perhaps by resort to archival sources or textbooks on
construction. Thematic exploration through drawing aids
learning about the built environment – it helps you to see,
to think and to design.
The book presents a general overview of drawing
practice in the twenty-first century and the principles that
underpin it. The benefits of designing through drawing are
discussed, particularly the way sketching allows options
to be explored conceptually and in detail – this interaction
across the scales is an important characteristic of
drawing. Inevitably in the digital age, there is a great
deal of interplay between freehand drawing and CAD,
especially at the genesis of a project. Different architects
use drawing in different ways but for many, if not most,
architects freehand drawing is the first tool or medium
used in designing a building.
The professional bodies which underpin standards in
architectural education in the UK, namely the Architects
Registration Board (ARB) and the Royal Institute of British
Architects (RIBA), recognise the importance of the facility
to draw to that of becoming an architecture. Under the
criteria for the prescription of architectural courses the
term ‘communication’ is employed. It is used in the
context of evolving and representing architectural design
proposals, and embraces freehand drawing as well as
CAD. Sketching remains an important aspect of being an
architect, even in an age where information technology
(IT) has to an increasing degree displaced traditional
notions of architectural representation. Sketching remains
important to designing and, equally, to understanding the
physical, environmental and cultural context for arch-
itectural practice today.
In presenting new material in this edition, the author
hopes to encourage greater use of the sketchbook and
freehand drawing within architecture and design schools.
The potential of investigating, learning and practising
design through drawing is considerable. However, it is
easy for students to overlook drawing when other more
fashionable or accessible tools, such as CAD and
photographic digitisation, are presented during the
courses of study at undergraduate level. As this
book argues, the power of drawing to get beneath the
surface encourages those who use the sketchbook to
confront the deeper forces at work in shaping
contemporary architecture. Architects were once noted
for their ability to visualise through drawing and this set
them apart from engineers or technicians. In writing this
book the author seeks to revive the tradition of drawing –
not as mere draughtsmanship or documentation, but as a
powerful tool in generating the built forms of the twenty-
first century.Introductionvii