BArch Year 1 Speculative Drawing Workshop: 28.09.2026

During the students first session of the Architectural and Communication module, I introduced them to speculative sketching, by drawing together on long rolls of paper. They undertook three tasks:

1.  Mark making and responding to music. This was lots of fun and got the students moving around the table and quickly filling the paper with marks.

2. Introducing them to some drawing conventions to create a collaborative abstract drawing. They began by drawing straight lines in pencil, then using a thin pen traced over pencil lines created shapes. We then added dashed lines followed by hatching and finished off using a thick pen to highlight shapes.

3. Finally, the students had to imagine what Nottingham might be like in 2096. Instead of starting with a blank sheet of paper, we used the drawing created in the previous task as a base. They then used some of the shapes to create buildings, robots and machines. There were quite a few aliens also added!