These are the messiest and most generative. They include bubble diagrams, parti sketches, adjacency matrices, and iterative floor plan doodles. Design notes are often taken on trace paper so layers can be overlaid and refined.
For each project, create a dedicated binder (physical) or folder (digital). Every week, transfer relevant daily notes into this project file. Include:
Subject: Passive House ventilation principles
Use a consistent, predictable format for every digital file and note title. A standard format like YYYY-MM-DD_ProjectName_Subject ensures your notes sort chronologically and remain easy to find. architecture notes
Architects like Louis Kahn viewed light not as an accessory, but as a constitutive material. Architecture notes in this domain explore:
: The use of apertures and modulating structures to give light a three-dimensional "quality".
Unlike a treatise (Vitruvius, Alberti) or a manifesto (Le Corbusier, Venturi), architecture notes sit in a liminal space: These are the messiest and most generative
The aesthetic appeal and sensory experience of the form and space.
Never upload raw PNGs or JPEGs to your architecture repository.They cannot be searched, versioned, or easily edited.Use text-based tools like , PlantUML , or Structurizr .This keeps your visuals embedded directly inside your markdown files.
Nervi famously demonstrated this by making arches grow, showing that structure can be a direct reflection of structural necessity rather than an added aesthetic. For each project, create a dedicated binder (physical)
: A continuous line, plane, or volume that gathers and anchors a design.
Reconsidering Teaching Construction in Architectural Education
In the tech world, "Architecture Notes" is a popular term for technical deep dives into how complex software is built.