SKETCHING

Architects have always travelled with sketchbook in hand. Partly it’s a way of recording interesting places, but more importantly, it’s a way of seeing. The opposite of point-and-shoot, sitting and drawing is a leisurely way to absorb one’s surroundings. My friend Laurie Olin, a lifelong travel sketcher, has been publishing collections of his sketches, grouped by country; four years ago France Sketchbooks and recently In Italy, both from ORO Editions. Olin’s sketches are more than attractive impressions—although they are that—they also reflect a landscape architect’s practiced eye, being full of detailed notes and observations. What also struck me is how his sketches are often populated, like the church of Santa Maria della Consolazione in Todi (above). This sets him apart from most architects who tend to record buildings and spaces but not the life they contain. In Olin’s sketch, the sixteenth-century church, which had many architects, including Bramante, Sangallo, and Vignola, becomes a classical backdrop for groups of sitters, and for a mother and child and their little dog.