5 Useful Things for October


Welcome to our October edition of 5 Useful Things. In these mid monthly emails we share with you 5 useful things we have come across during our work and personal time that we hope you will enjoy.

This month we have a variety of discoveries that we hope you will get some value from. If you have stumbled across something that you think our readers would find useful, please let us know!


1. Something To Try

Mind Mapping your Studies

🧠 Make sense of complex briefs or lecture topics visually.

Mind mapping helps with retention and idea generation—especially helpful when planning studio responses or learning new technical concepts.

You can try MindMeister for free below.


2. Something to Listen To

Curate an ‘Architecture Playlist’ for Focus

🎶 Yes, music really helps.

Create different playlists for design, drawing, and reading—ambient, lo-fi beats, instrumental jazz, or whatever keeps you in the flow.

Search Spotify or YouTube for “architecture study playlist.”


3. Something To Watch

Detail Library Videos

Detail Library has just launched its YouTube channel where they introduce their new details each month. Subscribe to make sure you don't miss out on any of the new content.


4. Something to Download

Wood Knowledge Wales

Learn about specifying wood fibre insulation with Wood Knowledge Wales. A great free download to keep in your digital library.


5. Something To Read

Suffolk Cottage Extension

Spend some time admiring this lovely Suffolk cottage extension, featuring beautiful wood shingle exterior and green roof. Just gorgeous.


We hope you find something here that perhaps you haven't stumbled across before. We'll continue to keep our eyes open to anything we think you will find useful or enjoy, and keep you updated every month with our 5 Useful Things.

Thank you, as always, for reading our emails and showing us your love and support. It really means a lot.

All our best,

Emma and the First In Architecture Team

​First In Architecture

First In Architecture

Join 85,000+ active members of the FIA community and sign up to our newsletter to get all the latest news.

Read more from First In Architecture

FIA Journal Hello, I hope you’ve been enjoying the new look and feel of the FIA Journal this year. At the start of the year, we decided to shift the newsletter slightly. Rather than simply sharing updates, we wanted to include more reflection — short thoughts on practice, learning, and the profession, alongside the usual resources. This month, I’ve been thinking about something that crops up often in architecture. The Pressure to Sound Clever in Architecture Something that has always stood...

5 Useful Things Welcome to our February edition of 5 Useful Things. In these mid monthly emails we share with you 5 useful things we have come across during our work and personal time that we hope you will enjoy. This month we have a variety of discoveries that we hope you will get some value from. If you have stumbled across something that you think our readers would find useful, please let us know! 1. Something To Read Residential Retrofit I recently picked up Marion Baeli's celebrated...

FIA Journal Learning, confidence and not knowing everything Hello, Something that keeps coming up for me, even after years of practice and content creation, is imposter syndrome. It doesn't show up the same way it did early on. Back then it was about not knowing enough. Now it's more about questioning whether I have enough experience to be the person sharing this information at all. I regularly catch myself wondering if I should know more, have done more, or be further along before putting...