ABSTRACT
Fragility is evident yet uncharted in architectural design. To fathom the term and develop ways of understanding it, we explore the potential of drawing. Through making drawings, and reflecting on their outcome, we probe a more effective implementation of fragility in architectural design processes. Lagrange (2016) previously argued that fragility is a subjective phenomenon that resides in both the material and mental space. To fathom fragility, we address the following threefold: material space (the drawing as an object), the moment of embodiment (the body: the drawing hand) and mental space (the mind). This paper elaborates on how the central moment of embodiment, installed as a mediator between material and mental space, might facilitate ways of understanding fragility by demonstrating how empathy can be activated through specific ways of drawing. We do so by explaining two research cases: a Belgian dune landscape and the investigation of the first author’s drawing archive.
