Analytical Sketching:
Classroom in the City

University of Maryland: 2022
Catholic University: 2001-2019
Virginia Tech’s WAAC: 1993-1997

This course--which has taken different forms over past 25 years--takes students off-campus to sketch in washington, dc. while the sites are primarily architecture and urban spaces they also include landscapes, paintings, industrial design and furniture. through analytical sketching students experience and begin to recognize that architecture is informed by and integral to all aspects of life. as a tactile experience, they begin to develop critical thinking skills that, in turn, help develop considered architectural design and methodologies. students digest the building--they transform it from an inert artifact into an active part of their own design process. this digesting by enzymatic analysis—uncoupling building into components—links the observed design to the design studio.