56 X 56

Putting pen to paper placed architect Rene Tan on a path to unmediated creative thinking.

RT+Q Architects co-founder Rene Tan knew that keeping to a tight regimen would help him through the circuit breaker. He woke up early, steadied himself with exercise, and began work at 9 am. With outdoor movements restricted, his days quickly acquired a structure with minimal distractions. “(It) egged me to a self-imposed task of completing, without fail, one sketch for each of the 56 days of the circuit-breaker,” he says.

“Creativity is a constant search for the next idea, and the best way to explore new ideas is to let loose and sketch freehand. A great teacher once told us that the sketch in its incomplete and ambiguous state always leads to the next idea.”

Although he spent most mornings in online meetings with colleagues, he reserved the evenings for sketching. “I had neither an objective nor a goal in mind except set my mind free and let it explore a variety of possibilities.”

He adopted a looser, softer, and faster approach to designing and communicating ideas. “Architecture is a tangible craft; it’s important that the building experience is borne by the hand. Sketching freehand allows for that uncanny connection between mind and object.” For Rene, freehand drawing is important because “it allows an intuitive — even a counter-intuitive — approach to creativity that technology can’t provide”.

After a while, Rene recognized two themes emerging from his drawings: “A constant quest to define space without defying spatiality, and thinking like a ‘tragic poet’ rather than an architect”. The activity was counter-intuitive, he reflects. “The moment we think we have found the solution, we ask ourselves what if we approached it from another perspective.

“The drawings were meant to open sketchbooks, not to fill them.” They were also meant to encourage Rene’s colleagues to rely on their hands more than the computer. “I have warned them in jest that the next pandemic may not be bio-viral but technological. Freehand drawing will prepare them for the next power outage or electronic meltdown, or both.”

The drawings have since been compiled in limited-edition monographs and couriered to select recipients. “I thought, in the end, we’ll make a little book out of it, and commemorate this rather unusual period in our existence.”