Abstract:

Printed publications concerning architecture are prolific both in the popular and academic press. The idea that architecture as a professional and academic discipline includes a vital critical culture in print dates back centuries. With the invention of the printing press came the invention of the classical architectural treatise as it is understood today; with images of varying scales showing the historical basis for architecture, contemporary examples showing implementation, and commentary ranging from practical advice to mythical metaphors considered essential to the proper design and construction of buildings.

With the invention of digital media, what new opportunities exist for architectural publishing? How does the history of the architectural publication in print influence the expectations for publications formatted digitally? What are the challenges methodologically and technically for digital publishing on architectural subjects?

To answer some of these questions this paper will examine the purpose of architectural publication in the current professional and pedagogical environments, and will present a digital format responding to current needs specific to architecture. These include the need to sketch in the margins, to diagram thought, to add links to other sources, and to add links to on-going design work. By taking this approach the digital publication on architecture becomes a learning portfolio with characteristics of a journal and sketchbook.

Classical treatises provides some clues as to how readers engage architectural material. A written narrative parallels a visual narrative. The visual narrative is provided by images showing the insides, outsides, and details of buildings, often with proportional systems notated. Yet, the material to be engaged is limited by the print format.

In a digital format the opportunity for engaging material is unlimited when links to external sources both textual and visual are employed, and when the reader is given the opportunity to explore the potential of viewing orthographic and panoramic images at a variety of scales. To address the issue of cognition, the proposed digital format should include images and concepts of differing scales accessible through an intuitive format that can be quickly cross-referenced. In practical terms this means that text focusing on details should be easily linked to images illustrating the detailed concept. Text dealing with broad conceptual themes should be easily linked to images illustrating broad conceptual themes. By cross referencing these, the reader will be able to synthesize their understanding of the text either by moving from detail to concept or from concept to detail, or by viewing both simultaneously.

The pedagogical implications of digital architectural publishing deserves further attention. What is the potential for creating a digital publication that becomes a digital portfolio of the reader’s thoughts and images? How can design students use a this tool in their design studios? How can this tool synthesize two types of knowledge, visual and written?