Sketching in the digital age
Is hand sketching a thing of the past? are the new digital tools replacing the works traditionally done by hand ? or are they complementary methods that express and study early ideas and design intents?
These are some questions that architects and designers may face today, and the answers can vary from one person to another, depending on their skills, knowledge of the tools and methods they are already comfortable with. There are numerous examples of projects that their initial concepts were drawn on napkins, probably the only medium available to draw on at the moment an idea had struck the architect.
Image courtesy Renzo Piano Building Workshop
Although a pen and something to draw on can always be a great starting point, a number of tools and software have been developed with the aim of helping architects and designers with the task of sketching during the concept development phase. Some of these tools allow for digitization of design process from the very beginning, a valuable thing to those who have already adopted BIM and digital practices. In the following we'll see some categories of theses tools:
3D sketching:
I guess nowadays all the professionals in the field are familiar with Trimble Sketchup. A simple sketching tool that with its cloud version can be always on the move with us while we are carrying our laptop or tablet. It has been so adopted that almost all other modeling and visualization tools allow for importing sketch up geometries to be further processed. Another 3D sketching tool is Autodesk's Formit which is also offered on web and app versions. The advantage of Formit is that it can be directly integrated into BIM workflows using Autodeks Revit. Also, it allows for early energy analysis and solar studies, which can have a critical impact on volume design and orientation of the buildings. This gives architects information in very early stages of design that otherwise was not possible or very time taking by manual workflows.
Autodesk Fortmit360
Digital hand sketching
The tablets and touch enabled laptop or desktop screens, along with other pen inputs let for simulation of hand sketching on papers on your device. It requires you to gain some skill and get used to them, but once in your control, you can enjoy the benefits of having a digital asset. There are many software and apps for this, maybe a good choice for architects can be Autodesk Sketchbook or more the ones with more advanced features like the Morpholio collection of apps for iPad Pro.
Cyber - Physical Sketch models:
Thanks to an on-line course I took titled ´´ Models in Architecture – design through physical & digital models´´ offered by edX, I got to know a very interesting method to convert a physical sketch model to a digital one and continue working on it in some modeling software.This then can be further developed in a proper model used for presentation and other purposes.
The technique employed is photogrammetry, in which you need to take a lot of pictures with your camera, even a phone camera, and convert them to a digital model, using different software such as Autodesk Remake. Then the 3D model can be exported to other platforms for further development.
Image courtesy of edX
This method works similar to pointcloud scanning of buildings with a much easier workflow, although the results are not as precise. The models can be uploaded to repositories such as sketchfab and be easily shared with others or be embedded in your website, just like the one I created, below.
Hand sketch to 3D model:
For yet another interesting method of integration of hands sketching with digital technology, I invite you to have a look at this course titled ´´Redefine Sketching in Architectural Design´´ offered in Autodesk University, in which the tutor explains how to convert a hand sketch using Dynamo to a Formit model for further developments. This course will demonstrate the way in which computers can help us sketch and study our ideas, and how we can redefine sketching to include all drawing, direct modelling, and computational studies.
Image courtesy of Autodesk
At the end, I want to conclude that the digital tools and new technologies that are introduced to assist architects in early stages of design process, are not necessarily a replacement of hand sketching and traditional methods, but are complementary tools that help architects explore and express their ideas . No one doubts the importance of early hand sketches, yet by digitizing them, the doors will be open to opportunities that are not possible otherwise.
