![#](https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F10%2F212-Bramante.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=103&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=210&s=103d3a6365ab668c673d6a84d90bcffe 210w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F10%2F212-Bramante.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=206&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=420&s=80575f19e657c593b6b38a6cc72095b9 420w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F10%2F212-Bramante.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=376&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=768&s=fd2c1dfe5c8e3901892d4fa3e3675363 768w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F10%2F212-Bramante.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=501&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=1024&s=67d9773b3e1b9fd55f197e3b25bc69c6 1024w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F10%2F212-Bramante.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=686&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=1400&s=af23729cec689c033aae085dff20eec3 1400w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F10%2F212-Bramante.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=783&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=1600&s=5722a2a7e04ca65964987c65bc5b173a 1600w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F10%2F212-Bramante.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=940&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=1920&s=3a16a853c541a68e00839e4097a50970 1920w)
Drawing Architecture by Helen Thomas brings together 269 drawings of architecture by architects, engineers, and artists made over a period of over 4000 years of building and thinking about buildings.
The very simple and direct format of the book makes it equally accessible and enjoyable to those with an interest in art, design, and architecture, but not used to reading architectural drawings, and to those with a trained and experienced eye.
Each drawing is given a full page to itself, with just a selected few spread over two pages. The drawings are combined associatively in pairs, facing each other, and accompanied by informative, well written captions.
The criteria for pairing the drawings is based on observing similarity between visual elements in the design and the subjective informality of this method is generally very effective. It allows immediate easy access to the aesthetic, symbolic, and conceptual content of each drawing and avoids the more constrained technocratic or academic approaches frequently associated with the publication of architectural drawings.
![#](https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F10%2F142-Anon.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=345&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=210&s=0b6ecf7f2430ece7acd12ab7cefb6f4e 210w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F10%2F142-Anon.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=690&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=420&s=9b19c48858d66cbf00c68d160f2a31fe 420w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F10%2F142-Anon.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=1261&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=768&s=5e06f670338c1a40e1e3976136710264 768w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F10%2F142-Anon.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=1681&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=1024&s=97b4d00becba087be4f741113c4a732d 1024w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F10%2F142-Anon.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=2299&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=1400&s=78099fdaa498b60282041ca31bd85a42 1400w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F10%2F142-Anon.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=2627&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=1600&s=db8ab54a4f0bdb1c4233107c52c9aa42 1600w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F10%2F142-Anon.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=3152&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=1920&s=8d3a475792e90ff906dfa89c0d31a21f 1920w)
![#](https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F10%2F143-Geers-Severen.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=157&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=210&s=518a7a6d9f4c21ade89a9a346db366db 210w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F10%2F143-Geers-Severen.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=314&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=420&s=6ac819c0480974246fdd6406a0724db9 420w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F10%2F143-Geers-Severen.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=575&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=768&s=d79cde3f6055ff95027a36c3ed0394f8 768w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F10%2F143-Geers-Severen.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=766&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=1024&s=22ef6ce580643f0fb6c37d325d526689 1024w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F10%2F143-Geers-Severen.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=1048&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=1400&s=e6e3e08940c3238679307d679dbb75a5 1400w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F10%2F143-Geers-Severen.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=1198&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=1600&s=cf0ff780ae4533cbbc28327025211e80 1600w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F10%2F143-Geers-Severen.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=1437&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=1920&s=8338fa834aa94e1f796930a0b41c312d 1920w)
While a few of the drawings included in the book, or the associations between some of the pairs of drawings, are occasionally a little tenuous, the associative method also produces some poignant juxtapositions, as with Gardens of the Taj Mahal by Anon and the USA-Mexico Border Crossing, by Kersten Geers and David van Severen (pp 142-3); or The Barbican Centre, by Chamberlain Powell & Bon with The Well by Piranesi, (pp 248-9). There are also some stunning and vibrant contrasts, St Peter’s Basilica by Bramante paired with Mies van der Rohes’ Plan for a Brick Country House (pp 212-3).
![#](https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F10%2F248-Barbican.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=126&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=210&s=aee125b5440388f80432896033992c8b 210w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F10%2F248-Barbican.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=251&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=420&s=950efe448db46e0dbe16de6a28bbbbf5 420w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F10%2F248-Barbican.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=460&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=768&s=12e4e882c685f41bdc4c37823ee9f5ee 768w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F10%2F248-Barbican.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=613&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=1024&s=a1594d1c0fc56ab1d4d390ac9241e1da 1024w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F10%2F248-Barbican.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=838&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=1400&s=8ede3ad3fe5e0366fa7a41aa9b8b73e9 1400w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F10%2F248-Barbican.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=957&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=1600&s=b27773b36a3672071a59d356cde55ef4 1600w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F10%2F248-Barbican.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=1149&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=1920&s=7598d0dbe46cefb9f449272eed125124 1920w)
![#](https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F10%2F249-Piranesi.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=154&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=210&s=d44c485f3f914a15e876024cad04b5fe 210w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F10%2F249-Piranesi.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=308&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=420&s=ece5193c681dab6716d67f56eb0ea72a 420w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F10%2F249-Piranesi.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=563&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=768&s=315910fe54e958ae8142436bd0493edc 768w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F10%2F249-Piranesi.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=751&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=1024&s=778c2bba16bf67cb06ef5a38097f5959 1024w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F10%2F249-Piranesi.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=1027&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=1400&s=3b2bbb7e3c4a89b9657acfe2fa5a4534 1400w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F10%2F249-Piranesi.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=1173&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=1600&s=c691e0b5cc1e18fca0b1e5c6310b14c7 1600w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F10%2F249-Piranesi.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=1408&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=1920&s=58849ada14e7b04624ddb5ee6055cfa6 1920w)
The book’s unchronological format confers equal status on the drawings across time, subject, and method, making it easy to discover surprising contrasts and connections between drawings of different eras, or the same era. It’s interesting to compare Hans Hollein’s poignant but bleak social vision of Aircraft Carrier in a Landscape (pp 168-9) with the pop-tech utopia of Ron Heron’s Cities: Moving (Walking City) pp 180, both completed in 1964.
![#](https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F10%2F168-169-Hollein.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=84&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=210&s=0b2753aed12c8e13644c7051e105c6ad 210w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F10%2F168-169-Hollein.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=168&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=420&s=ab216a72d0a069afb1015bddadc93276 420w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F10%2F168-169-Hollein.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=308&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=768&s=ac2e008c715b31c9b850c280f5852739 768w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F10%2F168-169-Hollein.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=410&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=1024&s=8d38a2fd94e333506dee29129d822ec1 1024w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F10%2F168-169-Hollein.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=561&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=1400&s=2a1e1c0714c65bdcf83faa21b2f53d61 1400w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F10%2F168-169-Hollein.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=641&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=1600&s=726a88ec7e357d362a79f74ec999f2d5 1600w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F10%2F168-169-Hollein.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=769&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=1920&s=4ba6d4abcfdea8ebbd63b89bfdeae65c 1920w)
![#](https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F10%2F180-Herron.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=139&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=210&s=a171eca59636dfcef1ad5dbd94641938 210w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F10%2F180-Herron.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=277&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=420&s=a5c2abd66a589330d3f114f94754ee79 420w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F10%2F180-Herron.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=507&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=768&s=0de428b3a9f9cf2f489334c75b57a2c2 768w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F10%2F180-Herron.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=675&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=1024&s=c89d95bbd2fe36e45dd2bf936b3cc128 1024w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F10%2F180-Herron.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=923&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=1400&s=62f0cd7eb239152de887c3df0a5aaae4 1400w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F10%2F180-Herron.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=1055&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=1600&s=d468cad955b72d7ce01b047db20584c4 1600w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F10%2F180-Herron.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=1266&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=1920&s=72ea964965f8eabab6885143fdde7fb5 1920w)
The book also prompts questions about what an architectural drawing is, from JMW Turner’s perspective studies for the Royal Academy (pp.15) that reveal him to have been a radical prototypical cubist as well as the more often noted ‘proto-impressionist’, to Herzog and de Meuron’s drawing of the Elbphilarmonie 2016 (pp.17), an output from a dynamic virtual 3D model, continuously evolving in response to inputs from multiple architects, engineers, contractors, clients, and others. We only get a glimpse of the drawing as a digital print when someone decides to push the printer button!
![#](https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F10%2F017-Herzog-Meuron.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=155&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=210&s=a596d0faf8c167b20bb83a4eaea96591 210w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F10%2F017-Herzog-Meuron.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=309&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=420&s=09c3afeee1a93708cff4e94b45685ca7 420w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F10%2F017-Herzog-Meuron.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=566&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=768&s=1715c130b6ac77d1e95bc78f9ab7896a 768w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F10%2F017-Herzog-Meuron.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=754&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=1024&s=eeabe5645338d5e315d48dfbc42225ec 1024w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F10%2F017-Herzog-Meuron.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=1031&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=1400&s=9722f500afac9ac2df2f8589c5361bb2 1400w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F10%2F017-Herzog-Meuron.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=1178&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=1600&s=24d28b65810ebbbfceb8e31bb822921e 1600w,https://make-arch.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makearchitects.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F10%2F017-Herzog-Meuron.jpg?auto=format&crop=center&fit=crop&h=1414&ixlib=php-1.2.1&w=1920&s=e6784c4a22b4f80c45be442424c82bfa 1920w)
Drawing Architecture by Helen Thomas is available from Phaidon.com
Find out more about Langlands & Bell on their website www.langlandsandbell.com or Instagram @langlandsandbell.
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. From 17 October to 18 November 2018 the winning and shortlisted entries will be on display at the Soane Museum.