Transcripts
1. Course Introduction: Imagine you're presenting
to your professors and colleagues showing your
project for the first time. The screen lights up with your project slogo that holds
the essence of your idea. Still wrapped in mystery, you watch their faces shift, curiosity flickering
in their eyes, excitement building with
every second of silence. As you begin to speak to guide them through the
layers of your research, the concept starts to take
form like a photograph, developing in slow motion. Each slide builds upon the last, a puzzle assembling
itself in their minds. The room shifts with energy. They're leaning forward now, waiting, eager for the next
piece to fall into place. It's like a novel, chapter by chapter revealing
its secrets. The tension rises, the
threads of your projects weaving together into a story that finally becomes a home, and then it happens, clarity. You don't need to
explain anymore. They see it, feel it. They're walking through
your spaces already, imagining the world
you've created as if they've stopped
inside your design, and this is the moment
that you've reached it. Hi. I'm Moche Katz and welcome to Architecture
presentations for Beginnings. Presenting your projects to professors and the jury isn't just about
showing your work. It's about telling a story, an inspiring story that captures the essence
of your concept. It's the journey behind your design and the
spirit of your creation. How do you tell that story? How do you inspire people, so your project comes alive for them, the way
it does for you. Everything depends on how
you present your projects. You can take the same design, the same hard work, and
present it in two ways. One, inspiring and
unforgettable. The other forgettable. It's not just about
what you've created. It's about how you make
people feel about it. As an educator, I have spent years preparing students
for their final projects, guiding them through the maze of boards, presentations,
and juries. And let me tell you,
success comes from knowing how to bring out the very best in
what you've done. In this course,
I'll teach you how to emphasize the soul
of your project. What matters most.
You learn how to show just the right materials and just as importantly,
what to leave out. I'll guide you through how to highlight your
plans and sections, how to create impactful visuals, how to use simple software and techniques that
anyone can master. You don't need to be an expert. You just need to know what
works for you as an architect. By the end, you'll
know how to present your work with clarity,
passion, and inspiration. So if you're ready,
let's begin. Thank you.
2. Understand Your Audience's Needs: Hi, everyone, this is
lesson number seven. Understand your
audience's needs. So in this lesson,
we are going to go through the main principles of the different people that
watch you as you present, and what are their needs
and their thoughts and almost as if we can put
ourselves in their shoes. And when we're presenting, we have to understand what is it that our viewers
need or want to see. So it's either
professors, students. It's either the jury
or a guest architect or professional that comes to
give a review to our work. So each and every
one of those people that are confronted
with our presentation, they're all looking
to be inspired. This is the main goal and
the beginning of everything. They all want to
understand our project. They all want to be part
of our thinking process. But most of all, we have to understand that each
and every one of them has eventually different
needs that we have to cater to if we want to reach them and have a
certain consensus or to find a common ground
to talk about our project. So other than being inspired
to understand our project, they also like to receive
new ideas and open up to new questions that your
project is bringing to the table and maybe
new angles of thought. So whenever we create
those new insights, it's very important for
our audience to have. The audience needs to feel
curious and surprised. So we have to build
our presentation in the same way that creates
those elements of surprise. So these surprising moments where we are building up
with a certain sketch, and some need within ourselves is rising and rising
to see the image. So we start with sketches, and then we reach the render, and that is a beautiful
moment to bring the audience to a
moment of revelation. So the audience also wants to enjoy the beauty
of our material. So it needs to be
very aesthetic, very well designed
and elaborated. So all the images that
you put on top of your presentation need
to be quality images. The audience, especially
the professors who need to give us a review. They need to understand
the depth and the meaning of the complexity
of our ideas and concepts. So this is where we are
supposed to invest a lot of effort to show complex
ideas in simple ways. So what is the mission when
we build a new presentation? What is our mission
then as designer? So how do we answer to
all of those needs using just the visuals
and the texts and sketches and everything that
we have in our disposal? How do images,
signs and symbols, in their integrity,
in their sequence, create a certain story. So if we watch an image of falling waters and have some
references and inspiration, how do that transform itself into an understanding
of architecture? How do we create that curiosity, that sense of revelation and tease the audience
through the presentation? So as you see here,
the first thing that we see is the
sketch on top. So the sketch is a very
interesting symbol, but we actually develop
in our imagination, the continuation of that sketch. We want to see, Okay,
where does it go? He did this sketch, but what does it actually mean
as architecture? And the next image that comes
after that is the render. This is how we create that
beautiful surprise moment of the sequence that
starts with imagination, and then we see the real thing. The plan also brings an
element of curiosity, so you can use that
instead of the sketch. References of inspiration
also do the same thing. So once we see certain
images that we say that are connected
to our project, then the first thing that
you want to know is, Okay, how is it applied? How did he transfer that or translate that
into architecture? And most of all, the design principles,
when we show them, this is how they create the
curiosity to see how that is translated into
architectural design. So whenever you present
your principles, this is how you know
that the next step is going to be a revelation moment.
3. Choosing Your Design Language: Hi, everyone. This is
lesson number six, choosing your design language. In this lesson, we're going to learn about the meaning and the principles of
a design language of our architectural
presentation, and what is it actually made of? So the design language
is made out of the colors that we use all
over our presentation, the fonts that we're choosing, the font style, the size, and the color of the fonts, and the background, which is very dominant in
our presentation. It represents the voids and the negative spaces
with which all of our images are
in dialogue with. The design language is
the way we process and elaborate visuals
and materials that we put inside our presentation. It is the way we position
them on the slide. It is basically the composition
that we are choosing, and it's a language that we can understand and see as a repetitive rule that we
use in all of our slides. So the viewer can
understand that there is a law or a rule, a visual rule that
is dominant and repeating itself all the way
through the presentation. So how do we choose a design language for a
project presentation? We usually choose it based
on the character and the field that we want to pass through in
our presentation. It is usually based on the project's concept and our unique inspirations
for the project. The design language
of our building and complex or some
forms and shapes. Everything that has to
do with our final result usually becomes the
design language of the rest of our presentation. It can also be a result of
our personal taste and style. As designers and architects, usually we create our own style, and this is then repetitive in all of our presentations
for all projects. Me personally, if you ask
me, for each project, there should be an individual
design language that is born out of the project's
character and inspiration. So how does the design
language manifest itself in the
presentation itself? So, we use the visible
repetition of elements. So it's colors,
backgrounds or details. This is something
that we should see in all slides of our presentation, either the choice of colors, the choice of the background, and the different details
that we put in each slide, such as page numbers or the titles that are
repeating themselves. We also create a variety of surprises in our
design language. We usually do that to have a
certain element of surprise, just so we have a sense of
uniqueness in some slides, so it gives it an change. Our design language
needs to be consistent, so it helps others to get
used to the language and understand that this is the character of our presentation, and then we can
always experiment and create new surprises
within that consistency, just build a new image or a
new way of describing things. So each four or
five or six slides, we can introduce an interesting
element of surprise. So let's see some examples of different design languages of a presentation and just have a look at how we can analyze
it and learn from it. So what you see here
is an example is a very technical style of a presentation with a
very big image of a plan. And usually we show that in
projects that are already final and ready to be
represented in these details. So on one side, we have the strip with the
different information, the different elements
of the project, an overview, some numbers, square meters, and so on. And in the main part, we
will see a technical detail. Here are some other examples of different design languages. So you see the ones that have very strong black or
dark gray background, which creates a very elegant, luxury style, a bit heavy. We need to know how to
work with it right, so it doesn't become too heavy. It depends on the materials
that we add on top of then we have the
neutral white background. It's very free form
with the sketches. As you see, they're
blending with the infinite space
of the background, and we have the
color background, which is always nice
to surprise with. And then we have the
technical design language with all the details and
technical information. Then we have interesting and
creative languages which depend also on how do we place our images
inside the slide? So we can place the
image as a poster. It takes the whole
size of the slide with certain elements that we put on top of it and blending
in with the background. We can show the background as the element that complements our plans, sections
or elevations. We can show a combination of
images on top of each slide, and that already represents
a certain design language. How do we handle different
images in the same slide. So if we combine two of them together or more of
them in one slide, it is a different feel
of a presentation.
4. Structure And Flow: Harry one, this is lesson number eight,
structure and flow. So in this lesson, we're
going to go through some of the main principles
of structures and how to build a
presentation structure for our project
and how to create a nice flow that makes our audience feel engaged
in our presentation. So what is the structure of
our presentation made of? So the structure contains the logo and the opening sketch, which is usually in the
beginning or the opening slide. Then we have the
inspirational slide that sometimes shows the rendering of a project or
some nice sketch. Then we have the
start of our process, which is usually the
research and analysis, or how did we get into the ideas and principles
that we use in our project? And then the insights
that lead to a concept. So how do we bring all of our understanding
together into one story? Then we have the inspiration and the references and then
follow the real project, the translation of
all of our ideas into a concrete project with all its materials, plans
sections, elevations. And at the end, we see some
technical materials and data, some numbers, some details. And as closing element, we have the closing page, the closing slide as an ending moment of
our presentation. So what are the different
type of structures? So we have a structure type that starts with
creating a beginning, a peak, and an end moment. This is how we build
it. We usually establish those
three elements and then create the rest of our presentation with the in
between, we fill the gaps. How did we reach the peak
from the beginning and how did reach the end
from the peak moment? So the beginning is the
introduction of our project. The peak moment is usually the inspiration and the concept, and the end is the
final project itself. So don't forget as a structure, don't go beyond 25 pages
of a presentation. Usually, that's the
limit because people are not as patient as we imagine. They don't like to see
long presentations, and 25 pages is usually a very good number of slides to understand the
whole project with. And usually, what you
can't explain with 25 pages is actually not
necessary to go beyond. So let's see some examples
of structures where the story is being told in different ways and how
to create a nice flow. So we always use, as you see here in
these examples, we use our tools, which are the images
of the project, renders, pictures, and
diagrams and sketches. And then we move to the other technical materials
like plant sections, elevations, and some
detailed information. We build that as a sequence with a certain
style that we choose, and it's either going with a linear structure from
a chronological order, or we play around with it as a more flexible
and flowing order. So let's see how the
linear flow looks like. So usually, we are going
from a topic to a topic. So we start with research, then we go to the analysis, then we go to the insights, then we go to the concept, and then we move to
the design principles, and then the final project. So this is a very linear element goes from one point to another, and it's very logical
and we can follow it. Then we have the peak flow, which we build up towards
a very important moment where all the emphasis
and volume of our presentation is located at, and all the rest is
very simple and quick. So while the first linear one, everyone has every slide
or every topic has the same volume and same
force and same content, quantity, or intensity,
in the peak one, we usually build it up towards
a moment where everything is then explained in
a more extensive way. Then it goes down
again towards the end. Very quickly, and
usually we don't waste a lot of time in explaining
the end or beginning process. We are focusing
on a peak moment. Then we have the wave flow. The wave flow is
basically creating different peaks along the way. So we choose beforehand
the most important moments of our project that
we would like to emphasize and give
importance to. All the rest is very short and quick to reach
that peak element, and the volume of
information over there at the peak is usually higher
and more extensive. Then we have the gradual flow, which is a buildup there is no peak moment
and when we go down, we usually create a
gradual sequence and evolution of things that go
from one step to another, and each time it rises and rises and rises towards the end. In our presentation structure, it's also important to add some videos and some
personal recordings or animations or some dynamic interactive
elements in our presentation. It gives us more vivid feeling, something that changes the
static structure of the slide. So I would recommend to put on movies and some animations that break the sequence
of the static flow. What I can also
recommend is to put some personal creative footages to show your process of work, so you can film yourself
how you did certain things, the model, the sketches, how you put things together. So it's as if you're documenting yourself as you go along. It's always creating this beautiful feeling
of identification. Like, I can see myself
standing next to the one who's presenting now as if
I'm in the room together, building this project together, as sampling things together. So it's a nice feeling. I would recommend to do these
personal footage as well. Keep in mind that these
footages cannot extend beyond 30 seconds or a
minute because otherwise, it has more volume than
the project itself, and we don't want to change the balance of the information. So let's learn some tips
and tricks, what not to do. What do we avoid when we
create a structure and a flow? So the first thing is to avoid too much information at once. This is something that is
very difficult to handle. It looks like a
chaos when we have too much information
at the same slide. It's just impossible to read. So try to put as
less as possible, but very strong information
and strong images that bring the idea to
its full potential, but don't exaggerate
with too many images. Another thing to avoid is when the next slide does not continue the thread
of information. So we're jumping from one topic to another without a
connection between them. Remember that the
slideshow is a sequence, logical sequence that goes
from one idea to another. If we are jumping without
any connection between them, people lose interest
and lose the flow, and we have to explain
ourselves again and again. Avoid too long of a structure. As we said, maximum 25 pages, but don't go beyond 30. So if you have a
slide show of 40, 50, 60 pages, it is too long. Just try to make
it short and use only those informations that are the most important
ones for your project. Another thing to avoid is to
go too many peak moments, too many wow images or wow
moments in your presentation. It is then too heavy or too
much of excitement at once. We have to create three, four elements of excitement
in one presentation. That's more than
enough. We don't have to do that each slide.
5. Visual Hierarchy in presentations for architects: Hi, everyone, this is
lesson number nine, Tips for visual hierarchy. In this lesson,
we're going to learn about what visual
hierarchy actually is in a presentation and
how do we use that to our benefit and how do we create that in our project
presentation? So a visual hierarchy in a
presentation is actually the choice of what is more important and what
is less important. Based on that filter, this is how we present
our information, the size of the images. So the most important images
have the biggest size, the less important
have the smaller size. Same thing with the
symbols, texts, and so on. The most important
text is bigger, the less important is smaller. From my experience, it's
the biggest challenge for students to choose what is
more important than the other. But that's a very important tool to learn in life in general, but as an architect,
more than that, so because we have to understand when do we show certain things
and how do we show them? It's all based on visual rules, and we need to understand how to present our information
based on their importance. So what is your
compass, your north, your filter when you want to choose information based
on their importance? So first of all, you choose only those materials that inspire and
have the WOW effect. This is always the
most important thing. It could be a rendered,
it could be a sketch. Anything that for your
own interpretation is the WOW image. Then we choose the
materials that have the ability to explain and illustrate our ideas in the
most powerful and clear way, while all the rest of
the information are secondary players in
our presentations. So only that that makes the concept more clear or
the insight more clear. This is the most
important thing. And then we can add
next to it some of the other materials or other images that are
complementary to it. What usually helps if we want to establish those rules of
hierarchy, we create degrees. We imagine that there
is a primary degree, a secondary degree, and a
third and fourth degree. And then we create a list.
What is the number one? What is number two?
What is number three? This is a very easy technique to understand as if you're
playing with forces. What is the main force?
What is the secondary? Things that are first
degree and primary, those are the images
or things that you show as the most biggest
ones on your slide. But also, if you have different images
and different slides, they receive more
volume than the others. So there is a hierarchy
in the slide itself. How many images, what size of images do we see
in the slide itself. But there's also the
number of slides, the volume of slides
that we are using to talk about a certain
topic or a category. So if a category is the most
important one, let's say, inspiration and concept, then we use seven or eight
slides for that. If we talk about research, maybe two or three slides. So the volume of information that you're giving in
your presentation shows the hierarchy that you have created of what is important,
what is less important. So let's go through some
examples of slide to see the differences between
the visual hierarchy. So in this example here, you see that the
most important image is the map with
the green symbols. It's the greenery in a city, that green system,
the organic system. And all the images underneath
are the explanations of how a street can change
based on that idea. So the most important thing is to see the overview
of the structure. This is why the map is so big, and then the rest of the
images and the rest of the diagrams are just
complimentary to it. Same thing on the other side. The biggest image is eventually the render
on the bottom and everything else supports it and explains how did we
reach that moment? In some cases, we have just
one big image on one slide, and then it's very
simple to understand. This is the only image, and this is the most
important thing. But sometimes we have slides where we put different images, six images or four, and they have the same size. So what is the hierarchy here? We're basically saying
there is no hierarchy. All of those maps and all
of those elaborations, they're basically the
same and we have to consider them in the same way. So don't forget whatever you choose as material to
explain your project, it has to go through a
filter of importances. How important is
that as a topic, as a category, but also
in the slide itself, how important is that to show in the same slide how big of a position and size
do we give it? If a certain image has
a very big importance, sometimes it is better
to have one image only. On the whole slide and put
more slides in to show the rest instead of handling different elements
on the same slide, and then it loses
the importance. So try to figure out what is more important
to you and give it its full potential on
your presentation and slide.
6. How to make an engaging architectural presentation: Hi, everyone. This is
lesson number four. What makes a
presentation engaging? So the key components of a
successful presentation. In this lesson,
we're going to go through the main elements and the main components that make our presentation engaging,
exciting, inspiring. So if we create a presentation that has
at tension within it, different moments of surprises
inside the presentation, so we go through some slides, and then in the fourth
or fifth slide, we have a different
slide altogether with a very strong image or render or something that stands
out from the rest. It gives a very strong engaging sense of
the presentation. So to do that, we are actually
freezing peak insights and peak moments and feelings and give them more space
in our presentation. So you imagine that you already decide before
you start your presentation, what are the peak elements, the strongest elements
of your project? This is where you create
your surprise in, and once you reach it, it's like a wow moment for everyone. Engaging presentation shows also unique and interesting
visuals and elaboration. So you try to incorporate
some diagrams, some sketches or renders that are really extraordinary and interesting and
have some insight in it that other people
might learn something from. An engaging presentation
has also the ability to create a sequence of a
story that has a dynamics. It's like an evolving flow, almost an evolution of an idea of a concept
into a project, how it translate itself
step after step after step until it reaches
the final design of it. People like to be
part of a process. They like to feel
as if they're in your head, the head
of the artist, and then see how the
different stages changed in your mind from
one step to another. If you're able to show
it in your presentation, it's very engaging and
people learn a lot from. So you also break the sequence with a powerful
render or visual. As you see here, I broke the sequence of
this presentation with one striking image and render and it goes
all over the slide, and it shows you that this
moment now is very important. It's different than the rest. It gives you a
surprising moment of excitement and Okay,
wow, what is this? I want to know a bit
more about this project, and that's an engaging
moment in our presentation. Choosing unique graphics
and color palettes also creates a very
strong feeling of an engaging presentation because the colors are the visual elements
that we can play with and create exciting slides and exciting moments
in our presentation. So just be careful with it. It can look very
kitchy if you use too many colors that have no
connection to each other. If the contrast is too big, try to use one palette of the same color with different
gradients and use that as your game that you're playing
within your presentation to create those beautiful,
surprising moments. An engaging
presentation also takes you into a journey
where the concept of your design and
project stays alive in each part on each slide
of your presentation. This is the inspiration that
flows all the way through, and you're placing
it everywhere. In each slide, I need to see a certain reminder it
can be a color stain. It can be a shape that
you use for your project. It can be some structure. It can be so many things
that you could use. And in each slide,
I have a reminder. I never forget that this
is part of your concept. This is your world,
your language that you have created
for your project. So don't forget to use
that as your tool. To create an engaging
presentation. You use it through colors, through image placements, and the size of the image
on top of the slide, you use it through
different shapes that you put on the
page through text, through the fonts, through
the text, color, and design. So you have so many
elements to play with to maintain a certain feeling and engagement in
your presentation. So what I like to do is to
use the one on one rule, which means that in each slide, there should be one
element or one part that is an amazing or super
interesting surprise, an inspiring part in each slide. So if you have I don't know, some images that you
put on the slide, like four or five images and
some texts and use one of them as your Wow
moment in your slide. You want people to be engaged in every slide to have at least one interesting
element that they can hold onto as a hook
and they don't leave the attention that they
have towards your project. So try to spread your interesting elements of
your project in each slide, so the engagement of your audience stays constant throughout the
whole presentation. Try to keep a consistency
in your presentation. Don't mix too many styles and too many colors and
too many elements in one same presentation
because then it seems kitchy and has no
consistent language. So it's better to use
neutral background and the main show of
your presentation is your image that you put on
top of it, is your project. So don't create a crazy layout. It's just creates a headache. It creates such a confusion. People are losing interest very quickly when they
see something that has no consistency or
no odor and no order, clear vision of how the language of your
presentation repeats itself. Another way to create an
engaging presentation is to show the process, the process of your thinking,
the process of design, how your project came to
life step after step. Once people are feeling that
they are part of a process. They are following you. They
are almost inside your mind, and they follow you
step after step. This is where you
hold them engaged, and you make them part of your creative and thinking
development process. So this is very important to give emphasis on when you tell the
story of your project.
Moshe Katz, Architect, Book Author & Artist
