Penn Professors on Writing in Architecture

Dr. William Braham

About the Professor

Dr. Braham received a Bachelor of Science in Engineering at Princeton University and completed both his Master and PhD in Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania. He is currently the Director of the Master of Environmental Building Design and of the TC Chan Center for Building Simulation and Energy Studies. As Director, he has helped to develop some of the major sustainability plans here at Penn such as the Carbon Reduction Action Plan. At the University of Pennsylvania, he is an Associate Professor of Architecture and teaches graduate-level architecture courses focusing on ecology, technology, and design.

Dr. Braham's University Webpage

Personal Writing Process

For Dr. Braham, the idea for a piece of writing materializes after recognizing a problem. In his area of expertise, sustainable architecture, there are a number of problems that can become eventual topics for a paper. The writing, according to Dr. Braham, starts "when you have that first sentence [like a thesis or proposition]" that encompasses the problem. When the sentence grabs his attention, Dr. Braham knows it is paper-worthy.

Once he feels confident about the first sentence, he uses the pre-writing strategy of free-writing to bring out the argument, or what he describes as "writing to think." Later, he organizes his thoughts from the pre-writing exercise into sentences, paragraphs, and sections. The process repeats until he has a piece of writing that he feels has properly addressed the problem or topic.

Writing Tips

For students, Dr. Braham recommends The Elements of Style by William Strunk and E.B. White to help improve their writing and serve as a valuable handbook.

Important Criteria for Student Writing

Dr. Braham ranked the following criteria as important for student writing:

Reasoning and evidence
Having original ideas
Demonstrating mastery of other's ideas
Organization