Architectural Drawing: From Pencil to Pixel
Janet Abrams, Mehrdad Hadighi, Daniel Cardoso Llach, Andrew Heumann, Jürg Lehni, Jane Nisselson, Seher Shah, Ann Tarantino, Michael Webb, Mark West, James Wines
WWW Drawing explores architectural drawing in relation to technique and technology. What is the role of drawing for architecture, in a digital age? Articles have been written about the implicit value of hand drawing in comparison to computer-generated drawing; conferences and symposia on drawing have been held, even asking if drawing is dead!
WWW Drawing -a project of Pennsylvania State University’s Department of Architecture- explored the issues through events including a giant-scale drawing workshop and a symposium held at the Drawing Center, New York. WWW refers both to the World Wide Web, and the Three Ws: architects Michael Webb, Mark West and James Wines, who reflect on their individual approaches to hand drawing in this volume. Artists and architects of a younger generation -Daniel Cardoso Llach, Andrew Heumann, Jürg Lehni, Jane Nisselson, Seher Shah and Ann Tarantino- address various aspects of architectural drawing, both analog and digital.
Together, their research and creative explorations- into contrasting ideologies of early computer-aided design; technology as expressive vocabulary; and drawing as live performance, whetever done by hand or robotic drawing machines – cast architectural drawing in a fresh light.
“I want to voice my applause and appreciation for your masterful design of the WWW drawing book. The way you handled the visual content and its relation to the text is one of the best juxtapositions I have ever seen. I hope this publication reaches a giant readership; because it is both a fascinating book on the many conceptual and motivational possibilities of drawing; but also such a superior example of how words and visuals can integrate in the process of delivering messages. The architectural world needs to see accomplishments like yours.” – James Wines
