How members of the public came to the RIBA to draw London’s skyline.
Usually the RIBA’s collections at the British Architectural Library are used for research, while individual items are put on display at the RIBA, V&A and beyond due their historical value. Recently an event used them in a different way: to provide inspiration.
During October’s Last Tuesday evening at the RIBA, Ros Croker (Education Curator) and Justine Sambrook (Assistant Curator) led the Sketch in the City drawing workshop where the public communicated on paper their vision of London. Selected images of iconic buildings from the collections were on show and participants added their drawings to a collage of London’s skyline along the Thames – a vision of its past, present and future.
St Paul’s Cathedral seemed to be a popular subject, as was the Thames Barrier and Trellick Tower – showing no single architectural style or period was dominant. Some engaged with their imaginations, experimenting with colour and material to express new ideas on paper, such a pedestrian tunnel under the Thames and a department store on piers above the river. Reflecting the national audience present, one participant was inspired by the structures of her native Port Talbot and added that to the capital’s eclectic architectural mix.
Drawing is a basic and powerful tool architects employ to explore and understand the built environment. There were no restrictions placed on what could be added to the skyline and by the end of the session the collage showed the architecture of London both real and imagined. The evening was part of a nationwide festival to get people drawing, coinciding with The Campaign for Drawing’s annual Big Draw event.
In the run-up to the event, and acknowledging the increasingly digital nature of artistic output, drawings were created on iPads. Again, these too used the collections to stimulate the production of new work.