Monday, June 28, 2010

Architecture students going retro

Architecture students are going back to the drawing board -- literally -- as hand-drawing is once again emerging as a lesson at colleges and universities across the country. In this age of technology, it's interesting to see this return to the roots of design.

What does this say for the future of the industry? Does it have any effect on the role of BIM or IPD? Are you more likely to hire someone who can hand-draw a design or do it on a computer?

1 comment:

  1. For many of us pre-AutoCAD architectural graduates this was the reason we went into architecture, we loved to draw.

    With the advent of CAD much of this skill is being lost, much like the need to sketch full sized charcoal details for the stone mason.

    As long as there are pre-AutoCAD architects in practice there will still be those niche offices where a good hand will be appreciated but the majority of firms have moved on to CAD and now BIM.

    This skill does however have a place in today’s practice. Many clients appreciate and gravitate to an architect / designer that can quickly sketch a design idea the old fashion way and this skill set is difficult to match in speed and portability during a lunch meeting when all you have is a pen and napkin.

    It will be interesting to see how some of the portable technologies like the IPad and OLED's will influence the hand drawing method of design communication. I suspect they will be hard pressed to match the tactile sensation of charcoal or pen on paper.

    I would love to see hand drawing return to the practice and re-establish itself as a mainstay of the architectural profession.

    ReplyDelete

Tell us what you think...