Spring Open Weekend – 5 & 6 April 2025
On Saturday 5 & Sunday 6 April, Drawing Matter hosted its second London Open Weekend.
Curatorial Introduction
For our Spring Open Weekend, the Drawing Matter team has curated a selection of drawings and objects that represent the breadth of the collection. Formed over thirty years, the Drawing Matter collection is unique in its focus on architectural representation and for its broad definition of drawing—considering it both as a noun and, importantly, as a verb or action.
Many of the two- and three-dimensional objects included in the pin-up may be seen to drift away from a common understanding of drawing and drawings, but together they are treated as evidence of design thinking and process, informed by the incorporation of new media and design languages into the representational repertoire of the architect over time.
The pin-up is curated into five ‘clusters’, four of which loosely represent time periods, beginning in sixteenth century Italy and ending with projects by practitioners working today. The fifth cluster brings together a number of objects, including models and instruments for making drawings.
By curating the collection in this way, our intention has not been to create a history of architecture or drawing. Rather, the pin-up is intended to reveal the plurality of uses for which architects and designers have made drawings against a backdrop of changing architectural ideas.
A full record of the drawings and objects included in the pin-up, along with short curatorial texts, can be found here.
About Drawing Matter Open Days
Drawing Matter Open Days and Weekends offer the public opportunities to experience the collection, which is usually only open to researchers by appointment and for workshops. Open Days are open to all and we encourage anyone with an interest in architecture, design and drawing to come along.
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