The Inner Studio - Riverside Architectural Press

THE INNER STUDIO
idea in images that give the project depth and power. A
constructed object is going to be saturated by all the thoughts,
ideas, images, drawings, and states of mind that went into its
creation and fabrication. We are learning to hold this mental
space, a space of becoming, while we design. Impossible combinations
can come into being and be tested. Skills such as
visualization and the intricate, subtle, inner spatial commentary
that accompany sophisticated design work are naturally developed
and come into play with drawing. Holding a place of
becoming in the heart and mind is a basic element of a reflective
design practice. It is fundamental to the searching that
brings a design through to realization. Designs ripen when
imagination, determination, and relaxation can come together.
4. Finally, after the first image has been revealed and worked, we
have something. But what exactly is it? It is seldom a direct
translation of what we saw in our mind’s eye. This is never the
time for criticism. We first need to assess what we have. And in
order to do this, we often need to work on redrawing the
image. This doesn’t mean mindlessly copying the image so
much as learning to creatively think through the act of drawing.
This kind of repetition establishes a cycle whereby verbal
questions that probe the intentions, qualities, and ambitions of
the project are again and again answered by a drawing. In
essence, we are continuing the process of drawing out what is
there, but we have now established a dialogue. There is an
invisible yet strong line of vibrant communication between the
tip of our pens and our image-making faculties. Our thinking
is centered in this process. We are pulling out something that
already exists in the imagination. The image exists in the mind’s
eye, perhaps formed of some psychic dust or written in stars
across a dark sky inside us. The idea exists on some level of
cognition, but does not fully satisfy us until it exists visible and
evident on the page. On one level our vocation is to represent
and begin to puzzle together what faintly exists. On another
level we have to be open to exploring whatever may be
obstructing this process.
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