Hand Drawing in the Age of Computers

7/27/2019 Hand Drawing in the Age of Computers

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Hand Drawing in the Age of ComputersJohn Hill| 07.15.2013

Inspired by a recent Alvaro Siza lecture, in which the architect traced the design process of one of his buildingsthrough a myriad of ever-more-refined sketches, we've combed through the profiles on World-Architects tofind sketches and other hand drawingsnot an easy feat, considering the ubiquity of CAD drawings, computer

renderings, and photographs for documenting projects. Nevertheless we've compiled a rich sampling of

drawings to illustrate the valueeven necessityof hand drawings in the age of computers.

The following examples are grouped into two sections: Design & Realization and Process. The former presents a

sketch or other hand drawing alongside a photo of the finished project, highlighting the role of the drawing in

the design's form and realization. The latter presents a few unbuilt projects through hand drawings alongside

other drawing typesCAD drawings, computer renderingsto show the evolution of the design process and its

refinement through various media.

Photo: John Hill/World-Architects

Design & Realization

Allied Works

Sokol Blosser Winery Tasting Room

Dundee, Oregon, USA

2013

Drawing: Brad Cloepfil

Unlike computer models and the renderings that come from them, hand-drawn sketches have the ability to definevarious attributes of a designform, scale, space, and materialitywithout worrying about precision. Sketches askmuch of the imaginationfilling in the blanksbut some of the best architecture manages to recallthe loose sketchesof their origins in their final form. Such is the case with Brad Cloepfil's sketch of the just completed Sokol Blosser

Winery Tasting Room; the section clearly describes how the indoor and outdoor spaces are carved from the longmass, realized through various types of striated wood.

Texto relevante, que se divide em duas partes: num primeiro momento procura-se

perceber a relao do esquisso com o projecto finalizado ou antes, imagem final. Ou outro

interpreta outro tipo de desenhos, como CAD e Renders, pra mostrar a evoluo do

processo de desenho e o refinamento que foi sofrendo.

Notas Pgina 1
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Photo: Andrea Johnson Photography

Bossley Architects

McCahon Artist's Residence

Waitakere, Auckland, New Zealand

2007

Drawing: Andrea Bell

Hand drawings are particularly well suited for mixed media presentations. This drawing of a house and studiodesigned by Bossley Architects for artist Colin McCahon layers a hardline elevation and a looser depiction of the

landscape over a photograph of the trees around the sloping site. The drawing accentuates how the artist's residence"is carefully designed to sit between the many trees," and "the structure is carefully designed to minimizeinterference to trees and site," as the architect describes it.

Photo: Patrick Reynolds

CCS Architecture

The Middlebrook Studios

Woodside, California, USA

2011

Notas Pgina 2
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Drawing: CCS Architecture

This hand-drawn rendering ofstudios for the Djerassi Resident Artists Programexpresses the main ideas of theproject before design development. In particular, each studio is a separate structure that sits underneath a largeshelter propped up by skinny columns; they each look down the slope to the view beyond. In the final execution thenumber of studios is reduced to four from five; the columns sit between the boxes rather than in front of them;angled walls at the edge of the boxes offer additional shade; the canopy is simplified to only one pitch; and the largeglazed areas are reduced to sliding glass doors. Nevertheless the initial ideas are clearly carried through tocompletion.

Photo: Paul Dyer

gmp Architekten von Gerkan, Marg und Partner

Grand Theater

Chingqing, China

2009

Drawing: gmp

A sketch can define broad strokes. This simple marker sketch by gmp for the Grand Theater defines its silhouette onthe skyline and its relationship to the Yangtze Riverthe architect even describes how "the 'Grand Theater' seems tohover above the river." In this sense the design is akin to a ship, something the architect reiterates: "Two concerthalls with their respective foyers are situated in the longitudinal axis, similar to the 'keel line' of a ship, thus formingentrance areas at the bow and the stern. In the center, in other words 'midship' of these entrance areas, is theexhibition hall, which joins all the theatre foyers together."

Notas Pgina 3
http://www.world-architects.com/en/projects/37542_The_Middlebrook_Studioshttp://www.world-architects.com/gmp/http://www.world-architects.com/gmp/http://www.world-architects.com/en/projects/37542_The_Middlebrook_Studios


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Photo: Hans-Georg Esch

GORA art&landscapeCastles in the AirMalm, Sweden2001

Drawing: GORA art&landscape

Poetry can be defined as the use of language as a vessel for meaning, in which the reader's interpretation of thewriter's carefully selected words is paramount. In this sense sketching is the architectural equivalent of poetry,using just enough lines to instill in the viewer a fairly open-ended idea, unlike highly realistic computerrenderings. These "castles in the air" by GORA are a good example, echoed by their poetic description: "Theyare nests of utter simplicity and yet, at the same time, a place for dreams, pleasure and the grandiose. ... Liftyourself above ground level, let go of ground contact, get new prospects and move the horizon further away.You are where the birds are, closer to heaven. It is almost like flying."

Photo: Ursula Striner

Steven Holl ArchitectsSliced Porosity BlockChengdu, Sichuan, China2012

Notas Pgina 4
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Drawing: Steven HollIn Steven Holl's office there are shelves full of gray boxes storing sketchbooks with the daily watercolors he isfamous fortwo books focused on his watercolors have been published to date. Many of the drawings are not

directly related to a project, but they a ll eventually influence his work in some manner, be it in ideas of form,

light, or material, traits his architecture is known for. The above documentation of the 5-building Sliced Porosity

Block highlights the main ideas behind the project as well as details like the geothermal wells and the

relationship of the buildings to the pools in the plaza.

Photo: Iwan Baan

ikon.5 architectsSchindler Elevator Corporation U.S. HeadquartersMorristown, New Jersey, USA2011

Drawing: ikon.5 architects

Watercolors are especially good at capturing intentions of light and space through variations in color. The order

and repetition of this office space for Schindler is clear, but even more it's about the hierarchy of the Swiss-red

conference room at one end. The watercolor clearly follows from the architect's process: "Inspired by

contemporary artists working with light and color to illustrate space and movement, our design creates a series

of one point perspective 'mise en scnes' that abstractly explore movement and displacement." The view from

Notas Pgina 5
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Photo: Ty Cole

McGregor CoxallFormer BP SiteSydney, New South Wales, Australia2005

Drawing: McGregor CoxallOne of the greatest traits of sketching is the ability to easily move between macro and micro scales. These twosketches show the landscape architects at McGregor Coxall working out the idea of a sinuous walkway liftedupon the formerly industrial landscape and the details of the wa lkwaythe benches, the railings, and the

walking surfaces. The notched section of the detailed sketch can be glimpsed on the right side of the

photograph; this opening allows one sitting on the bench opposite to gain a carefully framed view. The sketch

on the left even points to the final form of the V-shaped supports of the walkway.

Photo: Brett Boardman

UNStudioNew Amsterdam Plein & PavilionNew York City, USA2011

Notas Pgina 7
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Drawing: Ben Van Berkel"Flowering out" is the main idea found (and noted) in Ben Van Berkel's sketch of the NY400 Dutch Pavilion,given by the Netherlands to New York City on the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson exploring what laterbecame New Amsterdam. Movement and dynamics are paramount in the sketch. It appears open-ended butclearly it influenced the final form of the pavilion, particularly the relationship of straight to curved lines and thesymmetry of the four wings that "respond to varying orientations on the site," according to the architect.

Photo: James D'Addio

Process

HHF + AWPEPFL PavilionsLausanne, Vaud, Switzerland

Swiss architects HHF and French architects AWP worked together on pavilions for cole Polytechnique Fdralede Lausanne, the site of SANAA's Rolex Learning Centre. The view of the elevated Montreux Jazz Lab pavilion isenvisioned from the Rolex building, both as a schematic cartoon and a more polished rendering. In between is ashaded, CAD elevation that locates the vegetated platforms, gives some scale to the enclosed portion raisedabove the landscape, and accentuates how the plastic roof relates to SANAA's iconic building.

Drawing: Sbastien Perroud

Notas Pgina 8
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Drawing: HHF + AWP

Visualization: SBDA

KSP Jrgen Engel ArchitektenQingdao Science and Te chnology CenterQingdao, Shandong, China

Given the scale of urban planning projects, sketching is extremely important for articulating ideas beforedrawing and modeling buildings in the computer. It is particularly important in China, with its rapid urbanizationand tabularasa sites. This loose sketch for the competition-winning master plan for the Qingdao Science andTechnology Center conveys ideas of density, scale, and open space along the river cutting through the site.These things are found in the overall plan and the detailed rendering, even as building forms evolved in concertwith the plan's development.

Drawing: KSP Jrgen Engel Architekten

Notas Pgina 9
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Drawing: KSP Jrgen Engel Architekten

Visualization: KSP Jrgen Engel Architekten

O&O BaukunstKunstkonsulatDsseldorf, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany

These drawings from the studio of Laurids and Manfred Ortner for an unbuilt development near the Rhine Riverillustrates how certain media are appropriate at different stages. The rough pencil sketch establishes therelationship between the tower and adjacent lower buildings; the pastel rendering articulates the elevations ofthe tower through openings and color; and the computer elevation refines the tower's form and facade evenfurther.

Drawing: Manfred Ortner

Notas Pgina 10
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Painting: Manfred Ortner

Visualization: O&O Baukunst

vin.mueller architectsSunehri Bagh RedevelopmentNew Delhi, Delhi, India

From their first sketch to the hard-lined CAD plan for "the re-densification of plots of colonial bungalows thatare being used as housing for senior government functionaries in the heart of central Delhi," vin.mueller'sarrangement of rooms alternating with outdoor spaces in parallel bars is present. The architect asserts that theexisting bungalows "have proven completely unviable given the local climate." In turn, their design offers "theintegration of landscape and architectureinnovative sectional relationships between the earth, the building,

the garden, and the sky."

Drawing: vin.mueller architects

Notas Pgina 11
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Drawing: vin.mueller architects

Drawing: vin.mueller architects- See more at: http://www.world-architects.com/pages/page_item/hand-drawing-age-computers#sthash.LQ3Dhyvd.dpuf

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Hand Drawing in the Age of Computers

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