Home  /  BIM and ARCHICAD   /  Michael Graves and the Cult of the Pencil

Michael Graves and the Cult of the Pencil

So this Michael Graves New York Times opinion article has been making the rounds.

I would like to state here that his argument is BULLSHIT. We should all be up in arms that this is how our profession is being represented to the general public. Michael Graves’ lack of comprehension and ability with computers neither proves nor justifies such a disservice to our community. How do his views help? How do they show architects a path forward? Trace paper and pencil? An anecdote about joint doodles in a meeting? Um… ever heard of… I don’t know any of the programs and apps out there that allow similar collaboration via a myriad of tablets, laptops, smartphones, etc. but don’t require you to be in the same room. To name a few,  there is ArchiCAD with Teamwork 2, Revit with Worksets, Google Docs with well Google Docs, Skype, iChat, and similar video and screen sharing programs, and even that freaking social drawing app Draw Something. Collaboration and creativity that makes proximity irrelevant? Hell yeah I want that. Now I can be my best creative self whether my design muse is sitting next to me in a boring meeting or in Houston.  It’s not the tool that matters, but how you use it.

Seriously. It’s insulting.

To think our creative value is based on the tool we use is ridiculous. Yes, as I’ve said elsewhere, tools make a difference. But the best tool won’t turn me or Michael Graves into Le Corbusier or Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Tools, whether a pencil or BIM, are enhancers. If your worth as a creative thinker is based on your medium then you’ve got problems. Those that worship the pencil and paper over other media are backwards thinking and on the wrong side of history. Michael Graves makes a good point about there being three types of architectural drawings – the “referential sketch,” the “preparatory study” and the “definitive drawing.” That’s a great way to see things and I agree that computers dominate the third type, the “definitive drawing.” And for good reason. The power of BIM is just too great. But come on, the other two are only the purview of hand drawing? This is not a failing of computers, but a failing of architects, a tragedy that needs to be fixed.

For centuries architects were in the Avant-garde. We were the gate keepers of so much creative power and exploration. But just like we’ve lost the role of master builder, we are now marginalizing ourselves in the realm of harnessing the creative future. From a technical standpoint, architects are so far behind other industries dedicated to design and creation.  So what’s the solution? Claiming that, because we haven’t adapted our processes and schooling to handle technology, we must be above it. That the creative process loses it’s magic when it gets digitized. BULLSHIT. I wonder if the people behind all the wonderful recent Kickstarter video game projects would agree with the digital destruction of creativity.

Think about this…

Are there 78 year old architects who have been using computers for 75 years? No. Of course not. But there will be. When we try new methods of production and design, the early results can be stiff and far from our best work. But this isn’t a sign of failure. It’s merely a step in a new direction. It’s something to overcome, to work through. Those of us who are slogging through the changing tools of architecture will come out stronger on the other side. Remember, we were all given crayons before we could walk. Today’s infants are now also given access to computers. This is a good thing.

So Mr. Graves let’s try your letter again.

But this time I’m going to write the rallying cry at the end for you:

“Architects have always designed with the equivalent of pencil and paper. From the earliest scribbles on a cave wall through much of the 20th century, our design tools have not fundamentally changed. This is no longer the case and we have past the point of no return. As a profession we have fallen behind in the rush to adopt new technologies. Even things like BIM, which seem so new and awe inspiring to us, have been around for decades in other industries. I am excited to see the upcoming generations embrace the digital realm and show me the soul of the computer. The soul that must be there. Because in truth there is no soul in the computer. Or in the pencil and paper. It’s in us. Our creative spark. The medium is just a means of expression. Let’s embrace and take ownership of the technology around us. To think or do otherwise leads only to obsolescence and marginalization.”

The digital natives are here. And they don't give a shit about your technological hang ups.

The digital natives are here. And they don’t give a shit about your technological hang ups.

Comments

  • September 5, 2012
    reply

    Almost forgot, give your kid some paper and crayons.

  • September 5, 2012
    reply

    David,

    I think you missed the point. There is no call for “computer generated” anything. But there is a call for those that design to learn and adopt the tools that will dominate the industry in the coming years.

    The person still creates, no matter the medium…

  • September 5, 2012
    reply

    If these were computer generated drawing no one would care. But since the were created by a person we do care.

    There is “value” when something is created by human hands.

  • September 5, 2012
    reply

    Brian

    Well said Jared… As mentioned there is nothing wrong with paper and pencil we all can sketch, it is jut a medium for our creative ideas. We all need to convey information, but technology should not be condemned because paper and pencil are somehow claimed as the ideal source. I also like your final statement on “obsolescence and marginalization” which is totally true.

    It also reminds me of this Le Corbusier quote from Towards a New Architecture – “In every field of industry, new problems have presented themselves and new tools have been created capable of resolving them…If we set ourselves against the past, we can then appreciate the fact that new formulas have been found which only need exploitation to bring about (if we are wise enough to break with routine) a genuine liberation from the constraints we have till now been subjected to.”

    Different context, but think it fits well in the BIM and the evolution Digital Design Technology conversation.

    Well done, I’m interested to see where this conversation goes…

  • September 6, 2012
    reply

    I studied architecture at University of Toronto in the late ’70’s, in the last years of Peter Prangnell’s unique and brilliant program that focused on the humanistic “why” of architecture more than the “how.” There were no drawing classes–and in fact flashy hand renderings were actively discouraged because they often masked a lack of thought in the design. Looking closely at the portfolios of intern architects since the advent of computer drawing, I often see the similar issue: Their computer drawings are often very impressive technically, but shallow spiritually. If their buildings were actually built, they would be oppressively ugly. I think perhaps that’s what Michael Graves is on about. In my reading of the article, he allows that “drawing” includes both hand and computer techniques, lamenting only that as of yet the computer does not connect haptically to our hearts as well as the pencil does.

    I’ve been doing this for 33 years now, 22 in my own practice. I’ve been using the computer to draw for the last 14 years, starting with PowerCADD in 1998, and now ArchiCAD for the last several years. Hardly a Luddite. 🙂 That there is a difference in the experience of drawing with a pencil and drawing on the computer is unquestionable. There’s still room for improvement, eh?

    If you haven’t already read it, look up Wendell Berry’s essay “Why I Am Not Going to Buy a Computer” in the collection of essays What Are PEOPLE For? (You can Google it–it’s online!) His criteria for innovation are brilliant, and ought to apply to our tools for drawing as well.

  • September 6, 2012
    reply

    Daniel Wyckoff

    In the 30 years I have been using computers there has always been an effort to make their output look like something done by hand. While the effort and thought in producing the file and plotting it out might have the same serendipitous feeling of creation, there has always been a perception that the perfect line that results is complete and well, perfect. The human eye does not think that about a hand-drawn sketch. While I think the local building department would laugh me out the door if I brought in a hand drawn document these days, I believe the speed and immediate feedback of a hand sketch will never be replaced by a hardlined computer drawing be it 2D or 3D. I believe Mr. Graves laments the lack of skills that the current crop of designers have when it comes to non-computer-aided drawing. Along with this skill comes the freedom to think that the product is in development and is open for interpretation by the viewer and creator alike. As much as the software developers try, I have yet to see or experience such simplicity. On the computer there is always a compelling need to make things more perfect.

  • September 7, 2012
    reply

    Jerome Leslie Eben, AIA

    I know Michael Graves, FAIA and believe his editorial did more for the profession than any computer generated dwg. can.
    My clients get a kick out of my hand drawn
    sketches, especially when I create in front of them across their Kitchen table, which means that I am drawing upside down!

  • September 7, 2012
    reply

    Jared,
    This is obviously a very ripe subject for discussion! I didn’t react to Graves’ article as strongly as you did, but I couldn’t help but read it without being able to put aside my anti-Graves bias. The tools one uses don’t matter as long as the architecture is as clear and strong as it can be. Reading his words on how drawing allowed him to “work out the compositional problems in a definitive way”, especially regarding the Denver Public Library, made me laugh out loud. He has been known to dwell on building design studies in plan and in elevation, but real buildings are never seen that way. I toured that building earlier this year and it’s about as dumb and clunky as they come, full of what I considered poorly resolved compositional problems. And let’s not even start talking about the huge Graves-designed blemishes on the Minneapolis Institute of Art and Children’s Theatre. Grrr. His ego is greater than his buildings.
    I routinely go between ArchiCAD 2D, 3D, SketchUp, hand sketches and even physical models to explore and resolve designs. All tools are valid. In the end, as a design develops, BIM is the only way to go, and I am, in fact, a stronger architect for having learned it.

  • September 7, 2012
    reply

    Chuck

    Practically, I do not see the difference between a pencil/paper tool and a computer tool, as far as creativity goes. It seems to me that many are using the pencil as a crutch, rather than a tool. There is something absorptive about properly sharpening the lead, using soft enough lead, and paper with enough tack. In fact, way back when I was hand drafting, we poched building components in the details. When mimicing concrete, we called it “therapy.”

    Now that we don’t have to spend our time doodling around, we can be truly creative. I use rectangles for bubble diagrams, with the added benefit that the rectangles represent the area called for in the program. Just like a bubble diagram, we can move the rectangles around to arrive at a workable flow, without having to deal with erasures and re-skecthing all the elements we just made. This works well for us, since we design all our buildings from the inside out.

    I doubt that Graves’ buildings are any better because of the pencil. If he believes that they are, it doesn’t say much about his talent.

  • September 8, 2012
    reply

    Djordje

    Well …

    The ugly truth about using computers for anything is that they never to what you want, but always what you tell them to do. So it’s not about the technology, or the media, or the tools used, it’s about you.

    I am old enough to have done quite a few project completely by hand, including perspectives, to know the difference. And, it’s the same difference – if the tool is not the extension of your design thought, the result will be bad, and vice versa. Whatever the tool.

    It’s about you, and your ability to use the tool at your disposal (“how”) to convey your design idea (“what”).

    Always.

  • September 8, 2012
    reply

    My Dad always said; “It’s a poor Craftsman that blames his tools.” ‘Nuff said…

  • September 8, 2012
    reply

    Daniel Wyckoff

    If there is a dream interface it might be like the one shown here:
    http://vimeo.com/3365942

  • September 10, 2012
    reply

    Steven Goodwin

    I didn’t feel that Michael Graves was dissing on the profession but rather lamented the fact that many architects are being sent out from a majority of Architecture schools unable to communicate from hand drawing. A skill that should not be forgotten but sadly it is. At our office many of our interns do not know how to sketch but are quick to show their skills on drab hard line CAD programs and some of them are incredibly talented on amazing rendering software. This is not the same.

    There is something that happens on a different level when hand is put to paper. The brain and the hand together communicate in a different way and our clients love it when they see our hand drawn sketches. He indicated three levels of drawing – two of which are hand drawn- the last, the definitive drawing, he argued that the computer does a better job and was acceptable.

    I’m not sure why you are so upset at his article- I completely agree with his approach and unlike your conclusion find many like me that lament the loss of hand sketching. He didn’t lament the use of CAD in the office (it has its place) only the loss of creative ability that hand sketching brings to the profession.

  • September 12, 2012
    reply

    I don’t think his essay was sincere because it was typed as opposed to being hand written on a note pad. Since no one shared in the experience of its creation, I challenge the thought process as valid… Just sayin’…

  • September 12, 2012
    reply

    😉

  • September 24, 2012
    reply
  • January 23, 2013
    reply

Post a Comment