Inhabiting the drawing – 1:1 in time and space

Abstract

One of the fundamental characteristics of architectural drawing is its use of scale. Since the Renaissance – during which architectural production shifted from the construction site to paper – this scalar understanding began by using bodily measurements. In developing designs, the architect projects future occupation of the drawing with their eyes and hands moving over both its physical surface and represented space. The different relationship established between the digital drawer and the body has been criticised; Paul Emmons argues that CAD’s full scale – or rather scale-less – capabilities omit this bodily presence of the drawer (Emmons, 2005). Due to the use of full scale data recording, the drawer zooms in and out to consider aspects, severing the drawing’s relation to the operator’s body. This paper explores ways in which the body and drawings intersect, beyond Emmons definition, and hence considers the influence of the method of drawing on perceptions of scale and the inhabitation of digital drawings. It uses ongoing collaborative research projects and exhibitions to explore the inhabitation of digital drawing at full scale. These works highlight the fundamental importance of the line within architecture, not as demarcation, divider or indexical reference, but as a traces of bodily projections.