ABSTRACT

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book describes architectural drawing as a form of research in which tracing is a way of understanding and transforming the designs that are being traced. It seeks to connect the two approaches, bottom up and top down, as is also done, for instance in Paul J. Thibault's 'eco-social' approach. The book explains the difference between manually and digitally produced traces. It focuses on Microsoft Word as a trace-making technology that provides users with predetermined resources for expressing identity, and includes an experiment in which subjects design a business card using Microsoft Word. The book also focuses on the 'trinity' of bodies, tools and materials—from the point of view of practitioners and from the point of view of theorists who reflect on the work of practitioners.