We’re in the digital age, where we’ve got unprecedented access to state-of-the-art technology for nearly all of our requirements – at home, in the office and everywhere in between. With the digital revolution taking hold of life as we know it, we often question what it means to be human in a technological era, particularly when it comes to creativity. With machines capable of being more precise and accurate than we could ever imagine, what are the benefits of sketching designs?
With ever-advancing software and AutoCAD at our fingertips, some might wonder if drawing is a dying art for architects and interior designers. We are firm defendants of drawing by hand and here’s why; sketching is a way of processing thought.
The role of drawing in the design process is key – it is the catalyst, development and crucially the birth of tangible ideas. Putting pen to paper helps to articulate ideas, visualise and demonstrate function and illustrate anything that requires some sort of user interaction. Many supporters of the sketch describe the process as the tool that explores and explains the initial ideas. Paolo Belardi author of ‘Why Architects Still Draw’ argues that a drawing holds within it the entire final design.
The same could be said for many forms of creativity – whether its literature, songwriting, scripts, fine art or even science – the need to sketch and jot ideas down is proof in itself that drawing is simply thinking by hand. There’s no demand for artistic or illustrative talent, sketching is purely the idea of putting pen to paper and letting the ideas flow. There is something magical about the actualisation of ideas that connects directly to what it means to be human.
Whilst the idea of us becoming inferior to the machines we’ve created, there is significant weight in the knowledge that they run on a basis of vast amounts of data whilst it could be argued that sketching offers an infinite amount of possibilities. With over 20 years in the interior architecture industry and a portfolio of successful projects around the world, we can safely say we won’t be putting the pencil down any time soon. We’ve collected some of our own hand-rendered drawings from past project to share with you – enjoy!
