The Waters of Venice, Italy

The City of Venice is one of the tourism capitals of Italy, with a rich history of art, architecture, and engineering feats. Every street you walk contains a story. Along the charming canals one can think about a city built on water where there once was a marshy lagoon (https://venezialines.com/blog/venices-canals-built-city-built-water/). The buildings share distinct architectural styles of Gothic, Byzantine, and Ottoman influences from over a thousand years ago (http://imaginingvenice.com/2013/04/16/venetian-architecture/). The city also contains many tales of folk lore and myth, identified by statues, bridges, and other relics of love, loss, terror, and spirits that remain, to remind us of the city’s rich and sometimes dark history.

Canals of Venice, 11in x 15in, pen+ink with watercolor (2020)

The drawing “Canals of Venice” began as a pencil sketch drawing meant to capture the breathtaking architecture and character of the city streets. As the drawing developed, I began laying on hatches of ink to define and give character to the scene. The image I used as a reference was taken at night, and had an incredible feeling of calm and mystery. The stories of noir and myths of the city encouraged me to incorporate some intentional areas of muted color over the pen and ink drawing, to bring focus to the murky waters of the canal, and bring a sense of contrast between the buildings and the canal.

sketch - ink on paper, harvard square (2013 aug)

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 'hat of the square'

Is there value in sketching? Urban Sketching Symposium

Do hand rendered images and representations still have value in the field of Landscape Architecture?

For at least the past several years Landscape professionals have been involved in a game of catch-up in order to remain at the front end of rapidly changing technology and production systems. Everything is changing - from how designers brainstorm and represent ideas, to the production of documents for planning and construction, to the materials and process of construction.

I constantly find myself asking questions about what drives the value and necessity of these technological upgrades? And is it necessary to continue to utilize visual thinking and brainstorming skills such as sketching? 

I would like to highlight the practice of sketching,   and provide an example of how it still holds value for design professionals.  

Land8, a Landscape Architecture website, provides information about national and international design projects, professional development, and dialogue for design professionals. I try to make a habit of visiting this site weekly for various reasons:

1. To learn about cool new projects and follow project discussions.

2. Because when I am feeling uninspired I know that there is something on Land8 that will inspire me.

3. To understand and learn from perspectives of practitioners, students, and educators from around the world.

I recently found a posting about the "4th International Urban Sketching Symposium" in Barcelona. Participants from 30 different countries gathered together to celebrate sketching. The discussion itself is not provided, however a sampling of beautifully sketched street scenes are shared.

I am interested to hear other ideas of if and why sketching should be maintained as a standard practice for Landscape Architecture and design professionals.