Vilanova's Porto. Didactic Experiments on Drawing

Abstract

This communication aims to present and discuss the results of a didactic experiment developed in the first year of the master's degree in architecture at the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Porto (2022-2023), in which hand drawing-both freehand and technical-was explored as a tool for investigation, knowledge acquisition, and spatial skill development. Building upon the significant collection of drawings created in 1833 by Joaquim Vilanova-an artist and professor at the Academia Politecnica do Porto-the curricular units of Geometry and Architecture and Drawing 1, in collaboration with researchers from the school, presented students with a challenge aimed at reinforcing the complementarity between different architectural graphic expressions. In a school where hand drawing remains fundamental and the teaching of architecture relies on the structural link between drawing and design, this experiment had a dual objective: to revisit, in the context of pedagogical drawing practices, the graphic work of a renowned 19th-century artist and to promote the relationship between curricular units to broaden and articulate the teaching of graphic expression.