Thinking through drawing

To have an architect or artist share their sketchbooks is to be offered an extraordinary window into their creative process, to reveal their observations and their thinking, to see the designer’s mind at work. For an architect, the sketchbook is not just a place to draw, but a place to order thoughts – to graphically and visually gather information and to develop a design response.

This is certainly true for renowned architect Chris Wilkinson RA, who believes passionately in the importance of drawing by hand, particularly in an age dominated by digital media.

This exhibition contains a selection of Wilkinson’s sketchbooks, drawings and watercolours from the last 30 years alongside architectural objects. They reveal his design thinking, from initial site studies and early concepts to design development and construction, through projects such as the Mary Rose Museum in Portsmouth, Maggie’s Centre in Oxford and the King’s Cross Gasholders.