Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

This thesis project explores scale 1:1 sketching on site as an approach to a project in landscape architecture. The aim is to understand how scale 1:1 sketch work on site and sketch work in studio can complement each other in the design process and contribute to proposals for site which are sensitive to existing qualities experienced on site.

The main approach of the thesis project is to investigate scale 1:1 sketching through a case study of my personal sketching process in which I develop a proposal for Högdalstopparna, an urban open space in southern Stockholm, in two different work contexts – on site and in studio. The research is guided by a methodological framework for art-based research, based on architectural thinking, suggested by Catharina Dyrssen (2011) using multi-media techniques for data collection. Complementary to the main case, a second case study of scale 1:1 sketching in the context of professional landscape architectural practice is undertaken to include the perspective of
experienced landscape architects on scale 1:1 sketching and on site/in studio sketch work. In the second case study, data is collected through participant observation and an open question questionnaire. Further, literature studies are conducted to inform the explorative sketch work and to compare the results of the case studies to existing theory on design method and the sketching process in landscape architecture.

Scale 1:1 sketch work on site is in the cases studied found to promote the inclusion of small-scale material features and the subjective perspective on experiential qualities on site in the sketching process. Investigations into the combination of analogue scale 1:1 sketching and digital tools provide insight on how scale 1:1 sketching may be incorporated into the contemporary on site/in studio sketching process, adding to existing tools and techniques to choose from in the landscape architectural toolbox.