Spatial imagination and representation: a method for integrating the theory and practice of spatial analysis in architectural education

The course “Spatial Imagination and Representation” brought two rather unlikely subjects to-gether: philosophy and drawing. They have become a promising couple, braiding the theoretical with the prac-tical. Special about the new course is its methodological approach. We have made the philosophy of space into a tangible and concrete subject, explaining various conceptions of space and working out how these concep-tions affect our way of responding to space. At the same time, the lessons in drawing explore these theoretical positions, giving the theory a foundation in practice. Both philosophy and drawing are concerned with process-es of abstraction in the exploration of our environment. These abstractions express themselves in images and descriptions that can be explored through both disciplines, after all drawing is often defined as a kind of ‘think-ing of the hand’. Philosophy on the other hand thinks about the process of thinking itself, but also about the object of its thought.