Drawscapes: New research project asks UCL community to get sketching

An EPSRC-funded research project carried out at the Bartlett School of Architecture, DRAWSCAPES steers away from traditional surveys. Instead, it is asking people to draw their ideas for a piece of city directly on the webapp. Data is processed and fed back to designers and participants as a base for further discussions.

The project is using hypothetical proposals for UCL East (Marshgate site) as a pilot study - since planning consultation for UCL East has already taken place. 

Eduardo Rico, the PhD candidate behind the project, is consulting the UCL community as the first virtual stakeholders. He explains how easy the process is: "We are asking people simply to make drawings using DRAWSCAPES webapp. They can just click on www.drawscapes.com and follow the instructions.

"No prior design knowledge is needed and the exercise is carried out fully on the browser on any device. No downloads or installation are required to carry out the work, which typically takes 5 minutes."

The project is offering participants to enter in a £100 Amazon voucher prize draw, and will inform them about the final results.

Eduardo Rico is a PhD candidate in the Space Syntax Laboratory in the UCL Bartlett School of Architecture currently working on forms of crowdsourcing design via analysis of sketches and diagrams. Eduardo has experience as Urban Designer and has worked as Civil Engineer in Arup. He currently co-directs MArch-MSc Landscape Urbanism in the Architectural Association and collaborates with Space Syntax Limited.