Architectural comprehension as a field deals with representation as a synthesis of varied efforts —constructive, compositional, spatial, and technical qualities— which are then articulated in the constructed building. For this purpose, it is essential to think about the graphic representation that presupposes all these efforts, since it is both a procedure and a product of architectural design.
Being a 21st-century designer is not always a walk in the park, but it certainly has its perks. Fortunately, innovative product and software designers have created numerous programs that transform our ideas and visions into visual and tangible reality.
Concepts, the “next-generation design platform” is an iOS application, suitable for all design and engineering fields. Accommodating almost 80% of all design tasks, product designers, fashion designers, game designers, and industrial engineers can benefit from what the application has to offer. The TopHatch creation - which is trusted by leading designers at Disney, Apple, Nike, PlayStation, Unity, and several other leading corporations - was initiated as a simple prototype, and gradually built on feedback and innovative updates.
Following our Top Apps for Architects article, the award-winning vector-based app, is launching a brand new update, with exclusive features that enable a limitless, customized, and more precise creative experience, exclusively shared with ArchDaily readers.
Continuing their Time-Space-Existence series of monthly videos leading up to this year’s Venice Biennale, PLANE—SITE have released a new conversation with architect and former Harvard GSD chair of architecture Toshiko Mori. Each video highlights the ideas that drive the work of well-known designers, with this episode focusing on Mori’s philosophy of visual communication, dialogue with history and considering the future in her work.
It is rare to find artists who can instigate critical reflection on architecture by combining references such as 'The Red Wall' (La Muralla Roja) by Ricardo Boffil, with the complex illustrations of Giovanni Battista Piranesi and pop culture icons. But Tishk Barzanji, a London artist, is one who does.
Through his digital illustrations, he explores elements of modern architecture from a filtered view by using references that create a dreamlike and surreal universe, producing compositions that express an austere and somewhat disturbing atmosphere.
What do architectural drawings do? Convey visual information about the design of buildings. This much is certain. They do much else besides. They can be idiomatic and ideological, they can express the personality of those who make them and by whatever means—charcoal, pencil, pen, or computer program. They can inspire, provoke and radicalize. They might be realistic or the stuff of fantasy. Or, of course, they can instruct those charged with building a three-dimensional representation of what they see on paper or, in recent years, on computer screens. Intelligence visible, they can also be art.
So, judging an open competition of architectural drawings from around the world, like The Architectural Drawing Prize, can only ever be an exercise in open-ended judgment even when these have been sorted into three technical categories: Hand-drawn, Digital, and Hybrid. How do we begin to compare Chris Raven’s intriguing digital analysis of Publicly Accessible Spaces in St Paul’s Cathedral with Xinyuan Cao’s almost fond cross-section through the Renovation of Denggao Village, two commended entries in the Digital Drawings category?
The Venice Biennale has released a list of 13 Collateral Events that will take place alongside the 16th International Architecture Exhibition, FREESPACE, curated by Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara and chaired by Paolo Baratta. Previews of the main event begin May 24th and 25th, with the exhibition open to the public from May 26th to November 25th, 2018.
The collateral events, each promoted by a non-profit sponsor, will take place across the city in an attempt to enrich the diversity of voices that characterize the Biennale.
The complete list of events can be found below, and make sure to follow ArchDaily's complete coverage of the Venice Biennale.
The black sheep of all architectural drawing has got to be technical drawing. Everybody loves drawing perspectives, sketches —you know the creative, interesting and expressive part of architectural drawing. But what about the aspects of drawing: the technical, logical, rational part? It might not be as sexy as freehand drawing, but it is just as important.
If you don’t know proper technical drawing skills it will show in your work; your perspectives will look ‘less smart’ and badly proportioned and your designs will lack consistency. So in order to make technical drawings look less cold and more approachable, I’m sharing the best 20 technical drawing tips I’ve come across.
The Architecture Drawing Prize received 166 entries from 26 different countries, offering a fascinating cross-section of approaches to and uses of architectural drawing today: from highly sophisticated design drawings to lyrical hand-drawn sketches, and everything in between. The exhibition retains a sense of this variety so along with the three category winners, it was decided to showcase the ten entries that received commendations from the judges.
Trained in Architecture, Urban Design, and Theory, Alina Sonea illustrates the complex and often paradoxical nature of the cities we inhabit. The Feldkirch-based artist and architect has, since 2013, completed a series of detailed illustrations that employ graphic yet delicate black lines to render dense images of fantastical metropolises.
Architects are people of great taste, who enjoy the finer things in life – especially when it comes to pens. The saying goes: ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’, but inevitably we find ourselves judging an architect by their choice of pen. It’s easy to do when your colleague decides to grab the nearest biro to sketch a quick diagram, leaving you to squirm as you sit and watch it indent the paper.
Pens are powerful tools for architects, that harness our thoughts and ideas into potential three-dimensional structures. In the age of the digital world, pens have become sacred, grounding us back to the simple pleasure of drawing to begin the creative process. After years of trying and testing all the different writing instruments out there, we eventually find the one which can say a lot more about ourselves than you may think.
The Aarhus School of Architecture has revealed the winners of their drawing competition, Drawing of the Year 2017, which asked architecture students around the globe to submit their best digital, hand-drawn or hybrid drawings under the theme of “Everyday Utopia.”
More than 230 submissions were evaluated by an esteemed jury of architects, which consisted of Moon Hoon, founder of Moon Hoon Architects; Trine Berthold, associate partner at schmidt hammer lassen; and Torben Nielsen, professor at Aarhus School of Architecture.
The jury was impressed by the “overwhelming burst of creativity and clever concepts demonstrated in the drawings,” calling out the high level of craft and experimental approaches to drawing.
Three winners were selected:
Architect and illustrator, Marta Vilarinho de Freitas has yet again enchanted us with her intricate drawings of cities in thin-line-pen on paper. The Portuguese architect has been exercising her passion in drawing through a series of drawings entitled, Cities and Memory - the Architecture and the City.
Fascinated by cities, Marta’s illustrations express her connection with architecture while still capturing the romantic and qualitative aspects of each city, its patterns, colors, atmosphere, and light.
Marta Vilarinho de Freitas combines fantasy with detailed accuracy in her compositions of stacked building facades, roof pitches, plans and sections along with elements distinct to the city depicted such as Dutch windmills, boats, books, and instruments.The process of creating these drawings is cyclical in that they continue to inform Marta of the spirit of each city as she draws each art piece.
The Modmin has been a go-to for quality videos and tutorials on architectural drawing and sketching. Their newest video tackles a drawing fundamental: the ability to draw a straight line. For many seasoned architects, this is a skill that they mastered long ago. But if you are just starting out, or if you've been hiding behind your computer's ability to consistently draw straight lines, then this hack is for you.
Referring to the first tip in Matthew Frederick's 101 Things I Learned in Architecture School, Themodmin's Umar shares an exercise he was taught for achieving straight lines.
The sketchbook: it is probably the first thing you buy in architecture school, and, the thing you hold on to most dearly. It is one of the most important tools to help document, problem-solve, and archive your journey as an architect. The sketchbook is the physical extension of one’s architectural mind, and the way one organizes it says a lot about the holder. What does your sketchbook say about you? Read on to find out:
DailyDose—one of ArchDaily's five favorite daily newsletters of 2017—have published a collection of drawings submitted as part of an open competition to sketch a composition of just five lines. To celebrate the milestone of their 1000th newsletter which has, over the course of the last five years, delivered 34,297 collected images to inboxes around the globe, one work (by Roberto de Oliveira Castro) will be made available as a limited edition framed artwork by Desplans.
On October 15th four languages, three countries, and three astounding architectural projects will be brought together through a series of events and workshops to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation seeks to commemorate the event with a full day program of activities entitled Drawing the Guggenheim. Visitors can explore and sketch the museums during a variety of public drawing exercises, architectural tours, films and family events at each of the Guggenheim locations.
