Andy Goldsworthy, Pebbles around a hole, Kinagashima-Cho, Japan, Dec. 7, 1987
Drawing and Sketchbooks
Here are the slides from the mini-lecture on sketchbooks: M0-Lecture-Sketchbooks.pdf
The ability to quickly convey visual ideas onto paper is a cornerstone for any designer's career. The precision or "beauty" of these drawings isn't the important part. What is important, is being able to get those ideas out in a visual way quickly, so that you and others can see them, and start to understand. At first your drawings may often feel awkward and not representative of what is in your head. That is normal. Practice will help you start to get comfortable with this method of communication. You will find that with time and patience, your ability to sketch your concepts will get better. In this course we will be strongly encouraging you to use a sketchbook and trace paper to express ideas through sketching and diagrams.
Architects, artists and designers rely on their visual literacy skills to both communicate their ideas and to understand and translate the ideas of others. Maintaining an analog sketchbook is a time-tested method of collecting, saving and expressing your ideas as well as practicing your drawing and communication skills. You will be using your sketchbook throughout the course in order to take notes, draw ideas and collect artifacts
Creative Inspiration and Diagramming:
Architects draw on a number of sources for creative inspiration. Often they look at the work of past architects, artists, and other designers. Other times they might draw directly from the forms of nature, materials, environmental systems, or human industry. In many instances the forms of the work are shaped by conversations with the users, or an exploration of cultural heritage and community identity. Architectural designers often distill their objects of inspiration into a diagram in order to get to the essence or "parti" of the design. Often this produces a diagram of sorts that is then used to guide subsequent iterations of the design.
Part 1-Creative Inspiration
Here are the slides from the mini-lecture on Creative Inspiration:
M0-CreativeInspirationMiniLecture.pdf
Part 2-Diagraming
Here are the slides from the mini-lecture on Diagraming:
M0 Diagramming Visual Form Lecture.pdf
Diagramming and Representation.pdf
Additional Drawing Resources and Readings:
Here is an annotated reading on architectural diagrams: M0-EnvisionArch_ch6_Diagrams.pdf
Here is a brief example of one process of abstracting a photograph into a diagram: M0-Abstract Drawing.pdf
Here is a reading on basic techniques for Freehand Drawing: M0-Ching_ArchGraphics_Chapter10_FreehandDrawing.pdf
Here is a reading on basic techniques for Drawing: M0-Ching_ArchGraphics_drawingtechnique.pdf
Resource on Design Lettering:
Here is a great resource to learn more about how to add text to your designs. We do not spend too much time in this course covering lettering, but mastering a basic legible script is essential to adding professionalism to your hand drawings.
Here is a video resource on lettering as well as a link to worksheets you can use to practice.
How to Write Like an Architect Downloadable Free Worksheets
How to Write Like an Architect Video
Below is another little inspiring video demonstrating architectural sketching: