Sketching + Architecture go hand in hand. And I’ll be the first to admit that most of my sketches may not be “museum quality” just yet, but architectural sketches are not about looking pretty.
They are all about communicating ideas… whether it’s solving initial design problems or working through ideas and details with colleagues or clients, sketching is like magic compared to merely thinking or talking.
Sketching that is done when we’re deep into designing are often ones we don’t present to our clients. While they certainly reveal an extremely important part of our creative process, they probably make a lot more sense to us than they do to anyone else.
Someone once said to me, “You draw furniture in your sketch plans?” Of course we do – we’re thinking through all the possible ways you will use your space as we’re designing – where do you sit when you’re hanging out with your family, when you’re reading a book, when you’re watching tv? And it’s the sketches of all of those scenarios playing out on one plan that really starts to portray that feeling of home!
I usually start sketching from macro to micro – meaning, big picture first… I’m not exactly going to draw a “bubble diagram” for how each space needs to be directly connected to another space, but I do group activities or rooms and consider how those relate to site, sun, views, and other spaces in the house…