is used to evidence your final grade during the

moderation process and in will sit alongside the public exhibition of
your work at the End of Semester Exhibition.
Eric Owen Moss, Construction Manual
Diller & Scofidio, Flesh:Architectural Probes
Scrapbooks by Robert Mapplethorpe, Richard Hawkins, William Burroughts.
 You will be asked to submit a folio at the end of cycle AND at the end of the semester

COMMUNICATIONS *END OF CYCLE* FOLIO

You will submit a folio at the end of Cycle 1, Cycle 2 and Cycle 3. Each folio will be submitted digitally
as an A4 portrait PDF . It will include clear documentation of the drawings and models completed

1 during the Cycle as well as your final project, and any work undertaken in class during the associated
Communication Cycle. Your Communications Cycle grade will be determined by the quality and clarity
of your presentation drawings, models and representations in the folio as well as the layout and
presentation of the folio itself. The three folios will be used to determine the provisional marks for
Communication.

Cycle 1 (worth 20%) digital folio

Cycle 2 (worth 35%) digital folio
Cycle 3 (worth 45%) digital folio submitted as a component of the END OF SEMSTER folio

YOU WILL SHARE YOUR COMMUNICATIONS FOLIO VIA ONEDRIVE TO YOUR COMMUNICATIONS TUTOR

2 DESIGN & COMMUNICATIONS *END OF SEMESTER* FOLIO

Your ARCH1000: Design & Communications Folio must be submitted at the end of semester. It documents
the work completed during all three Design Cycles and the work undertaken in class during each of the
Communications Cycles . You will be required to submit a printed document AND a digital PDF copy
of the document. This folio will be used during the grade moderation process and will form a public
document for the exhibition.

Your End of Semester Folio is limited to 100 pages

 1
ARCH1000
DESIGN & COMMUNICATION
*END OF CYCLE*
1 COVER FOLIO
AIT
TR 1. The cover must include:
OR
A 4P
NAME:
STUDENT NUMBER:
CYCLE STUDIO (ATLAS, ALGORIST, CODEX):
CYCLE COMM TUTOR:

2 O RTR
AIT
OR
TR
AIT
2. It should include documentation (scans
P 4P & Photos) of the artefacts of your final
A4 A
presentation (drawings & models) and your
work completed during the cycle.

COMM OPTIONAL

3
APPENDIX
3. It can include an Appendix of your
AIT AIT Communications inclass work for reference, or
TR TR
OR P OR this work can be located adjacent to the design
P
A4 A4 undertaking.
 2
ARCH1000
DESIGN & COMMUNICATION
*END OF SEMESTER*
FOLIO

1. The cover must include:

AIT
NAME:
STUDENT NUMBER:
T R CYCLE 3 STUDIO (ATLAS, ALGORIST, CODEX):

POR CYCLE 3 TUTOR:

A 4 It must include a Contents page outlining the

studio stream, the tutor and the tasks.

Thermal or 2. It must include interleaf titles pages at the

beginning of each Cycle that include the tutors
Perfect Binding to names.
spine

3. It must include an Appendix of your

Communications inclass work for reference.
 ESSENTIAL ADVICE
1. Pin larger drawings to the wall and take photos with a good camera (you can hire from
Tech Services). Use photoshop to clean the image up and remove any wall in the photo.

2. Document your models from multiple sides using a white background. We dont want to
see your bedroom in the image....

3. Smaller drawings should be scanned and brought into Photoshop to give them clarity, or
to join several scans together to compose a bigger drawing.

4. Give space to the images in your folio layout. Dont crowd the page. Larger drawings
should take up a double page spread (two pages facing one another, just like a book) and
further pages should be used to highlight areas of detail. A spectacular view of your design
should have a page to itself.

5. We limit the number of pages you can use for the folio to 100. Your end of cycle 1 folio
might be anywhere between 20-30 pages, Your cycle 2 30-40 pages and your end of semester
folio up to 100. See [Link]
 ESSENTIAL ADVICE
6. Include photos that give context to your work in progress such as: your work pinned
up every week in studio, scans of your note books from reviews, photos of you working
with others, fragments of left over balsa wood, or a pile of receipts from Melbourne Artist
Supplies, and most definately a photo of your final presentation pinned to the wall.

7. You should locate discretely a title beneath each image that identifies what the image is.
The hierachy of the font size & choice is essential to your document.

8. Dont accessorise the page with unnecessary borders or decorative elements. This isnt
snapchat. Doing so obscures your undertaking. We want to see the work!

9. Smaller images can be used to develop relationships between scenes from films, quotes
from readings, or architectural precedents you found useful, or considered during your
design undertaking

10. All images must have a minimum resolution of 300dpi at the size they will be printed at.
(Photoshop: Image > Image Size). If you intend to make the drawing bigger in your folio, scan
or reproduce using a higher resolution (dpi) and adjust in Photoshop.
 **PDF TIPS FOR DIGITAL
SUBMISSION ONLY**
A. First make sure you are printing your Indesign layout with Adobe PDF rather than one
of the free PDF makers (come to university if you dont have it)

B. In the Adobe PDF print settings you can determine the q uality it prints at - select
‘Smallest File Size’ for your DIGITAL upload (check the quality of the final PDF
remembering that your Comm Tutor will only be viewing your folio on screen)

C. If the file size is still too large for submission print from the PDF just created using
Adobe PDF to make another PDF.

D. If it is still too large, in Indesign you can ‘export’ (File>export) whole pages as JPEG
images. Collect the jpegs in a folder, select all and print to PDF. This can drastically
remove unwanted image information.
Take seriously your A4 portrait folio layout and the
professional reproduction of your design outcomes.

Design tutors position your folio as evidence of the

mark that they put forward to the Moderation Panel
who then confirms your final grade.

The folio is your FINAL opportunity to evidence

what you have learnt and is the ONLY artefact that
evidences your entire semester design undertaking.

Be rigorous. Be professional.
Take pride in the presentation of your work
 EXAMPLE
FOLIOS
Produced by Lower Pool students, these
folios are examples of the quality and
clarity that you must reach for.

EXAMPLE FOLIO LAYOUTS HAVE BEEN

RESCALED TO FIT SEVERAL PAGES ON A
SINGLE PAGE WITHIN THIS DOCUMENT.
 Gandy_A Selction of Parts opf Build-
ings_1818

EXAMPLE 1
Robert Hillman
Bachelor of Architecture Studio Folio
Jean Genet, A Song of Love, 1950, A4, section in black and white

Alison and Peter Smithsons’ Hexenhaus

Porch, balsa wood model, 1:50
EXAMPLE 3
Georgia Eade
Bachelor of Architecture Studio Folio
 group work

group Mertz column, Mertz column + first addition of Mertz column

Kurt Schwitters with my own John Hedjuk’s angels drawn on
EXAMPLE 4
Matthew Stanley
Bachelor of Architecture Studio Folio
INDEX
SITE
NORTHEN CORNER
OF FLINDERS LANE
AND

ITERATION LIFE
SPRING ST

ONEINSPIRED BY
ALVAR AALTO’S

DEATH
ITERATION
RIOLA PARISH

TWO ZEUS
PHAETON
INSPIRED BY
LE CORBUSIER’S

ITERATION
SAINT-PIERRE

THREE PROMETHEUS
FLYING BUTTRESS
INSPIRED BY
OSCAR NIEMEYER’S

ITERATION
CATHEDRAL OF BRASÍLIA

FOUR BIONIC EAR

MELBOURNE FIRE-
INSPIRED BY
SIGURD LEWERENTZ’S

ITERATION
ST MARKS

FIVE
INSPIRED BY
SIGURD LEWERENTZ’S
BRIGADE-
HEADQUARTERS
ST MARKS

BLOOD BANK
MATHAROO ASSOCIATES
PRATHAMA BLOOD CENTER
AND THE IDEAS OF
SOCIAL EQUALITY

ROYAL VICTORIAN-
AND SOCIETY WIDE
CONSENSES NO LONGER

ITERATION
PRESENT IN THE CHURCH

SIX EYE AND EAR HOSPITAL

INSPIRED BY
SIGURD LEWERENTZ’S
ST MARKS

BLOOD BANK ST VINCENTS HOSPITAL

MATHAROO ASSOCIATES
PRATHAMA BLOOD CENTER
AND THE IDEAS OF
SOCIAL EQUALITY
AND SOCIETY WIDE

ITERATION PRINCESS THEATRE

CONSENSES NO LONGER
PRESENT IN THE CHURCH
INSPIRED BY
SIGURD LEWERENTZ’S
ST MARKS,

SEVEN OLD TREASURY BUILDING

MATHAROO ASSOCIATES
PRATHAMA BLOOD CENTER,
RICHARD ROGER’S
LLOYDS BUILDING,

BLOOD BANK
LOUIS KHAN’S

PARLIMENT
RICHARDS MEDICAL CENTER
AND THE IDEAS OF
SOCIAL EQUALITY
AND SOCIETY WIDE
CONSENSES NO LONGER

ITERATION
PRESENT IN THE CHURCH
INSPIRED BY
SIGURD LEWERENTZ’S
ST MARKS,

EIGHT
MATHAROO ASSOCIATES
PRATHAMA BLOOD CENTER,
RICHARD ROGER’S
LLOYDS BUILDING,

BLOOD BANK
LOUIS KHAN’S
RICHARDS MEDICAL CENTER
AND THE IDEAS OF
SOCIAL EQUALITY
AND SOCIETY WIDE
CONSENSES NO LONGER
PRESENT IN THE CHURCH

SPRING
ST
 O-

COLLECTION
COMMUNITY PROCESSING
STORAGE
NO LONGER RELEVANT

COMMUNITY NO LONGER

DISTRIBUTION
RELATES TO A SINGLE
IDEALOGY OR THEOLOGY

THE PROGRESSION
OF CULTURE THROUGH TIME
AND THE EFFECTS OF
MULTICULTRALISM HAS CAUSED
A GREAT SHIFT IN
MELBOURNE SOCIETIES
BELIEFS CAUSING
THE CHURCH TO
NO LONGER BE A RELEVANT
EPICENTER OF
THE COMMUNITY
Imaginings from afar....

Collection/

The collection consists of an extraordinary group of paintings, drawings

and etchings produced by the artist on a variety of media and using a wide
range of techniques.

The collection covers a period of roughly 50 years in her prolific artistic

career, and is shown in the permanent exhibition on a rotational basis.

The collection also includes paintings by her late husband, Victor Willing,
some of the models used by Paula Rego, a large patchwork and some of
her personal papers.

EXAMPLE 5
Tamsin O’Reilly
Bachelor of Architecture Studio Folio
 Jessica Lange as ‘Big Edie’ in Grey Gardens (2009)
Como House in its current condition

MRS COMO HOUSE

1847 - present

Mrs Como House is a 137 year old senile woman - former socialite and Park
Avenue debutante. She is the spawn of privilege and is now at the brink of poverty.

She is stripped of her riches and is insecure about this new vulnerability. She yearns
for companionship and acceptance - someone to hold her when she’s tired.

She’s afraid of the space between the solid ground of life and the depths of eternity.
She isn’t ready. She doesn’t want to be alone at the end of her life.

Mrs Como House needs contact – she craves intimacy. Intimacy beyond just
proximity, she hungers for the sensuality.
[snorts]

Meet, Mrs Como House.

DARIUS LE
S 3 3 8 0 1 1 6
T H E C A B I N E T

FALL FROM
G R A C E
A silhouette was abstracted from one of the tattoos and formed the section of the building.

Como House in its current incarnation is the result of a series of additions and extensions throughout its 127 year old

EXAMPLE 6
life. The original plan of the Como House was abstracted and tattooed. The immediate periphery of the tattoo was then
manipulated and distorted to see the consequences it had on the original plan.

Darius Le
Bachelor of Architecture Studio Folio
 LEVEL TWO
main gallery space
alternative gallery space
artist reference
staff offices
back of house

LEVEL ONE
gallery spaces
bar
toilets
auxillary space
curatorial offices
bar storage
art restoration

The overlayed plan of Como House was then extruded backwards and manipulated to create unique spatial qualities. The
curation of the gallery was then informed by making sense of these planar surfaces. The gallery is a series of ‘islands’ that boast
different spatial qualities. Every wall is considered - ensuring that there is a visual and physical connection between these spaces.

View from ground floor View of the sculpture garden

EXAMPLE 7
Lianbi Liu
Bachelor of Architecture Studio Folio
 ATLAS
BE
A DO
IN
W ED VIEW
VIE GE
D BE O PA W
O UL G T W E VIE
SH SIN AG
PLE BAT U W OP
M >T
EXA ACRO IEW
E V
> PAG
W
VIE

Michael Spooner
e73947

tutors:

Jean-Paul Rollo
& Bahman Andalib

ARCH1000 DESIGN & COMMUNICATIONS

2016
ATLAS
Cycle 3
tutor: name & name

FINAL PRESENTATION

Week 1a: task, task task group members

Week 2b: task, task, task group members

Week 3a: task, task task group members

Week 3b: task, task, task group members

Week 4a: task, task, task group members

PAVLOVA
Cycle 2
tutor: name & name

FINAL PRESENTATION

Week 1a: task, task task group members

Week 2a: task, task, task group members

Week 2b: task, task, task group members

Week 3a: task, task task

Week 3b: task, task, task

CODEX
Cycle 1
tutor: name & name

FINAL PRESENTATION

Week 1a: task, task task group members

Week 2a: task, task, task group members

Week 2b: task, task, task group members

Week 3a: task, task task

Week 3b: task, task, task

APPENDIX
ATLAS
tutors:
Jean-Paul Rollo
& Bahman Andalib

Week 1a
image name
Week 1a
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Week 1a Week 1a
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Week 1a
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Week 1a
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Week 1a
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Week 1a Week 1a
image name image name
Week 1a
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image name image name
 Week 1a
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Week 1a
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Week 1a
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 BLIND BEAST
Matsomuto, 1969

blah blah balh blah blah balh blah

blah balh blah blah balh blah blah
balh blah blah balh blah blah balh
blah blah balh blah blah balh blah
blah balh blah blah balh

Week 1a Week 1a
image name image name
Week 1a
image name
Week 1a
image name
Week 1a
image name
Week 1a Week 1a
image name image name
Week 1a
image name
PAVLOVA
tutors:

Sean McMahon
& Tina Atic
CODEX
tutors:

Anna Johnson
& Dave Brodziak