Baltimore-based architects Carlos Almeida (AECOM), Jerome Gray (Jerome C. Gray Architect), Eric J. Jenkins (University of Maryland), Omar Calderon Santiago (Perkins Eastman) and Gabriel Kroiz (Morgan State University) have organized a small group of sketchers called, tentatively, “Charm City Sketchers”. They invite everyone to help celebrate sketching and the architecture of Baltimore through sketching tours, lectures, and exhibitions. Their first initiative is once-a-month sketching workshops in and around Baltimore. While AIA Baltimore will release a complete schedule soon, the workshops will include “Light, Shade, and Depth” with Carlos Almeida and “Deciphering Building Design and History through Urban Sketching” with Jerome Gray.
These architects, with varied backgrounds, practices and career paths, believe in those the inherently human and universal qualities of sketching that link mind and body. While architects in the 21st century must embrace and use the most advanced digital technologies and tools, architects also know that there is a need for “both/and” thinking and working and that practice requires varied tools for varied situations. A sketch’s inaccuracies, mistakes, and “beautiful ugliness” not only allow for, but advances, the design search and connects us to one another. As architect Toshiko Mori notes, “I think the essential aspect of drawing [is that it creates] an immediate relationship between human beings; drawing survived everything. When I go to the world, 90% of places don’t have computers. So, to be able to interact with people, you have to draw. And then people can draw back. It’s still a universal language.”
The first workshop of 2023 will be directed by Eric Jenkins, AIA. Eric is a licensed architect and teaches part-time at the University of Maryland and MICA. He is also the author of the book Drawn to Design: Analyzing Architecture through Freehand Drawing–the 2nd edition of which was just released this past July. This first workshop is scheduled for Saturday, January 21st from 10-12 noon at the Center for Architecture and Design. The workshop is for anyone interested in sketching – beginners, more experienced and those who have not sketched in a while. The workshop will review freehand sketching techniques and different drawing types such as isometrics and perspectives that architects use in their design practices. So bring a coffee for what promises to be a fun Saturday morning of drawing. For more information and how you might get involved, please contact Eric Jenkins: ericjenkinsarchitect@gmail.com
Workshop 1 – Drawing Like an Architect
Date: Saturday, January 21, 2023
Time: 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon
Location: The Center for Architecture and Design, One Charles Center
100 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21201
Bring: pens and paper
The second session, led by Carlos Almeida, is for beginners and the more experience, focuses three-dimensional, spatial sketching. Starting with a brief discussion about pens, ink, and paper, Carlos will discuss different sketching techniques to see, capture and perhaps understand space.
Workshop 2 – Light, Shade, and Depth
Date: Saturday, February 11, 2023
Time: 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon
Location: The Center for Architecture and Design, One Charles Center
100 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21201
