I was part of the last generation of architectural students who didn't use computers (we’re only talking the early 1990’s here; there was electricity, color TV’s, rockets, just no renderings.) In my final year at college I miscalculated how long it would take me to finish my thesis project. As the deadline approached, I realized it was too late for me to match my fellow students’ presentations. At the time Zaha Hadid, and her deconstructivist paintings, set the style for architectural illustration. That meant many student projects being rendered in oil paints on large canvases.
Out of time and options, I fell back upon my basic training and drew the scheme with clean black and white line work. I was worried. Five years of education rested upon simple (boring?) drawings instead of something more glamorous. In the end it wasn’t an issue; during my review the jury discussed the architecture, not the presentation. It was a subtle difference that took me years to fully appreciate.
I graduated to find my presentation skills were irrelevant. The profession had changed during my post-graduate degree, and employee needs were for students with rendering, not drawing, skills.
