It has become fashionable in many architectural circles to declare the death of drawing. What has happened to our profession, and to our art, that has led to the loss of our most powerful means of imagining and representing architecture? Computers, of course. With its tremendous ability to organize and present data, the computer is changing every aspect of how architects work, from sketching their first impressions of an idea to creating complex construction documents for contractors. For centuries, the noun "digit" (from the Latin "digitus") has been interpreted as "finger", but now its adjective form, "digital", refers to data.
Are our hands becoming obsolete as creative tools? Are they being replaced by machines? And where does this leave the architectural creative process? Architects today commonly use computer-aided design software with names like AutoCAD and Rivet, a tool for "building information modeling." Buildings are no longer designed only visually and spatially. They are "computed" by interconnected databases.
Most architects use these and other software programs routinely, primarily for
Napkin Sketch
construction documentation, but also for developing designs and making presentations. There's nothing inherently problematic about that, as long as it's not just that.
Architecture cannot separate itself from drawing, no matter how impressive the technology. Drawings are not just final products: they are part of the architectural design thinking process. Drawing shows the interaction of our mind, eyes and hands. This last statement is important for the distinction between architectural visualizers and computer users.
It has been said that architectural drawings can be divided into three types. "Reference Sketch," "Preparatory Study" and "Final Drawing". Final drawings, the last and most advanced of the three, are almost universally produced on computers today, and rightly so. But what about the other two? What is their importance in the creative process? What can they teach us?
The reference diagram serves as a visual diary, a record of an architect's discovery. It can be as simple as a shorthand notation for a design concept or describe the details of a larger structure. It should not be a drawing that relates to a particular building or period in history. It is unlikely to represent "reality" but to capture an idea.
Thus, these diagrams are inherently fragmented and selective. The drawing is a reminder of the idea that led someone to record it in the first place. That visual connection, that thought process cannot be replicated by a computer.
Commercial Building Sketch
The other type of drawing, the preparatory study, is usually part of the development of drawings that define the design. Like a reference diagram, it cannot depict a linear process. (Computer-aided design is often more linear.) Designers may choose to draw on translucent yellow tracing paper, allowing them to layer one drawing on top of another they've already drawn. Can build on that and, again, create a personal emotional connection with the work.
With both these types of drawings, there is a certain joy in their creation, which comes from the interplay of mind and hand. Our physical and mental interactions with drawing are creative processes. Hand-drawn drawings, whether on an electronic tablet or on paper, contain inspiration, traces of intentions and speculation. It's not unlike the way a musician can develop a note or how a riff in jazz will be perfectly understood and put a smile on your face.
This is quite different from today's "parametric design," which allows a computer to create a form from a set of instructions, sometimes resulting in so-called blob architecture. The designs are intricate and interesting in their own way, but hand drawn designs lack emotional content.
Working with today's computer literate students and staff shows that something is lost when they just draw on the computer. It's like reading the words of a novel out loud, when reading them on paper allows us to daydream a little, to make connections beyond the literal sentences on the page.
Los Angeles napkin sketch
Likewise, hand drawing stimulates the imagination and allows us to speculate about ideas, a good sign that we are truly alive.