Layers Become Scenes: The Sketch as an Active Mediator in the Early Thinking Process of Adaptive Reuse for Churches

Abstract

When developing a design proposal for an adaptive reuse project, analysis of the host space and concepts for new interventions often need to be communicated simultaneously to different user groups and specialists through images. Which type of graphical representation(s) can we use methodologically during this process? Moreover, how can we build up a common understanding between different stakeholders, including non-specialists by using these representational images? There are several options that are discussed in literature: the handmade sketch, the render, or the collage, for example. All these methods have some side effects. The presentation of the new reality in an early stage of the thinking process, for example by a realistic render, is often perceived as a non-negotiable idea. It seems that everything is decided already. The handmade sketch, in contrast, is often positively categorized as an expression of a first idea open for discussion but also somehow stigmatized as an image that is not completely trustable on the level of scale, proportion, and viewpoint. However, is this division between techniques too obvious and maybe outdated? Can we indicate new combinations and what are the specific components? Exactly on this friction of the systematic working with architectural scenarios, we introduce a new type of representation: the controlled architectural sketch as a mediator. First, we start with a confrontation between the literature on sketching and the representation processes in adaptive reuse to understand the tension. Then we will illustrate and discuss our new method of working for the specific case studies of the adaptive reuse of churches through the layered combination and confrontation of the sketch with photography.