and this has encouraged the rise in the architectural
photograph. Often the architectural photograph is, in fact,
a set of multiple images, collage or photomontage. When
combined with drawing and perhaps physical models
these achieve an experience of architectural possibilities
that any single medium fails to deliver.
The hybrid drawing is also commonly used in the
adaptation of existing buildings. Photography can save a
great deal of time in rendering existing structures and in
making records of changes during the course of
construction. The ‘before’ and ‘after’ images need to be
factually accurate, and hence the lens is preferred to the
sketchbook, particularly for conservation projects.
But often too many details are recorded on the
photograph for the architect’s purpose and hence there is
a tendency to trace over the image in order to focus
on important points. Where existing buildings are
extended, the combination of drawn and photographic
material can narrate a project, drawing attention to the
changes by the different representation media employed.
There commonly emerges therefore a dynamic
relationship between drawn and photographic material,
especially where small-scale interventions are involved.
At its simplest level this could consist of a photograph
over which is drawn a representation of some future
change – perhaps a new building or a design for re-paving
a city square.
Since photographs record everything (in sometimes
excessive detail), many contemporary photographers
choose to abstract their images in an attempt to turn
photography into art. This does not concern us here but
since the photographic image provides a record of reality,
it has encouraged architectural drawing to go beyond
recording the existing world. Modern drawing practice is
concerned with searching for the truths beneath the
surface. In design terms, the drawing is an intellectual
statement of spatial intent expressed through weight of
line, colour, texture, etc. The mental map or diagram of a
project is often the first drawing produced once the brief
has been established, and forms a kind of genetic code
for subsequent design development. Drawings that are
too literal may thwart subsequent design possibilities
although they may be examples of fine draughtsmanship.
It is better to use the diagram with photographic
references at this stage.
Looking back over the past 100 years, it is evident that
the use of freehand drawing has changed under the
impact of photography. Drawing, like painting, has
become more concerned with abstraction on the one
hand, and capturing the spirit of a subject on the other. In
turn the line (once the dominant element of architectural
thought) has become augmented by mark making and a
galaxy of CAD-based graphic effects, as well as the ideas
stemming from photographic artists. Freehand drawing
has begun to take on the mathematical and intellectual
qualities of mechanical drawing in the hands of some
architects. With others, the graphic practices of artists
have been turned towards the subject of architecture with
surprisingly rich results. The symbiotic relationship
between a mechanical architecture and machine-like
drawing evident in the work of Mies van der Rohe
finds its updated version in the graphic language of
architects such as Zaha Hadid. In the latter case the
photorealism of some of the drawn architectural projects
is witness to the power of photography to alter our
understanding of architecture.Drawing and photography 87