Primed Figures: Reimagining Architectural Drawings as Technological Mediators

Abstract

The architectural drawing is essential to processes of the production of the built environment. In this article the architectural drawing is examined through an Actor-network theoretical lens and reimagined as a technological mediator. Drawings seen as technological mediators are actors, that effect the force they transmit, and that can be described by treating their effects as technological. These effects are defined as four specific types of mediation and their relevance for understanding the nature of architectural drawings is explained and illustrated. The potentials for change in the processes of the production of the built environment are described as a conclusion.