era | Drawing a Problem
Do you draw?
People often think that architects spend most of their time drawing and designing.
In some ways that is true!
I draw to understand a problem and it helps me to solve it.
When I chat with people they often think that architects spend most of their time drawing designs.
While that may be true for a small percentage who employ other people to take care of everything else, most architects spend a good deal of their time doing other things.
.. communicating with a variety of people, co-ordinating information, collecting information, moving information around, putting the information together, communicating with people, writing a lot of documents, running a business, communicating with people ..
Despite all of this, I have been drawing quite a bit lately .. computer aided as well as of hand drawings on the side - people and places and sketches and details.
I just can't get enough of it!
What is it about drawing that is so engaging and exciting and all encompassing???
My other half says that when I am drawing, I am like a crack addict on a live feed.
Nothing else matters. Not even dependents :D
The six and four year old just have to get on board for the ride - and they do!
They pull out their paper and pencils and draw along side me. We have even set up a desk for them right next to mine so that they can join in :)
I was trying to solve a problem the other day and realised that I was drawing to understand it, and in so doing, solving the problem.
I draw to see things more clearly.
It is a way to clarify and communicate and understand the world - the big picture and the small.
A way to solve problems.
Drawing is how I find architecture specific to people and place.
Leonardo da Vinci famously recorded the topographic anatomy of the human body to help describe the human form, including the expression of emotion. For him, to draw a person meant to understand the their anatomy.
The same is true for buildings.
Before you start to draw your new architecture, take a look at an existing building.
Try to draw how it fits together.
Look around you in the place you are living.
Start with a layout for where each room is located.
Then see if you can draw what each room looks like when you cut the building in half and look at it in its cross section.
This will give you an idea of the anatomy for your own architecture so that you can start to draw it!
There are a few things I live by when I draw:
01 DRAW WHAT YOU KNOW | Don't sit there looking at a blank page wondering where to start. You always know something about what you are drawing, so what is it?
Draw what you know first, then add to that more lines, and more, and more! Just keep drawing!
02 DON'T BE AFRAID | Don't be afraid to draw something 'wrong'. This is the perfect time where you can change it if it's not quite right. It is much harder to move a line now than move a wall later down the track.
03 ROTATE YOUR DRAWING | Turn your page upside down, sideways - hell, to all angles to see what you are drawing from different perspectives. You will be surprised by how it helps you to draw and resolve problems, especially if you are getting stuck from looking at it from the same angle for so long.
04 USE A PEN | Forget pencils - pull out a big fat texta and go for it!
An architect I worked with used to use a really fat pen to work things out at a big picture scale. Then as he worked more things out, getting closer and closer towards the detail, his pen became thinner and thinner.
Pull out your paper and pens and give it a go!
FRANK CHING
Francis DK 'Frank' Ching was 'the' architect and author to refer to when I was in university. His books, Architectural Graphics and Building Construction Illustrated were informative and chock full of incredible hand drawn images - they still are! Frank started writing a blog in 2012 and he is still writing and drawing regularly today.
Take a look here!
Your Place.
I have set up a special place where you can find little things and little ways to help you design + build your place.
I will add things to this place as time goes by and I would love to hear if there is anything that will help you! Connect with me and let me know what would be useful for you to see there.
Til next time!
Start the process to find your architectural language and make your little ideas a reality.
Click here to see the little things I have made for you, or click here if you would like to work with me one on one.