architecture and the lost art of drawing
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12/5/12 10:51 AMArchitecture and the Lost Art of Drawing - NYTimes.com
Page 1 of 3http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/02/opinion/sunday/architecture-and-the-lost-art-of-drawing.html?ref=design
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Drawing With a Purpose, ByMichael Graves
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OPINION
Architecture and the Lost Art of Drawing
Michael Graves & Associates
A freehand sketch of the south facade of the Denver Central Library, which the writer designed. More Photos »
By MICHAEL GRAVESPublished: September 1, 2012
Princeton, N.J.
IT has become fashionable in manyarchitectural circles to declare thedeath of drawing. What has happenedto our profession, and our art, to causethe supposed end of our mostpowerful means of conceptualizingand representing architecture?
The computer, of course. With itstremendous ability to organize andpresent data, the computer istransforming every aspect of howarchitects work, from sketching theirfirst impressions of an idea to creating complex
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12/5/12 10:51 AMArchitecture and the Lost Art of Drawing - NYTimes.com
Page 2 of 3http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/02/opinion/sunday/architecture-and-the-lost-art-of-drawing.html?ref=design
Michael Graves & Associates
A drafted drawing of the south facadeof the Denver Central Library. MorePhotos »
construction documents for contractors. For centuries, thenoun “digit” (from the Latin “digitus”) has been defined as“finger,” but now its adjectival form, “digital,” relates todata. Are our hands becoming obsolete as creative tools?Are they being replaced by machines? And where does thatleave the architectural creative process?
Today architects typically use computer-aided designsoftware with names like AutoCAD and Revit, a tool for
“building information modeling.” Buildings are no longer just designed visually andspatially; they are “computed” via interconnected databases.
I’ve been practicing architecture since 1964, and my office is not immune. Like mostarchitects, we routinely use these and other software programs, especially for constructiondocuments, but also for developing designs and making presentations. There’s nothinginherently problematic about that, as long as it’s not just that.
Architecture cannot divorce itself from drawing, no matter how impressive the technologygets. Drawings are not just end products: they are part of the thought process ofarchitectural design. Drawings express the interaction of our minds, eyes and hands. Thislast statement is absolutely crucial to the difference between those who draw toconceptualize architecture and those who use the computer.
Of course, in some sense drawing can’t be dead: there is a vast market for the originalwork of respected architects. I have had several one-man shows in galleries and museumsin New York and elsewhere, and my drawings can be found in the collections of theMetropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art and the Cooper-Hewitt.
But can the value of drawings be simply that of a collector’s artifact or a pretty picture? No.I have a real purpose in making each drawing, either to remember something or to studysomething. Each one is part of a process and not an end in itself. I’m personally fascinatednot just by what architects choose to draw but also by what they choose not to draw.
For decades I have argued that architectural drawing can be divided into three types,which I call the “referential sketch,” the “preparatory study” and the “definitive drawing.”The definitive drawing, the final and most developed of the three, is almost universallyproduced on the computer nowadays, and that is appropriate. But what about the othertwo? What is their value in the creative process? What can they teach us?
The referential sketch serves as a visual diary, a record of an architect’s discovery. It can beas simple as a shorthand notation of a design concept or can describe details of a largercomposition. It might not even be a drawing that relates to a building or any time inhistory. It’s not likely to represent “reality,” but rather to capture an idea.
These sketches are thus inherently fragmentary and selective. When I draw something, Iremember it. The drawing is a reminder of the idea that caused me to record it in the firstplace. That visceral connection, that thought process, cannot be replicated by a computer.
The second type of drawing, the preparatory study, is typically part of a progression ofdrawings that elaborate a design. Like the referential sketch, it may not reflect a linearprocess. (I find computer-aided design much more linear.) I personally like to draw ontranslucent yellow tracing paper, which allows me to layer one drawing on top of another,building on what I’ve drawn before and, again, creating a personal, emotional connectionwith the work.
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12/5/12 10:51 AMArchitecture and the Lost Art of Drawing - NYTimes.com
Page 3 of 3http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/02/opinion/sunday/architecture-and-the-lost-art-of-drawing.html?ref=design
A version of this op-ed appeared in print on September 2, 2012, on page SR5 of the New York edition with the headline:Architecture and the Lost Art of Drawing.
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Michael Graves is an architect and an emeritus professor at Princeton.
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