9 Architectural Illustration Styles That Prove Drawing Isn’t Dead

A collection of some rich images that architects have shared with us, taking us behind the scenes of the projects.

Feast your eyes on the world's most outstanding architectural photographs, videos, visualizations, drawing and models: Introducing the winners of Architizer's inaugural Vision Awards. Sign up to receive future program updates >

Out in the everyday professional reality of architectural practice, “drawing” is often used as a euphemism of either a construction document or a sales ploy to court and dazzle clients. There is no doubt that digital culture has changed the way that projects have been designed and represented, and according to Perry Kulper, author of “The Labor of Architectural Drawing,” the result is a “shift from what architecture looks like to how it behaves—a movement from the configuration and image dominance to parametric and performance logics.”

However, despite their waning appearance in the business-as-usual side of architecture, drawing and illustration are still inescapable components of the practice that filter into multiple stages of the process (after all, there has to be something in all those moleskins…). A bit of a “chicken or egg” story, there is no prescribed sequence to separate drawing and design from one another, and sketches and illustration are still prevalent is stages anywhere from conceptualizing to redrawing the complete project. Oh, and of course, paper architecture will never die.

Conveying a glimpse into process, illustrations can provide intimate windows into the thinking behind a project. Although presentations are typically seen as a display of squeaky-clean final images, why are architects often hesitant to show their thoughts? Below is a collection of some rich images that architects have shared with us, taking us behind the scenes of the projects.