![#](https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F01%2FJagoda-Borkowska-1.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=101&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=210&s=f9e6a7072cb642f5386b8973a1318e8c 210w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F01%2FJagoda-Borkowska-1.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=202&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=420&s=82fdc0b9aaef469787ee7fd74eb52826 420w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F01%2FJagoda-Borkowska-1.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=369&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=768&s=bc7426681cd2dcbc596b66c4a21eb6df 768w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F01%2FJagoda-Borkowska-1.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=492&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=1024&s=9e2e18f3f67fd03dd69a352c0acebeed 1024w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F01%2FJagoda-Borkowska-1.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=673&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=1400&s=197d8a852a9e2620119e5fd3bd5d2bab 1400w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F01%2FJagoda-Borkowska-1.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=769&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=1600&s=2623d60eb84b6c5d21d29b3007159db4 1600w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F01%2FJagoda-Borkowska-1.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=923&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=1920&s=c7adf9bfe0b941b0eedd878a82677c81 1920w)
A student’s mind will tick over differently when attempting to sketch in three dimensions than when nudging a mouse about or inputting information via keys. It is incomparable. Paper asks a multitude of questions about space, light, darkness, materiality, detail, atmosphere, of which finality, precision and prettiness/slickness are the last things considered, if at all.
Unfortunately most students today are more confident on the computer than facing a blank page with a pencil in hand which is asking them these questions. This is mainly due to the look of the end result. It is very important that confidence is built up and therefore it is crucial that the student is made to understand that the beauty of the drawing, of the prettiness of the result, is thoroughly unimportant. It is the act of doing it which is crucial. Some students are more talented draughtsmen than others, of course, but it is mainly a matter of toning and developing a muscle. An act that the computer will happily take over offering a permanent set of crutches but where the muscle will eventually show signs of atrophy or underdevelopment.
![#](https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F01%2FJessica-Booth-2.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=150&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=210&s=d7b0ae669429653d60eb7ca64b4b0024 210w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F01%2FJessica-Booth-2.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=299&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=420&s=60a9c38e5353bda0248b0b0c0b2b8eec 420w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F01%2FJessica-Booth-2.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=547&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=768&s=71ddf899635c0f5b89f3cfb59b254765 768w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F01%2FJessica-Booth-2.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=729&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=1024&s=67b241de3126a226277c89bd820ff1ca 1024w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F01%2FJessica-Booth-2.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=997&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=1400&s=64ea2ea31a2364e85b398c25252f047e 1400w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F01%2FJessica-Booth-2.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=1139&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=1600&s=35584e191646f8c6b2e454bba9203023 1600w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F01%2FJessica-Booth-2.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=1367&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=1920&s=40da234b460d80e1505fad3e13be1af8 1920w)
It must be made clear to students that understanding and practising perspectival drawing is not merely about how things look but as a tool to inhabit and understand space and engage simultaneously in other aspects of architecture. Drawing is not exclusively a presentation tool but one of investigation and development. Schools should continue to make sketching and life drawing a portfolio pre- requisite for entering an architecture programme, as well as teaching it and weighing it heavily in the first year’s curriculum. I strongly support teaching methods where the computer and its many 3D software programs are absent from at least the first year of architectural education and that in the following years it is introduced as a tool to further investigate an already formed architectural resolution. An architecture born exclusively out of computer-aided investigations – whatever one’s opinion is of that kind of architectural end result – can always be learned down the line but the Trecento paradigm shift must take place in a student’s mind at an early stage if it is to occur at all.
![#](https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F01%2FJessica-Booth-2.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=150&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=210&s=d7b0ae669429653d60eb7ca64b4b0024 210w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F01%2FJessica-Booth-2.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=299&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=420&s=60a9c38e5353bda0248b0b0c0b2b8eec 420w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F01%2FJessica-Booth-2.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=547&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=768&s=71ddf899635c0f5b89f3cfb59b254765 768w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F01%2FJessica-Booth-2.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=729&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=1024&s=67b241de3126a226277c89bd820ff1ca 1024w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F01%2FJessica-Booth-2.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=997&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=1400&s=64ea2ea31a2364e85b398c25252f047e 1400w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F01%2FJessica-Booth-2.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=1139&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=1600&s=35584e191646f8c6b2e454bba9203023 1600w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F01%2FJessica-Booth-2.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=1367&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=1920&s=40da234b460d80e1505fad3e13be1af8 1920w)
This post forms part of our series on The Architecture Drawing Prize: an open drawing competition curated by Make, WAF and Sir John Soane’s Museum to highlight the importance of drawing in architecture. The winning and shortlisted drawings will be exhibited at Sir John Soane’s Museum 21 February – 14 April 2018.