Drawing Theory - Call for Papers

The seventh Footprint issue will focus on the drawn theory of architecture, a field that in the last decades has seen a progressive ’de-problematisation‘ within the architectural domain. The critical assessment of the role of theory in contemporary architecture has been a point of discussion on several occasions, also in Footprint, but the role of drawing, perhaps due to the fact it is traditionally seen as the most basic act of architecture, has been either mostly absent in these discussions, or regarded as an instrumental and illustrative field. It is the intention of this Footprint issue to ‘fill’ this gap while simultaneously making an argument for the continued importance of drawing. Through this issue on drawing architectural theory, Footprint would like to make the case that knowledge in architecture can, in fact, only be developed via (the) drawing.

Suspended in-between a condition of objectivity and instrumentality, as image and information, as communication and as science, the drawing nowadays seems to have lost its finality and its theoretical poignancy. Following the argument of the Italian architect and theorist Franco Purini, ‘if, on the one hand, the primacy of the “visual” in the globalised world imposes on the architectural project an overexposure of its image, pushing thus to the extreme its condition of simulacrum of reality, then, on the other hand, the progressive development of the engineering of the architectural project imposes a functional reduction of drawing as applied technique.’ The emphasis on drawn theory will not only constitute an essential reversal of the understanding that architecture can only be described and not drawn (as Loos stated), but, for instance with Libeskind’s Chamber Works, has brought to light a fundamentally new valuation of architectural production. In this respect, drawing may, in the contemporary architectural discourse, initiate a questioning of meaning, without necessarily offering the keys for reading, interpreting and understanding the drawn object.

In the context of this Footprint publication, the drawing’s primary character of being a ‘form of thought’ will be a central issue. Inevitably, drawing simultaneously determines the way the architect thinks and formalises a theoretical position and, most essentially, the critical definition of its limits. More specifically, in Footprint 7, we would like to enquire emerging theoretical themes within the architectural domain that depart from, or find affinity with the field of drawing and focus on a discussion of the following two themes/aspects:
-the attempt to develop an ordered, yet incomplete, taxonomy that aims at a critical (re-)foundation of the architectural language.
-the necessity of constructing a notation system within the drawing.

Footprint 7 will be published in autumn 2010. Authors interested in submitting a contribution are requested to submit an abstract of maximum 600 words accompanied by maximum one or two images/drawings to the editors before 15 June 2010. Please note: the selection of papers for publication will not be based on the abstracts, but will be based on the peer-review of full papers (which are on topic and demonstrate an acceptable academic level). Submission deadline for full paper: 31 August 2010. Special note: Footprint is a peer-review journal.

For submissions and all other inquiries and correspondences, please contact editors Stefano Milani (s.milani[at]tudelft.nl) and Marc Schoonderbeek  (m.g.h.schoonderbeek[at]tudelft.nl).

 Paper submission