Chapter 25
Drawing in architectural practice
It is now necessary to explore how freehand drawing is
employed today in design generation by a selection of
leading architects in the UK. The emphasis is not upon
drawings as end products but on the role of drawing in the
process of designing buildings. The investigation is into the
drawings that architects produce – their type at different
points in the evolution of a design idea, the paper and
graphic techniques employed, the interrelationships with
thought processes and other tools such as models and
CAD. The focus is upon the role of drawing in the context
of the architects’ office rather than in the rarefied arena of
the public exhibition or gallery.
In this concluding chapter ten architects were selected
for interview, six with London practices, three based in
Edinburgh and one in Glasgow. Each architect interviewed
was the principal of a large or medium sized practice and
hence the person most likely to be the originator of the
design concept as well as the person most likely to
intervene at later stages. The architects chosen also
represented a wide range of design approach, from those
whose concerns were mainly in urbanism to architects
whose work is seen as high tech, rationalist, art or socially
motivated. In each case study, the architects were selected
because of their reputation as ‘designers’, as evidenced by
the architectural awards won. Each architect was of a
generation trained in the tradition of the freehand drawing
but practising in an age where digital representation was
the norm. The resulting tension between the screen and
the sketchbook interested the author. The nine questions
put to the architects can be divided into three types – those
dealing with the relationship between drawing and thought
processes, those dealing with drawing and problem
solving, and those dealing with drawing techniques and
communication.The key drawing questions addressed
Drawing and abstract thought processes
Can you think without drawing?
Can you draw without designing?
Can you design without drawing?Drawing and practical problem solving
What type of drawing do you begin with?
How do drawing, model-making and CAD interrelate?
How does sketching inform designing?Drawing tools and techniques
What do you draw with?
What do you draw on?
How does the drawing become shared?238 Understanding architecture through drawing