My literacy guide for architecture drawings

My literacy guide for architecture drawings my target audience are College Students

I created this literacy guide for my class and added the notes in red for this blog to reflect on my reasoning and process


As and artist and architect, I teach design classes to students of all ages. I find some of my most challenging student groups are college age students who want to study design software that will help them get careers in architecture, engineering or gaming. We use software like AutoCad or Sketch Up. These student usually don't come from an art background, their  exposure to the world of art and design is very limited. My intention to create a guide that they can use themselves to strengthen their visual sense and ability to look, see and analyze what is in front of them. These skills will enable them to make informed drawings that will open doors for careers and life skills.

I wanted my student to first master hand drawing and learn visual and spatial observations:

When I teach hand drawing and ask my students to draw a simple object they usually give up before they start. They say I don't know how to draw or last time I drew it was kinder garden. My approach that if you can see and object and carefully study it with the eye then you can draw it. Our general public is too much in a hurry to take enough time to enjoy the act of looking and taking in the details.

Drawing by hand is a very direct human expressive act and gives ways of understanding and connection to the world. This is a slow deliberate activity can become a mediation. I believe that an empty mind can be an open mind and a creative one.

I highly recommend these books and websites:

Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain: The Definitive, 4th Edition – April 26, 2012by Betty Edwards (Author)

Anyone Can Draw: Create Sensational Artworks in Easy Steps– April 15, 2012 by Barrington Barber (Author)

http://www.studentartguide.com/articles/realistic-observational-drawings

Inge Druckrey: Teaching to See from Edward Tufte
Directed and edited by Andrei Severny. Produced by Edward Tufte ( thank for sharing this amazing video)

Appreciating architecture

Before a student starts designing buildings. It is good to study the history of architecture from cave dwellers to ancient Egypt, Rome, and China and the modern design movement.
Students need to understand how buildings are made: stone, brink, wood, steel and glass. Understanding building types is also important function of buildings. Why buildings take different shapes? What are the cultural ideas that shape buildings? Can a building that is designed to be a factory be a cosy home? Would building an ancient style building be appropriate for a contemporary use? How technology effects buildings can you build a sky scraper before you invent the elevator and steel frame buildings? How does urban planing effect building? Can a building belong to a community of buildings?  Does a building complement a community by being in harmony or make a statement by being in contrast?

1- These are good references on how to see and understand architecture

http://www.architecturecareerguide.com/how-to-appreciate-architecture/

http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/spotting-good-architecture.html

2- Reading Books about architecture

How to Read Buildings: A Crash Course in Architectural Styles Paperback – March 18, 2008 by Carol Davidson Cragoe (Author)

How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They're Built Paperback – October 1, 1995 by Stewart Brand   (Author)

3- Reading books on history of architecture:

World Architecture: A Cross-Cultural History (Paperback)– December 13, 2012by Richard Ingersoll (Author), Spiro Kostof (Author)

 Architecture Without Architects: A Short Introduction to Non-Pedigreed Architecture (Paperback) – July 1, 1987 by Bernard Rudofsky (Author)

Architecture: Form, Space, and Order (Paperback) – June 29, 2007 by Francis D. K. Ching (Author)

The Timeless Way of Building Christopher Alexander  Oxford University Press, 1979 

4- Watch some videos showing architects designing and talking about buildings:

How to Design like an architect:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ws1fbpSfFf8


How to design a house front in many styles.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQU-jIX6cP0


For completing and finishing a set of drawings the students should learn the technical aspects of producing drawings.

What are the standard drawing conventions?



Identifying different type of architecture drawings:
plans, elevations, sections, perspectives and axonometric drawings..

Learning the concept of scale drawing.

Representing space in 2D drawings.
Seeing spacial relation in plans.
Begin able to imaging how this space will look in reality.
Type of lines used in drawings tell stories a dashed line for example may mean the objects are above or below.
Architectural drawings as universal language and if you can read American drawings you can ready any drawing made anywhere in the world.



 When looking at a plan we can read many things. shape of space, size of space, windows and doors, partitions, structural elements, furnishings, pluming an electric symbols,  tiles or carpet.
We can tell what type of plan, a classroom, a house, a store, we can date the space if we can identify the style and know the trends of each historic periods.. we can even tell what are the walls made of based on thickness are they stud wall or masonry

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technical_drawing

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Architectural_drawing

When designing a space plan we usually start by sketching a bubble diagram of the program of the space use then we convert the program to a build able shape and we try to resolve the space problems like not wasting space on corridors and have natural light in every room separating private spaces from public one. Connecting the spaces to the outdoors. Thinking about efficiency and aesthetics. We can also consider energy efficient design principles and  environmental imact. Also the life styple of the people living this house .


All these skills talk  a very long time to master but isn this the course the students will at least be aware of them.

Assessment: (very hard to asses art and architecture) 

During the semester  every time the class meet: I grade attendance and participation then I asses where are the student with their skills and observe noticeable improvements.

We will have 4 project in the semester.

The first project will be a still life drawing:
students will be measured based on accuracy , detail , completion and personal style of drawing.


Second project: will be designing a small  cabin in Autocad. They are expected to produce 4 drawings that show the standard drawing conventions and have to be drawn to scale.  Show mastery of software. Have awareness of space organization. Be able to print presentable drawings on paper.

Third project.  Design a coffee shop. this shop is a public space and have many practical needs . like a full working kitchen , ADA Bathrooms, quite areas for studying.  The students will be judged 3 times. and each time work is expected to be more detailed and ideas more developed.  Perspective drawings will also be expected.


Fourth and final design project will be  a low income apartment building. This building need to meet the needs of 6 diffident families and have drawings that will convince the residence to move in and drawing for the builder to construct the building.
evaluations will consist of weekly graded reviews and a final review by jury. will will assign 50% of final grade based on their professional experience.


My concern is that I am trying  to transfer 25 years of knowledge and experience  into one semester class. But having these resource can come useful in the future for students who are interested in going further 

Teenagers and new media

Interviewing 3 different teenagers to write my blog was interesting.Three of them did not want to spend too much time talking about digital media, social networks or their habits and culture.They were all very polite and reserved and maybe not your typical sample.

The first girl I interviewed was Camila, a Chinese exchange student, who is staying with a friend of mine in the US for 9 months. She arrived only 7 months ago and her English is improving very fast. Camila who grew up middle class in in a big city in China had her fist computer at 7 and her first cell phone at 14. She likes art and uses MSN to chat with her friends, only 25 close friends, who she met in school and knows personally. She started using FB only in the US and she is not too interested in it.  She also said that some boys try to chat with her in MSN and she ignores them. When I ask her about watching TV she doesn't watch, nor does she listen to the radio here in the US.

She is not very political and does not regard social media as agents of change. Then she 
remembered that she learned about the earthquake in China that led to many young people's death and how she donated some money to help families affected. When I ask her if she trusts what she finds on the net she said it depends. 

The next young person I tried to interview was my friend's daughter Sophia who is 16. She was too busy to meet even though it was spring break. I e-mailed her my questions. She sent me the answers a few days later. She reported that she started using computers at 5 years and had her first phone @ 12. She is not on FB and has no interest in it. She meets friends in person and they text. She works with school theater and wants to be a set designer.   She reads book on a tablet and in paper format. I asked her if she watches TV and she said not much, only when her parents watch.  No radio and not much interest in news. She said social networks could have a good influence on young people. Sophia goes to summer camp for 2 month and is perfectly OK with being away from technology.

I was at a party this Sunday and "interrogated" Nino another friend's kid. He is 13. He was 
sitting next to his mom they seemed very bonded. His mom seemed to have restricted his 
access to computers  and gaming except for 2 hours a day on the weekend. He uses the 
computer to do his home work and loves to play Sci-Fi games and watch movies with his 
parents. Nino is not on FB. He does not want to be exposed and possibly be bullied, which has happened to him before. He sees the Internet as a dangerous place.

The most interesting thing I learned from Nino was the new gaming expression " Rage Quit" 

(see image).

Overall, my interviews where not too revealing. I think teenagers are too private and do not want to share their true feelings about this new media age. Perhaps because they grew up with the technology, they can't see its effect on them.