Playing Games: the Role of Computers in Sketching

Why computers are not yet used in the early phases of architectural design? This question requires a closer examination of the sketching process itself. Looking it from the hermeneutical point of view, it becomes quite obvious that sketching really is and probably should remain the last fortress resisting the computerization of design. Sketching is an intimate dialogue between drawings and language. It is a dynamic and circular process of understanding. Also its intrinsic methods to search solutions cause wicked problems for computer programming. Nevertheless, computers could be used more for assisting sketching. Their proper role would be in validating tentative solutions