A study on the importance, role, and techniques and different sketching styles by different architects.

1. SKETCHING
DEFINITION – FUNCTION –TECHNIQUES

2. DEFINITION OF ARCHITECTURAL SKETCHING
• In the early design process, designers draw diagrams and sketches to
explore ideas and solutions. Designers are trained to use paper and
pencil to develop conceptual designs.
• They draw to develop ideas and communicate their thinking through
the act of drawing. Design drawing is an iterative and interactive act
involving recording ideas, recognizing functions and meaning in the
drawings, and finding new forms and adapting them into the design.

3. WHY SKETCHING?
• In the early design process, designers draw diagrams and sketches to
explore ideas and solutions.
• Drawings are mental tools. Architects sketch to help themselves to
see and understand the form they work with, and to communicate
with others.
• Despite the fact that these drawings may seem crude, they are
valuable in understanding how designers work because each of them
serves its purpose in a work of importance.
• Each line in a drawing plays a role. It could represent an outline of a
form or a path of force (e.g., wind, rain, or light ray). Architectural
design deals with both form and function.

4. BENEFIT FOR ARCHITECTURE:
Express design concepts, volume, and inspiration quickly before they
become concrete hard-line drawings
Sketch by Sou Pierre Jeanneret

5. FOR INTERIOR DESIGN
Create expressive view of the different components of a space

6. For Landscape Architect
To convey concepts to clients and study possible solutions

7. FOR CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT
To describe specific details of a problems or opportunities on the job
site to the architect or subcontractors.

8. 3 TYPES OF SKETCHING:
1- Conceptual sketches: can reveal the essence of a complex idea. The challenge in the
concept sketch is to clearly communicate the design intention.
2-Analytical sketches: can be used to analyse a building , space or component. These can
be created at any stage of the design process.
3-Observational sketches: can be used to describe aspects of building exploring materials
colors and space.

9. A QUICK REVIEW OF INFLUENTAL
ARCHITECTS SKETCHES

10. Frank Llyod Wright
Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church, Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, 1956, The Frank
Lloyd Wright Foundation, FLLW 5611.001, 37 30 in., Graphite pencil and color
pencil on white tracing paper
the patina of his process shows as he
layers guidelines, ruled lines, erasures,
shading, and notes. The sketch displays a
front elevation and a circular plan; they
correspond to each other so that Wright
could easily transfer measurements. With
this technique, he could also study how
the decisions made in plan affected the
elevation and vice versa. Onto this
drawing he sketched freehand details and
changes reflecting his design exploration.

11. Eero Saarinen
David Ingalls Rink perspective study, c. 1953, Yale University Library Archives,
#5081, 8.5 11 in., Dark pencil on yellow notebook paper
Sketched on yellow notebook paper with
soft graphite pencil, the image is fluid, as
the smooth line of the arched spine has
been sketched in a continuous stroke.
Shadows, foliage, and texture enrich the
three-dimensional illusion and contextual
qualities. One aspect that feels
unresolved is the connection of the spine
to the ground in front of the entry doors.
Here the graphite appears darker,
possibly because Saarinen reworked the
terminus, hoping to find a solution with
the perspective. Saarinen’s design
process assisted him to understand
complex forms, as is evidenced by this
beautiful and confident sketch.

12. Le Corbusier
Plate #322, Sketchbook 18, Volume 2, sketch of Notre-Dame-du-Haut, Ronchamp, February
1951, Le Corbusier Foundation/ARS, Carnet E18, 15 10 cm, Ink on sketchbook paper
Uneven and scratchy lines were used
to explore the chapel in plan and
elevation. The roof to the right has
been identified with the letter ‘a.’ On
the legend which describes his
symbols, ‘a’ has been translated as
arrondi, ‘round.’ Given the abstract
qualities of the sketch. Le Corbusier
may not have trusted his memory. He
needed a written note to remind him
of that moment in the process when
he was thinking about the curve of
the eave. He also made notes of his
personal dialogue, writing ‘attention’
to remind himself about fissuring. The
sketchbooks were for him a discussion
about design and also represented
memory devices.

13. Mies van der Rohe
Theater project combined elevation and section, May 1909, The Museum of Modern
Art/SCALA/ARS/Art Resource, #717.1963, 121.9 243.8 cm, Graphite, ink, and cut and
pasted papers
An unusual technique Mies employed was
that of collage. These paper constructions
were abstractions, not intended to portray
spatial qualities. Mies has carefully cut
rectangles to place in comparative
positions on the page. He used bright
yellow paper drawn over with a grid,
resembling fenestration or an abstract
pattern.The forms reflect Mies’ bold and
simple rectangles which act as planes
slicing through space. Without a ground
line, the assembly provides little
orientation. The proportions may be valid
from any direction..

14. Alvar Aalto
Preliminary studies
for Finlandia Hall,
Helsinki,
1962/1967–1971,
1973–1975, The
Alvar Aalto
Museum/Drawing
Collection, 30 75cm,
Pencil on tracing
paper
The extensive archive of Aalto’s drawings and sketches reveals his unique hand.
Besides the light touch and fluid lines, these lines show strong ending points, as if he
was hesitating before removing the pencil from the surface or was reinforcing
prominent edges. He entered a dialogue with the images, as they contain notes,
calculations, and, in many instances, have been oriented from numerous directions.
Aalto frequently strengthened important walls or boundaries by continually drawing
over his lines. this sketch has been crowded with calculations and partially complete
forms.

15. Santiago Calatrava
Sketch plan (05), 1999, Tenerife Concert Hall, Santa Cruz de
Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, 30 40cm, Watercolor
The plan, section, and elevation sketches for this
Concert Hall have been explored with graphite and
watercolor in hues of blue and yellow. Without the
written explanation of the building, it would be
difficult to understand the abstraction of the plan. It
appears to show several levels and the exterior of the
structure all at the same time. The graphite under the
watercolor has been sketched freehand. Although the
sketch appears to illustrate the refinement of form,
Calatrava was also employing color to help him
imagine the space and, possibly, represent the building
materials.

16. Charles Correa
Housing sketch, 1999
Surprisingly controlled, the sketch
seems to be comprised of very few
marks. It appears Correa rarely lifted
the pencil off the paper; he had a
strong concept in mind before he
began.
This beautiful sketch is fascinating.
Without guidelines and with a precision
hand, the sketch was drawn from either
observation or a very clear image in the
mind’s eye. Seeing the outline of the
design was enough for Correa to place
himself in the sketch and imagine the
look and function of the building. His
ability to view the potential of an idea
with a simple sketch is a remarkable
skill; it requires much practice as well
as a thoughtful relationship with his

17. Hiroshi Hara
Mid-Air City sketch, 1989, Umeda Sky Building, Kita-ku, Osaka, Japan, 1993, 3.6 2.1 in., Air
brush, colored pencil
This sketch appears to be an early
‘ideogram’. Their light color assists
in their cloud-like nature and
weightlessness. The sketch’s
ambiguous forms and tenuous
connections provide a surreal
impression, as if Hara is designing
an ideal future at the same time
he is designing for OsakaHara’s
sketch describes the idea of the
Umeda building, rather than the
reality of its final construction

18. Gregg Lynn
Preliminary exploratory museum sketches, March 3, 2002, Ark of
the World Museum and Interpretive Center, San Juan, Costa
Rica, 11 14 in., Ink on Bristol paper
Strikingly, these forms appear to be sketched
with construction in mind. Although
perspectives dashed lines within their shapes
show the form in its entirety. This use of see-
through glasses to view what is behind
suggests this sketch is not about viewing the
finished composition, but rather inspecting the
joining of the shapes. Although a common
drawing convention, the dotted line technique
helps to clarify the relationships between the
pieces and adds to the three-dimensional
impression. Rendered in blue ink, the sketch is
remarkably precise – very necessary when
viewing such complex combinations

19. Enric Miralles
Preliminary plan sketch, 1992–1995, Mollet del Valles, Park and Civic
Center, Barcelona, Spain, Graffiti and crayon on paper
this image uses crayon to form crucial
relationships between concepts or
representational spaces. Appearing as
plan or elevation relationships, the sketch
reflects conceptual intentions. ‘The main
interest of this project is, maybe, not
directly in it, but in the “themes” it
contains; the suspension of the building,
of graffiti becoming architecture, of the
colors of a painting becoming places, of
the suspended spirit of the users, of
unexpected connection.…We like to think
that this project could be a project for the
“near future,” being a more subtle
conception of architecture. Architecture
of the future will be lighter, especially in
its concept.’

20. REFERENCES:
BOOKS:
-ARCHITECTS’ DRAWINGS, A Selection of Sketches by World Famous Architects Through History, KENDRA SCHANK SMITH, ,
Architectural Press An imprint of Elsevier Linacre House, Jordan Hill, Oxford, 2005.
-Basics Architecture 01: Representational Techniques By Lorraine Farrelly
ACADEMIC PAPERS:
- Functional and Formal Reasoning in Architectural Sketches Ellen Yi-Luen Do Design Machine Group Department of
Architecture, University of Washington Seattle, WA 98195-5720 ellendo@u.washington.edu

21. thank you for pretending to pay attention 
PREPARED AND PRESENTED BY ELIE EID