Opening Possibility: Activating simultaneous multiple temporalities in the architecture drawing

As the contemporary condition of design research becomes increasingly more interconnected with neighbouring disciplines of inquiry in an emerging complexity of global systems, notions of temporality take on a more active and uncertain role in the process of knowledge generation and synthesis. Within architectural design practice, complex temporalities are interwoven in the predictive desires of emerging technologies, yet the temporal nature of the architectural drawing—a field (both physical and theoretical) that is rich with the possibility of experimental inquiry—conventionally maintains a linear, sequential time. This normative approach increasingly limits the capacity for the architectural drawing to reflect contemporary concerns, encouraging glossing over the more qualitative and challenging aspects of design.

Through a body of research that reflects both an analytical and creative engagement with complex temporal relationships, this presentation seeks to articulate methods of approaching architectural drawing that have the capacity to address the more elusive conditions often overlooked yet central to the practice of architecture. This presentation focuses on two of the main active agents in the research: the poetic construct, which allows for the neighbouring of conflicting notions, and sustained oscillation, which similarly suspends the need for resolution and has creative consequence. Each of these agents reflects a temporal and structural engagement relevant to systemic design thinking. The presentation refers theoretically to work by designers, philosophers, historians, writers and artists and seeks to give rise to new possibilities with regard to narrative, context and temporality. The presentation ultimately aims to encourage new conversations and ways of understanding that may activate the potential of simultaneous multiple temporalities (or temporal multiplicities) across disciplines and modes of inquiry.