Computing drawing : programming a vintage pen plotter

Abstract

The drawn artifact and the act of drawing are uniquely suited for design thinking. Specifically, drawings that were traditionally crafted "by hand" are prone to qualities that promote a productive multiplicity of interpretations. These qualities are often incompletely characterized using terms such as "fuzzy" or "loose." Digital output, however, is biased toward the notion of re-production. Representation in design, as a result, has become image-centric. This project explores a method for computing drawing (and the converse, drawing computing) by programing a vintage pen plotter. An apparatus that spans from the computational to the material allows for the incorporation of the desirable qualities of the "hand" drawing into a digital process. The same limitations that led to the obsolescence of the pen plotter lead to an integrated relationship between process and project. Pen plotters demand linear (rather than pixel) information. Imperfections resulting from ink-filled pens making contact with paper at various speeds mandate the consideration of time. A range of computational methods for representing line and making drawing are documented and implemented. A set of 32 drawings are framed in terms related to their making, and then evaluated in terms of their implications for architectural representation.