"Back To The Drawing Board..."

Two Early Client Concept Drawings


Unlike most of my fellow designers, when I say that, I mean it...literally. When it comes to drawing by hand instead of on computer, I am a dinosaur by choice. Certainly, doing base maps digitally can be helpful and time-saving; sometimes we do that and sub-contract with another trusted designer for the initial stage. But mostly, we work by hand in the belief that it makes us inhabit the landscape space more fully and thus results in better-imagined designs.

As a kinetic learner, I also subscribe to the theory that there is a connection between the hand and the brain that etches things deeper when I do them manually. Not that one isn't using hands & eyes on the computer, but when using a computer to draw, everything has an even weight in terms of how you play with it. And thus, less creative depth or rhythm to me.

Working on a client landscape concept last week, I had an experience that will stick with me. Our clients wanted a formal design which makes sense with their formal house. Usually, when we design formally, nothing matches up....the architecture may suggest a form, but when you get down to the nitty-gritty, nothing lines up. The garage is always off by a foot or the proportions between house and land create awkward spaces. What I discovered and shared with these clients is that I gained a real (both in mind & body) appreciation for the architectural brilliance of their house because all our concepts worked so fluidly with the lines of their home. The building embodies a classic, pioneering & resolved design which endowed our landscape concepts with (hopefully) an equally integrated creativity. In other words: doing the landscape design was not easy, but it was blessed due to the architectural coherence. This became apparent to me through my mind, but even more strongly through my connection with the sweep of my hands, with the physical experience of how lines balanced on paper and in space.

Also, the ability to make a mess, to feel the weight of the different lines, to move organically versus geometrically, to have a visceral sense of what works and what doesn't, all these factors continue to have me plodding through primordial bogs. And embracing the process.

Above, you can see the darker area in the drawing on the left. This highlights a section where I did have to draw several different solutions to integrate the space. On the right drawing, you can't see where I have some details changed and deleted in the same area. These drawings remind me to pay attention to this section during the Master Plan stage, regardless of which concept the clients choose.

In a way, it is akin to different drafts, how they show us the way artists think. With changes in technology, that process may become less available to us to contemplate.