Drawing and visualization constitute two fundamental activities that characterize, at the same time, processes of knowledge and expression of mental representations. Their interconnection is so strong that does not appear improper the use of the expression “graphic thinking”, through which Paul Laseau defined, in his research at the end of the 70s, the thought assisted by the sketch, to underline the support to the imagination given by the drawing and in particular by the freehand drawing. In all areas of design – from architectural-engineering to graphic ones more closely related to communication – graphic thinking is associated, for example, with the conceptual prefiguration phases of a project, in which imagination and sketches coexist in the development of ideas. Project thinking and communication are therefore interactive, and drawing plays an essential role in this process. Indeed, it can be said that it assumes an ambivalent centrality. On the one hand, in fact, drawing allows us to know, exploring ideas or external reality; on the other hand, it allows us to communicate in a broad sense through the use of conventional abstractions or expressions. Thinking graphically, therefore, means expressing the unknown universe of one's own thought through drawing or, as Arnheim states, making everyone see, in common things, what has never been seen before. That is, using his own words, “thinking requires images and images require thought”.
Il disegno e la visualizzazione costituiscono due attività fondamentali che caratterizzano al contempo processi di conoscenza e di espressione delle figurazioni mentali. La loro interconnessione è talmente forte che non appare improprio il ricorso all’espressione graphic thinking (pensiero grafico) attraverso cui Paul Laseau definì, nelle sue ricerche sul finire degli anni ’70, il pensiero assistito dallo schizzo, per sottolineare il supporto all’immaginazione dato dal disegno e in particolare dallo schizzo. Il pensiero grafico è ad esempio associato, in tutti gli ambiti del design – da quelli architettonico- ingegneristici a quelli grafici legati più strettamente alla comunicazione – alle fasi di prefigurazione concettuale di un progetto, in cui immaginazione e schizzi coesistono nello sviluppo di idee. Pensiero progettuale e comunicazione sono quindi interattivi e il disegno svolge, in questo processo, un ruolo imprescindibile. Si può dire anzi che esso assuma una centralità ambivalente. Da un lato infatti la rappresentazione consente di conoscere, esplorando le idee o la realtà esterna; dall’altro permette di comunicare in senso ampio attraverso il ricorso ad astrazioni o espressioni convenzionali. Pensare graficamente vuol dire dunque esprimere attraverso il disegno l’universo sconosciuto del proprio pensiero o, come afferma Arnheim, far vedere a tutti, nelle cose comuni, ciò che non è mai stato visto prima. «Pensare esige immagini e le immagini esigono pensiero».
Il pensiero grafico nel processo di comunicazione
Chiarenza, Stefano
2020-01-01
Abstract
Drawing and visualization constitute two fundamental activities that characterize, at the same time, processes of knowledge and expression of mental representations. Their interconnection is so strong that does not appear improper the use of the expression “graphic thinking”, through which Paul Laseau defined, in his research at the end of the 70s, the thought assisted by the sketch, to underline the support to the imagination given by the drawing and in particular by the freehand drawing. In all areas of design – from architectural-engineering to graphic ones more closely related to communication – graphic thinking is associated, for example, with the conceptual prefiguration phases of a project, in which imagination and sketches coexist in the development of ideas. Project thinking and communication are therefore interactive, and drawing plays an essential role in this process. Indeed, it can be said that it assumes an ambivalent centrality. On the one hand, in fact, drawing allows us to know, exploring ideas or external reality; on the other hand, it allows us to communicate in a broad sense through the use of conventional abstractions or expressions. Thinking graphically, therefore, means expressing the unknown universe of one's own thought through drawing or, as Arnheim states, making everyone see, in common things, what has never been seen before. That is, using his own words, “thinking requires images and images require thought”.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.