How Drawing Helps To Change Cities
Leading Architects and Engineers Draw Together
Austin Williams, Benedict O'Looney, Foster + Partners, Alan Davidson

30 August 2007: Some of London's leading architectural and engineering firms are joining forces to encourage people of all ages to see the rapidly changing city differently - through the medium of drawing. Expert drawers from Future Systems, make, Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, Expedition and Foster + Partners are supporting Changing Cities, a one-day event on 30 September 2007, part of The Big Draw East: Drawing Things Together.

Drawing is a powerful but often neglected tool, not only in professional training, but also in our daily lives. Changing Cities aims to reinforce drawing's role in helping everyone to take a closer view of the capital's multi-faceted cityscape and to understand how drawing shapes our world.

Among the experts giving advice and guidance at a range of activities and workshops during the day are Chris Wise, the engineer whose original wine-bar doodle contributed to the design of London's Millennium Bridge, and Alistair Lenczner, an associate partner of Foster + Partners and the engineer involved with the Millau viaduct - the longest cable bridge in the world.

Chris Wise, founder of Expedition Engineering, said: "Even for a 21st century engineer, doodling gives me design freedom I can't get any other way. You can invent anything you like and straightaway see if it's beautiful. For me a concept doodle is like a child - you have all sorts of hope and expectations, and when it grows up into a fully fledged project, it's amazing!"

The Big Draw East, a massive free drawing event held at venues across East London, is the national launch of The Big Draw, a month-long celebration of drawing throughout Britain, in which over 500,000 people are expected to take part at 1,300 venues. Organised by the Campaign for Drawing, full listings for Changing Cities and all Big Draw events can be found on its website: www.thecampaignfordrawing.org.

Changing Cities, Sunday 30 September
Starts at 10.30am at Bishopsgate Institute, Bishops Square, One Bishops Square and Christ Church Spitalfields. All events are free and encourage participants to discover the City's rich architectural past, present and future, and to see London differently through drawing. Visitors can sketch the changing city skyline, draw amazing vistas and doodle hidden details from a number of vantage points, including a specially equipped Routemaster bus.

Hammerson, the developer of Bishops Quarter, is sponsoring the Changing Cities programme.
Highlights include:

Shape the Future - Zero Carbon Flying Machines Shape the Future is a nationwide competition to promote the importance of drawing in engineering and designing for sustainability. Chris Wise, founder of Expedition Engineering, his colleague Ed McCann (TV presenter of Engineering at the Cutting Edge and Buildings of Britain) and young members of their families will advise on making and flying people-powered paper air-borne objects of all kinds. Prizes will be awarded to the best.
(10.30 - 5.00, York Hall, Old Ford Road, E2 9PL)

Sketchathon 07
Artist Emma Smith leads a visual journey through the City, with commentary on selected buildings from other expert drawers at Bishops Square (11.20am -12.15pm), Leadenhall Market (12.15-1.15pm) and The Lloyd's Building (1.30-2.30pm). By the end of the session, participants will have created a fold-out cityscape of one of London's most fascinating areas, and will be invited back to Bishopsgate Institute to discuss what they have seen and drawn.
(11.00am - 3.00pm. Booking 020 7392 9200 or events@bishopsgate.org.uk)

Drawing Space - Talk
Alan Davidson, architect, artist and founder of leading architectural illustration studio Hayes Davidson, has worked with many internationally renowned architectural practices. He will give a unique insight into how architectural drawing has helped to shape the thinking behind great architecture and cities by looking at the work of its most influential exponents.
(3.30pm - 4.15pm, Bishopsgate Institute, 230 Bishopsgate, EC2M 4QH. Booking as above)

Easy Graphics: Condensing Complexity
Austin Williams's workshop uses sketches and cartoons to interpret confusing instructions. Help launch his Easy Graphics Campaign by bringing ideas for things which need translation, and creating a new generation of posters and comics which simplify everyday regulations.
Sponsored by RIBA Bookshops and NBS
(2.30pm - 5.00pm, Bishopsgate Institute, 230 Bishopsgate, EC2M 4QH. Booking as above).

Take A View
Celebrate London's amazing architecture - past, present and future - on a walk-and-draw trail. Collect drawing materials from the information point and visit drawing stations in the immediate area. You will be in good company, with architectural historian Benedict O'Looney and expert drawers from leading London practices and the Society of Architectural Illustration. They are eager to reveal intriguing details and vistas, and to offer advice on drawing space and place.
(10.30am - 5.00pm, Bishops Square, off Brushfield Street, E1 6EG)

Camera Obscura
Stepping into the booth reveals a world where the commonplace becomes a spectacle. A popular technology a hundred years ago, the camera obscura remains a magical experience. Willett and Patteson have toured theirs across the UK, Japan and Australia.
(10.30am - 5.00pm, Bishops Square, off Brushfield Street, E1 6EG )

Take a Closer View
Using special viewfinders, take a closer look at the city and capture the character of your amazing surroundings: buildings, spaces and activities that happen behind those walls and facades. Explore the city's public face and its changing skyline with architect and artist Narinder Sagoo, architect-engineer Alistair Lenczner (both with Foster + Partners) and Jerwood Drawing Prize-winner Jeanette Barnes. Help expand the horizons of a collective panoramic mural. (10.30am - 5.00pm, Allen & Overy LLP, One Bishops Square, E1 6AO)

Drawing on your Senses
Explore new ways of drawing using all your senses. Don't be limited to using hands or responding to what you see with your eyes. Join Epic Arts at Christ Church Spitalfields for this fully inclusive art event.
(2.00pm - 5.30pm, Christ Church Spitalfields, Commercial Street, E1 6LY)

The Changing Cities programme was devised in collaboration with media partner Blueprint and DRAWING AT WORK (www.drawingatwork.co.uk)

Lord Foster, Founder of Foster+Partners and Patron of the Campaign for Drawing, said: "Drawing is the root of every concept and design. It is a fundamental life skill. The Big Draw inspires people of all ages to engage with the world we inhabit and I hope that more people will rediscover the immediacy of the medium they relished as children."

Sue Grayson Ford MBE, Director, Campaign for Drawing said: "The Big Draw's popularity shows that not only is there massive public interest in the subject, but that drawing can create hugely enjoyable social occasions for people of all ages and abilities.

"The Big Draw offers a chance to lose yourself in the sheer fascination of drawing and discover how it can benefit your life, no matter what you do! This year there are also amazing themes to explore - from understanding evolution to shaping the future."

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About The Big Draw
The Big Draw is the UK's biggest annual free celebration of visual art, with 1,000 events and over 500,000 participants. In last year's national Big Draw launch, 7000 participants celebrated the Amazing Spaces of Somerset House and King's College London with a packed programme of activities - from making watercolours of the fountains to knitting a giant London Townhouse.

About the Campaign For Drawing
The Campaign for Drawing has a simple aim: to get everyone drawing. The Big Draw, its annual October showpiece, proves that drawing can be a public activity as well as a private passion. The Campaign was inspired by the great Victorian writer and visionary, John Ruskin. His mission was not to teach people to draw, but how to see. Each Big Draw season brings fresh opportunities to discover how drawing can connect us to our environment and heritage.

The Campaign's education programme turns its research findings into practical guidance in a series of books, DVDs and other resources. These show how learning through drawing can take place in schools, museums, galleries and heritage sites. Its new Professional Development Programme will be designed to change attitudes to drawing and the way it is used. This will share the knowledge gained over the last six years with teachers and other educators, artists, designers, scientists, technologists and more. The Campaign for Drawing is supported by Arts Council England, the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, the Worshipful Company of Painter-Stainers and Foster+Partners.

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