DISJOINTED CONTINUITY:
DRAWING IN THE POST-DIGITAL ERA
Routledge, (in preparation)
Architectural drawings were developed during the Renaissance to replace verbal instructions and physical models. The propagation of digital media has disrupted a fairly continuous flow of drawing since the 1500s. Some digital procedures strive to make existing drawing methods more efficient, while others subvert conventions in favour of new patterns of thought and action. This book examines the transformation of architectural drawing in face of the developments fostered by digital media through the lens of continuity and disjointedness. By establishing a parallel between our time and the Renaissance, the work investigates the virtues of understanding drawing as a continuous practice, though significantly altered, in a transitional time. Assuming that continuity-since the Renaissance- and disjointedness-since the inception of the digital- are attributes of contemporary drawings, the book investigates drawing’s potential in sustaining the poetic imagination of architecture.
Four thematic constellations explore this terrain: First, an historical comparison between the Renaissance invention of systematic drawings and the current situation identifies changes occurred to the medium, methods and technology. The following chapter focuses on new connotations of scale made possible by current developments. The question of time, as one encompassing multiple durations in drawing is explored next. Finally the emotional facet of drawing, its new capacities and effects are investigated. Architectural drawings sustain the space between abstract thoughts and material artifacts. Through drawing, imagination unfolds and visions give way to concrete expressions. Understanding new modes of drawing, their connection to the past and their potentials is both critical and timely.