makeshift

“Everyone has their own secret galaxy of stars. A corner of my galaxy is reserved for good drawers and imaginers. What is drawn always distorts what has been imagined. But what has been imagined must be given shape by drawing and is not fully imagined until it has been drawn.” Warren Chalk, Archigram

Painters paint, Writers write, Sculptors sculpt, Engineers engineer, Builders build, but what do Architects do? The title ‘architect’ is understood to derive from the Greek arkhitekton – which translates literally as chief-builder; but that's really a misnoma. Contrary to popular belief, architects in the main do not produce buildings, what they actually produce are drawings.

Ever since the ‘original’ architects (Master-Builders) started scratching their designs in the compacted internal earth floors of construction sites; the relationship between architect and drawing was established behind closed doors. Over time the profession of architecture has virtually digested the act of drawing to a point where it has become either unnoticeable to anyone looking on from outside the profession or when it does emerge the appearance is either incredibly exclusive or simply patronising.

More recently, in the last 50 years, a romantic image has developed in both the public and professional psyche that sees the architect (typically lone) express his talent in an intuitive quick drawing – often referred to as the sketch. The sketch is marketed as being able to be generated at any time, place or circumstance – at lunch, on the toilet, or whilst shopping. But it also has the benefit of being able to be drawn on any surface – the dinner napkin, the toilet paper, or on the back of a receipt. The more absurd the situation and drawing surface, the more kudos the sketcher tends to assume.

The sketch unfortunately has a tendency to be incomprehensible without the aid of its author to decode its original message. Enter stage left – the architects other ‘Weapon of Mass Description’ – the diagram. Whereas the sketch is noted mainly for representing intuition, spontaneity, and creativity; the diagram, on the other hand, is mainly renowned for its reductive, rational, and deliberate qualities. The diagram has come to the forefront of the contemporary architect’s arsenal as the profession grapples with more and more issues and attempts to engage with more and more disciplines and needs a means through which to communicate ideas and strategies clearly and concisely.

The sketch and the diagram are arguably the most common working drawing devices the profession has used and still uses today. However, it may be the case that even though they are the most familiar devices, each role has become further detached, confused, misused and even abused in the process of design; meaning more often than not, a loss of integrity and intimacy in the resulting architecture.

A PERSONAL MANIFESTO FOR CHANGING HOW ARCHITECTS DRAW

1. Appreciate your audience:  Instead of seeing a drawing as a statement  - a ‘transparent window’ into an architects mind, see it as a means to establish a two way dialogue - something you draw on top of, not put in a frame.

2. Value drawing as verb as well as drawing as noun: Remember drawing is an action as well as a thing to be hung up on walls. The latter is necessary for closing down possibilities, where as the former is equally as necessary for opening up new ones.

3. Draw inclusively: Rather than drawing walls we should be laying out paths.

4. Be actively critical whilst drawing: Challenge the contemporary dilemma of both the sketch and diagram being overly used as universal instruments; where technique has once again become the chief instigator of design and is often left unquestioned.

5. Keep a journal: Follow Ariadne’s lead and leave a ‘thread’ to guide your future self.

6. Appreciate when NOT to draw anything: There are times when drawing nothing is of more use than making a single mark.