Penn Professors on Writing in Architecture
Dr. Franca Trubiano
About the Professor
Dr. Trubiano received a Master and Bachelor of Architecture at McGill University and completed a PhD at the University of Pennsylvania. She is a registered architect, researcher, educator, and published author.
As a Research Associate of the Energy Efficient Buildings HUB and a researcher at the University of Pennsylvania, her research encompasses tectonic theories, architectural ecology and integrated design, and high performance construction technology, buildings and materials.
At the University of Pennsylvania, she teaches high performance building design studies and Construction Technology seminars in the graduate and post-professional Masters of Environmental Building Design Program.
She edited and co-authored Design and Construction of High Performance Homes: Building Envelopes, Renewable Energies and Integrated Practice, and wrote in Architecture and Energy, along with Architecture and Uncertainty. Her work has also been published in DETAIL, Journal of Architectural Education, SCAPES, Chora, and Encyclopedia of Twentieth Century Architecture.
Dr. Trubiano's University Webpage
Personal Writing Process
In describing her writing process, Dr. Trubiano indicates that her ideas for writing come from a "certain intuition" that one gets from their extended experience in the field of architecture. Before actually writing, she likes to sit down and make a list, or a map, of her ideas for the piece. The map doesn't originally have to have a hierarchy as that can come later. What it does have is several sections each containing an overarching question with key points and subsections. She explains further that she designs each section with the intent to "distill the essence of each of the questions." Her writings today pertain to the high efficiency building market and theories of design.
Important Criteria for Student Writing
Dr. Trubiano ranked the following criteria as important for student writing:
- Reasoning and evidence
- Organization
- Grammar and mechanics
- Having original ideas
- Following the discipline's citation practices
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