Diagrams: A Love Story
I easily fell in love with diagrams. It's easy to see the allure. One sharp drawing that can explain everything about your project so that you don't have to. I've often thought that the ultimate presentation would be one without words; to just pin up your boards and let your diagrams speak for you.
After reading this article, maybe they're the devil in disguise. Maybe my love for them isn't real. Somol and Whiting speak to a myriad of differences between Critical and Projective Architecture, one of which being index versus diagram.
During school, I disliked sitting through presentations involving index; "First, I did this, then I did this, and this..." and so on. It was exhausting. Then a diagram would show up, and I'd think, "Alright, I get it". It was much easier to think about. Perhaps that's the problem. Diagrams show the end product, ta-da! Architecture magically appears, and there's no thinking involved.
If you think about it, it seems completely absurd that we should expect to show all the complex intricacies and decisions that go into designing a project. The diagram waters down Architecture to be a simple endeavor. Perhaps this has lead to the under appreciation of what we do as architects?
I don't know the answer and now I'm hopelessly confused about my love for diagrams.
After reading this article, maybe they're the devil in disguise. Maybe my love for them isn't real. Somol and Whiting speak to a myriad of differences between Critical and Projective Architecture, one of which being index versus diagram.
During school, I disliked sitting through presentations involving index; "First, I did this, then I did this, and this..." and so on. It was exhausting. Then a diagram would show up, and I'd think, "Alright, I get it". It was much easier to think about. Perhaps that's the problem. Diagrams show the end product, ta-da! Architecture magically appears, and there's no thinking involved.
If you think about it, it seems completely absurd that we should expect to show all the complex intricacies and decisions that go into designing a project. The diagram waters down Architecture to be a simple endeavor. Perhaps this has lead to the under appreciation of what we do as architects?
I don't know the answer and now I'm hopelessly confused about my love for diagrams.
This is why we are partners. I'll do the indexing and you make the diagram. Maybe its just a matter of the difference in the way we think and there is no right or wrong answer?
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