Why do you think it is a stupid question?

Not a stupid question... I wonder the same thing.

Tell us, architecture students: are you being trained to draw by hand?  Or is that now considered a relic or vestige of a past era?

Seems to me the value of hand drawing is a function of how you see your career progressing. If you see yourself as a perpetual cad monkey, then it's probably not all that necessary to be accomplished at hand drawing. However, if you see yourself more as a designer or as a client manager, then you will find yourself in many situations where you will be called upon to communicate graphically without the aid of a computer. The better you can sketch, the better you can communicate what's going on in your head. It's your call.

Yes.

cad tools come and go, but sketching is forever

i'd always assumed all architects(or former architects) were skilled when it came to handling a pencil(or pen). those who can't: do they still go into this profession?

I really can't draw a straight line to save my life.  Doing fine so far.... In school at least..

Sketching is all about practice.  Sure, some have God given talent and can make stunning drawings of almost anything, but that's really not necessary.  Take some sketching classes, practice and you'll be fine.

You should see some of Frank Gehry's sketches that are around.Yet,he is still around strong in the industry.

This is how I see it.Like a lawyer who plays around with words and an accountant with numbers, an architect must be able to present their ideas visually. That is each person's forte.

If sketching a few lines haunts you,then maybe this profession is not for you.If you can get the idea across,without being self concious of the quality of the drawing, that is what matters.Being an artist is not what architects are required to do,though some are.

All in all, like trace said, with some practice, you can get better.No biggie!

As far as sketching ability goes, the important thing is that people (most importantly you) understand your sketches. They don't have to be particularly beautiful or detailed, just legible.

I think it defintely helps. Agree with quizz on how you see yourself, a cad monkey or a designer/manager. An architect has to sell ideas and if people can't visualize those ideas, or if you have to build a computer model to convey an idea that could be sketched in 5 minutes, you will have a hard time conveying those ideas efficiently.

Agree that sketching is a skill that can be learned with practice, and that a sketch doesn't have to be a beautiful piece of art to do the trick. Keep working on your sketching! 

Those that say hand sketching is a required skill are largely troglodytes.  If there is a good idea in your head you can take whatever path you find comfortable to move it into real life.  There's nothing wrong with using sketchup on an ipad or something like that.  These tools will become more ubiquitous rather than less in the future anyway.

Re: citizen, I was taught to draw by hand in school (U of Idaho). They still teach it today. In fact the training has gotten better than when I went through. However, it is still a very small piece of the education. In the end I think it falls in the same category as learning a new program, it's another tool to communicate your ideas for you to use at your discretion. Required? No. Appropriate and advantageous? Yes.

Wow, Curt.  Troglodytes?  Really?  Not "incorrect" or "mistaken" or "well-meaning but hopelessly confused"?  Troglodytes?

And thanks for telling of your experience at UoI, Brian.  It's nice to hear.

troglodyte  ... perhaps.  I don't think I said it was a "required" skill -- more of a "useful" skill.

I can't tell you how many times I've been sitting at lunch or at dinner with a client or a consultant or members of my team when we start talking about some aspect of a current project. This is a prime environment where problems have been worked out on the back of an envelope or a napkin. No matter the increased portability of technology -- the ability to collectively sketch - and change ideas - on the fly is a pretty important way to move a project forward.

Fellow trog here, Quizzical.  Well put.  I'm sure the tablet (and whatever's next) will only get easier to use and even more ubiquitous.  But there won't ever be complete parity with pen and paper, in terms of agility and facility, I'd wager.

Now, back to my cave and firelight.

drawing will never die and yes you will do lots in your architecture program..I did an do. I don't feel you have same creative process with digital tools as you do expressing fast explorations with the good old pen of choice.

But digital has it's place too... like generative designs with grasshopper... can come out with conditions that you would not of otherwise thought of...I just started using it and  find it interesting...so master digital and pen you will have 6-7 years in school to practice anyway

this might be my own prejudice, but I tend to not take someone seriously as a designer if there is no fluidity or confidence in their sketching.  just how you make marks on paper can reveal a lot about how you think  - and I agree with quiz - if I'm working with someone on a design, often both of us are sketching over the same drawing (and use digital tools - A LOT) you don't have to be an amazing portraitist or anything - just good enough to communicate what you're thinking.

IMO - anyone can get better at drawing - you just have to practice enough to get to a point where it's second nature.

- oops - "_I_ use digital tools..."

as the people above....I'd say that as long as you can develop/illustrate/convey your ideas in whatever medium, be it sketching or painting or cutting pieces of paper or digital, it's all good.  But if you can't at least sket ), then it's most likely you won't be able to work in other forms.  It's a good representation of your creative skill, but not a prerequisite.

I think in school these days we are encouraged to sketch and draw, but many people jump to placing lines into software, which leaves out a good chunk of the iterative design process....but in this age...to each their own, I'd say...because there's so many ways to reaching a final product!

i am of the younger generation... the kind that knew how to draft in autocad before i even went to architecture school... the kind who largely avoided sketching because i was more comfortable in 3d studio and rhino than i was sketching... 

all that being said... while i dont think the ability to sketch is a prerequisite to being an architect, it is an incredibly useful skill.  Beyond its usefulness as a problem solving method on the fly, or a presentation skill, it can be really useful in working out internal problems with plans/sections/elevations or whatever.  Printing something out, sketching over the top of it, and layering up the trace... ive been finding a lot of solutions i didnt even know i was looking for with that method lately...

I didn't think troglodyte would be seen as all that bad of an insult.  I hope you don't take it too bad.  My apologies if you did.

So, anyway, yes you can be a good Architect without being any good at hand drawing.  It would, in my opinion, be more useful to spend your time learning how buildings actually go together rather than learning how to sketch.  If your drawing a pitch pan on a section or on sheathing trying to communicate with a contractor it's not going to be a work of art and it will help you more to know what a pitch pan is than to know how to draw.  I'm confident as time goes by you will gain the ability to do drawings like that simply through everyday exposure.

Also, you kids today are the future.  While there's certainly something to be said for standing on the shoulders of giants and all, you're ultimately going to have to be better than those who came before you (they/we haven't really done all that great of a job in the last few decades).  Focus more on designing buildings and less on (what I would consider) arbitrary crap ancillary to designing buildings.  If your path to designing a good building is through hand sketching then so be it.  If not, it's not a big deal.  Either way, use the tools you have available to you (which they/we didn't) to design the best buildings you can.

Thanks. </rant>

I can imagine a meeting with a client:

"hold on, let me get my laptop to show you what you mean"

sketching is very useful and is used by ME on a daily basis to convey my ideas quickly and efficiently.

living below ground here too also.

don't need to be an artist but some ability to communicate with pen and paper is useful skill.  it will come up even if you area a grasshopper person especially if you are allowed to get out from behind the computer and into the field or in front of a client.

Thanks for the olive branch, Curt.  I actually wasn't offended, and figured it was more a rhetorical flourish than an insult.

After seeing many threads quickly degenerate into hostilities, I was just trying to point out the ease with which we sometimes lapse (often innocently but carelessly) into language that can turn people off or bring out the claws.

I agree that sketching beautifully and artistically is not necessary to successful architectural practice.  But the inability to do it (at a minimum) decently and quickly would put most people at a distinct disadvantage.

As an architect turned special ed teacher/therapist, I couldn't be near as successful as I am without sketching. It is the best tool for communication available because what you are doing is matching pictures in your mind with someone else's mind. But that isn't the point when you are a tech junkie I guess.

thanks, everyone, for the information and advice!

can you hire someone to sketch things for you?

Why? what don't you see with your sketches?

sketching is an important skill, but I'd say that there is no longer a need to be able to render detailed scenes by hand.  There is no computer program that matches the speed and convenience of a sketch, but when it comes to that detailed scene, it is going to be more efficient and informative to model and render on the computer.

i agree with citizen "I agree that sketching beautifully and artistically is not necessary to successful architectural practice.  But the inability to do it (at a minimum) decently and quickly would put most people at a distinct disadvantage."

it nicely and mildly phrased.  i would add that, as a person whose sketching leaves something to be desired:

1- sketching is based on conventions. forget about the fluidity, confidence and the art of it for now. learn some conventions. as crappy as your drawing abilities are...when you learn the convention, your ability to trace out the form and its articulation will improve...therefore, you communicate.

2- people 'cheat'. some people sketch OVER computer renderings of a basic model or pictures of a physical model or context pictures because these images give you  preset frame/perspective/outlines to work with. cheat.

3- for mere drawing ability, i would suggest you first dissociate it from the necessity of your work or studies. i like manga anime images and drawing faces and people (hardly good enough), so i got a book that teaches some fundamentals (again, conventions...but physiological/physiognomic here) and i have fun with the excercises 15-30 minutes a day. the hand starts to sense out lines a bit more than before. i want naked models now but i think you get locked up and deported for this sort of thing in this country. *sigh* 

actually, i'm currently a college student, so i have zero experience with sketching at this point. of course, i've practiced(or attempted to) by drawing imaginary home floorplans. but that went sour qiuckly...

Keep practicing!

I personally love to sketch out my designs, and in color! I never do an all black sketch like most people. And I hate pencil, there is just something about using a pen that says, "this is what I want", it creates a level of certainty to the sketch. The way I sketch and incorporate color is how I think so the brainstorming that occurs while I'm drawing really is a fluid and natural process. I don't think it's absolutely necessary to draw well to go into architecture but I do have to say, you can somehow pick out those architecture projects which were done mostly on computer. There's just something about the translation that imprints that computer graphic feel into the final product. As an artistic exploration it's fine, but for a built environment there may be troubles. By sketching out your ideas versus working off a computer, you really start to understand what is happening in your building since you actively have to think about it in three dimensions, forcing you to stretch your mental muscle rather than being presented with the answer in front of you on a screen.

I'm in graduate school now and I would say it's split down the middle here of who starts off drawing and who starts off on the computer. In my undergraduate program, we were all forced to sketch and draw all of our plans. None of our presentations were plotted out. They took hours to complete for each drawing, but I feel you really start to understand the mechanics behind architectural drawings that way. 

there's a middle ground between hand-sketching on paper with pen and "sketching" with 3D models --- sketching with a wacom tablet or similar.  i added this to my repertoire this past year and it is pretty awesome.  to work through a sketch and then have the ability to copy/paste and manipulate in any and all ways the actual line work and infill (not just scanned raster images) is really efficient --- i still hand sketch, too, but i think "digital" sketching and regular sketching will merge sooner than later --- have you seen this early product which bridges the two:

http://www.wacom.com/en/Products/Inkling.aspx

and on the subject of what is sketched/how it is sketched,  holl's sketches, koolhaas's, and  balmond's sketches --- they are very conceptual, not representational --- these are examples of what many have said --- learning to sketch does not mean producing hand-drawn arch viz --- just quick, clean, clear concept sketches

but i think, too, digital sketching in rhino or sketchup is fine --- i've seen people who can definitely model conceptually as fast as an accomplished sketcher can sketch

much needed advice, thanks everyone!

now, is it more conducive to the process if you draw first in an outburst of "creativity' or whatever, or should you think then draw.

i'm only asking because the entire thought-to-paper (or computer) process varies between individual.

Poop*

"I can imagine a meeting with a client:

'hold on, let me get my laptop to show you what you mean'"

Actually, when we meet with clients, we often pull-up the revit/sketchup/rhino model on the big screen, have a whiteboard to one side, and some large printed plans with trace paper. However, I find we spend most of the time looking at the digital model. I think having the whole package, being able to sketch and work the computer, is pretty necessary going forward. I've seen clients' face light up as much watching us model live on the computer as producing a good sketch.

i always feared otherwise, but then again i'm not an architect.

do firms hire on the basis of sketching ability or handiness? i know you don't have to be Picasso or anything, but does it count?

Firms don't like to hire people who give up on themselves.

Ariana, it seems to me you're blowing this all a bit out of proportion. Hand drawing is a totally learnable and highly desirable skill, like many others one develops in college. Practice a bit, take a class or so, and you'll be fine. And yes, at some firms the ability to demonstrate a basic sketching competence is ONE factor, but not the MAIN factor in hiring. It's probably seen more as a 'plus' than a 'necessity'.

ah, i see. nice to have that cleared up!

i'll definitely be taking classes for drawing, but are there any books that i could read on the subject now?

Hello all, I am working on an online portfolio for employment as an architectural intern. I would appreciate any comments or improvements you think I may need for it.

Thanks

michaelgron.com  

Visual Notes for Architects and Designers is very good

brent chamberlain has a great video -- pool villa rendering video 6 below -- that teaches how to sketch human heads and bodies -- it is exceptional -- it is quick -- i think learning to see like this underlies sketching environmental forms as well -- go into the video about 6 minutes

http://brentchamberlain3d.blogspot.com/2010/08/pool-villa.html

ariana -- Drawing Shortcuts, by Jim Leggitt might be a good place to start. He also conducts workshops around the country from time to time. Here's the link: http://www.amazon.com/Drawing-Shortcuts-Developing-Skills-Technology/dp/0471075493#reader_0471075493

Apropos some of the comments above, Jim's technique tries to combine both 'hand drawing' and 'technology'.

intotheloop,

you are right, some clients love that stuff.  But remember there are so many clients and projects out there and not all of them have that financial capability to have you present a rhino/revit model. Or they don't really think its necessary for you to have a 3d representation/model....so sketching would be the most efficient way of communicating some ideas to them. But I definitely agree that there should be some kind of balance....or you should know both for sure, because there are different types of firms out there that satisfy different clients for different projects.

while doing residential work, 90% of my designs were presented to clients in sketch format and almost all the time got approvals.

sketches don't have to be fancy, but they have to show clearly your vision of the project.

being able to sketch something in front a client while he or she is explaining his or her desires is an invaluable tool that i hope architects never loose.

thanks, jmanganelli and quizzical for the links!

frobledo, is hand-sketching necessary only for residential work or do you always sketch?

Ariana, currently i do a lot of commercial work including schools, hotels and retail. hand sketching is always a plus in our profession. my advice? practice, practice, practice. it is the only way you get good at it. don't be afraid to do it. not only you get your message accross, your clients will be impressed when with a few lines you can tell the whole story.