Arch. Response

A Thoughtful Reflection

There is no denying that we live in a world that depends heavily on computers. It wasn’t long ago that we thought the end of the world was soon to come because of the big Y2K event. So many advances have been made due to the invention of computers and computer aided design software, it’s hard to find flaws. But on the reverse side of that were do humans fit in?
Computer aided design software is highly effective and efficient, and has helped us to make huge leaps in our designs. Numerous design possibilities that 60 years ago would have been thought of as impossible, or time consuming have become a reality due to the computer, and its easy and fast calculations.
As a new designer I am only beginning to see how important computers are to the design process. Scanning a photo into a computer and clicking a few buttons to enhance it is only the beginning of endless possibilities the computer can offer.
On the other side I can’t see myself feeling as emotionally attached to a design that I sat in front of a computer clicking away at, as I do to a design that I have spent countless hours drafting out. Doing it the old fashion way and hand-drafting it out is by far the one time in my design process that I feel the most at ease, because I love to do it, and I’m good at it. But not only in drafting but also in hand rendering, there is just this personal touch that a client can see when you present your ideas. They can relate to the fact that this took you a long time.
As designers it’s hard for us in a time crunch to choose the slow way, by hand, rather than take the easy way out and use a computer. But also as designers I feel like it’s important for us to find that happy medium between computers and the human touch. We must look back to the past before we can move ahead.