Has Technology made a better way for architects to design?

Technology has stood as a big problem for architects for many reasons, throughout this blog I will explain what hand drawing and digital drawing is and the reason why I believe technology has made a better impact on the architectural world, although many other architects will disagree with me.

Hand drawing is the traditional way of sketching with a pen and paper. Architects will use hand drawing during the whole process of a design project, to explore ideas and to analyse different options within the design stage. Hand drawings show the most useful method to create a more efficient way to manipulate the form, shape, scale, space and proportion of a design, allowing the architect to compare the designs to different strategies. The use of hand drawing is what attracts people to train and become to be architects; hand drawings are done to show the design of the building in different formats to show to the client the different elements within the building. They show a more detailed and personal view to the project.

Digital drawings within architecture are produced on a computer, laptop or iPad with various types of software’s, used for different types of drawings being produced. There are many types of software’s that are used by architects for example: SketchUp, AutoCAD, Lumion, Revit and Rhino 6. Architecture software has gradually become more modern within the 21st century, making it easier for architects to draw, develop and share with other designers. Digital drawings enable an in-depth explanation of design ideas, which allow architects to visualize concepts and simulate design performance within the real world.

Other Architects opinions:

Wendy Wheeler Martinez:

“Drawing is essential to the process of design, from diagrammatical to high technical, hand drawing brings value to every architectural project by allowing us to quickly explore ideas and convey intent”

“My personal admiration for hand drawing and sketching is what initially attacked me to architecture”

“Drawing is a tool for thought, for creativity, fore invention”

‘I would argue that the effectiveness of a sketch is incomparable when one considers its efficiency and perhaps even its beauty.’

‘Drawing can capture time and record a memory. It is a visual communication, a medium for expression. For those who draw, it teaches us to see, to observe – educating our visual sense through the exploration of form, light, texture, distance and perspective.’ Michelangelo’s words

Peter Cook:

‘Visionary drawing does not stand outside the basic scheme of architectural development – it just, sometimes, wants to make a leap forward.’

Mario Capro:

‘The development of new digital tools for design and fabrication suggested that electronics would drastically change the making of physical buildings as well’

‘Computers are famously versatile machines, and they do not express aesthetic preferences.’

‘So much was changing so fast that some architects started to think that design should change too.’

‘By this time, isometric and axonometric drawings have become a preferred mode of three- dimensionalities, beloved by those of us who relied upon the apparatus of the drawing table, and In particular the adjustable set-square.’

As an architect myself, I have always wondered what it was like in the early 1900’s when technology wasn’t around as everything would then have to be done by hand, the plans, sections elevations, axonometric drawings… Everything!

Was Hand drawing better?

Would producing hand drawings create a better relationship between the architect and the structure?

Is there a limit to working digitally within certain aspects of the design process?

Is technology causing a problem with how architects communicate their ideas to clients?

These are the types of questions that many people ask when looking at a topic like this and think pre 1900’s and post 1900.

Within Pacha Studios there is a mix of people who prefer hand drawing to digital and some who prefer digital technology over hand-drawing.

I do believe that new technology enhances architectural representation for many reasons, most importantly the use of digital technology ensures that design development is saved automatically, this easing the minds of architects and decreased stress of them worrying about their work getting lost or deleted. Digital technology also saves time with sending work around to peers within the project, during the early years of the 14th century, work was done on paper and would take days to send to others within the design process, this new development in technology has ensured work can be sent in seconds without the concern about wasting days on waiting for designs to be passed around. Computers are famously versatile machines, and they do not express aesthetic preferences this proving how the digital technology is a famous machine, however the use of hand drawing within a design stage of a project would result in a more eye- catching design to the building, which a client would much prefer.

That aside, there is a part of me that believes the use of technology within the architectural world is the same as having a virus implanted into our brain. Although the use of technology enhances our advancement in creating more precise and realistic models, this new technique is diminishing of the initial attraction to architecture. Although, the more architects use technology it is said that their skill of drawing is decreasing day by day and this resulting in their imagination of free hand thoughts being lost within the world of technology.