ABSTRACT
This paper aims to analyse the nowadays importance of free-hand drawing within the creative process in architecture. As the architect must conceive and develop solutions for precise problems which may be of very different nature, sketching presents itself as operative support for problem—solving and critical analyses during the creative process.
One of our questions is if the nowadays extensive use of new technologies does not invalidate the vital role played by hand—drawing as a stimulating instrument when sketching the first ideas and as a critical verification of the hypotheses. Through the study of several statements from various authors, we intend to investigate the permanence of the sketching important role since a mid-last century. From this theoretical approach, we also aim to verify drawing teaching relevance for future architects despite the paradigm changes.
Based on a survey methodology with two different moments: an inquiry based on a questionnaire applied to undergraduate students, and a group of semi-structured interviews applied to architects, to verify the permanence and the importance of sketching in their daily work.
We want to get some answers that could help us to define, in a more accurate way, future adjustments on drawing teaching methods for architecture. Sketching survival facing wide use of the new technologies nowadays is one of the leading issues we want to discuss and investigate.
