Sketch of a Sketch. Projects and Sketches Archive (UAUIM, 1957-1968)

Sketch of Sketch is a one day architectural project, included into UAUIM’s curriculum from its early beginning, a quite distinctive and special exam that, over the years, became one of the quality landmarks of the School. It was first adopted from Ecolè des Beaux-Arts in Paris and later on transformed into a specific exam, taking several shapes and reasonings, from architectural idea contest, to short project testing spatial knowledge and skillful hand drawing, both as powerful artistic expression means. Its name derives from its own way of being, a line stroke, an idea flight or race: a sketch of a sketch.

As an important identitary feature of the School, the Sketch has been evolving during the years, while still keeping its original form and structure as well. Each decade of its history is somehow imprinted by the changes in its background, be it political or architectural. However, from the pedagogical point of view, its purpose and qualities kept more or less the same line of understanding, since so many generations of architects had experienced it in a quite similar way. Eventually, the School cherished it both as an architectural educational process, as well as an identitary landmark.

Considering computer drawing supremacy, we came at present appreciate even more these Sketches, though they might now seem to be obsolete and outdated. The school archive preserves a rich collection of drawings, more than 65 years old, which we recently started to digitalize. Having received such an important and consistent heritage, we tried to value these drawings and make them digitally available to both the local and the global architectural community, while in the same time building up a critical analysis on their current pedagogical significance.