Architectural Sketch Studio” Experience on the Act of Making, Learning and Understanding

Abstract

Thinking with sketches is the most basic way of thinking in architecture. Thinking, on the other hand, includes understanding comprehension and producing new thoughts in its substructure. This is where imagination and creativity arise. Understanding a building by the architect must first be perceived as understanding mentally. Looking at a building from a distance or seeing it from its photograph is not enough to understand the spirit of the space. Abstracting and sketching means concentrating on the building intellectually and internalizing it. In addition to all these, talking about the basic qualities of architectural structures, spending time next to the building, absorbing its soul and feeling its textures are also important parts of understanding the building in terms of architecture. This study will try to explain how the architect obtained the experience of thinking and understanding by sketching by focusing on the concept of architectural sketch in its steps. The architectural sketch studio, which was established for these purposes, started as a platform that was established in a virtual environment and communicated online. It is an environment where designers, who stay away from sketches due to the pandemic, meet once a week and experience different techniques to contribute to their thinking, imagining and creative actions. The aim of the establishment of this workshop is to make the architects experience the practical ways of sketching, which they approach and hesitate with fear, and to contribute to their development by providing continuity. With this studio, which was established to explain the experience of sketching learning to individuals as an alternative education methodology, it is aimed to be a new approach to changing educational environments and learning styles. For this purpose, a sketch studio was formed, sometimes in a workshop next to the building, sometimes as an online activity, meeting regularly every week. The most important acquisition of the workshop was to explain that the architectural sketch is not only a means of representation, but a means of understanding and thinking. In addition to this, a part of the place that touches the spirit of the place, which is enjoyed and produced products is brought to the individuals.