THE DESIGNER'S SECRET WEAPON: THE DIAGRAM
A brief word with Hrvoje Nijiric
January 25, 2016
By Anna Cai
A brief word with Hrvoje Nijiric
January 25, 2016
By Anna Cai
One common staple of the Vortex are the piles of trace paper housing every team member’s ideas in the form of diagrams. In the throes of desk crits, Hrvoje Njiric spoke with us about the necessity of diagramming in his design process and to the profession:
Q: How does the diagram operate in this process of design and synthesis? How can a diagram sketch or explain something simply but also create complexity? A: The diagram is a consequence of following certain traditions where it appears. We can go to Koolhaas or even further away into modernist traditions that use this simple graphical notation in order to transport these ideas in a very fast and successful way. |
Already as a student I was somehow attracted to this idea of working with simple graphical notations and I tried to develop this as much as I could. I was definitely influenced by the work of some European practices; a lot of Dutch architecture that was being expanded in these years led my approach. And somehow it evolved not only in my case but in a lot of the architects of my generation. I would say that it became a phenomenon that we called “diagrammatic thinking” because it helped you think in a clearer way.
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It is not so easy to do a diagram—it doesn’t happen just like that. It’s actually the consequence of a lot of diagrams before coming to a [particular] one which is completely clear or purified of anything that is not essential. So you have to literally draw it one on top of the other ten times until you acquire a certain clarity that you can transport very easy mostly without having comments accompanying it. It should really work like a pictogram.
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I think this is a powerful method. On one hand, it communicates something among a team, and among architects and other professionals, also between students and teachers, and finally even to the people who are asking you to do the project. So maybe you will even be working in diagrams with your client. It won’t always happen because you still need a certain level of graphical culture to understand them but in most cases I think diagrams are really powerful tools—on one hand for communication, on the other hand I use them to clear out my own thoughts.
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When you put it on paper as clear as that then you know you’ve acquired something. And vice versa: if you cannot draw out what you are thinking then maybe you aren’t doing the best project. It’s a process of introspection with your design—did you bring your ideas to a certain maturity or not?