Architects have radically been using imagery to communicate their ideas and engage masses. While a picture may be worth a thousand words, those thousand may not be the right ones. To create the right kind of interface between your ideas and the user’s understanding of your visions, you need the power of words. A project narrative provides you the opportunity to talk to your audience in person. Weaving a story around your design project and its evolution heightens your connection with the reader and forces him to pause, ponder and reiterate. Even in academic settings, lack of an efficient project description is one major cause for being slashed at juries in spite of having amazing work.

A project description is necessarily a character-sketch of your design. It is your design in introspect. A few may focus on describing the technical details, whereas others might focus on its conceptualisation. Then there is materiality, site, clients, budget, aftermath and so on. Approaches to writing a project description is a very tailored process and may differ as per an individual.

Below is a quick checklist for writing a project description-

1.    Introduction

Location, Context, Concept Statement, User-group, Overall approach and reasons

2.    Description

Site Planning, Concerns/Issues addressed, Zoning, Spatial planning, Circulation (Horizontal and Vertical), Connectivity, Climatic considerations, Materials, Technology, Style, Form, Functions, Lighting (Natural and Artificial), Ventilation,

3.    Key features

Highlighting features, Sustainability measures, Strategic Approaches, Stylistic Elements

4.    Landscaping

Overall approach, Flora, Terrain, Soil, Waterbodies, Geology, Vegetation, Courtyards, Sit-outs, Other landscape elements

5.    Interiors

Materials, Furniture, Colours, Theme, Mood, Layout, Other Specifications

6.    Specifications or Details

Structural Details, HVAC systems, Façade systems, Waste management, Water supply system and management, Fire Alarm systems, Services, Roof systems

7.    Conclusion

Value added by the project, User overview, Project Success

Use this checklist as a classic roadmap to writing your next project description. But jotting down points like this, merely narrows down the worth of your design description to a listicle. A project description is more than that. For a project description to have personality of its own, you need to enrich it with exacting words, phrases and flow. Follow these steps to hook your readers to your project’s narrative.

1.    Engage your audience with the introduction

Lay out important details of your project in the introduction and a summarised statement explaining the crux of the project. Answer the 5Ws (who, what, when, where, and why), known as information gatherers in the opening paragraph. Set up a scene where the reader can really understand what you are talking about. If what you are constructing with your words is not catchy enough, chances are the reader may not be drawn any further at all. Capitalize on what makes your project architecturally significant. 

2.    Narrate the description via action

Do not degrade your worthy project’s description with lengthy adjectives separated by commas. You are drafting a project narrative, not a laundry list. “The building’s metal façade was sharp, angular, shiny, loud and massy.” Don’t do that. Instead, follow something like this. “The façade of the building had sharp and angular edges. In the middle of the day, sun shone upon the metallic exterior and drew attention from a distance. With no major punctures and openings, the façade looked loud and massy.” Descriptions need to be incidental. They should reveal the drama and action created by the built-form and its environs.

3.    Use words that can create imagery

Make the reader visualise the project from your words. Your description should be such that after reading your text, if one comes across an image of the project, once]  shall be able to recall that they have read the same thing.

a.      “The recliner was placed in the hall.”

b.      “In one corner of the hall, the recliner stood right beside the floor lamp making it an ideal place to relax and read.”

The first statement tells us something about the recliner in a very generic way. But on looking  at a project’s image, the mention of the exact location of the recliner  beside the floor lamp in the project’s description bounces back. This makes the readers nod and move further with an air of knowing what’s going on. One of the best practices while writing your project description is to sit at the project’s location, face the best view and start penning down all that your eye can see. 

4.    Do not use alienating language

We need to be aware that while our key audience may be architects and people from the building sector, there is a larger ‘non-construction’ audience too who have a penchant to read  articles about design. You need to cater to them too as they may be your future clients. Project descriptions need to be universal. Stop using words that at times even the fraternity does not understand, bar the generic masses. Having said that, feel free to use technical terms and architectural vocabulary that you feel is necessary to highlight your design thinking and decisions.

5.    Look around

A project’s description is not just about the building. You need to eye around. How does the design interact with the landscape? Why was a crucial design decision taken? Is there some nearby water feature or forest or a community that has influenced the design? It’s always important to put research in place before you start writing.

6.    Pay attention to your tone

This point becomes necessary if the firm whose project’s description you are talking about has a certain style to its projects. Say, if a firm explores zero-energy in all its designs, the article must be in a tone that readers relevant to zero design read it. Real-estate projects must reveal facts and figures as that is something which its readers are looking for.

7.    Saturate with significant details

At times, we tend to overwhelm our article with insignificant and unimportant details. Say, why should you explain that your project has a dog-legged staircase for circulation? Rather, if there is an interesting material exploration in the staircase, or a lotus pond around which the staircase wraps itself, that’s something to talk about. Who would ever be interested to know you have used full-length sliding windows? Rather talk about the kind of views your full-height window can frame. Eliminate mundane, irrelevant and random information that makes no sense.

8.    Talk about the building’s interface with its users

The discourse that architecture creates with its occupants or users is one crucial piece of information that many project narratives miss out. User experience is key. Your description should be as real as the people who are using it. Compare these 2 statements:

a.      The house has a central courtyard for light and ventilation.

b.      The central courtyard allows light to penetrate into the house which lits the rooms surrounding it and ensures better ventilation.

The first sentence does not really involve user interface. It merely tells us that there is a courtyard for light and ventilation. But, the second sentence tells us that there are rooms around it, which will be used by its occupants, hence providing light and ventilation to them. Here, even without using words like occupants or residents, the sentence formation brings the user’s interaction with the building into picture.

9.    Quality, not quantity

Include all that is necessary. Eliminate all that is weary. Remember, only people who can’t do quality go for quantity. You must know what you want to focus on and what message about the project you want to get across. Capture the quality and performance of your project laconically.

10.   Structure and organise

Cluttered and disorganised words confuse your readers. The most impactful project descriptions are ones which are most structured. Prepare an outline and a rough draft before you begin writing. Don’t jump from one point to another. Once you have your copy ready, revise and edit it to make it clearer. If not anything, your description has to be crisp, concise, organised and impactful. 

So, without much ado, follow these steps to compose your next project narrative so  your readers are glued to your piece!