Thinking through Hand-drawing during the Design process
Demetra Voskou AIM:704 Architectural Humanities Design Theory School of Architecture and Design, University of Brighton
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Figure 1: Spatial interplay. Conceptual drawing, by Author, investigating how spaces are connected in section. (Materials: pencil, mechanical ink pen, colour pencils on Japanese rice paper and canvas fabric). D.V. Portfolio. 2015
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Thinking through Hand-drawing during the Design process
Name: Demetra Voskou Student Number: 10832475 Module: AIM:704 Architectural Humanities Design Theory Word Count: 4218 Date of Submission: 20/4/2015 Tutor: Emma Cheatle
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Contents LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ........................................................................................................................... 7 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................... 9 THE HAND ............................................................................................................................................. 12 1.1 DEFINITION ......................................................................................................................................... 12 1.2 HAND-EYE-BRAIN ................................................................................................................................. 12 1.3 THE HAND AS CHARACTER ....................................................................................................................... 15 1.4 THE TOOL IN THE HAND .......................................................................................................................... 16 1.5 SURGEON HAND ................................................................................................................................... 17 1.6 TIME .................................................................................................................................................. 18 DESIGN .................................................................................................................................................. 22 2.1 DEFINITION ......................................................................................................................................... 22 2.2 ORIGIN ............................................................................................................................................... 23 2.3 DESIGN IN ART ..................................................................................................................................... 24 2.4 CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................................................... 25 THE HAND-DRAWING ............................................................................................................................ 28 3.1 DEFINITION ......................................................................................................................................... 28 3.2 TYPES ................................................................................................................................................. 29 3.3 HAND-EYE-BRAIN ................................................................................................................................. 30 3.4 LINE ................................................................................................................................................... 33 3.5 THINKING THROUGH DRAWING................................................................................................................. 34 CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................................................... 37 BIBLIOGRAPHY ...................................................................................................................................... 41
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List of illustrations
Figure 1: Demetra Voskou, Rehabilitation Centre, 2015. Spatial interplay. Drawing Demetra Voskou Figure 2: Christine L MacKenzie, Thea Iberall, Hand's strategy to grasp an object, 1994. The Grasping Hand (Amsterdam: North-Holland),p.340 , Scaned Image. Demetra Voskou Figure 3: Christine L MacKenzie, Thea Iberall, Central Nervous System, 1994. The Grasping Hand (Amsterdam: North-Holland),p. 73, Scaned Image. Demetra Voskou Figure 4: Allan Pease, Types of Handshake, 1984. Body language: how to read others' thoughts by their gestures, 2nd edn (London: Sheldon), [Accessed 30/3/2015], http://www.iwaha.com/ebook/blbook/index22 Figure 5: Barbara Hepworth, Study of Surgeon's Hands, 1971. The Fitzwilliam Museum. Drawing, [Accessed 2/4/2015] http://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/opac/search/cataloguedetail.html?&priref=10845&_functi on_=xslt&_limit_=50 Figure 6: Shelley D. Spray, Surgeon retracting during surgery in the operating room, 2002, Paris, Accessed 9/2/2015, http://www.corbisimages.com/photographer/shelley-d-spray Figure 7: Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Holy Island Castle, Northumberland. 1901. Glasgow University: Mackintosh Collection. In Brian Edwards, Understanding Architecture Through Drawing, 1st edn (London: E & FN Spon, 1994), p. 5
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Figure 8: Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Sketches for a barn in Suffolk. 1901. Glasgow University: Mackintosh Collection. in Brian Edwards, Understanding Architecture Through Drawing, 1st edn (London: E & FN Spon, 1994), p. 50 Figure 9: Carlo Scarpa, Statua di Cangrande, 1961-1964. Museo di Castelvecchio, Verona. [Accessed 30/3/2015] http://www.archiviocarloscarpa.it/web/disegni_scheda.php?lingua=e&scheda=301 Figure 10: Alvar Aalto, Veputi Library, 1927-1935. Topographical reference. Studio International. [Accessed 28/2/2015] http://www.studiointernational.com/index.php/aaltoand-america Figure 11: Demetra Voskou, Rehabilitation Centre, 2015. Entrance. Drawing. Demetra Voskou Figure 12: Demetra Voskou, Rehabilitation Centre, 2015. Analysis through movement and sight. Drawing Demetra Voskou
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Introduction 'Drawing is the process or technique of representing something - an object, a scene, or an idea by making lines on a surface'.1 For architects, drawing is the medium through which they communicate with the world, the medium to perceive architecture. Drawing is the tool for thinking and developing ideas; it is as valuable, as the incision is for a surgeon. The role of the drawing differs according to professions. For instance, a drawing for a builder provides a solution to a present problem, something that will be dead by the moment the builder gets back home. Nevertheless, the multiple roles and functions of the drawing is not what interests me for this essay. Using hand-drawing in the early stages of design, is what I want to focus on.
Hand-drawing used to be the essential tool to design architecture. This changed when in the 1960s, the first digital software was published to help designers save time and money. Since then, new technologies have been developed for designing and presenting architectural projects and as a result the role of hand-drawing has potentially become lost. Although I do not deny the benefits of the computer, I personally admire the value of hand-drawing, which is my choice for approaching a design. Using my hands helps me to think more carefully while drawing and translate my ideas from my mind to the paper more accurately for a variety of reasons, such as freedom, scale, speed and others that will be explained later on.
Therefore, my essay evaluates several questions, in order to get a clear understanding of the reasons that make hand-drawing essential during the design process as a medium of thinking. I 1
Francis D. K Ching, Steven P. Juroszek, Design Drawing, (New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1998), p. 1
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question why I find it easier to transform the image from my mind to the paper when drawing by hand and how this happens. With a short scientific analysis I explore the hand-eye coordination and their relationship with the brain. I then examine the term design, since it is a word with multiple meanings. Frequently, the word is used to describe what's on the drawing, yet on other occasions it is used as a synonym to the word drawing. Therefore, I develop a possible understanding of the definition of the word design, in order to be able to describe hand-drawing as a tool for perceiving it.
The essay is divided in three chapters; the hand, the design and the hand-drawing. The first chapter examines the coordination system of hand-eye-brain through a scientific and philosophical point of view. The second chapter investigates the meaning of design since the 20th century, when design joined the liberal arts. The third and main chapter of the essay is based on the conclusions made during the research in the prior chapters. It explains why handdrawing is the essential tool for thinking and observing and for developing and creating architecture. The research follows a historical, philosophical, scientific and personal approach, as being understood by writers such as Juhaani Pallasmaa, Adrian Forty, David Dernie, Robin Evans, Brian Edwards, Christine MacKenzie and Thea Iberall
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The Hand 'A hand is not simply part of the body, but the expression and continuation of a thought which must be captured and conveyed'. --Honore de Balzac (1832)2
1.1 Definition The hand, as defined in biology, is the end part of a person’s arm beyond the wrist, including the palm, fingers, and thumb. The fingers and thumb are 'made up of a collection of bones, muscles, ligaments, fascia and vascular structures encapsulated' by skin; American scientists Christine Mackenzie and Thea Iberall explain, in their book 'The Grasping hand'. 3 In philosophy, as described by Immanuel Kant, the hand is the window to the mind.4 The hand is the visual representative of the world hidden inside the human brain.
1.2 Hand-Eye-Brain A sensory neuron and a motor neuron, through which information is transmitted, connects the brain to the hand. In order for the hand-brain coordination to be successful, a third component must be included; the eye.
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Maurice Ponty, Hubert L. Dreyfus, Sense and Non-sense, (Illinois: Northwestern University Press, 1992), p. 68 3 Christine L MacKenzie, Thea Iberall, The Grasping Hand, (Amsterdam: North-Holland, 1994), p. 4 4 Juhani Pallasmaa, The Thinking Hand: Existential and Embodied Wisdom in Architecture (Chichester: Wiley, 2010), p. 25
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The eye has an important role on how the brain controls the hand. As we look, the eye touches, and before we see an object, we have already touched it and judged its weight, temperature and surface texture.5 Additional information assessed by vision is the shape, size, distance and orientation in respect of the body, and if in motion, direction and velocity of the object.6 The brain, in collaboration with the eye, gives instructions to the hand on how to grasp an object, the pencil. The hand opens into some suitable shape for grasping and manipulation (suitable in the sense that the person's understanding of the object influences the shape of the hand).7
Figure 2: Hand's strategy to grasp an object. Diagram showing the movement of the hand from the preparation to the actual grasp of an object. The Grasping Hand. 1994 The fingers extend to some suitable shape and as the hand gets closer to the object, the fingers form a more accurate position.
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Juhani Pallasmaa, The Thinking Hand: Existential and Embodied Wisdom in Architecture (Chichester: Wiley, 2010), p. 101 6 Christine L MacKenzie, Thea Iberall, The Grasping Hand, (Amsterdam: North-Holland, 1994), p. 76 7 Christine L MacKenzie, Thea Iberall, The Grasping Hand, (Amsterdam: North-Holland, 1994), p. 76
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Figure 3: Central Nervous System. Diagram showing the nerves that connect the hand with the brain. The grasping Hand. 1994 Scientific analysis of hand-brain coordination that leads to the assumption of also a metaphorical connection.
Humans are quite accurate at matching the distance between two opposable surfaces of an object with an aperture between the thumb and index finger. These experiments demonstrate that the CNS [Central Nervous System] can plan a hand opening to match a perceived object. The CNS is the part of the nervous system which in vertebrates consists of the brain and spinal cord, to which sensory impulses are transmitted and from which motor impulses come out, and which coordinates the activity of the entire nervous system.8 It is the power of the CNS that distinguishes humans from other animals.9 Although monkeys are similar to humans in 8
Jane Mairs, central nervous system (2015) <http://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/central%20nervous%20system> [accessed 3 April 2015] 9 Christine L MacKenzie, Thea Iberall, The Grasping Hand, (Amsterdam: North-Holland, 1994), p. 3
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both body shape and movement, dolphins have a more closely related culture; this is because of similarities in their brains. Likewise, 2500 years ago, the Greek philosopher Anaxagoras used to think that ‘humans were intelligent because they had hands’. 10
1.3 The hand as character Hands are our identity, they reveal one’s occupation. Everyone has a different character, hence a different hand that reveals it. The police, for example, uses one's fingerprints in order to identify a person. Even smart phones are now able to identify their owner through his/her fingertips. Metaphorically, as well, the hand exposes the character of a person. While shaking hands, for instance, one gets an initial idea of the identity of the person in front of him. As Juhani Pallasmaa puts it, 'hands can tell epic stories of entire lives', 'they have a social role'.11 Furthermore, Betty Edwards, American art teacher and author, writes 'every time you write your name, you have
Figure 4: Types of Handshake. Diagram showing the four basic types of handshake, as described by Allan Pease One is able to initialise an idea about a person through handshaking. Unless both hands are perpendicular to the ground, one is being dominant to the other.
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Marjorie O'Rourke Boyle, Senses of Touch: Human Dignity and Deformity from Michelangelo to Calvin, (Leiden: Brill, 1998), p. 13 11 Juhani Pallasmaa, The Thinking Hand: Existential and Embodied Wisdom in Architecture (Chichester: Wiley, 2010), p. 27, 29
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expressed yourself through the use of line'. 12 The hand is therefore the key to what is inside the brain. From that, I could say that drawing by hand, is a way to express not only what is in the mind but also the character of the person. As Norman Capener also said, the hand is 'an instrument of sensation and expression'.13
1.4 The tool in the hand 'The brain does not live inside the hand, it reaches out of the body and with the body it reaches out to the world’, Pallasmaa says.14 The hand is the extension of the brain and the tool [that he/she is holding in his/her hand] is the extension of the hand. The tool has grown to be part of the hand.15 The brain does not only prepare the hand to grasp an object but also how to use it to function properly. Specifically, the brain guides the hand on how to use the tool, which direction to follow, with how much strength and speed to function with as well as which body parts (from the shoulder to the fingers) to use. With tools, the hand can either be enhanced in its power (as with a wrench) or in its precision (as with a needle). As with other activities, in drawing, the tool becomes inseparable extension of the mind. The architect's hand becomes one with the tool and soon the tool becomes a part of the body. The drawing is
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Betty Edwards, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain: A Course in Enhancing Creativity and Artistic Confidence, (Los Angeles , J.P. Tarcher, 1979; London , Souvenir, 1981), p. 20 13 Norman Capener, 'The hand in surgery', The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, 38 B, (1956), 128-151, (p. 151) 14 Juhani Pallasmaa, The Thinking Hand: Existential and Embodied Wisdom in Architecture (Chichester: Wiley, 2010), p. 33 15 Juhani Pallasmaa, The Thinking Hand: Existential and Embodied Wisdom in Architecture (Chichester: Wiley, 2010), p. 48
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then created by means of the unconscious intentionality of the mind rather than the brush as a physical object.16
Figure 5: Study of Surgeon's Hands. Drawing by the sculptor Barbara Hepworth. (Materialas: graphite, gesso, strawboard). Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. 1947 These are studies about tools as extensions of the hand. There is a real empathy with the feeling of the tools in the hands.
1.5 Surgeon hand For a surgeon more than for most people the hand is one part of the body whose function is constantly under observation.17 As Capener writes, 'hands in action reflect so much of intellect 16
Juhani Pallasmaa, The Thinking Hand: Existential and Embodied Wisdom in Architecture (Chichester: Wiley, 2010), p. 50 17 Norman Capener, 'The hand in surgery', The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, 38 B, (1956), 128-151, (p. 128)
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and character and furthermore are instruments of sensibility and of expression'. 18 Surgical tools are divided in two categories, the ones that need to be guided specifically from the left or right hemisphere of the brain (hence, they are designed for being used by one hand) and the ones that can be guided from either hemisphere. When a surgeon holds a scalpel, the index finger is placed along the edge while the object in turn is grasped by the other fingers within the palm.19 Depending on its function, the surgical instrument is held differently. Similarly, the architect reaches out the index finger and then the rest of the fingers, to grasp the pen to start observing the image rendered in his/her mind. The architect becomes the doctor and the pencil becomes the lancet; the drawing then becomes a surgery. In both cases, the practitioner's hand is controlled by the brain and the tool has become a part of the body. The difference however, is that the surgeon's movements have to be done consciously, while the architect can go free hand; which is why drawing tools are not specifically designed for use with one hand.
1.6 Time Between the visual touch with an object until the actual grasp with the hand, a delay is observed. What is happening during that time? This is the time required for the brain to absorb and manipulate all the information and plan the most efficient strategy to shape and orientate the hand. A cost-efficient plan is when fewer or easier movements in less time are to be followed. The process, according to Mackenzie and Iberall is as follows: 1.
Perceiving task specific object properties
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Norman Capener, 'The hand in surgery', The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, 38 B, (1956), 128-151 (p. 128) 19 Christine L MacKenzie, Thea Iberall, The Grasping Hand, (Amsterdam: North-Holland, 1994), p. 30
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Selecting a grasp strategy
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Planning a hand location and orientation20
Consequently, before one starts to draw, he/she takes some time to consider the most efficient tool to work with; the one that will be more expressive in less time.
Figure 6: Surgeon retracting during sugery in the operating room. Photograph by Shelley D. Spray (Paris). Corbis Images. 2002 The photograph shows how carefully the surgeon handles the tools, as he is not allowed to make mistakes; concentration is needed. On the contrary, architects can go freehand. The brain - hand coordination works differently. 20
Christine L MacKenzie, Thea Iberall, The Grasping Hand, (Amsterdam: North-Holland, 1994), p. 63
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Figure 7: Holy Island Castle, Northumberland. Drawing on site by Charles Rennie Mackintosh (Material: pencil). Glasgow University: Mackintosh Collection, 1901. 'Charles Rennie Mackintosh possessed a unique vision which embraced not only his freehand drawings and watercolours, but also his designs as an architect. This sketch by him of the castle at Holy Island in Northumberland 21 is similar in spirit to his more adventures designs'.
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Brian Edwards, Understanding Architecture Through Drawing, 1st edn (London: E & FN Spon, 1994), p.
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Design 'Design is a process of going back and forth among hundreds of ideas, where partial solutions and details are repeatedly tested in order to gradually reveal and fuse a complete rendition [...] architectural or artistic entity'. --Juhani Pallasmaa (2010)22
2.1 Definition Architects are commonly referred to as designers, as are painters, sculptors and engineers. When it comes to define the word design, most people find it hard to explain in a sentence. Why is it such a confusing word?23 According to Adrian Forty, design is both verb and noun. On the one hand, design is the activity of preparing instructions for making an object or a building (verb). On the other hand, design is the instructions themselves, particularly in the form of drawings (noun). Also, design is defined as the work produced from the instructions as one may refer to an object or a building 'I like the design'.24
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Juhani Pallasmaa, The Thinking Hand: Existential and Embodied Wisdom in Architecture (Chichester: Wiley, 2010), p. 107 23 Adrian Forty, Words and Buildings: A vocabulary of Modern Architecture (London: Thames and Hudson, 2000),p. 136 24 Adrian Forty, Words and Buildings: A vocabulary of Modern Architecture (London: Thames and Hudson, 2000),p. 136
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2.2 Origin The word itself derives from the Italian word disegno which means drawing, a word which was used in England during the 17th century to describe the drawings of the architect Sir Roger Pratt.25 Although there is no clear evidence on when the definition of design was first created, it was used by Leon Battista Alberti in the 15th century to explain that 'the whole art of the building consists in the design, and in the structure'. 26 Giacomo Leoni, who translated Alberti' s quote in 1726, suggested that 'design/structure' was a way of describing two aspects of a single activity - architecture.27 Architecture (Latin architectura, after the Greek ἀρχιτέκτων – arkhitekton – from ἀρχι- 'chief' and τέκτων 'builder, carpenter, mason) is the mother of all the arts.28 Until the 17th century the word design mainly referred to drawings, i.e. the instructions to produce design. The word design, defined as the resulted object, started being used during the 18th century. In 1790, Immanuel Kant wrote, in the Critique of judgment, that 'in painting, sculpture, and in all the formative arts—in architecture, and horticulture, so far as they are
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Adrian Forty, Words and Buildings: A vocabulary of Modern Architecture (London: Thames and Hudson, 2000),p. 136 26 Simon Varey, Space and the Eighteenth-Century English Novel, Volume 1, (Cambridge: The University Press, 1951), p. 47 27 Adrian Forty, Words and Buildings: A vocabulary of Modern Architecture (London: Thames and Hudson, 2000),p. 137 28 William Allin Storrer, The Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright: a complete catalog, (Third ed., London: The University of Chicago Press, Ltd, 2002), p. 13
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beautiful arts—the design is the essential thing”.29 'Design concerns what is not construction', Forty concludes.30
2.3 Design in Art Design joins the liberal arts in the early 20th century, and architecture is divided in two categories, the practice and the mental product;31 the one that is being produced by experience and the one that is being taught. Earlier in the 19th century, John Ruskin, artist philosopher, was also a supporter of the idea of design being a mental activity. In fact, he valued Gothic architecture because of the freedom (freedom of the mind) enjoyed by the medieval craftsman to direct his own work. 32 Though understanding the existence of design as an art on its own, Ruskin barely used the word to describe architecture (by which he generally meant the specific sense of ‘drawing’)33.
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Immanuel Kant, The Critique of Judgment, trans. Meredith James Creed (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1911), p. 21 30 Adrian Forty, Words and Buildings: A vocabulary of Modern Architecture (London: Thames and Hudson, 2000),p. 136 31 Adrian Forty, Words and Buildings: A vocabulary of Modern Architecture (London: Thames and Hudson, 2000),p. 138 32 Adrian Forty, Words and Buildings: A vocabulary of Modern Architecture (London: Thames and Hudson, 2000),p. 138 33 Adrian Forty, Words and Buildings: A vocabulary of Modern Architecture (London: Thames and Hudson, 2000),p. 138
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2.4 Conclusion Designers, therefore, can be defined as those who use drawing to perceive art; to perceive design. Design is the thinking and drawing is the medium to transfer the thought from the mind to the hand to the paper. Designing is to create and develop new ideas and drawing is the creative act of that discovery. 34
Figure 8: Sketches for a barn in Suffolk. Sketch drawn by Mackintosh with a drawing technique developed by sketching existing buildings. (Material: pencil). Glasgow University: Mackintosh Collection. 1905 Mackintosh carefully composes his drawings. In this sketch of a barn in Suffolk he superimposes elevations, details and perspective views both to inform the viewer 35 and enliven the page.
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David Dernie, Architectural Drawing, (Second ed. London: Laurence King Publishing, 2010), p. 62 Brian Edwards, Understanding Architecture Through Drawing, 1st edn (London: E & FN Spon, 1994), p. 50 35 35
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The Hand-drawing 'Drawing is the discipline by which I constantly rediscover the world' -- Frederick Franck (1988)36
3.1 Definition Drawing, similarly to the design, can be defined both as verb and a noun; a drawing is produced by drawing. To be more precise it is a two-dimensional piece created by lines drawn on a surface with a tool. A tool is an object that is being used with the hand or a different part of the body and generates lines. However, drawing is more than that. According to Pallasmaa, drawing is a process of observation and expression, receiving and giving, at the same time. 37 Lines can be drawn consciously and unconsciously. In my opinion, while drawing consciously one is giving information to the drawing, contrary, to drawing unconsciously, where one is receiving information from the drawing. Drawings can be divided in several categories in terms of purpose (why is it made for), material (what is it made from), style (how is it made - usually this is derived from the purpose and material) and type (where is being viewed from). Although there are standard drawing types, styles and materials, people tend to develop personal drawing techniques with which they feel more expressive.
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Betty Edwards, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain: A Course in Enhancing Creativity and Artistic Confidence, (Los Angeles , J.P. Tarcher, 1979; London , Souvenir, 1981), p. 4 37 Juhani Pallasmaa, The Thinking Hand: Existential and Embodied Wisdom in Architecture (Chichester: Wiley, 2010), p. 90
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3.2 Types Depending on the profession, a person uses drawing for different purposes. For example, a builder will make a sketch (style) to investigate how the window will be placed on the wall (purpose), by using pencil (material) - probably because pencil is a tool easy to find, it doesn't run out, like the pen, and can be used easily in any direction (technical inks don't write when they are parallel to the ground due to gravity). A designer, will make different types of drawings for different purposes; a drawing to develop an initial idea (style: sketch), a working drawing to develop that idea further (style: depends on the personal preferences of oneself), an instructional drawing for the builders (style: detailed drawing - most probably to be drawn digitally for accuracy), and a rendering to create a realistic image of the project (style: depends on the receiver- the client or creator- the drawing might be sketchy, conceptual or photographic). When setting up a drawing one must remember that a drawing cannot show everything. In order to choose the most suitable tools and drawing style, one must specify to him/herself the reason of making it. Apart from the style and the materiality of the drawing, one must also choose a suitable type of drawing. The most common types of drawing are plan, section, elevation, perspective and axonometric. Often, a drawing consists of more than one type as there is a need of shifting between them.
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Figure 9: Statua di Cangrande. Drawing by Carlo Scarpa for one of the main additions he designed for the Castelvecchio museum in Verona. (Material: Graphite, charcoal, pastel, colour crayons on eliografica paper. Museo di Castelvecchio. 1961-1964 The drawing is a hybrid experimental drawing shifting between different scales and types of drawings. The use of colour is not realistic, instead it exists to emphasize the main elements of the drawing and show the connection between them.
3.3 Hand-Eye-Brain According to Robin Evans, drawing is a device of thinking and imagining. For an architect, drawing is a device for translation towards the act of building. 38 To translate is to convey
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Robin Evans, Translations from Drawing to Building and other essays (London: Architectural Association, 1997), p. 9
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something from one form to another with the minimum lost. While translating from language to language, things get bent, broken or lost on the way, something that occurs while translating words to buildings.39 This is where the role of the drawing begins. As Evans puts it, drawing with its peculiar powers, is the unfailing communicant between words and building, because drawing is the connection between mind and building.40 To draw is to convey information; imaginary or real from the mind to the drawing surface. In both cases, the drawing contains a part of its creator and his/her mental world, 41 according to Pallasmaa. When the brief of the project is set, one starts imaging the atmosphere of the space and tries to convey that image to a physical drawing. Because of the hand-eye-brain coordination system, hand-drawing can be considered as the most suitable tool to translate that image. The image is transferred from the mind to the hand and the pen starts to draw unconsciously. Sometimes one needs to let the pen draw for him. The hand, as explained in chapter one, is very powerful, it can think before you. Patrick Lynch, one of the practitioners of the exhibition "Lines of Enquiry", described drawing as a dream:
'On other occasions drawing feels like dreaming, absorbing your whole attention and energy, so that you feel afterwards as if you have awoken from visiting a strange place. More accurately perhaps, you draw out images from memory'.42 39
Robin Evans, Translations from Drawing to Building and other essays (London: Architectural Association, 1997), p. 154 40 Robin Evans, Translations from Drawing to Building and other essays (London: Architectural Association, 1997), p. 154 41 Juhani Pallasmaa, The Thinking Hand: Existential and Embodied Wisdom in Architecture (Chichester: Wiley, 2010), p. 91 42 Barry Phipps, Lines of Enquiry: Thinking through Drawing (Cambridge: Kettle's Yard, 2006), p.5
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People have experienced different events on their lives. These experiences are conscious or unconscious inspirations of the design or the drawing technique itself. Therefore, it could be said that drawing is not about inventing, it rather is a process of combining sources of inspiration and transform that collaged image from the mind to the paper by hand-drawing. Having in mind that people can only dream of faces they have already seen, drawing can be considered as a dream.
Figure 10: Topographical reference for Viipuri Library. Alvar Aalto’s early sketch of a fantastic mountain landscape with slopes lit by many suns for Viipuri Library. Studio International. 1927-35 '[...] through naive drawings. I drew all kinds of fantastic mountain landscapes, with slopes lit by many suns in 43
different positions, which gradually gave birth to the main idea of the library building.' - Alvar Aalto
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Juhani Pallasmaa, The Thinking Hand: Existential and Embodied Wisdom in Architecture (Chichester: Wiley, 2010), p. 25
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3.4 Line The line is the element by which a drawing is constructed. But the line has its own character, on which the character of the drawing is based on, and with which the character of its creator is revealed. As line drawing evolves, and different line weights are used, it can express a spatial depth and also define gradation of light and shadow.44 Although a shape can be recognized by its outline, its form and texture are best represented through line and shade. Shade gives a sense of three-dimensional reality to two-dimensional shapes.45 When casting shadow on a drawing, it becomes alive, it is not flat anymore; and when drawing by hand, that shadow can be casted very quickly as one moves his hand on the paper and changes direction of drawing. Lines can be made with anything and their characteristics are varied depending on the instrument they are drawn with. However, it is preferable to choose a combination of drawing tool and surface that enhances the quality of the line, comparing for instance a thin tracing paper with thick cotton paper. Depending on the style and how detailed the drawing is, as well as its scale, the drawing tool must be such, so that the line is suitable. When drawing by hand, each person draws differently and these lines are the most representative elements of our thinking and creative imagination. The character of the line is not only described by its width and texture, but also from the velocity of the hand that made it. A pencil line, for example, can be very heavy and thick at its starting point and thin and light on its end-point. This is one of the greatest limitations one has when drawing on the computer. Computer line is a laconic and
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David Dernie, Architectural Drawing, (Second ed. London: Laurence King Publishing, 2010), p. 15 Brian Edwards, Understanding Architecture Through Drawing, 1st edn (London: E & FN Spon, 1994), p. 39 45
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uniform connection of two points.46 Each line looks like the one next to it and the image remains flat; there is no depth, no character, no life.
3.5 Thinking through drawing 'What is sketched as well as the choice of the sketching material, the pencil and paper, directly influences the idea that grows more concrete in the course of drawing – only very few architects go to their drawing board with a complete concept in their mind, most develop their concepts through the interaction between an initially vague idea and the concrete lines made on the paper' --Robin Edwards (143)
Usually, when starting a drawing, one has the image in the mind but doesn't know yet how to draw it, so it is the pencil's duty to do the drawing instead. Although there are many tools to draw with, I personally prefer the pencil and mechanical ink pens. Pencil is a tool that moves smoothly and quickly on the paper, which is suitable for quick sketches and developing initial ideas. Also, a single pencil can create a variety of line types, even with one stroke, as explained earlier. Hence, it is appropriate for quick investigation of texture and atmosphere, for light and shadow. Another benefit of the pencil, is that it can be easily erased and re-drawn over; though personally, I'd rather not use the rubber since I like having all of my thoughts on the paper so I can refer back to them. A wrong line, probably of an initial idea, can be inspirational on a later stage. Besides, erased lines of sketching are part of the final drawing, and they
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Juhani Pallasmaa, The Thinking Hand: Existential and Embodied Wisdom in Architecture (Chichester: Wiley, 2010), p. 100
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reveal the sequence of the trial and error and suggest a dimension of time and spatial depth. 47 Initially, light, unlinked lines, driven unconsciously from the mind are drawn on the paper with pencil. One needs to step back, in order to see the drawing from a distance - in a different scale, as a whole- and give the required time to the brain to manipulate the information given. This is when the drawing speaks back to me. Because the lines weren't random at all, they meant something; something that couldn't be seen from the beginning, but then it made sense. The freehand lines are the result of the translation process of the image from the mind to the paper.
The following step is to observe the drawn space -like a surgeon who is preparing for a surgery- by drawing more consciously. By the time a detail or a part of it is determined, the pencil line is being drawn over with a thicker version of it or ink; not to show that it is permanent -the design process never ends- but to differentiate it from the rest and start developing its atmosphere further. A variety of tools -even papers- can be found on the same drawing to describe materiality and atmosphere. The drawing then becomes a threedimensional piece of art that does not represent the design of the building, it rather becomes the design itself that is being worked and re-worked over and over again in different scales and types. In creative exploration the action of the hand, eye and mind fuse into a singular process of semi-unconscious scanning. Here the architect's attention keeps shifting from the floor plan to section and various details, back and forth. 48 47
Juhani Pallasmaa, The Thinking Hand: Existential and Embodied Wisdom in Architecture (Chichester: Wiley, 2010), p. 109 48 Juhani Pallasmaa, The Thinking Hand: Existential and Embodied Wisdom in Architecture (Chichester: Wiley, 2010), p. 71
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Figure 11: Rehabilitation Centre Entrance Hybrid drawing for design development, plan and section by author. (Material: pencil, marker pen on tracing and cartridge paper). D.V. Portfolio. 2015
Thinking through hand-drawing. Working on layers of tracing papers so that all of the ideas are shown on the paper to inspire the design. One of the initial sketches is clipped on the angle for reminder, to avoid losing control of the thoughts. After several plans there is a need for a section. Interpretation of different types of drawings.
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Conclusion 'We use our hands as general purpose devices, to pick up objects, to point, to climb, to play musical instruments, to draw and sculpt, to communicate, to touch and feel, and to explore the world.'49 In a similar way, architects use hand-drawing to explore and develop a project with a variety of tools and techniques. From architecture to zoology and from heart surgery to structural engineering, the diagram, map, sketch, outline, all contribute to a long and complex process combining the eye, the mind, the imagination and the hand. 50 Hand-drawing with its peculiar powers allows one to think, observe, translate, perceive, explain and communicate architecture. All of these are skills which are necessary for architects, especially students and can only be developed by practising the hand-eye-brain coordination system through drawing. 'The ability to draw depends on the ability to see the way an artist sees, and this kind of seeing can marvellously enrich your life' as Edwards explained. 51 Therefore, in order to perceive architecture, one needs to learn how to see first and then how to draw. Consequently, the drawing becomes a thinking process that involves not only the brain but also the heart of its creator, his/her Kokoro (the Japanese word for mind/heart, the spiritual core, our soul) that brings it to life.52
49
Christine L MacKenzie, Thea Iberall, The Grasping Hand, (Amsterdam: North-Holland, 19940, p. 4 Barry Philips, Lines of Enquiry: Thinking through Drawing (Cambridge: Kettle's Yard, 2006), p. 4 51 Betty Edwards, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain: A Course in Enhancing Creativity and Artistic Confidence, (Los Angeles , J.P. Tarcher, 1979; London , Souvenir, 1981), p. 2 52 Patricia Cain, Drawing the Enactive Evolution of the Practitioner (Bristol: Intellect, 2010), p. 79 50
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As mentioned in the introduction, I do not deny the benefits of the technology. However, I do support the idea of using the hand-drawing in the early design stages as the ideas are too vague to be able to be drawn and developed creatively on the computer. Also, I would like to mention, that technology can be useful when used correctly and enhance the design process. When drawing by hand, there is a personal approach towards the design of the building and the drawing itself, which reveals the character of the architect that evolved through the different experiences of his/her life.
To conclude, I would like to end with a proposition. A building is constructed with a variety of materials and can be appreciated from a variety of viewing positions. Similarly, a drawing should be a collaged piece that thoughtfully combines materials, scales and viewing positions (plan, section, etc), as well as different media, (photographs, photo-grams, three-dimensional objects) that enhances the human senses. However, one needs to remember that a drawing is not meant to explain everything.
Drawings are usually admired when they become final, yet architectural drawings are more beautiful during the design process; they say more.
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Figure 12: Analysis through movement and sight. Drawing by author showing how the plan is created through the movement and sight of a person with vision loss on the right eye. The drawing is a part of a hybrid drawing which combines design decisions based on a three-characters research. (Material: pencil, mechanical ink pen, graphite on rice paper), D.V. Portfolio. 2015 It is a thinking through drawing process. Light pencil lines are part of the analysis of the person's movement and sight. When the drawing speaks back to me and decisions are made, there is a change of materiality, as well as line tone. On the sides of the paper are written and sketched thoughts to derived through drawing.
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Bibliography
Norman Capener, 'The hand in surgery', The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, 38 B.1, (1956), 128-151. Patricia Cain, Drawing the Enactive Evolution of the Practitioner (Bristol: Intellect, 2010). David Dernie, Architectural Drawing, 2 edn (London: Laurence King Publishing, 2010). Betty Edwards, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain: A Course in Enhancing Creativity and Artistic Confidence (London: Souvenir, 1979). Brian Edwards, Understanding Architecture Through Drawing, 1st edn (London: E & FN Spon, 1994). Robin Evans, 'Developed Surface: An enquiry into the brief life on an Eighteenth-Century Drawing Technique', in Translations from Drawing to Building and Other Essays (London: Architectural Association, 1997), 194-... Robin Evans, 'Translations from Drawing to Building', in Translations from Drawing to Building and Other Essays (London: Architectural Association, 1997), need to check Adrian Forty, 'Design', in Words and Buildings, A Vocabulary of Modern Architecture (London: Thames and Hudson, 2000), 136-141 41
Elke Krasny, The Force Is in the Mind: The Making of Architecture.
asel
irkh user, 2008).
Christine L. MacKenzie and Thea Iberall, The Grasping Hand (Amsterdam: North-Holland, 1994). Jane Mairs, Central nervous system (2015) <http://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/central%20nervous%20system> [accessed 3 April 2015]. Juhani Pallasmaa, The Thinking Hand: Existential and Embodied Wisdom in Architecture (Chichester: Wiley, 2010). Barry Phipps, Lines of Enquiry: Thinking through Drawing (Cambridge: Kettle's Yard, 2006).
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