Vivisection in Architecture: a comprehensive reading of the room by drawing

Abstract

Architects and designers confronted with the complex task of adaptive reuse of an existing (historic) building need to establish a relationship with the host space before they actually start designing. This relationship may be very formal, through analysis of the physical characteristics of the host space, but can also be emotional, focussing on the intangible qualities of the place, the building, the interior. Our contribution investigates how sketching may be a valuable technique in establishing a formal as well as emotional relationship with the host space. The technique of sketching in the discipline of architecture, more specifically for the first perceptual registration of the existing space, is an underestimated tool for basic and detailed visual data collection. To gain insight in the technical and methodological aspects of sketching in architecture, we make a comparison with two other disciplines with parallel systems on the perceptual site-specific sketch, the so-called fieldnote: on the one hand, the intense construction of a diary by the anthropologist and on the other hand the sketch for tactical purposes by the military man. This paper develops a double method in this comparison: firstly, the two systems are analysed in relation to the use of sketching in architecture via three drawing terms: position, focus and scale. Secondly the selection process of the elements to include in the drawing is connected with the purpose and image intention of the drawer. We introduce a new term to capture this: vivisection. Using this comparison with other disciplinary fields demonstrates that the sketch for the architect can transcend the purely aesthetical connotation and the myth of the talented gesture. As such, sketching is repositioned as a plausible and adequate system for research in architecture and a tactile methodology in the context of adaptive reuse. It is a technique for reading the place but also it (re)constructs the memory of spatial qualities.