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Graphic Thinking

for Architects

& Designers

TH RD E ITION

Graph·c Thinking

for Architects

& Designers

PAUL ASEAU

JOHN WILEY & SONS, INC.

New Yor k

Chich ester

Weinheim

Brisb ane

Singapor e

Toron to

Thi s book is printed on acid-free paper. Copyright

il'

e

2001 by John Wil ey & Sons . All rights re served .

Publish ed simultaneou sly in Canada . Int erior D esign: Da vid Levy

No part of thi s p ublication may be reprod uce d, stored in a retrieval syst em or transmitted in any form or by an y me ans, electronic, m echanical , photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, excep t as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United Stat es Copyright Act, without either the prior w ritten pe rm ission of th e Publisher, or authorization through payment of th e appropriate p er -cop y fe e to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 0192 3, 1978) 750-8400, fax 1978) 750-4744. Requests to the Publi sh er for p er m iss io n sho u ld be add ressed to the Permissions Department , John Wiley & Sons, Inc ., 605 Third Avenue, New York , NY 10158-0012, (212) 850-6011 , fax (212) 850-6008, E-Mail: PERMREQ@WILEYCOM. This publication is design ed to provide accurate and author­ itative information in re gard to th e subject matter covered. It is sold with th e under standing th at th e publish er is no t engaged in rendering professional se rvices . If professional advice or othe r expe rt ass istance is required , th e services of a compe te nt professional per son sh ould be sou ght. Librar y of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Lase au , Paul, 1937­ Graphi c think in g for ar chitects & d esi gners I Paul Laseau .-3rd. ed. p. em .

Includes bibliographical ref er en ces and ind ex.

ISBN 0-471-3529 2-6 (pap er)

1. Architectural dr awing . 2. Com m u nication in ar chi­ tectural design . 3. Architecture-Sketch-book s. I. Ti tle. 4. Graphic arts. NA2705 .L38 2000 720 '.28 '4-dc21 Pr inted in th e United Stat es of America . 10 98 7

99- 086809

•

Contents

vi

8

Discovery

141

Preface to the Third Edition

vii

9

Verification

163

Preface to the First Edit ion

viii

Foreword

Acknowled gments 1

Int roduction

ix

1

BASICSKILLS

CO MMUNICATION 10 Process

179

11 Individual Design

189

12 Team Design

203

2

Drawi ng

17

13 Public Design

217

3

Conventions

39

14 Conclusion

231

4

Abst raction

55

Notes

237

5

Expression

67

Bibliography

239

Illustration Credits

242

Index

244

APPLIED SKILLS 6

Analysis

7

Exploration

81

115

v

•

Foreword

au l Las eau p roposes tw o re late d ideas: th e first is th at of "graphic th inking"; th e second is gra p hic thin king as a de vice for com m uni­ cati on bet w een the de signe r and the designed for. Th e follow ing brief remarks are addressed to the relati onship betw een the two ideas.

P

d irect th e ac tions of others and wh o co m m un ica te their de cision s to th ose w ho wo rk thro ugh dr aw ings ma de by d raft sm en . Design ing, as a separate task , has co me in to being . Th e professional designer, th e profession al draftsman, and the as sem bly lin e occ ur simultan eously as related phen omena .

Histor ica lly, buildi ng d es ign was not so ind iffer­ eh t to human w ell-being that "com m un ication with the peopl e" becam e an issue until th e ac t of draw in g wa s divided into tw o sp ec ialized activities. The first wa s design drawi ng, in w hic h th e design er exp res sed h is or h er ideas. Th e seco nd was d raft in g used to in struct the builder.

This all occ urred some tim e ago, bu t the m om en ­ tum of the ch ange fr om craftsm an ship to draftsm an­ sh ip , broug h t abou t by the pe culiar form of in d ustrialization we have ch osen to adopt , persists. It now exte nd s to the division of labor in th e design er 's office. Th e build ing of gr eat bu ildings is no longer the cre ation of m aster cr aftsmen led by a m as ter builder but of archite ctural offi ces organized along the lines of in dus tri al production . The task of th e ar ch itec t has been divided and subdivided in to an as sembly line of designer, con str u ct ion m anager, in ter ior desi gner, decora tor , struc tural, elec tri cal, and m ech anical engi­ neers, an d d raft sm en . Design dec isions onc e made by th e designer on the drawing board ar e now made by th e p rogram m er on comput er p rintou ts.

De sign d rawing began as and remains a m eans of gen era tin g ideas, for ta ppi ng in itial con cepts to be sorted out and developed , or simply as an enjoyable ac tivi ty. Dra ftin g is an eigh t-h our ta sk p er forme d dai ly, fill ing shee ts of paper w ith precise lines d ic­ tated by ot hers. Long ago, when the w ork of individual craftsme n beca m e larger and m ore com plex, wh en a cathedr al rather than a chair w as to be designed , dimension s had to be esta blis he d so th at th e work of a single cra ftsm an co u ld be coo rd ina te d with th e w ork of m any. Drawing w as introdu ced as a cr eativ e device for plan n ing wo rk. • Cr aft sm en ha ve a lways u sed drawings to hel p th em visua lize the ir ideas as th ey made adj ustments in th e continu ous p ro cess of fitt in g parts tog eth er. Dr awing under these cond itions is in sep arabl e fr om the w ork itself. Som e historian s say th at th e w orking draw in gs for the gr eat church es of the tw elfth and thirteenth centuries w er e d rawn on boards that w er e later nai led int o the const ruct ion . But drawing also has other purposes. Th e d ivisi on of labor in cr eases product iv ity. Art ifacts requ iri ng several wee ks of wo rk by a sing le sk illed cra ftsman are d ivid ed in to sm all er st and ardi zed w ork tasks. Pr oduc tion is increa sed as skill is elimina te d. The cr aftsm an' s expression of m at eria l, design sen se , and sket ches are bani sh ed fr om the wo rkplace . Drawings an d specificatio ns pre de te rm ine a ll fac et s of t he w ork. Design decision s are give n to a new class of wo rk­ m en who do not w ork w ith the mat er ial but in st ead

vi

There are those of us w ho believe that indu strial­ ization cou ld have been ach ieved w ith out dest roy ing the crafts m an 's skill, love, and respect for material and the joy of building. We find it even less desirable tha t the jo y of creativity a nd grap hic thi nking that acco mpanies th at ac tivity should leave th e design er 's offi ce for the m em ory ban k of a comp uter. The built world and artifacts around us are ev i­ den ce of the alm os t fat al erro r of basing design on the mindl ess w ork of the ass embly line . To devel op pro­ gr amming and operat ion al resea rc h based on m ind­ less design would be to con tin ue a dis astrous hist oric continu um . Graphic th in king is of course necessa ry to help rej uven ate a mo ri bund design sy stem. But com muni ­ ca tion "w ith th e pe ople " is n ot enough . Cr ea tiv ity itself m ust be share d , and sha red wi th everyone from do w el kn ock er to "Liebe r Meis ter." The nee d fo r grap hic thinking is grea t, bu t it is greater on th e w or kben ch es of the as sem bly lin es at Riv er Rouge th an on the desks of the chi ef designers of Skid m ore, Ow ings & Merrill. - F ORREST W ILSON,

1980

Preface to the Third Edition w enty years have passed since th e fir st pu bli­ ca tion of th is book . Th e events of the inter ­ ve n ing ye ars have served to re in force m y in itial assu mp ti on s and th e poin ts made by For rest Wilson in th e Forew or d .

T

The ac celerated developmen ts in persona l com­ p u ters and th eir app lica tion to arch itectural des ign a nd co nstru cti on ha ve rai sed m or e for cefully t h e question of th e role of ind ivid ual thought a nd creativ­ ity wi th in p roce sse s tha t a re incr easingly com p lex and special ized . W ill in d iv id ua ls exp erie nce m or e opportunities for expression and co ntri buti on or w ill t heir con tributions be devalued because of th e speed and p recision of comp uter- dr iven processes? Alt ho ug h th e In tern et /web ha s d ra ma tically increased ind ividu al access, tw o major philosop hical camps still guide comp uter deve lopmen t and app lica­ ti ons. O ne cam p se es th e co m p ut er as a w ay to exten d and im prove tradi tional bus in ess or ganizat ion , w ith it s se gm enta tion of tas ks and relia nc e on spe­ cialists. The other ca m p see s th e comp uter as a w ay to re vo lution ize busin ess by br oade nin g the sc op e . and impact of th e in d ividual to th e benef it of bot h the

•

ind ividual and the org anization . O ne vie w is of ind i­ vid ual s supporting inform ation ; th e ot he r is of info r­ mation supporting in d ivid uals. A pr emi se of the first edition of this book was that in d ividu al , creative th inking has a vital role in a pres­ , ent and fu tur e society th at m ust cop e w ith complex, interr elat ed p robl e m s. Add ressing such problems d ep en ds up on a com p reh ensive u nde rs ta nd ing of th eir nature ra ther th an shoehorn ing them in to con­ venien t, si m p listic, th eoretica l mod els . And visua l com muni cati on pr ovi des a n im por tan t tool for describing and under standi ng co m plexity. Inc reased com pre hensive, ra ther tha n spe cialized , kno w ledge in the possession of ind ividu als shou ld benefit both the orga nization and the indi vidual. In thei r book, In Search of Excellence, I Peters and Wate rman illus trated th at the effec tiveness of organizations depends up on an understa nd ing of val ues, aspira tion s, an d m ean­ ings th at is share d by all me m bers. We are als o be com ing m ore aware that the m ental and ph ys ica l health of in d ividual s is a valid as well as pra ctical conc er n of orga ni zations .

vii

Preface to the First Edition n the fall of 1976, while participating in a discus­ sion group on design communication at the U niversity of W isconsin-Milwaukee, I had the occ asion to mention my book Graphic Problem Solving. Essentially, that book was an attempt at con­ vincing architects to apply their freehand concept­ gath ering skills to nontraditional problems dealing more with the processes than the products of archi­ tecture. During the discussion , Fuller Moore stated that the graphi c skills I had assumed to be part of arch itectural training were being neglected in the schools and that a more basic book on drawing in support of thinking was needed. Soon after, I had th e chance to talk to several architects about the sketches th ey use to d evelop designs in con trast to the "fin ­ ished drawings th ey use in p resen tations." Most cre­ ative architects had de veloped impressive freehand sketching sk ills and felt comfortable sketching while thinking . Some architects d r ew observations or design ideas in sm all sketchbooks they carried with them at all times. Both the architects and th e educa­ tors I interviewed expressed concern over the appar­ en t la ck of freehand graphic skills in pe op le now entering the profession.

I

As I began to collect materials for this book , 1 wondered about the re levance of sketching in archi­ tecture. Could sketching be better applied to design­ ing as p racticed tod ay ? The answer to this qu estion depends on an exami nation of the present challenges to architectur al design : 1 . To be more respon sive to needs, a problem-solv­ ing process. 2. To be m ore scientific, more reliable, or pr'> dict able. The response to these challenges was su ggest ed by Heinz Von Foerster: ...the language of arch itecture is conn otative lan­ guage because its in tent is to initiate interpretation .

v iii

•

The crea tive architectural space begets crea tivity, new insights, new cho ices. It is a ca talyst for cogni­ tion . This suggests an ethical imperative that applies not only to architects but also to anyone who acts on that imperative. A ct always so as to: inc rease, enlarge, enhance the number of choices. I

Relating these ideas to the challenges en um erated earl ier, I see two correspo nding imperatives: 1. Ar chitects sh ou ld solve p roblem s wi th peopl e in st ea d of for them by helping them under stand their ne eds and the choices of designs th at me et those ne eds. This is d one by bringing th ose who use the build ings int o the process of de sig ning those bu ild ing s. 2. Archi tect s m us t better u n ders tand sc ience and how mu ch it has in common with architec tur e. Jacob Bronowski pointed out th at the crea tive sci­ entist is more in teres ted in exploring and exp and­ ing id eas th an in es tablishing fixed "truths." The unique qu al ity of human beings lies in th e increase rather than the decrease of diversity. Within this context , sketches can contribu te to de sign, first by facilitat ing the exploration and d iver­ sity of ea ch designer's th in kin g. Second, sket che s can help open up the desi gn process by developing com ­ m unicat ion with people instead of presentin g con clu­ sions to people. Th e not ion of graphic think ing gr ew out of the recognition that sketchi ng or drawing can and should support the de signe r 's thinking. I re ali ze that som e readers w oul d be more comfo rtable w ith a bo ok about either thi nkin g or drawi ng , but I felt it was cri t­ ical to deal w ith th eir inte raction . Pu lling th em apart se emed to be like tr ying to u nde rs tan d ho w a fish swims by studying th e fish and the water sepa rately. I hope you will be able to bear w ith the rough spots in this book and find som e th in gs that wi ll help in your work.

AcknowLedgments

h is book is ded icat ed to th ose ar chitects who gen erou sly took time to discuss their use of drawing s in de sign d uring m y or iginal an d su bs eq uent rese arch . Man y of th em als o pro­ vided sketches to illustrate th e text. Th eir ded ication to creativity in arch itecture, enthusiasm for dr aw ing, and co m me nts abou t their de sign p rocesses were a gre at he lp and inspirat ion for my work. Among the se architec ts, I am especiall y indeb ted to David Stieg litz, T hom as Bee by, Mor se Pay ne , Thomas La rso n, Mich ae l Ge b har t, Rom a ldo G iurgola , Jam es Tice , Nor m a n Crow e, Harry Egin k , Kir by Lock ard , and Steven and Cathi H ouse.

T

Recognition is due th e following p eop le for the ir p articu la rly important contribution s to this eff ort: Full er Moore for first su ggesting the id ea. Robert McKim for his ins ights to visual th in king and his en cou rage m ent. Jim An ders on for vital co mments on graph ic co mmu­ nication.

•

Karl Brown for comments and other val uab le ass is­ tan ce . Mi ch ele Laseau for technical ass istanc e. Jack Wyman , Ken Car penter, Juan Bonta , Ch arles Sappen field , and oth er pr ese nt and past col ­ lea gues at the College of Architecture and Planning, Ball State University for com me n ts an d moral support. A special thanks to Forrest Wilson for his enth usi­ astic sup por t at th e humbling ou tset of thi s effort. Fin all y, th anks must be given to my wife, Peggy, and children , Mich ele , Kevi n, an d Made lein e, for their grea t patience and sa cri fices whi le I struggled with revision s. Pr eviou sly p ublished draw in gs w ere pho­ tographed by Jerry Hoffm an and Stev en Talley.

ix

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• 1 Introduction rap hic thin king is a te rm I ha ve ad opted to describe thin kin g assisted by ske tch ing. In ar chitecture , t his type of thin king is usually associate d w ith the concep tua l design stages of a projec t in wh ich th inkin g and s ke tch ing w ork closel y toge th er as st im ula n ts for develop ing ideas. In terest in th is form of th inki ng is prom ot ed by a reexam ination of the histor y of ar ch itectura l des ign , th e impact of visu al com mun ication in society, and new concepts of th e role of design and design ers.

G

The re is actua lly a ve ry strong tradit ion of grap hic th in king in archi tecture. Looking th ro ugh rep ro du c­ tions of th e not ebo oks of Leon ardo da Vinci, w e are str u ck by th e d yn am ic t hin kin g t hey re flect . It is im possible to rea lly u nd erst and or app rec ia te da Vin ci's thin king apa rt fro m his d rawi ngs because the graphic images and th e thinking are one, a unity. A close r look at the se ske tches reve als certain featur es tha t are instr uc tive for anyone intereste d in grap hic th in king. 1. There are m any d ifferent ideas on one page-his attention is constantly sh ifting from one su bje ct to another. 2 . The way da Vin ci looks a t prob lems is di ve rse both in m ethod and in scale- there are oft en per­ spect ives, sections, p lans, de ta ils, an d panoram ic view s on the sam e page. 3 . T he thin king is exp lor a to ry, op en-end ed - the sket ches are loose and fr agm ented w h ile sho w ing how th ey were der iv ed . Ma ny alt erna tiv es for extend ing th e id eas ar e sugges te d . The sp ecta tor is invited to parti cipate. Wh at a m arvelous exa mple! Here is a mi nd in fer­ m ent, using draw ings as a m eans of discover y rath er than as a w ay to imp ress other peop le. Alt ho ug h it is oft en d iff icult to fi nd reco rds of develop m en tal sketch es in hist or ica l documen ts , t her e is eno ug h sur v ivin g evide nce to in d ica te th a t th e use of sk etches for th in king w as com m on to ar ch itects thr oughout history. Depe nd ing on th e d ic­ tat es of th e bui ld ing trades or customs, the dr aw ing conven tions varied from plan to sec tion to ele vat ion . For alm ost tw o centuries, th e Ecole des Beaux Art s in Paris used the plan esquisse as th e found ation for its

Figure 1-2 By Edwin Lutyens. Castle Drago and British Pavilion 1911 Exposition, Rome.

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Figure 1-3 By Edwin Lutyens. Castle Drago and British Pavilion 1911 Exposition, Rome.

tr ain in g m e th od . W it h th e establis hme n t of la rge arch itec tura l fir ms in the U ni ted States, th ree­ dimension al scale models gradua lly rep laced d raw ­ ing for the purposes of design deve lopment. Th e use of de sign ing sk etc h e s furt h er decl ined w ith th e ad vent of professio na l m ode l makers an d profes­ siona l rende rer s.

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Figure 1-19 Conceptual sketches.

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Figure 1-20 Conceptual sketches using digital media.

Visual Thinking

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\ Figure 1-21 Graphic thin king process.

GRAPHIC THINKING AS A COMMUNICATION PROCESS The proc ess of graphic th inking ca n be seen as a con­ versa tion wi th ourse lves in w hich we comm unicate w ith sketches. Th e com mun ication p ro cess involves th e sketched image on th e paper, th e eye, the brain, an d the hand. How can this ap parently closed ne t­ w ork gen erate ideas th at ar e not already in the br ai n? Part of the answer lies in th e def inition of an ide a . Th e so-called new id eas are really a new way of look­ ing at and com bi ning old ide as. All ide as can be said to be co n n ected; the t h in king p rocess re shuffles ideas, focu ses on pa rts, and re com bines th em . In th e d iagra m of th e graph ic-th in ki ng p rocess , all four pa rts-eye, brain , hand , a nd ske tch - ha ve the capa­ bility to add, subtract, or mo dify the information tha t is being passed th rou gh th e com m unica tion loop . The eye, assisted by pe rc ep tion, can select a foca l p oint and screen ou t oth er in form at ion . We can re ad ily accep t th at the brain ca n add in formation . Bu t th e oth er two parts, han d and sketch , are also important to th e p roce ss. A differ en ce oft en exists betw een w hat we in tend to draw and w ha t act uall y is draw n . Draw ing ability, m aterials, and our m ood ca n all be sources of change. And yes , even the image on pa p er is su bjec t to change. Differences in ligh t in tensity and angle, the size and d istance of th e image from the eye, reflect ivity of pap er, an d transp are n cy of m edia all op en up new possibilities. The potential of graphic thinking lies in the con­ tin uou s cycling of inform ati on- laden im ages from pa pe r to eye to brain to hand and back to the pap er. Th eoreticall y, t he m ore often the informa tio n is pas sed aroun d the loop , th e m ore oppor tun ities for change. In th e sequen ce of im ages opp osite, for exam­ ple, I started with a sketc h of car toon-l ike bu bble s to

8

Introduction

rep re sent spaces in a hou se tha t is ye t to be designed. Dep end ing on my exp erience, int er est s, and what I am tr yin g to do , I w ill see ce rt ain th ings in the sketch an d ign or e oth ers . T he resulting perce pt u al im age seg r ega tes sp ec ial-u se sp aces, th e livi n g roo m an d kitchen , fr om several other mo re pr iva te or support spaces. Next, I form a m ental im age to further organ­ ize th e spaces and give th em or ien ta tion bas ed on what I already kn ow about th e site or a south ern exp osur e for th e living room and ki tchen. Wh en this m en ta l im age is tr a nsferred to pap er once mo re , it goe s th rough yet another ch ange in which the special sp aces begi n to ta ke on distinctive forms. T his is, of cours e, an overs im p lification of th e proce ss. Grap hic thi nkin g, like visu al com mu ni catio n w ith th e rea l world, is a con ti n uous process. In for m ation is sim ultan eously dar ting a ll over th e ne tw ork. W hen graphic th inkin g is mo st active , it is similar to wa tching a fantastic array of firew orks and loo king for the one yo u rea lly enjoy. Not on ly is it pro d uctive, it is fun . In Arnh eim 's w ords, "Far from b ei n g a passive mech an is m of regis trati on li ke the p ho togr ap hi c cam era , our vis ua l appa ra tu s co pes w ith th e in coming im ages in ac tive str uggle;" Visu al thin kin g an d visual per ception cannot be se parated from ot her types of th inking or percept ion . Ver bal thinking, for example, adds mo re to the idea of a ki tchen or livin g roo m w ith su ch q ua lifiers as brigh t, ope n , or co m fort able . Obvio u sly, grap h ic thin king is n ot all yo u need to k now in or der to solve p ro ble m s or thi n k crea tivel y, bu t it ca n be a ba sic tool. Grap hic thinking ca n op en up chan nels of com­ m uni ca tion w ith ou rse lve s and th ose p eople w ith w hom we work. The sketches generated are im po r­ tan t because they sh ow ho w we are th inking about a problem, not ju st w ha t we th ink abo ut it.

I

Figure 1-23 Dialogue.

Grap h ic th in king takes advantage of the po w er of v isual percep tion by making vis ual images exte rn al a nd exp licit. By p u tti ng th em on paper, we give vis ua l images objectivity outs id e our brain , an existen ce of th ei r ow n over tim e. As Ro b er t M cKim p oi n ts out , gra phic th in king, as externalized th inkin g: has several advantages over internalized thought. First, direct sensory involvement wi th materials pro­ vides sen sory nourishment-litera lly 'food for thought.' Second, thin k ing by manipulating an actual structure permits serendipity-the hap py accident, the unexpected discovery . Third, thinking in the direct context of sight, touch, an d mo tion engenders a sense of im mediacy, actuality, and action. Finally, the ex terna lized thoug ht structure provides an object for critical contemplation as well as a visible form tha t can be shared with a colleague."

To the person w ho m ust reg u larly se ek n ew solu ­ tion s to problems, who must th ink creatively, the se q ua lities of im med ia cy, stimu la tio n, acci de n t , a nd con templa tion are very importa nt. To th ese q ualities I would add one more sp ecia l att r ib ute of graph ic th in k in g, sim u lta neity. Ske tc hes a llow u s to see 'a grea t amoun t of informa tion at the same time, expos­ ing re lationsh ips and descr ibing a wid e range of su b­ tleties. Ske tch es a re direct an d represen ta tive. According to Arn he irn, "Th e power of visual la nguage lies in its sp ont aneou s ev idence, its almost ch ild like simpli ci ty.. .. Da r kn ess means d a r kn es s, thin gs tha t be long togeth er are shown toget h er, and what is great an d h igh app ear s in large size and in a high loca tion. "7

Figure 1-22 Evolution of images.

Gra phic Thinking As a Com m unication Process

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Figure 1-24 By David Stiegletz. Development sketches on back of a placemat, Siegler Residence.

Figure 1-25 Front of placemat , Hotel Mercur, Copenhagen.

10

In troduction

EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION A st a nd ard story th at m any archit ects del ight in tell in g de scribes h ow the m ost ba sic co nc ept fo r a multim illion -doll ar project was first scribbled on the ba ck of a restauran t na p kin . I have wo nd er ed w hy both th e telle r and th e listener alw ays se em to derive a m use me nt from s uc h a sto ry. Perhaps the story restores confidence in the strength of the ind ividual de signe r, or m ay be it is the incongruity that de cision s on suc h im por ta nt matters ar e being made in suc h a re laxed , cas ua l m ann er. Viewing th is story in the con ­ text of gr aphic thinking, it is not at all sur prising th at in spired , inven tiv e thi n kin g sho ul d ta ke place at a resta ura nt tabl e. Not on ly are th e eyes, m inds, and han ds of at leas t tw o person s interacting with th e im ages on th e napk in , but als o they ar e further stim­ ulated by con versat ion . Besi des , these pe rso ns a re separa ted fr om th eir day-to-day wo rk prob lems ; th ey are rel axing in a pleasant at m osphere, and with th e co nsu mptio n of good food , th eir level of anxiety is significan tly recfuced. They ar e op en , ready, prepared for d iscovery ; ind eed , it would be surprising onl y if the most cr eative ideas w ere n ot born in this setting. To be effective commun ica tors, arc hitec ts m ust: 1. Un d ers ta nd the bas ic elem e nt s of co mmun ica ­

tion-th e com m unicator, th e receiver or aud ience , the m ed ium , and the context-e-and their ro le in effect iven ess. 2. Develop a gra p hic language fr om w h ich to dr aw the m ost effective sketch es for specifi c com m uni­ cati on tasks. 1 . Never take for gra nte d th e process of comm un ica ­ tion and be w illing to tak e the time to examin e their effe ctiveness. Basic co m m unica tion th eo ry stresses th e com m u­ nication loop betw een the com munica to r or sender and the receiver in order to att ain maximum effec­ tiveness. Response fr om th e audienc e is essential to a speaker wh o wants to get his m es sa ge across. The inform ation com ing from the receiver is as im porta nt as what th e sender, th e archit ect , transmits. And so we m ust p ay very clo se atte n tio n to th ose p ers ons with whom we h op e to comm un ica te . The bes t app ro ac h is to try to p la ce one se lf in th eir shoes . What ar e th ey expecting? Wha t are th eir co nce rns? Equ ally important , w e sho uld be awa re of our m ot i­ vations and conce rns. Do w e h ave an unconscious or hi dden agenda?

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Fi gure 2-22

Details Detai ls a re ofte n the most in terestin g or compe lling as pe ct of buildings. T he window is an exce lle n t exam­ p le. T her e, the de ta ils ca n be th e result of a tr an siti on be tw een tw o m a ter ial s-brick and glass- or b etween two b u ild ing elements-wall and op e ning. The w ood w indow frame , brick arch , key stone, and w indowsi ll ma ke t hese transi tio ns po ss ib le , an d each of th ese de tai ls tells us more abou t th e b ui lding . O n a regular basis, I have students sk etch window s, doors, or other bu ild ing elemen ts so they ga in an unde rstand­ ing a nd appre ciat ion of the con tribution of detai ls to th e q uali ti es and func tions of the bui lding . Details tell us so m e thi ng of need s a nd ma ter ia ls as w ell as our in ge n uit y in re lating th em . Th e ske tc h of the me ta l grating around th e b ase of t h e tree exp la ins bot h the need s of the tr ee and the use of th e su rfa ce under the tree where people w alk . Figure 2-23

26

In m ost arc h it ectural sce nes, th ere a re d et a ils close to us a n d othe rs fa rth er away. We can see m or e of th e close det ail and sho u ld sho w in th e ske tc h suc h things as sc re w s or fas te ne rs or fin e joints a n d tex­ tur es. As d etai ls recede in th e sk et ch , few er a n d few er of the pi eces ar e sho w n , unt il on ly th e ou tline is v isib le.

Drawing

Figure 2-25 MO lltgomery, Alabama.

Combining Observations

Fi gure 2-24 Sail Francisco. Ca lifornia.

Wit h practice , struc ture , ton es, a nd d etai ls ca n be effective ly combined to ca p ture th e com p le te se nse of a subject. Old er houses of d ifferent sty les ar e suit­ ab le su bj ects for practicin g a nd developing ob ser va­ tion sk ills. T he y a re usua lly readi ly access ib le and p ro v ide a varie ty o f v is u a l effect s th a t ca n sus ta in yo ur in te rest. Try vis iting favorit e houses at d iffer ent tim es of d ay in orde r to v iew the impact of di ffer ent light ing co n d itions. Walk arou n d , approa ch , a nd re tr ea t fr om th e su bj ect to captur e a va r ie ty o f appearances .

Building a Sketch

27

TRACING Trac ing ex isting graph ic mat erial is anoth er w ay to bu ild sketching skills. Ma king an overlay of you r ow n drawing s w ith tr acing paper is an ob vious but und er­ used dev ice. Rath er th an overwork a d raw ing th at is h ead ed in t he w rong directi on, make an ov er lay sh owing th e ele men ts that need to be corrected and then, in anothe r overlay, ma ke a w hol e new ske tc h incorpor ating th e ch an ges. You w ill learn more from yo ur mi stak es, and th e fina l sketc h w ill be better an d fresher. Tracing can also be do ne by lay ing a tran s­ pare n t s hee t with a grid ov er a draw ing or p ho to, draw ing a larger gr id, and th en transferring the draw ­ in g square by sq uar e. A thi rd tec hniq ue uses a slide projector a nd a sm a ll m irr or to p roject images of a conveni ent size for tracing on your d rawi ng ta ble. The large sketc h on page 3 1 w as don e in this w ay.

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No m att er th e rea son you th ou gh t copy ing w as im pr op er or illega l, forget it. Ma st er dr af tsm en su ch a s Leon ardo da Vinc i cop ied oth er p eo pl e's wo r k w hen th ey were learn ing to d raw. No tracing is ever th e sa m e a s th e or igina l. You w ill pi ck out some details and simplify other parts. Tracing forces you to look closel y at th e or igina l sketc h or photo an d better un der stand the su bject.

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Figure 2-43 After Saul Steinberg.

DISCRIMINATION Cartoons ar e a n im portan t source of sk et ch ing id eas. My favo r ite sourc es are T he N ew Yor k er a nd Pu nch m aga zin es, but th e re a re many oth e r sou rces. Cartooni st s co nvey a co nv inc ing sense of reality w ith an in c red ib le economy of m ean s. Simp le con tou r lin es suggest d et ail inform ati on w h ile con cen tra ting on ove ra ll shape s. Michael Folke s desc ribes some of the d iscip line of cartoon drawings : .. .simplicity refers to the need to ma k e the clearest possible sta teme nt.... Avoid all unnecessary de tail.

34

Drawing

Ma k e th e focal point of your pictu re stand ali t . Re frai n from filling every corne r with obj ects or shading.. .. Tra in y our hand and eye to put down on paper rapidly recogniza ble situ a tions: in the fewe st possible strok es. One significant de tail is worth far more tha n an un certain clu tter of lines tha t don 't really describe any thing. M a k e dozens of sma ll pic­ tures.. .draw ing directly in pen a nd ink so that the pen becom es a natural drawi ng instrument and no t som ething tha t can only be used to wor]: pain fully over ca refu lly prepa red pencil lines.(,

T he ca rt oon is selective or d isc rim ina ting; it he lps yo u seek out th e esse n ce of a n exper ie nce.

Figure 2-44 Sketc h exte nding a view derived from t he painting, Giovanni Arnofini and Hi s Bride, by Jan Va n Eyck.

Figure 2-45 Drawing from imagination.

Figure 2-46 Drawing from imagination.

IMAGINATION

tho se pa r ts of the roo m access ibl e only th rou gh your imagina tion . 2 . Draw a se t o f objects and th e n draw w hat you believe to be the view from the backsid e. 3. Sket ch a s im p le objec t su ch as a cube w ith d is­ tinc tive m ar kin gs. T he n im agine that you a re cu t­ tin g th e objec t and m ov ing the parts. Draw the di ffe ren t new configura tions.

To m ove fr om gra p h ics in su p po r t o f obse rva tio n towa rd gra phic thinking th at supports d esigning , you must deve lop a nd stre tc h imagin ati on . Her e are so me simp le exe rc ises to sta rt: 1. Find a d rawing, p hotogra p h , or painting of a ro om th at show s a part of a space. O n a large sh eet of pap e r, draw the sc ene d epic ted a nd th en ex te n d th e drawing beyo nd it s or igin al fr am e to s ho w

Imagination

35

Visual-Mental Games An en te rtaining way to im p rove ha nd - eye - mind coord ination and promote an ability to visualize is to play some simple games. 1. Show a few people four or five cuto uts of sim ­ ple shapes arranged on a pi ece of paper (above , left ). Ou t of view of the ot hers, one p ers on m oves th e cut outs while verbally desc ribing the move. The oth­ ers attempt to d raw th e new ar ra nge me nt from the description . Th is is repeated a few tim es to see w ho can ke ep track of the pos ition of th e shape s. Aft er m aster ing th is exercise, have the persons draw ing try to form a men ta l picture of each new arrangem ent and then try to draw only th e final arran gemen t. In a sec ond version of this gam e, an object is su bstitu ted for the cut outs, an d it is ma n ip u late d , op ened , or taken apart. 2 . Form a circl e wi th a small gr ou p. Each pers on m akes a sim pl e sket ch a nd pa sses it to hi s righ t.

36

D raw ing

Everyone tr ies to copy the sketch he has received an d in turn pa sses th e copy to th e righ t. This contin ues unti l the fin al copy is passed to the creator of the ori g­ in al sketch . Then all sketches are ar ra nge d on a w all or table in the order they were made. This ga m e illu s­ trates th e distinctiven ess of individ ual visual p ercep­ tion (above, cen ter). 3. Doodles, usin g an arch itectural or de sign th eme, are another form of puzzle. He re, th e obj ec­ tive is to provide just enough clues so the subj ect is ob vious once the title is given (above, right) . There are many visual p uzzles that exer cise our visual per cept ion. Try some of those sh ow n opposite; look for more puzzles , or invent some of your ow n . In th e sketches opposite, an arbitrary diagram is given and the cha llenge is to use it as a parti for di fferent bu ild ings by seeing it as standing for a section or plan view for starters.

Figure 2-50 Visual puzzles.

Figure 2-51 ExpLoring design based on a parti diagram.

Imagination

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Figure 3-15 Organization of a modified perspective. after Lockard.

QUALITATIVE REPRESENTATION

spec t ive , p ara llel wit h the horizon lin e , are now sligh tly slan ted in the di rect ion of th e imaginary sec ­ ond poi n t. To m ake th e transition fro m one -poin t per­ spec tive , the top and bottom lin es of the pi cture pla ne can be given a sligh t slan t an d a new plane is estab ­ lished ; by d rawing a new d iagona l, the new diagonal va n ishin g poin t can be set. A grid ca n also be app lied to this type of perspective to help in plac ing objects in the spa ce.

At this p oin t w e are not in ter es ted in th e qualities of dr aw ing expressi on , such as style or tech niq ues; this is cover ed in Ch apt er 5. By q ua lita tive rep resen ta ­ tion , I mean the rep resenta tion of the qualities of a space. I n hi s book Design D rawing W illia m Lock ard ma kes a very co nvi ncing arg um en t for the supe riority of p ersp ectives a s rep rese nt atio na l d raw ings. "Pers p ec tive s ar e m or e qualitat ive than quan titative. The ex per ien tial qua lities of an envi ro n m en t or ob ject can be perceived d irect ly fro m a p er sp ec­ tive.. .Th e q ua lities of th e space/tim e/ligh t con tin uum are much better re p rese n ted and u nderstood in p er­ spect ive (than by othe r co nven tions). " 3 Perspective s have the adva ntage of showing the re lationsh ip of all the elem en ts of a sp ac e in a way most sim ilar to how w e w ou ld ex perie nce it whe n b u ilt. Alt hough it is tr ue that bu ildings are not expe rie nc ed only through persp ectives, it is th e best way of sho w ing a d ire ct visua l experience of a specifi c space. Lockar d 's ch apter on representation has probably the best ex p lana tio n of th e use of p ersp ec tive sketc he s for re presentat ion . Locka rd illustrat es a per­ spective view that is close to one-p oin t perspective ; it in volv es an imagin ary seco nd perspe ct ive po in t added at som e dis ta nc e fr om the ske tc h (see Figur e 3­ 15). Lin es run n in g the wi dt h o f the one -po int pe r­

44

Conventions

To rep res en t th e q ua lities of an im agined space, w e have to know some thing abo u t th e q ua lit ies of sp aces. Th ough th is seem s obv ious, it is of ten ignored . As architect s, w e have to look for w hat gives spaces th eir special charac ter , th e d ifferen t kinds of ligh t, color , texture, pat tern , or sha pes possibl e and how they are combin ed . Con tin ua l sket ch ing in a sketch notebook is one sur e way of learn ing a bout the q ualiti es of spaces. Wh en th is know led ge is ap p lied to th e repres en ta tive pe rs pecti ve , w e must rem em ber to con vey th e t h ree-d im e nsiona l exp erie n ce of th e sp ace onto a tw o-di m ensional surface, the pa per. To d o this, w e need to illus tra te the effect s of dep th or d ist ance upon th os e thing s th at giv e th e sp ace its q ualiti es. Wit h an increase in d epth , ligh t se ems to p ro du ce few er grad at ion s of to ne ; d et ail is less ev i­ d en t; text u re and co lor are less v iv id ; ou tli n es or ed ges are less sha rp . Dep th can a lso be con veyed through overlap of object or con tou r.

Figure 3-16a Set up of sketch perspective based on Lockard method.

Figure 3-16b Completed sketch perspective.

Qualita tive Representation

45

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Figure 3-17 Para lle l project ions.

PARALLEL PROJECTIONS Cur re ntly in comm on use, the axono me tric sketch is an importa nt alte rnative to th e persp ect ive, plan, and section . The axonometri c is simp ly a projection fr om a p lan or sect ion in wh ich all p a rallel lines in the space are show n as para llel; t his is in con tra st to a persp ective wh ere parallel lines are show n as exte nd­ ing fr om a single point. The axonom etric techniq ue is traditio nal in Chi ne se d raw ings. Instead of p lacin g the viewer at a single poin t from w hich to view the scene, it gives the view er th e feel ing of being every­ w here in fr ont of the sc ene. The axonom etr ic has the

46

Conventions

additi on al ad va nta ge of rep res ent ing th ree -d imen ­ sional spa ce wh ile re taining the "tr ue" d im ensions of a p lan and sec tion . T h is las t ch aracterist ic makes a n axo n ome tric easy to draw be caus e all th ree dimens ions are show n at the sam e scale. Axo no metric p rojections forward or bac kward fr om p lan s or sections are convent ion ­ ally ma de a t an gles of 30, 45, or 60 degrees, bu t in a sketch th e exact angle is no t imp ort an t as lon g as the proje cted lines rem ain p arallel.

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VERTICAL SECTION A vertical cut through a space is ca lled a sec tion. What was said abou t the plan sketc h also ap plies to the section sketch, excep t for the cas ting of shadow s. With sec tions, we can show depth of space by apply­ ing the one -poin t perspective co nventions explai ned earlier. Imagine you are looking at a cut m odel of the space; the point at which you loo k d irectly into the mode l is where the viewpoi n t (V. P.) wi ll be p laced . T he viewp oint is used to projec t th e pe rspect ive be hind the section.

Figure 3-18 Section.

Human figures are als o imp or ta n t for sec tion ske tches. Many designers ske tch in view lines for the people; this seems to make it easier to imagine being in the space a nd gives some se nse o f w hat can be seen from a particular posit ion in the space. Shadows can be ind icated to see the effect of sunlight within the space.

Vertical Section

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PLAN SECTION Abs tract pl an d iagr ams suc h as th e one ab ove have m an y uses in the ea rly concep tu a l s tages of design . Th is is covered in d epth in Ch apt er 4 . However, m any architecture s t ud~nt s make th e m istake of try­ ing to use th ese plan d iagram s to rep resent th e m ore concrete decisions a bout th e format ion of space. Plan sketc hes of d esign ed sp aces mus t sho w w ha t is enclosed and wh at is no t, including scale, height, pat­ tern , and d etai l. A p lan is basicall y a horizontal cut or section th ro ugh th e spa ce. Thin gs th at are cut , su ch as w alls or columns , are ou tl ined in a heavy lin e wei gh t. T hings that can be see n bel ow th e pl ace w here the p lan w as cut are ind icated in a lighter line weight. Things such as a skyligh t th at ca n not be see n becau se they are abo ve the lev el of the cut ca n be show n w ith a heavy dashed lin e if d esired. The first stage of a r ep resent a tiv e pla n is the heavy ou tlini ng of wa lls clearl y show ing ope n ings. In th e secon d s tage, d oo rs, win d ow s, fu rn iture, an d other d eta ils a re ad d ed . Th e thi rd- sta ge ske tc h

48

Conventions

inc lu des sha d ow s to sho w th e re lative he igh ts of p la ne s and objects. Th e p re vail ing co n ven tion for sha do ws casts th em on a 45-de gee angle, up and to the right. Th e sha dow s need onl y be as long as neces­ sary to clearly sho w th e relat ive heig h ts of the fu rn i­ tur e, wall s, etc. Finally, co lor, texture, or pattern can be ad d ed to exp la in fur ther the ch a racte r o f th e space.

OTHER REPRESENTATIONS A variety of sk etche s ba sed on th e con ven tions of persp ective , pl a n , section , and axono me tric are shown on the next page. By m ean s of ske tches, we can cu t open, peel ba ck, p u ll apart, re constr uct, or m a ke co ncre te objects transpa ren t to see how th ey are arra nged or con structed . Th es e are jus t a few of th e poss ibl e ex tens ions of repr esen tation . As we use ske tches to v isu alize design s, w e sho uld al w ays be ready to inven t new too ls as need ed .

Fi gure 3-20 Transparent sketch.

Figure 3-21 By Th omas Truax. Structural systems illustrations, Boston City Ha ll, Kallman, McKinnell & Knowles, architects.

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Figure 3-23 "Ex plodarnetric" drawing of a barn.

Other Representa tions

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Figure 5-2 (bottom) By David Stieglitz . Buffalo Waterfront Redevelopment Proje ct.

5

Expression

he design er w ho wishes to ta ke advan ta ge of ex p ress ion , th e se con d le vel of co m m u n ica ­ ti on (th e first level be in g th e content of th e draw ing ), should become aware of the ra ng e of q ua litie s tha t can be co m m u n ica te d and us efu l techniques for doing so . The sk etches in thi s chap te r a re of fer ed as examples of wha t ca n be di scov ered . Eac h sketc h co nveys m ore th an o ne quality, but I h ave tr ied to gro u p th e sk etch es accord ing to th eir mos t sig n ifica n t qua lit ies. T h is chap te r co nce n tra tes on some of th e a ttitud es a nd prior itie s a rch itect s a nd d es ign er s co n vey by the m an n er in wh ich th ey draw . It see m s obv io us th at yo u can tell so met h ing ab out design e rs through th eir draw ings . Care in drawing often ind ica tes care in th ink ing. In m y experie nce, cli en ts, co ns u lta n ts, co n ­ tracto rs, a nd others w ith w ho m arc hi tects work a re grea tly influ en ced b y draw ings, whi ch se t th e to ne for the w ork . T he d rawings are a w ay of tell ing peo­ ple what you d emand of yo urse lf a nd provide a clue to w ha t you ex pec t of th e m .

IDENTITY The draw ings on these firs t two pages are sig nifi can t for the ir stro n g se nse of ident ity, a presence that says they are importa n t a nd we ought to take time to look a t the m mor e closely. How does the way th e ske tc hes w e re drawn account for th is qual ity? Both th e sty le and th e hig h contr as t ar e impor ta n t , bu t the flui dity of th e sket ch es tell s us abou t the int ensi ty a nd confi­ d en ce of th e a rc h itec t. We can alm ost see or feel the a rc h itect 's hand mov ing over th e pap er.

CONSISTENCY Disc ip line in draw ing is some times ass oc ia te d w it h stiff or Spa rta n-looking drawings. Bu t , as you ca n see , qua li ty need n ot limit expressi on . T hese drawings hav e their in te rn al co nsiste nc y in common . It mi ght be com pa re d to th e diffe re nc es in ca r d esigns. Th e Porsch e an d the Roll s Royce a re im med ia tely recog­ n ized as two ve ry d iffer e nt ca rs, but bot h have a n exp ression of high qua lity an d cra fts ma nsh ip. G ive n th e bas ic co nc ep t of eac h ca r, th e d esi gner s ha ve give n every pa r t of the car a feeling tha t it belong s to th a t, a nd only that , ca r.

Figure 5-3 By Edwin F. Harri s, Jr. Assisi.

67

Figure 5-4 By Theodore J . Mu sho. Santa Costanza.

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Figure 11-10 By Thomas Beeby. Studies for the Seyfart h House.

PRIVATE TO PUBLIC THINKING Thin king and th e communica tion it m ay req u ire ha ve tw o mode s. In th e p ublic m od e, the individ ua l devel­ op s hi s id eas by com m u ni ca tin g wi th oth er p eop le, Co lin C he rry p o in ts ou t th a t "Co m m u ni ca tion is essen tia lly a soc ia l affair.,.. The ve ry word comm uni­ cate m eans share, an d in asmu ch as you a nd I a re com ­ m un ica tin g a t th is mo m e nt , w e a re one.... W h at we sh a re , w e can n ot eac h have a s our own po sses­ sian .. .. " I In thi s se nse, the re is a p ublic aspect to all ideas beca use non e of us lives in a vacuum. Wha t we hol d in our m inds com es fr om in teracti ons w ith th e peopl e and environ men t tha t su rr ound s us , In the p riva te m od e of t hinking , th e in di vid u al develops ideas in isola tion from othe rs; com m un ica­ tion in th is for m is d irect ed bac k tow a rd on ese lf. Many arch itec ts ar e re lu c tant to sh ow th e ske tch es th ey use to d eve lop id eas, a nd some even have d iffi­ cu lty d iscussin g th e m , Th ese ske tc he s a re te n ta tive and cr ud e com pare d to p rese ntat io n d ra w in gs, an d

they of te n represen t incom p let e tho ugh ts. Bu t these sketch es also re veal the str uggle of a m ind tha t does n' t have all th e answ ers. For som e design ers, this m ight be embarrassin g beca use of a n illusion tha t th e gre a t design concepts flow instan tly a nd com p le tely from th e crea tive m ind . Bu t p e rh ap s t h e re is m ore to it. Co n cep tu al ske tc h es ar e ve ry p e rson a l s ta te m e n ts, almost a d ia ry. We are intuit ively aw a re th a t th ey can reveal ve ry p r iva te feel in gs, concerns, or fan tasies. They are no one else 's b usi ne ss. Although indiv idual design activity re quires both pu b lic an d private co m m un ica ti ons, the cho ice of mode is pe rson al. Ea ch d esign e r develo ps h is ow n style of sketchin g as an aid to thin king, Some m ay choose to develop a clarity th at can comm u nicate to other p eop le , while ot h e rs may d evelop a p r iva te graph ic lan guage. Eith e r w ay, yo u h ave to be comfor t­ a ble with it. If yo u can enjoy sket chi ng, ch an ces ar e thinking w ill a lso b e m ore enjoyab le.

Private to Public Th ink ing

195

OVERCOMING OBSTACLES Eve n the best preparation does not assur e success in d esi gn . Arch itec ture st ude nts and some tim es even practit ione rs ru n in to think ing an d p roblem-solving obs tac les . The fo llowin g lis t describes some of the m ore com m on obsta cles an d so me possib le responses.

1. Can't get started-If you try to tackle proble ms tha t ar e too big, you be com e ove rwh elm ed . Try to br eak dow n the prob lem into d ifferen t parts. In st ead of design ing the w hole school, analy ze its pa rts: class­ rooms, r ecr ea tion , ad m in istra tion , etc . W hen th ese pro ble ms are under control, look at how th e pa rt s can fit toget her to form a school.

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2. Can't get any good ideas-Sometimes we have a fear of fai lur e; w e are afraid th at our solution will be judged to be very p oor py others and that th ey w ill lose confide nce in us. Thi s req uires separ ating one 's se lf from the design problem . If failures in life mea nt that one's life was a fail ure, we wo uld all be in de ep trou ble. Fortuna tely, life goes on, and thi s problem w ill soon be forgotten . T he fu ture hold s d ifficult problems as we ll as ea sier ones. It may help to tr eat the probl em as a cha llenge in a game. Try your best and use a ll of the reso ur ces ava ila ble. Use some of the techn iq u es of ma n ipu la ti on already disc ussed and take a new look at the p ro ble m . If you ca nn ot m ove ahead on the basis of your ass umptions, then arb itrarily cha nge the m . If there doesn 't seem to be a su itab le so lu tion for the kitch en, consid e r a ho use w ithout a formal ki tch en . It may not be a solu tion , but it m ight lead to a solution .

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13 PubLic Design

he gen eral public is takin g a m ore active role in the p la n n ing an d desi gn of com m un it ies, and p eople are work ing m ore clo sel y w it h d es ign professi onals. Grap h ic thin ki ng has cha nged to accom m oda te this n ew de vel op m ent. This chap ter dis cusses th e fun dam ental shifts in the pu b­ lic 's a ttitud e and shows how th es e shifts su p port design an d p ro blem-so lv ing processes.

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Explor ers of th e fifteent h and sixteenth cent uri es veri fied the newly in tro d uce d co n ce p t ab ou t the sha pe of th e ear th , and th is ch anged forever ma n 's sense o f rel atio ns hi p to his world. In our century, exp lore rs of th e un iverse ad d ed anoth e r dimen si on w ith th e con cep t of the eart h as a "space ship," a w on­ drously b rillia nt island floati ng in the va st black ness of space. O nce again , th e imp act of our conce p t of re lations hip to our en vironmen t, th e ear th , has a nd wi ll have fu nd am ental conseq uenc es. Ot her dramatic cha nge s have altere d our view of the wo rl d : ho rse and buggy to spaceships; musket to atom ic an ni hila­

tion ; te lecom m u nica tio ns ; m ini com pute rs ; ene rgy crisis; large-scale pollu tion of air and wa ter; elec tric p ow er failur es; and so on . Books su ch as T he A ge of D isco ntinuity, Futur e Shock, and The Tempo rary Society' have at temp ted to de scribe these shifts in values. In the ar ea of archite c­ tur e and env iron me nta l de sign , the shift in values is mo st d ramatically expressed in the histori c p reserva­ tion mo vemen t. Now th at change has becom e a ce n­ tral featur e in our lives, peop le are begin nin g to exer­ cise th eir judgm ent over which changes are d esira ble and wh ich are no t. They are developing new percep ­ tions a bout histo rica l bui ld ings as so u rces of con tin u­ ity in comm u nitie s. They seem to seek sta bility in an atm osp here of over whe lm ing cha nge. I bel ieve that w e are see king a new sense of iden ­ tity for ourse lves and our co m m u n ities . Th e increased va lu e placed on th e en vironment is alre ady hav ing importan t effects on our econ om ic sy stem ; co mp an ies are sea rch in g for loca tio ns wi th a gr ea t inf lux of pe ople rather than moving peop le to w here the jobs ar e. Early succe ssful design res pon ses to the preservation m ovem ent as in Gh irarde lli Sq ua re and the Canner y- in San Francisco ha ve been follow ed by a wave of red iscov ery and p reserv ation mo vements in th e m a in streets of tow n s acro ss the cou n try . Co mm unity develop m en t associa tions ar e sp ring ing up everywh er e as co nsu m er movem en ts con vince an incr ea sing n u m be r of people tha t they can per son­ a lly d o som e thi ng to improve t he ir lives an d the ir env ironm en t.

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Figu re 13-6 By Harry Eggink . East Cambridge residential neighborhood.

Figure 13-5 By Harry Eggink. Local reta il street East Cambridge st udy.

COMMUNITY DESIGN Jim Burns cla imed that archi tects must w ork more di rec tly w ith the p ubli c to avo id the mista kes of th e past. "Some of the envi ronmenta l changes... have had neg­ ative imp acts that were not easily discern ible at first. They seemed to be good things to do-to relocate a museu m or provide new housing or put a spo rts are na in a pa rk . What happen ed eventually was that the m useum lost part icipants, the housing was dis ­ lik ed, the park patrons shu nned the spo rts facilities. Th e reason for these kin ds of failures is usually that the change s broke con nections between people and the opp ortunities their com munity offered. "3

Th e best way to ass ur e th a t p eo p le ar e not cu t off fro m commu nit y opportunities is to involv e them in th e design of th eir communities .

If th e arc hitec ts are to prom ote the involvemen t of the publ ic in the de si gn p rocess, th ey must ta ke a look at th e way ideas are comm un icat ed . Some archi­ tects ar e acc us tom ed to m aking h igh ly polished p re­ se n ta tio ns to cl ie n ts or boards of d irect ors. The ir dra wings a re s lic k, wi th an a ir of final it y and ce r­ tainty. W hen such draw ings are us ed in a p ublic par­ ticipa tion design p roject , the com m un iti es have th e feeling th ey are bei ng talked at an d not talked wit h ; they ar e int im idated and di scouraged from con tribu t­ ing their idea s, no matter how much to the con tra ry th e design er pl eads. Inviting co m m u nication sta r ts w it h the character of the sketch es. 1 . Ske tches sho u ld a lw ays have a loose , fr eehand

quality, a sort of in compl eten ess suggesting that they can be cha nged and wi ll be improved w ith addition al th in king. Eve n if a per sp ective h as been mech ani cally co ns tru cted, it can be traced over freehand to ach ieve a more ten tative fee ling. 2 . Keep ske tc hes si mple and avoid abs tractions that require interpretation . The exam ples a bove fro m a Cambridge urban des ign study" are quite effec­ tive. Many people fin d it easier to rel ate to ae rial vie ws. 3 . Use m an y la bels to easily ide nt ify th e parts of th e draw ings. Th e car toon cap tion bu bble is a us ef ul device for labelin g or co nveying th e possibilities of an en viron ment. Com m unity De sign

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TAKE-PART WORKSHOPS

1 . Awaren ess -Com m un it y m emb er s ge t a better '

Seve ral arch ite cts and plan ners have worked vigor­ ously to develop gr ap hic comm uni cation m e tho ds, making it possible for the pu blic to understand and enter in to the design process. O ne of the innov ators in th is tr end w as Law rence H alpri n: I am concentrating on the issue of people's int erac­ tions with their environment both as individua ls an d in grou pe.: both aspects are important. We hav e been searching for archetypal relationships... in wor kshops which tak e place primarily out in the field T hese taki ng par t work sh ops allow people the opp ortunity to disco ver and articulate their own needs and desires for themselves and for their com ­ m unities... . They discover ways of com munica ting with each oth er an d arri ving at crea tive decisions based on mu ltipl e input.'

Jim Burns, pl anning consulta nt and former Ha lprin associate w ith w ide exp er ience in or gani zing wo rksho ps, described the workshop process as hav­ ing four basic steps:

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expe rience of th ose thin gs that form the co m m u­ nity environme nt and how those things are inte r­ conn ec ted . Aw areness is achieved pr incipally by go ing ou t in to th e co m m unity and lookin g and taking notes. 2. Percep tion- Citizens be gin to un d erstand th eir comm uni ty a nd their p er sonal rela tion sh ip to it by m od elin g th e coll ect ive experi ence of wh a t exists and th ei r hop es for w ha t cou ld exist. 3. Decision-ma k ing- Based on awareness and percep­ tions , the co m munity describe s what th ey wo uld like done a nd w he n it sh ou ld be do ne. 4. I mplementation stra tegies-D ev ise d to as sure that the projects ad opt ed by th e comm un ity are real­ ized ." To compl ete th ese four st ep s, work shops have develo pe d a nu mb er of gra p h ic aids (see Figures 13-7 through 13-11) to involve th e commu nit y me m be rs in the design process.

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