Understanding Architecture Through Drawing Brian Edwards Understanding Architecture Through Drawing Second Edition This new edition is fully revised and updated and includes new chapters on sustainability, history and archaeology, designing through drawing and drawing in architectural practice. The book introduces design and graphic techniques aimed to help designers increase their understanding of buildings and places through drawing. For many, the camera has replaced the sketchbook, but here the author argues that freehand drawing as a means of analysing and understanding buildings develops visual sensitivity and awareness of design. By combining design theory with practical lessons in drawing, Understanding Architecture Through Drawing encourages the use of the sketchbook as a creative and critical tool. The book is highly illustrated and is an essential manual on freehand drawing techniques for students of architecture, landscape architecture, town and country planning and urban design. Brian Edwards is an architect, town planner, writer, teacher and artist. He has taught in various schools and has been Professor of Architecture at Huddersfield and Heriot Watt universities and the Edinburgh School of Art. He has written over 16 books, seven of which published by Spon Press/Taylor & Francis. First published 2008 by Taylor & Francis 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, 0X14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Taylor & Francis 270 Madison Avenue, New York, NY10016 Taylor & Francis is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2008. "To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge's collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk." First edition ?? 1994 Brian Edwards This second edition ?? 2008 Brian Edwards Designed by Gavin Ambrose Printed and bound in Great Britain by The Cromwell Press, Trowbridge, Wiltshire All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging- in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN 0-203-88243-1 Master e-book ISBN ISBN10 0-415-44413-6 (hbk) ISBN 10 0-415-44414-4 (pbk) ISBN13 978-0-415-44413-2 (hbk) ISBN1 3 978-0-415-44414-9 (pbk) Understanding Architecture Through Drawing Second Edition Brian Edwards Edinburgh School of Art Taylor & Francis Taylor &. Francis Group Contents Acknowledgements Introduction Chapter 1 The benefits of drawing Part One Guiding Principles Chapter 2 Why draw? Chapter 3 Choosing the subject Part Two Techniques Chapter 4 Perspective Chapter 5 Line and shade Chapter 6 Composition VI 16 30 38 46 50 Chapter 7 Chapter 19 The importance of practice 60 History and archaeology 160 Chapter 8 Chapter 20 From sketch to plan making Interiors 170 and documentary Chapter 21 investigation 64 Using drawing to analyse an Chapter 9 urban area 178 Sequential sketches 72 Case study 1 Chapter 10 The Merchant City, Drawing and photography 80 Glasgow 178 (with Susan Fahy) Case study 2 The Bastide towns, France 187 Part Three Case study 3 Case Studies in Drawing Japanese urbanism 192 Chapter 11 Towns, townscapes and squai -es 90 Part Four Chapter 12 The Way Forward Streets, lanes and footpaths 100 Chapter 22 Chapter 13 Exploration through the sketchbook Landmarks, skyline and - some suitable subjects 198 city image 108 Chapter 23 Chapter 14 From sketch to design 214 Gateways, entrances and doorways 114 Chapter 24 Designing through drawing 226 Chapter 15 The facades of buildings 122 Chapter 25 Drawing in architectural Chapter 16 practice 238 Machinery, function and modernism 132 Chapter 17 Bibliography 260 Landscape 142 Index 262 Chapter 18 Sustainability 152 Acknowledgements The author wishes first to thank those bodies that awarded research grants to undertake the work outlined in this book, namely the Arts and Humanities Research Council and Edinburgh College of Art. In addition, the book has drawn upon material from the Sir Basil Spence Research Project funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund. Various chapters use material abridged from the author's article The use of drawing in architectural design: some recent experiences from UK practice' published in Architecture Research Quarterly (ARQ) in 2005. The author is also indebted to a number of architects and designers who have provided time for interviews and given consent for the use of drawings in the book. These include Lord Foster of Riverside, Sir Terry Farrell, Sir Nicholas Grimshaw, Edward Cullinan, Bob Allies, Will Alsop, Richard Murphy, Allan Murray, Gordon Murray and Malcolm Fraser. In addition, the following architects have kindly provided drawings to augment those of the author, namely Santiago Calatrava, David Prichard, Francis Tibbalds, Derek Fraser, Richard Reid and Arup Associates. The author is particularly indebted to Nick Hirst for allowing drawings prepared as a result of his Philip Webb Travelling Scholarship to be used in the publication. The author also wishes to thank the RIBA Library, RCAHMS and the Hunterian Museum for making available images of sketchbook practice from earlier periods. Finally, the author wishes to thank the many students of architecture from Edinburgh, Glasgow and Huddersfield who kept him company with their sketch- books on study visits to places far and wide over a twenty-five year period. Unless stated otherwise all subsequent drawings are by the author. Acknowledgements v ntroduction The aim of this book is to explore how freehand drawing can increase the level of understanding of the complexities of modern architecture. In particular it seeks to provide the means whereby there can be a marriage of art and architecture by establishing shared values and understandings. The sketchbook is a useful tool to help counter the dominance of science in architectural education, or at least to ensure that technology is employed with judgement and aesthetic discrimination. The aim is to encourage the creation of a more humane environment by developing visual and artistic sensibilities through the practice of drawing. A number of themes are presented, each as a case study of issues facing students or practising architects. Since the first edition of this book was published in 1 994, fresh concerns have emerged and these form the basis of much of the new material presented in this edition. There is also greater discussion of the role of sketching vis-a-vis other design development tools such as model- making, computer-aided design (CAD) and photography. As a result there are a number of more theoretical chapters than in the first edition, as well as interviews with a number of the UK's leading architects such as Lord Foster, Sir Nicholas Grimshaw, Will Alsop and Edward Cullinan. The central aim of the book is to encourage the use of the sketchbook as a vehicle for learning about arch- itecture. There is currently a revival of interest in the pedagogic role of drawing, particularly its place in the generation of architectural forms. This book looks forward to design practice by examining past examples using freehand drawing as the main analytical tool. The book is arranged thematically into four parts: the first part presents guiding principles, the second introduces the student to the main graphic tools and drawing techniques used by the architect; the third part explains how common design issues can be better understood through drawing with a number of case studies of sketching practice; the final part focuses upon examples from contemporary architectural practice with the emphasis upon current trends in drawing technique. A characteristic of the book is the division of study material into themes. The aim of sketching is not to undertake drawings of subjects that randomly catch the eye but to explore architecture in a more systematic fashion. The comparative analysis of material through sketching entails a more rigorous questioning than is possible by many other means. Once sketched, the subject under investigation can be explored further - vi Understanding architecture through drawing perhaps by resort to archival sources or textbooks on construction. Thematic exploration through drawing aids learning about the built environment - it helps you to see, to think and to design. The book presents a general overview of drawing practice in the twenty-first century and the principles that underpin it. The benefits of designing through drawing are discussed, particularly the way sketching allows options to be explored conceptually and in detail - this interaction across the scales is an important characteristic of drawing. Inevitably in the digital age, there is a great deal of interplay be...
Amiga789