How many times have design solutions been scribbled on a cocktail napkin? Or construction details sketched out on the side of a 2x4? I would venture to say that more often than not the buildings we design, construct, and use everyday are the manifestations of simple drawings.

For the past three years, the second-year AE students have followed in the creative process of Pablo Picasso, J. K. Rowling, author of Harry Potter, the designer of the Academy Award, and countless practicing architects and engineers by using napkins as a medium for conveying ideas. The simplicity of a “back of the napkin” sketch has artistic significance as the beginnings of fine art, books, awards, and, more importantly for us–buildings.

As part of AE 222–Working Drawings, students are introduced to the various design phases, including schematic, design development, and construction documents. While the majority of the course concentrates on working drawings and specifications, the students learn to appreciate the design process by producing freehand sketches and progressing toward construction documents.

Freehand sketching and drawing may be considered a dying art, and with modern CAD technologies so readily available, hand drawing seems old-fashioned and outdated. Today’s AE students have grown up with the computer, and have relied on it for everything from drafting to e-mail.

So, it almost goes without saying that the students think I’ve lost my mind when, during the first week of class, I pass out napkins and tell them this is what we will use to draw on. (As a side note: Chinet, two-ply dinner napkins have been found to be ideal for sketching with ink.) After a sketching lecture, the students are genuinely excited about venturing into campus with pen and napkin in hand.

A majority of campus buildings and architectural features have been sketched, and some of the most exemplary napkin sketches are incorporated into this newsletter. The students are to be commended for their keen eye and sketching abilities. Many sketches are also displayed on the second floor of Engineering Unit A and have become quite a conversation piece for faculty, AE students, and visitors.

If any AE alumnus would like to add a napkin sketch to the growing collection of drawings, feel free to send it, along with your business card, to the AE Department in care of Jonathan Dougherty.

Jonathan Dougherty is a graduate teaching assistant and Ph.D. candidate in the AE Department.