Drawing and the Making of Architecture

Course Code

ARTH 17002 97

Course Description

This course focuses on the practice of drawing in the making of architecture. It explores the act of tracing lines on a surface as the foundation of design: a word that evokes through its own origins the very moment of architectural invention. As the most direct expression of the architect’s ideas and an operative form of non-verbal thinking, the physical response of the hand to media contributes crucially to the creative process. This intensive studio experience will offer an unmediated encounter with a range of techniques: we will test different tools and conventions to understand the interaction throughout history between drawing’s materiality and design practice. Parallel to this, we will discuss a wide selection of readings critically, thus reconstructing the evolving theory of representation in architectural writings and the relevance of graphic expression to both theorists and practitioners. Ultimately, the course will introduce students to norms and conventions of technical drawing by revealing a primary tool in the production of architecture from the point of view of its makers.

Course Criteria

Instructor(s)

Dario Donetti

¹ UChicago students can self-register.

² Visiting students and pre-college students apply through the same application.