What Do You Think About Sketching ?

IT has become fashionable in many architectural circles to declare the death of drawing. What has happened to our profession, and our art, to cause the supposed end of our most powerful means of conceptualizing and representing architecture? 

The computer, of course. With its tremendous ability to organize and present data, the computer is transforming every aspect of how architects work, from sketching their first impressions of an idea to creating complex construction documents for contractors. Are our hands becoming obsolete as creative tools? Are they being replaced by machines? And where does that leave the architectural creative process?

Today architects typically use computer-aided design software with names like AutoCAD and Revit, a tool for “building information modeling.” Buildings are no longer just designed visually and spatially; they are “computed” via interconnected databases. 

I’ve been practicing architecture since 2002. Like most architects, we routinely use these and other software programs, especially for construction documents, but also for developing designs and making presentations. There’s nothing inherently problematic about that, as long as it’s not just that. 

Architecture cannot divorce itself from drawing, no matter how impressive the technology gets. Drawings are not just end products: they are part of the thought process of architectural design. Drawings express the interaction of our minds, eyes and hands. This last statement is absolutely crucial to the difference between those who draw to conceptualize architecture and those who use the computer. 

Of course, in some sense drawing can’t be dead: there is a vast market for the original work of respected architects. I’m personally fascinated not just by what architects choose to draw but also by what they choose not to draw. 

As I work with my computer and my staff today, I notice that something is lost when they draw only on the computer. It is analogous to hearing the words of a novel read aloud, when reading them on paper allows us to daydream a little, to make associations beyond the literal sentences on the page. Similarly, drawing by hand stimulates the imagination and allows us to speculate about ideas, a good sign that we’re truly alive. 

So what do you think about sketching?

Effects of Climate on the Form & Elevation of Buildings

Using local material with respect to their stability and resistance toward heavy load and pressures, heat, cold, and also rain are the factors that affect the appearances of traditional architecture in Kerala, India.

In Kerala traditional architecture, the buildings are constructed according to the geographical location. And according to the position of the ceiling, there are some needs for decreasing the space, which is under the direct radiation of sunlight, choosing appropriate materials, constructing shades in each areas, walls, ventilation-shaft, central courtyards, shelters with expanded shadows, window facing sun, etc. These factors make buildings struggle with such external matters in such a way that the best internal space will be created without using the complex set of energy and pollutant system.

In another word, the past generations have known about the rules and using sun systems and have applied it all.

Futuristic Eco-Housing & Visionary Green Public Space Ideas

When it comes to sustainable housing and urban recreation, multi-functionality and biomimicry are the wave of the future, with communities intentionally designes so that residents have plenty of access to green space even in the most densely populated cities.

The green recreation spaces of the future are often designed to use space creatively, providing unexpected pockets of nature, while the lines are blurred between nature and architecture in conceptual eco-housing. 

Architecture as Direct Respond to Immediate Environment

The traditional architecture illustrates the intelligence of our forefathers in dealing and responding to the surrounding environment and climate. The sense of belonging to the immediate context is clearly felt as the traditional architecture is very much inter-dependence with the surrounding greenery that provide the first layer of filter against the climate. Thus, the real performance of the traditional architecture is not solitary but in symphony with friendly act of nature.

Unfortunately, recent researches and studies on the thermal comfort performance of the traditional houses demonstrated that they were not performing as claimed or read in many reference books as thermally comfortable or cooling. This could be due to the changing surrounding. The traditional buildings in today’s context stand within the climatic condition unprotected thus unable to provide the expected comfort. Architects need to be reminded on how our traditional buildings used to provide comfort but at the same time made aware that, the same buildings need to perform differently within different context. It is not enough to emulate traditional solution physically but rather more towards understanding the intelligent response to its immediate context which may still be very natural or disturbed. There are also other issues that must be considered specifically towards achieving appropriate and beneficial solution in contemporary tropical environment.

A Sociable Approach to Planning

Jan Gehl addresses in his book 'Life between buildings' how communication is a key factor for promoting social activities in a city. He summarizes his ideas on communication in a figure (see figure on the right), which describes how visual and auditorical communication can be either prevented or promoted by the physical environment. These aspects are all fundamentals; without the possibility for communication between people, the urban environment will never become sociable. For a space to be sociable however, it is not enough that people can communicate there. Regardless if there are walls or not, if there is nothing in the urban environment that attracts people to be there, communication will never occur. Based on this notion we have tried to find a reason for why people choose to spend time in an urban environment instead of staying in the comfort of their homes.

So... do human beings have certain needs that the urban environment can fulfil? Anthony Robbins offers a classification of human needs in his book 'Unleash the Power within' where he suggests that we are motivated by six principal needs: certainty, uncertainty, significance, love, growth & contribution. These, he argues, are both conscious and unconscious needs which feed our identity and personality with influence. We found his ideas intriguing and we wanted to see if these could be relevant to consider when planning urban environments. We feel it is important to keep a holistical perspective where man's needs are in focus. There might be other classifications on human principal needs, but we feel that the classification Robbins suggests, can be adequately adopted into the field of spatial planning.

Through thorough observations in Southeast Asia and Europe, we have been able to classify the multitude of activities taking place in the urban environment. These activities seem all originating from people's desire to fulfil the six human needs mentioned above, in one way or another. People seek certainty and comfort, but also a feeling of variety, uniqueness and connection to others. If the environment provides opportunities for challenge and learning we can grow as individuals and if the environment encourages people to contribute it will undoubtedly result in more creativity, activity and sociability.

Forming a thought...
Our aim has long been to acquire an understanding of how the physical structure interplays with the social neighbourliness and how and why sociable spaces emerge. The Sociable Space concept is an attempt to devise the possible aspects and functions that affect and initiate sociability in the urban environments. It further aims to illustrate the link between the physical structure and the people who will live and work in it.

Within the structure, a large amount of activities require their space. We have categorized these activities into five main subdivisions and their sources into three. Each of these categories aims to comprise an important aspect of the human behaviour. The dividing into five categories of activities originates from our field study experiences.

For an urban environment to become sociable it is of great importance that neither necessary nor voluntary activities are restrained by the physical environment. If one strives to create an urban environment which appeals to a large amount of the inhabitants, it is important to be aware also of human’s representational system. We perceive our surroundings differently depending on if we focus visually, auditorically or kinaesthetically. We use all our senses to take in our surroundings and through our senses we judge whether we like a place or not.

We have found support to our thoughts in the work of William H. Whyte. His work is however mainly focusing on human behaviour in streets and plazas whereas our studies include behaviours and activities related also to the private sphere. Whyte learnt from his studies of public open spaces in New York ('The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces') that the downtown area was full of plazas and streets that were empty of people, despite the fact that the area was densely populated. Other spaces were full of people playing, sitting, lingering, walking and observing others. A conclusion he could draw regarding people and public spaces, was the simple fact that ‘people attract people’.

We do not seek up the most isolated back streets during our lunch break - we are instead drawn to spaces which are already populated by others. If one could create a reason for people to linger or hang around, others would soon do the same.

The Design Brief stage

The Design Brief is necessary when the client is not clear what the brief should be. This is not as extraordinary as it sounds; often clients are aware that new space needs to be provided or existing space rearranged but the problem may be so complex, and the number of people that need to be consulted so large, that the client is not in a position to analyse this.

This is an area where the designer can provide a service in space planning (sometimes called 'interior architecture') which clients are often unaware exists. This helps the client to determine his/her needs in detail and to set the parameters for the whole project that may follow.

This can be a relatively simple exercise, e.g. examining how an existing building can be adapted to a new use, or a complex process, consulting exhaustively with the client's key staff, utilising adjacency theory to provide a detailed analysis of the client's requirements, developing this into planning diagrams from which floor plans can be developed.

All About Detail Architecture

With all advances in technology, as architects, we all still rely strongly on our ability to sketch. Therefore the most traditional tool of them all is the architect's pencil.
 

Traditional detailing and the contemporary use or adaptation today are still as important as they were in yesteryear. With all buildings, their success or failure often comes down to the smallest details. It is incredibly difficult to describe these in words alone, therefore we fall on our skill of drawing to convey this. These detail, however small, are extremely important to the outcome of every project.