From sketch to reality: Jan Pokorny on using sketching as a form of dialogue

As a concept design specialist, Prague studio Associate Director Jan Pokorny uses his excellent free hand sketching skills to create and develop designs for a wide range of buildings, including some of the most memorable projects on which Chapman Taylor has worked in recent years. Using his concept design for the recently completed Flow Building in Prague’s Wenceslas Square as an example, Jan here explains the benefits he perceives that sketching provides, how he uses sketches as a form of dialogue with clients and others and why he believes that the finished building still strongly resembles the early concept sketches he created several years ago.

Where do you start when creating a concept sketch?

A concept design rarely begins without some essential information already being in place to inform its form, whether that be the client’s initial brief, the applicable local / national rules, the climate or the surrounding context. I usually start by examining the site location, which always gives me ideas about the appropriate volumes and design orientations, such as colours, materials and styles for the buildings.

For the Flow Building in Wenceslas Square, for example, the surrounding buildings informed the façade design – we had to think carefully about the materials we would use to visually integrate the building within the urban fabric.

If I can’t visit the site in person, I will look at something like Google Maps to get a 3D sense of the area. I then start to sketch some volumes with a pen or pencil. Alternatively, I use a DWG plan to look at area sizes and basic volumes and then generate a basic 3D model of the appropriate building volume in SketchUp, taking account of proportionality, horizons and other elements. I later add façade details via free hand sketching and sometimes play with the shape.

I nearly always create several sketches to provide clients with a range of completely different options from which to choose or to inform further ideas from them. Sometimes I might not even like one of the options, but I think it is important to include it so that the client gets a full picture of what is possible, even if only because they might want to incorporate one or two small elements from that design. Further discussion with the clients then results in a stronger focus on one or two of the design options, allowing me to concentrate more on the detail of the design.

The initial sketches form the basis for further dialogue with clients and others?

The initial sketch options were presented to the client and other relevant stakeholders for their feedback. The great advantage of sketching at this stage was that it is such an easy, cheap and fluid process, allowing for a visual dialogue to take place at speed. Ideas can be sketched during a meeting by any of the parties, providing an efficient means of progressing the design quickly and narrowing down options.

The client might prefer one option but like elements in another, so sketching can help to merge these into a cohesive concept from which the design can further develop.

What do you use when you sketch?

I usually use tracing paper and a pencil when I start sketching. I then develop basic DWG drawings to check area sizes, shapes and proportions, from which I generate the volumes in SketchUp to add details and create the fundamental design. SketchUp is a wonderful tool – much faster and more accurate. When I worked in Australia several years ago, there was no SketchUp, meaning I had to draw the geometry using very large pieces of paper, and it was a very slow process to get the elements right.

Why is sketching useful?

Free hand sketching is very flexible and allows you to create several options very quickly. At the beginning of a project, it is not good to be very precise and detailed, and sketching allows you to “hide” elements which are yet to be determined. The imprecision can itself generate ideas about possible materials and shapes.

In addition to speed and flexibility, we find that clients tend to like the personal, human touch of sketching – they seem to appreciate seeing sketches more than computer-generated images, which can sometimes seem sterile and “too perfect”. You can put a good sketch in a frame and it makes a very interesting picture, whereas a framed CGI would be less of a talking point.

Finally, sketching with a pencil and paper is very cheap! For the early stages of the design process, several options can be developed and refined while adding little to the project’s costs.

Do you compare your early sketches with the completed and occupied building?

I tend to find that there has been very little fundamental change between the chosen sketch option and the finished building, with perhaps just relatively minor details changing. I think that this is because I create the sketches using accurate volumes and scales. For example, at The Flow Building and at Port Baku Tower 2, the volumes, heights and proportions of the buildings are almost exactly the same as can be seen in the early sketches.

The similarities can also be explained by one of the principles I try to apply in projects I work on, namely that I don’t compromise very much on the fundamentals of the design. Once the design is agreed, clients and contractors can sometimes try to push new, unnecessary changes, particularly during the construction phase, which undermine the integrity of the design and can lead to problems later on. It is important to act as a guardian of the design to ensure that the original intent is not lost, which is what we did at the Flow Building.

Do you get satisfaction from seeing buildings being visited and used that once only existed on a piece of paper on your desk?

It’s quite special to see the sketch become a reality, particularly after spending several years bringing a project to life, as with The Flow Building, on which I worked for 12 years.

Some people love a building like The Flow Building when it is built, and others dislike it, but good architecture should arouse strong emotions rather than create something bland and unremarkable about which nobody cares.

Where do you start when creating a concept sketch?

A concept design rarely begins without some essential information already being in place to inform its form, whether that be the client’s initial brief, the applicable local / national rules, the climate or the surrounding context. I usually start by examining the site location, which always gives me ideas about the appropriate volumes and design orientations, such as colours, materials and styles for the buildings.

For the Flow Building in Wenceslas Square, for example, the surrounding buildings informed the façade design – we had to think carefully about the materials we would use to visually integrate the building within the urban fabric.

If I can’t visit the site in person, I will look at something like Google Maps to get a 3D sense of the area. I then start to sketch some volumes with a pen or pencil. Alternatively, I use a DWG plan to look at area sizes and basic volumes and then generate a basic 3D model of the appropriate building volume in SketchUp, taking account of proportionality, horizons and other elements. I later add façade details via free hand sketching and sometimes play with the shape.

I nearly always create several sketches to provide clients with a range of completely different options from which to choose or to inform further ideas from them. Sometimes I might not even like one of the options, but I think it is important to include it so that the client gets a full picture of what is possible, even if only because they might want to incorporate one or two small elements from that design. Further discussion with the clients then results in a stronger focus on one or two of the design options, allowing me to concentrate more on the detail of the design.

The initial sketches form the basis for further dialogue with clients and others?

The initial sketch options were presented to the client and other relevant stakeholders for their feedback. The great advantage of sketching at this stage was that it is such an easy, cheap and fluid process, allowing for a visual dialogue to take place at speed. Ideas can be sketched during a meeting by any of the parties, providing an efficient means of progressing the design quickly and narrowing down options.

The client might prefer one option but like elements in another, so sketching can help to merge these into a cohesive concept from which the design can further develop.

What do you use when you sketch?

I usually use tracing paper and a pencil when I start sketching. I then develop basic DWG drawings to check area sizes, shapes and proportions, from which I generate the volumes in SketchUp to add details and create the fundamental design. SketchUp is a wonderful tool – much faster and more accurate. When I worked in Australia several years ago, there was no SketchUp, meaning I had to draw the geometry using very large pieces of paper, and it was a very slow process to get the elements right.

Why is sketching useful?

Free hand sketching is very flexible and allows you to create several options very quickly. At the beginning of a project, it is not good to be very precise and detailed, and sketching allows you to “hide” elements which are yet to be determined. The imprecision can itself generate ideas about possible materials and shapes.

In addition to speed and flexibility, we find that clients tend to like the personal, human touch of sketching – they seem to appreciate seeing sketches more than computer-generated images, which can sometimes seem sterile and “too perfect”. You can put a good sketch in a frame and it makes a very interesting picture, whereas a framed CGI would be less of a talking point.

Finally, sketching with a pencil and paper is very cheap! For the early stages of the design process, several options can be developed and refined while adding little to the project’s costs.

Do you compare your early sketches with the completed and occupied building?

I tend to find that there has been very little fundamental change between the chosen sketch option and the finished building, with perhaps just relatively minor details changing. I think that this is because I create the sketches using accurate volumes and scales. For example, at The Flow Building and at Port Baku Tower 2, the volumes, heights and proportions of the buildings are almost exactly the same as can be seen in the early sketches.

The similarities can also be explained by one of the principles I try to apply in projects I work on, namely that I don’t compromise very much on the fundamentals of the design. Once the design is agreed, clients and contractors can sometimes try to push new, unnecessary changes, particularly during the construction phase, which undermine the integrity of the design and can lead to problems later on. It is important to act as a guardian of the design to ensure that the original intent is not lost, which is what we did at the Flow Building.

Do you get satisfaction from seeing buildings being visited and used that once only existed on a piece of paper on your desk?

It’s quite special to see the sketch become a reality, particularly after spending several years bringing a project to life, as with The Flow Building, on which I worked for 12 years.

Some people love a building like The Flow Building when it is built, and others dislike it, but good architecture should arouse strong emotions rather than create something bland and unremarkable about which nobody cares.

What do you use when you sketch?

I usually use tracing paper and a pencil when I start sketching. I then develop basic DWG drawings to check area sizes, shapes and proportions, from which I generate the volumes in SketchUp to add details and create the fundamental design. SketchUp is a wonderful tool – much faster and more accurate. When I worked in Australia several years ago, there was no SketchUp, meaning I had to draw the geometry using very large pieces of paper, and it was a very slow process to get the elements right.

Why is sketching useful?

Free hand sketching is very flexible and allows you to create several options very quickly. At the beginning of a project, it is not good to be very precise and detailed, and sketching allows you to “hide” elements which are yet to be determined. The imprecision can itself generate ideas about possible materials and shapes.

In addition to speed and flexibility, we find that clients tend to like the personal, human touch of sketching – they seem to appreciate seeing sketches more than computer-generated images, which can sometimes seem sterile and “too perfect”. You can put a good sketch in a frame and it makes a very interesting picture, whereas a framed CGI would be less of a talking point.

Finally, sketching with a pencil and paper is very cheap! For the early stages of the design process, several options can be developed and refined while adding little to the project’s costs.

Do you compare your early sketches with the completed and occupied building?

I tend to find that there has been very little fundamental change between the chosen sketch option and the finished building, with perhaps just relatively minor details changing. I think that this is because I create the sketches using accurate volumes and scales. For example, at The Flow Building and at Port Baku Tower 2, the volumes, heights and proportions of the buildings are almost exactly the same as can be seen in the early sketches.

The similarities can also be explained by one of the principles I try to apply in projects I work on, namely that I don’t compromise very much on the fundamentals of the design. Once the design is agreed, clients and contractors can sometimes try to push new, unnecessary changes, particularly during the construction phase, which undermine the integrity of the design and can lead to problems later on. It is important to act as a guardian of the design to ensure that the original intent is not lost, which is what we did at the Flow Building.

Do you get satisfaction from seeing buildings being visited and used that once only existed on a piece of paper on your desk?

It’s quite special to see the sketch become a reality, particularly after spending several years bringing a project to life, as with The Flow Building, on which I worked for 12 years.

Some people love a building like The Flow Building when it is built, and others dislike it, but good architecture should arouse strong emotions rather than create something bland and unremarkable about which nobody cares.

Why is sketching useful?

Free hand sketching is very flexible and allows you to create several options very quickly. At the beginning of a project, it is not good to be very precise and detailed, and sketching allows you to “hide” elements which are yet to be determined. The imprecision can itself generate ideas about possible materials and shapes.

In addition to speed and flexibility, we find that clients tend to like the personal, human touch of sketching – they seem to appreciate seeing sketches more than computer-generated images, which can sometimes seem sterile and “too perfect”. You can put a good sketch in a frame and it makes a very interesting picture, whereas a framed CGI would be less of a talking point.

Finally, sketching with a pencil and paper is very cheap! For the early stages of the design process, several options can be developed and refined while adding little to the project’s costs.

Do you compare your early sketches with the completed and occupied building?

I tend to find that there has been very little fundamental change between the chosen sketch option and the finished building, with perhaps just relatively minor details changing. I think that this is because I create the sketches using accurate volumes and scales. For example, at The Flow Building and at Port Baku Tower 2, the volumes, heights and proportions of the buildings are almost exactly the same as can be seen in the early sketches.

The similarities can also be explained by one of the principles I try to apply in projects I work on, namely that I don’t compromise very much on the fundamentals of the design. Once the design is agreed, clients and contractors can sometimes try to push new, unnecessary changes, particularly during the construction phase, which undermine the integrity of the design and can lead to problems later on. It is important to act as a guardian of the design to ensure that the original intent is not lost, which is what we did at the Flow Building.

Do you get satisfaction from seeing buildings being visited and used that once only existed on a piece of paper on your desk?

It’s quite special to see the sketch become a reality, particularly after spending several years bringing a project to life, as with The Flow Building, on which I worked for 12 years.

Some people love a building like The Flow Building when it is built, and others dislike it, but good architecture should arouse strong emotions rather than create something bland and unremarkable about which nobody cares.