Abstract
In depictions of architects up to the 20th century, tools have always been the main marker of the profession. Tools not only served as easily recognisable iconographical attributes, but also came to embody architects’ professional identity. While architects have always relied on a wide array of tools, ranging from practical instruments and to conceptual apparatus, architectural history has only recently started to profoundly engage with their characteristics and function. The goal of the fifth thematic conference of the EAHN (Delft/Rotterdam, 22–24 November 2017, https://toolsofarchitect.com ) was to promote a deeper cultural investigation of the tools of the architect and to acknowledge their agency in architectural culture. After three days of rich presentations and fruitful discussions, the study of tools emerged as a central theme of architectural historiography that requires more scholarly attention.
Highlights
Architects have always depended upon the potential of particular tools for their drawing, writing and building activities, from practical instruments such as straight edges, French curves, compasses, rulers and pencils to conceptual apparatus such as working drawings, collages, photographic surveys, infographics, diagrams, casts and mass models
In the historiography of architecture, tools have too often been understood as purely instrumental devices
While studies have identified relationships between specific tasks and particular tools, few have tried to understand the cultural dimension of the instruments and conceptual apparatus of the architect
Summary
Architects have always depended upon the potential of particular tools for their drawing, writing and building activities, from practical instruments such as straight edges, French curves, compasses, rulers and pencils to conceptual apparatus such as working drawings, collages, photographic surveys, infographics, diagrams, casts and mass models. While studies have identified relationships between specific tasks and particular tools, few have tried to understand the cultural dimension of the instruments and conceptual apparatus of the architect. Avermaete and Hurx: The Tools of the Architect to our architectural historiographies, but we explore the importance of tools — in the past and the present — as central actors in architectural culture.
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