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 50 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

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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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