Page 24 —
COLORADO REAL ESTATE JOURNAL
— September 2-September 15, 2015
Landscape Architecture
T
hroughout any design
process, it is always a
challenge for architects,
planners and developers to find
effective visual tools for com-
municating their design ideas
to community leaders, prop-
erty owners and especially citi-
zens. Illus-
trative site
plan graph-
ics offer only
a fraction of
critical infor-
mation for
people
to
truly under-
stand devel-
opment con-
cepts. Pho-
t o r e a l i s t i c
rende r i ng s
and detailed
computer model views can
be very time-consuming and
expensive to produce, and
if used too early in a design
process can scare people into
thinking the design is too far
developed for their input and
feedback. Our challenge is how
to create appropriate visual
products at specific milestones
throughout the design process
in order to gain positive public
feedback, generate momentum
for the project and ultimately
get it built.
Throughout my 40 years as an
architect, educator and author,
I’ve discovered how to merge
hand drawing with digital
tools in different combinations
throughout the design process
that are quick to generate, user-
friendly and highly effective for
communicating ideas to differ-
ent audiences. Three basic digi-
tal tools I always use are pho-
tography, SketchUp computer
models andAdobe graphic soft-
ware. I integrate hand draw-
ings at different levels of detail
ranging from quick thumb-
nail sketches to sophisticated
hybrid renderings that blend
together hand illustration with
3-D computer views. Several
methods I use for combining
traditional drawing methods
with digital imaging include:
1) overlay and trace technique;
2) scan composite technique; 3)
print composite technique; 4)
digital hybrid technique; and
5) digital watercolor technique.
Let’s focus on some actual
downtown projects and explore
the visualization techniques I
used in each project.
n
Overlay and trace tech-
nique, Brighton.
This visual-
ization project involved taking
digital photographs through-
out the downtown and devel-
oping sketches showing how
the streetscape might look with
expanding outdoor restaurant
seating into existing parallel
parking spaces with temporary
platforms. I printed the photo-
graph on 8½-by-11 paper, taped
tracing paper over the image
and hand drew the final illus-
tration with pen and ink. Color
was added with markers and
colored pencils. This drawing
was quick to create and my lim-
ited budget allowed me to gen-
erate more than 12 sketches of
different downtown sites. The
eye-level “before-and-after”
visualization was very effective
for communicating creative
ideas with the downtown mer-
chants.
n
Scan composite tech-
nique, Boulder.
Visualizing
a three-block-long streetscape
project on Pearl Street demand-
ed an aerial perspective in order
to see the entire project area in a
single drawing. I downloaded
an aerial view directly from
Google Earth, printed it on 11
by 17 paper and created the
sketch showing new infill build-
ings and streetscape improve-
ments. I then scanned the hand
drawing along with the original
print and the resulting compos-
ite image highlighted the proj-
ect area with the adjacent city
blocks showing much lighter
due to the thickness of the trac-
ing paper overlay. This tech-
nique was effective in establish-
ing a visual hierarchy between
the project and its contextual
surroundings.
n
Print composite tech-
nique, San Bernardino, Cali-
fornia
. This visualization meth-
od combined hand drawing
and computer modeling. I con-
structed the mixed-use residen-
tial project using the SketchUp
3-D modeling program. My
architectural model was popu-
lated with trees, cars and peo-
ple but had little character and
color – a typical condition of
computer models. I exported
an aerial perspective focused
on the central courtyard, print-
ed the jpeg 11-by-17 in color
and then drew directly onto the
print with pen and ink. I added
color with markers and col-
ored pencils. This is an effective
method of combining modeling
with hand drawing reflects the
accuracy of a SketchUp model
with the authenticity of a hand
drawing and casual character it
represents.
n
Digital hybrid technique,
Glenwood Springs.
This
hybrid drawing method inte-
grated three visual tools: digital
photography, SketchUp model-
ing and hand drawing. Begin-
ning with a photograph of
the existing commercial street
scene, I constructed a Sketch-
Up model showing sidewalk
improvements and populated
it with people, furniture and
landscape elements. I then com-
bined the SketchUp view with
the photograph, printed the
composite image and sketched
directly onto the print with pen
Jim Leggitt, FAIA
Principal, studioInsite,
Denver
A digital watercolor technique was used for the Gold Hill, Nevada, project transforming the 3-D SketchUp model at left into a digital painting with
the appearance of a true watercolor.
A digital hybrid technique was used for the Glenwood Springs project. The image at right incorporates site photography, 3-D modeling and casual
hand illustration
Hand drawing and computer modeling were used for the San Bernardino, California, project. The composite technique, pictured right, allowed for character and color, typically lacking in
computer models.
