Hey, sorry for the long read, but I get questions like this pretty often:
«Hi, hope your good i need one help you told find references for any project before going in but in real-life architecture project it really difficult to get reference can you share some references that you used and the output»
Oh… References, again)) so let me explain:
Yes, references are essential—always and for every project. They really expand your creativity. Let me break it down for you.
Here’s the thing: in our imagination, there’s no such thing as “Terra Incognita”—no blank spots. There’s no idea or thought you can have where your mind will say, “No info, it’s empty.” Your brain will always come up with something.
The less familiar you are with the topic, the blurrier the picture will be, but there will still be a picture.
Here’s a simple example: think of a place you’ve never been—Atlantis, a desert oasis, or a famous city you’ve never visited.
See? You just visualized something in your head. That’s the illusion of knowledge. Clearly, that image isn’t enough to really understand the place, but it’s there anyway.
That’s your brain tricking you. Don’t worry, it’s a survival mechanism to avoid freaking out about how much we don’t know.
Now, back to references. They serve two key purposes:
1. Inspiration and idea-building
References feed your mind with high-quality ideas, which eventually help you develop your own concepts for future projects.
This is something you should do daily—just 20 minutes a day. Follow all the architecture and design pages you can, and unfollow the ones full of memes and random jokes.
Expose yourself to beauty, not silly distractions.
Save the best of what you see into well-organized folders. Even this small step will help. When a new project comes along, your brain will start pulling ideas from this “library,” and you might think, “Oh, I saw something great for this, let me check that folder.”
2. Project preparation (Discovery Phase)
This is the first step of any project, where you set yourself up for success. It can take up to 10% of the project’s total time.
Here’s what you do:
• Study everything you can about the project—its environment, landscape, common materials, cultural context, surrounding buildings, etc.
• Make sure you have everything you need to get started (blueprints, material specs, etc.).
• Identify the key areas to focus on—things like focal points, overall views, or aerial shots.
As you can see, this gives your project structure and makes it much more predictable.
For each of these areas, you’ll need references.
Here’s a list of resources you should follow:
• The Design Files
• Houzz
• The Design Chaser
• ArchDaily
• Arch2O
• Dezeen
• Luxe Source
• Architectural Digest
• Est Living
• Pufik Homes
• Hunker
• Archilovers
• Elle Decor
P.S.
• This is work. It takes time. Don’t expect to figure it all out 15 minutes before starting a project.
• If you’ve already started modeling, adjusted the lighting and shaders, didn’t like how it turned out, and then started looking for references, you’ve already made every possible mistake.
