I need motivation and inspiration to draw. It’s not enough for me to just show you that I can do it. For me drawing is an expression of how I conceptualize space….and about what I want to build some day.

To be able to draw, I need to have an idea of what I want to build. Than I put this idea down on paper in a few lines. But I need the idea. Sometimes it takes a while but at other times…albeit rarely… it comes in the middle of the night.

Drawing is an integral part of my architectural personality. I don’t use computers. I just make sketches. My colleagues help me to turn these sketches into plans. It’s very interesting to see a house built after the first sketches based on an idea that had come the very first night. But that’s rare. It always surprised me that this could happen in one night, but sometimes it does. And sometimes I have to wait for an idea for weeks, months, or maybe it never comes. Maybe the investors are happy, but I’m not, because I know that’s not the best I can give.

When I talk to the investors I often make a drawing of them to illustrate my ideas and this goes down really well. This is a kind of training and discipline for my hand and brain and it helps to explore what is possible. I’m old enough now to be realistic about the things I draw and not to waste time making unfeasible sketches just to attract investors. I always try to make sketches which I can execute, so I also like to make details and use smaller scales. I like to make 1:1 scale details. If I like a sketch I get on to the details as soon as I can..

One day I had a dream about a building and when I woke up I made a sketch of it. I’m not a good speaker or writer, so for me a drawing is not only clearer and more explicit but even more powerful.

I can’t simply start drawing. A line on the paper doesn’t help me retrospectively. This is thinking like a computer. I need some kind of spark. I have to have an idea about the function and meaning of the building.