The Application Process at the Institute for Art and Architecture - a Teacher Explains How it Works

Intro: Welcome to the short form Akademie podcast. In this episode, Luciano Parodi will guide through the bachelor application process for the Institute of Art and Architecture at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna.

Luciano Parodi: Hi, I’m Luciano Parodi. I have been part of the admission committee for bachelor for the last years and I have been also very involved in the design of the task, that the students receive. First of all, and most important, everybody's welcome.
It doesn't matter your background, it doesn't matter your country or language… There are some things, specific things that you need to accomplish, like knowing German and English, because why? This is the way we communicate with each other.
And yes, you need to have a portfolio. What is the portfolio? The portfolio is a collection of things that you have done along the years, or a year before you want to apply, or a month before you want to apply.
It contains drawings, it contains photography, it contains photos of installations, models, whatever you have done, whatever interests you, we have had everything. And it's important to mention that you have always the possibility, everybody has the possibility, to consult their portfolios with us. We have… I think it's a period of two months before the delivery of the portfolio… each Friday there is a possibility to show what you have done to one of us and collect some advice, what you could improve, how you could structure it. Don't be afraid, just for anyone who wants to apply to the academy. Start collecting, everything you do is better to have more than to have less. And if you have less, well, you have a second chance. And that's why the institute invented the exercise. And what is it? The exercise is something we give 10 days before the interviews… or two weeks before the interviews. We propose a series of mainly small exercises that cover all aspects that we are interested in seeing from our candidate. There is always a written part, there is a model, there is a free hand drawing, there is a collage and there's a topic behind it. So, if you don't have a big portfolio, this is the possibility to show who you are, to show your capacity, to show mainly and foremost your creativity.
Even if you cannot draw, even if you cannot make a proper model, nobody needs to worry because what is at stake, is how you respond to the exercise. How do you show your creativity? And if you are convincing, we will invite you to an interview, which helps us a lot to come to know our future candidate. And many times, or most of the time, it is really decisive.
Sometimes candidates are very promising with the portfolios, but we realize their interest is not really there during the interview…or the other way around.
It's a tool that helps us to get to know a little bit better the people who are going to work with us in the following year.

Outro: I can reiterate: everyone is welcome. And if you're not being taken on, it does not mean that your portfolio, your exercise or your interview were not good. It just means that you're not being taken on. Unfortunately, there's only a limited set of spaces available and a lot of applicants.
This admissions process is just an assessment of one moment in time and a subjective one. Please, don't hesitate to reapply next year or pursue architecture at another university.

Thank you for listening! Until you hear us next time! 

When the portfolio were still submitted in analog form, it usually looked like this.