Adventures In Styleland!

Gothic Architecture

I came across some of Minty Sainsbury’s drawings, She has a passion for architecture, it’s a subject which consumes her. Not only are they very precise architectural renderings of classical buildings they are also very beautiful and intriguing. The use of the empty space in her street views is arresting and unusual. She contrasts the intricate complexity of cathedrals and gothic churches with nothing but a thin outline of the buildings in the foreground.

It’s not surprising that this artist and illustrator studied architecture at Cambridge “because I loved drawing historical architecture”. At university while others were using computers Minty drew every plan by hand, graduating top of her year and winning a Royal Institute of British Architects prize.

In the architecture world, there are a handful of persistent debates that arise time and time again: the challenges of being a woman in the field of architecture is one of them, for example; the problems of a culture of long hours and hard work is another. But one of the most enduring arguments in architecture – especially in the academic sphere – is the battle between hand drawing and computer aided design. Both schools have their famous proponents: Michael Graves, for example, was known as a huge talent with a pencil and paper, and came to the defense of drawing in articles for the New York Times, among others. Patrik Schumacher, on the other hand, is famous for his commitment to the capabilities of the computer.

Personally there are valid arguments on both sides, in the debate about how architects – both present and future – represent our ideas, it is easy to find a lot of articles supporting both sides. I love the freedom of hand drawings, although they are not easily modified as computer production generated images and my not be practical, to me there is nothing prettier than a well done hand rendering of a project, they are truly works of art.. I would enjoy having any one of these framed and on the wall in my home..

Stay Tuned…..The Home Expo 2016 is coming to the Times Union Center, watch for dates…I will be blogging again for The Home Expo with HGTV as our special guest this year! See you there!

XOXO

M