Drawing constitutes a very powerful and critical tool of conceptual design. Drawing constructs thought, it acts as a communication interface between the work and the mind and between different disciplines; it is the most powerful language of communication in the working together between architects and engineers.
The UE Docta Manus —Drawing Structures will introduce the basic drawing techniques (sketch, plan, section, elevation, axonometry, perspective). Based on these techniques, we will further investigate analytical drawing methods capable of exploring structural concepts and their architectural solutions.
Through hand drawing we will analyze selected projects that embody an exemplary interplay of architecture and engineering, as e.g. the work of Mies van der Rohe, Jean Prouvé, Luigi Nervi, Robert Maillard or Eugène Freyssinet. Our main focus lies on the load bearing structure and its tectonic and spatial articulation as a common intersection between architecture and engineering. Through analysis, students will enter into dialogue with construction in a direct way. They will get a sense for the adequacy of tools and refinements of solutions. We will investigate proportion, material innovation and tectonic articulation in relation to the structural idea and become aware of the importance of detail. Analysis will take apart and make transparent the parameters and dependencies of the design process and will open the work into a condition of possibility.
We will draw by hand, as this is the most direct and immediate way of becoming aware of technique in relation to intention (it forces to take decisions). Drawing by hand is a cognitive process where the dynamic relation between doing and thinking is essential. That is why ‘the more you draw, the more you see’ and vice versa. The construction of points and lines on a sheet of paper will sensitize students to the notions of scale, size, proportion, transparency and composition. The learning hand will build up tacit knowledge.
Authors : Juliette Auer / Carole Baslé / Hamza Benzakour / Marouane Berrada / Lily Juliette Blanchard / Basir Borhani / Amélie Aurélie Burgniard / Elena Canomeras / Tristan André Décoppet / Thibault Antoine Marie Joseph Ghesquière-Dérickx / Sarah Roxane Hahusseau / Mike Lerjen / Daniel Adil Maaroufi / Hugo Nick / Barbara Dominique Palominos Baali / Anne Gabrielle Steullet / Michael Roger Stirnimann / Nuno Teixeira Mèndez / Stefanie Tietz / Alexandros-Anastasios Trivizias / Baptiste François Marie Vincens / Juliette Victoire Marguerite Vincent / Streck Anna / Martí Triay / Florez Hernandez Liliana / Pichard Romain François / Bourdette Justine / Mudry Alexandre