Matisse collages that inspired the Bilbao Guggenheim,
mirrors that of the sculptor Richard Serra who describes
drawing as a ‘verb’ with the emphasis on process rather
than product. Gehry’s design drawings approach that
‘perpetual state of becoming’ identified by Laura Hopton
(Hopton 2002 p11) and explored in the ‘Drawing Now’
exhibition at MoMA, New York in 2002. These emerging
currents are beginning to influence mainstream
architectural practice in the UK, judging by the designers’
inner thoughts voiced in the interviews conducted (see
next chapter) and the sketches produced. But if traditional
freehand drawing remains paramount at the start of
projects, CAD offers the chance to realise forms that
could previously only be imagined. In the digital age CAD
appears to bridge the worlds, if not of theory and practice,
at least of art and architecture.24.10
This masterplan sketch by Malcolm Fraser shows the benefits of mixing
line and text. (Malcolm Fraser)Designing through drawing 237