Imaginary and unbuilt
Imaginary and unbuilt

Summary/Abstract: Architectural drawing is a powerful medium not just as a tool for documentation but also as artwork and as a fully-fledged component of visual culture, shaping architectural theory, artistic creation and visionary thinking. Architectural drawing is the cornerstone of every architect’s education and practice: the ‘craft of drawing’ has always been a trademark of architects. The digital turn and development of technology have provoked discussion on the death of hand drawing. However, despite the digital transformation, the interest in hand drawing has seemingly been reborn, and is studied as a valuable part of architectural culture. The purpose of the paper is to examine hand drawings from the Latvian Museum of Architecture archives, focusing on unbuilt and sometimes visionary architectural drawings from the Soviet period of Latvia: original drawings dating from the period of the 1960s-1980s. The selection of drawings offers an overview of architectural thoughts, ideas and visions of the Latvian Soviet architecture scene through artistic abilities and available analogue techniques, as well as looking at the drawings as independent art pieces.

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