Page 68 - sarah-simblet_sketch-book-for-the-artist

ARCHITECTURE68
Master Builders
EVERY NEW BUILDING, embodying a massive investment of
ideas, materials, and labor, marks the end of a long journey
from the first few marks the architect made on a sheet of
paper. Drawings underpin every great human-made structure
like hidden linear ghosts at their core. Architects draw for
many reasons: to visualize ideas; evoke presence; describe a
finished look to a client; calculate function, structure, and shapes of domes. Below it, densely layered lines in mists of
balance; and ultimately to show builders what to do.
Hawksmoor's drawing is both a plan and an evocation. Lines
define structure while washes suggest light and atmosphere.
Gaudi's fluid architecture grew up through many kinds of
drawing. The photograph opposite shows his studio hung
with metal pendulums, a three-dimensional drawing made
with wires and weights, testing gravity to calculate the inverted
color weave the presence of the expected building into shape.
NICHOLAS HAWKSMOOR
One of Britain's "three great" Baroque
architects (along with Sir Christopher
Wren and Sir John Vanbrugh).
Hawksmoor established his reputation
with university and church architecture
including All Souls College, Oxford,
and six London churches. A student
of Wren's, and later an assistant to
Vanbrugh, he also worked on St Paul's
Cathedral, Hampton Court Palace,
Blenheim Palace, and Castle Howard.
Three aspects This subtle and sophisticated
drawing made in pen and wash displays three
distinct aspects of Hawksmoor's baptistry.
Together they explain how interior structure
and space define exterior form and shape.
Finished surface On the left the finished
surface of the building is given depth and
emphasis by immaculate vertical and
horizontal brush strokes of shadow. We see
the modeled detail of Corinthian columns,
pilasters, and an inscribed entablature.
Cut-away interior On the right a section
cut through the center of the building reveals
material thicknesses, relative levels, and the
shapes of interior domes and apses.
Pillars and floor At the base of the drawing
a compass-drawn plan tilted downward
through 90 degrees illustrates the arrangement
of pillars around a central circular floor.
St Paul's Baptistry
c. 1711-12
NICHOLAS HAWKSMOOR