Aalto University
A drawing made by hand during a measure drawing camp, held in Strömforsin Rautaruukki, Lovisa, with Aalto University.
During this camp located in Strömfors Iron Works I learned measurement drawing. Taking place in Loviisa, the Iron Works founded in 1695 include a wide variety of buildings mainly from the 19th century. The building I have drawn, called Savitalo, is a clay building dating back to 1805. Originally built for worker’s quarters, the building might have been the first one out of clay in the Swedish empire. It was built with methods inspired from Northern Germany, the materials consists of a mixture of clay and sand, with heather and straw added. The wet putty was packed in a low board sheathing, let dry, then the wooden sheathing structure was moved upwards and a new layer cast. The surroundings of the openings were strenghtened by layers of brick or wooden pillars.
Measurement drawing is a traditional method used for documenting building heritage, inwhich the building is captured in the present moment by measuring
and drawing by hand. In addition to documenting history, drawings have a special position in raising the general appreciation of buildings. Traditional technical pens are used for drawing. The process starts with measuring and marking the image in place with a pencil directly on site. Using precise measurements the process starts with establishing a zero line on the building from which all measurements will be taken. The measurement phase takes about half of the time, in this case approximately 5 days. When the sketch is ready, we move to cleaner spaces to start the inking phase. Border lines, texturesand finally shadows are added layer by layer. The work is finished with the title, scale and name. This facade took approximately 8 days to finish. This drawing technique is extremely valuable for capturing the historical value of building. The drawings serves both as a way to preserve cultural history as well as provide a detailed and exact base for rehabilitation of buildings that is unattainable with photography or even 3d scanning.