Layering design
reintegrating human expression in hyper-construction drawings
For AEC professionals, the medium is also the message. The techniques for designing are always in flux. New mediums, new tools all to create and shape the future. Today, there is a strong emphasis on designing for efficiency and speed, usually in the service of the firms survival rather than the interests of the public. This is not necessarily the intention of practitioners but rather the efficiency of their tools develops unhealthy habits.
Computer Aided Design
The precision, speed and accuracy of these tools are phenomenal. The goal of CAD was never to replace the human experience of seeing, feeling and listening to space. Working off a flat screen however can limit the emotions that are channeled through our bodies.
Analog
The analog methods of walking a site, drawing by hand, erasing and trashing paper iteratively allows for a designer to feel through their process. A 40 hour work week at a desk can put some strain on our eyes, necks, wrists and lower backs. Perhaps the office of the landscape engineer should be out in the world that they are designing for. Rather than a climate controlled office, the engineer should be out engaging with the environment.
Poetry
Design should look and feel like poetry. The issue is not so much with the precision or accuracy of CAD, but rather it doesn’t give a sense the culture or place of the site.
