Abstract:

In most Architecture courses in Portugal, drawing is part of the subjects included in the syllabus of the 1st year of training for future architects.

For over 30 years, the painter Joaquim Vieira developed a theory he called Modes of Drawing. This constituted a key methodological element in the pedagogical strategy he implemented while he was teaching Drawing to 1st-year students, initially in the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Porto and, later, in the School of Architecture of the University of Minho. This theory has been adopted to this day in both these institutions as well as in others, such as the Department of Architecture of the Faculty of Sciences and Technology of the University of Coimbra.

The theory of the Modes of Drawing happens in a very specific pedagogical context, developed within the scope of the teaching of observational drawing. This learning process plays a crucial role in the intellectual progress of the students and constitutes a means to promote the type of ability indispensable for the relationship to be established with the architectural practice.

The teaching of drawing in the above-mentioned schools is based on methodological principles that view the students as subject and object of the pedagogical process. This means that the subjects are studied as the drawings unfold, thus promoting a learning practice that is intentionally controlled. As the students progressively acquire autonomy vis-à-vis their lecturer, they will each discover how to find their own way. As a result, the teaching of drawing will be advanced through the practice of specific exercises in which the variables – how, when, where, for how long, which size and drawing instruments – are meticulously defined. These variables are the ones that influence the modus operandi and lead to the production of very different kinds of drawings, which entails distinctive skills and affords diverse types of knowledge. The way in which something is drawn defines the features of the drawing and it is in this context that the theory of the Modes of Drawing takes place.

This methodological concept comprises different types of behaviour on the part of the students and has consequences on the graphical act. The Mode of Drawing is the term that names the attitude of the author of the drawing, which may be one of feeling, exploring, controlling or comprehending. To each of these verbs corresponds a drawing of very dissimilar features: feeling leads to a sketch, exploring to abbozzo, controlling to contour drawing, and comprehending to detail drawing.

The attitude of the author of the drawing has a bearing on their visual perception and influences the graphical register, thus affecting the result of the image drawn and tends to present typical features. This practice enables the articulated and comprehensive development of the perception and the cognition of shape and space, crucial for the training of any student of architecture.

The modes are opposed two by two: sketch to detail drawing and abbozzo to contour drawing. This entails such differentiated attitudes that they are sometimes opposed. For this reason, the syllabus of the course unit establishes that the range of exercises to be performed in every class should always include one of those pairs.

Keywords:

Observational drawing, drawing education, drawing modes, visual perception.