Chapter 22
Exploration through the sketchbook –
some suitable subjects
Developing a personal appreciation of buildings and
places through the sketchbook benefits from a structured
approach. The pursuit of design experience via the
freehand drawing requires an allocation of time and the
selection of topics relevant to your urban enquiries.
Rather than try to draw a whole town, it is often useful to
focus upon part of a neighbourhood or a particular topic
and explore it systematically. For example, you may
decide to concentrate upon one street and show how its
character changes from one end to another. Alternatively,
you could focus your attention on a square or courtyard,
recording how the buildings relate to the space, and how
people interact with it.
As a student exercise it is often valuable to record and
analyse through the sketchbook the key qualities of
places, from their skyline to the spaces between buildings
and the edges of districts. In fact a systematic exploration
of topics along the following lines can heighten one’s
personal understanding of places.
KEY STREETS
Choose a street with which you are familiar and sketch
interesting buildings or details, such as distinctive
façades, signs or shopfronts, or spaces set back from the
street. Once you have walked along the street a few
times, storing in your mind the key qualities and
significant buildings, your next task is to record them
through the freehand sketch and perhaps to locate them
on a sketch plan of the street. Some points to note might
be the positions and design of signs, changes in the angle
of the street, and deliberate points of punctuation. If the
street is a major one, you will probably find important
shops or civic buildings located along it.
Once the exploration is complete and you have
a collection of sketches and a plan, you can then begin
to analyse the street by noting the critical factors in
its design. Although valuable in itself and in your growing
awareness of places, the exercise could lead to
you suggesting changes in the design of the street to
enhance its qualities. Sites for new buildings could be
identified and sketch designs prepared, or suggestions
could be made for tree planting or even traffic
management.
Part of your exploration could involve the study of
façades of buildings along the street. The patterns of
windows, the rhythm created by the varying widths and
heights of buildings and the different materials employed
in their construction make good subjects for sketchbook
analysis. Your drawings may consist of both a formal
study of the street, in which detail is edited out, and a198 Understanding architecture through drawing