Why We Draw
Carrie Bobo
Figure 1: James Turrell, Carn, 1967, Graphite on ivory perspective tracing paper, 21.6 × 27.9 cm (8 9/16 × 11 in.), Art Institute of Chicago, Gift of the Irving Stenn Jr. Drawings Collection in memory of Marcia Stenn, 2014.1379
It has been said that as architects, we create not buildings but complex sets of instructions. Arguably, what we’ve learned in architecture school is as much how to convey
complex spatial ideas concisely in two dimensions as it is how to design. Today, Revit offers
a promise: the ability to build a digital twin at full scale in the liminal space of the machine. The software then goes further, eliminating much of the profoundly complex mental processing
needed to convert three dimensions to two, transforming even the most rudimentary of forms into something that reads initially as architecture, a semi-autonomous expert in the coded language of drawings for construction.
Now, instead of moving from a three-dimensional idea, via physically drawing in two
dimensions, toward a three-dimensional construction as we have in the past, we move from
precise three-dimensional digitalization to a construction reality, a process facilitated by a series
of two-dimensional construction documents, not drawn but exported. This is revolutionary and valuable, and we should learn to use this tool well. It has been argued that we, as contemporary architects, have no real need to learn to draw in two dimensions at all.
That is, unless we want to quickly iterate through compositional options or work out a tight set of dimensional requirements or sit around the table with a client and workshop how their spaces can best suit their needs. Partners in architectural offices don’t draw in the computer, they draw by hand, communicating ideas, working through conflicts, and collaborating with clients. This is not because of their age, it is because they are using drawing as a facilitator of conversation. We also need to draw, in my mind most crucially, pedagogically–if we want to learn from the built environment that exists around us. In this case, we draw to become better at what we do.
Figure 2: Julia Okoń, Travel Sketches NJIT Scandinavia Summer Abroad, 2023, Pencil in sketchbook, 4 × 11 in.
The idea that architects are best trained wholly within the limited context of the studio
environment and within the digital space of computerized representations disregards the
critical realities of spatial perception and visual vocabulary necessary to shape space as
architecture beyond simply building. Listening to a lecture on the impact of daylight is wholly different from sitting in James Turrell’s Skyspace and watching the sun’s light make its way across the wall. Listening to a lecture on the impact of auditory experiences in architecture is wholly different from walking down the graveled path amidst the changing dappled light of maple leaves and sensing sudden silence as one arrives at Louis Kahn’s Franklin Delano Roosevelt monument at the southern tip of Roosevelt Island. Drawing these perceptual experiences, diagramming them, and actively converting three-dimensional spatial and sensory experiences into two-dimensional notation changes the way we think about the design and development of architecture. A student’s perception of architecture is altered through the act of drawing. They should be provided the opportunity to learn how to draw well.
Figure 3: Julia Okoń, Travel Sketches NJIT Scandinavia Summer Abroad, 2023, Watercolor and pencil in sketchbook, 8 1/2 × 11 in.
Architecture is diverse, complex, and evolving. The education of architecture requires the whole
toolkit: a solid foundation of two- and three-dimensional drawing built upon with all the digital tools–CAD, Sketchup, Rhino, Revit, Grasshopper, Insight, Ladybug, Honeybee, Sefaira,
MidJourney . . . The list will continue to grow.
If we’re so afraid of the contagion of nostalgia we can always burn our sketchbooks,
drawing in ProCreate instead.
Carrie Bobo is an artist, educator, and registered architect with more than 15 years of professional experience, most notably with Sunnerö Architects and Selldorf Architects. Carrie teaches on climate responsive building forms and indigeneity as a resource for the design of sustainable housing with New Jersey Institute of Technology as a Professor of Practice.
This essay was published as part of Transect Volume 5: Pedagogy (2024), Jacob Swanson, Daniel Girgis, Dhruvi Rajpopat, Fatima Fardos, Jimenna Alcantar, Elizabeth Kowalchuk, eds.