THE ARCHITECT’S BRAIN AND THE THINKING HAND

Abstract

After a few decades of enthusiasm for the use of CAD tools in architectural design, there is now concern about the impaired creativity due to the standardization of computer processing and the repetitive movement of the hands. Several theories suggest that haptic perception during freehand drawing favours creativity and thus generation of new ideas. Research on brain function has shown that perceived hand movements can trigger activity in cognitively relevant areas of the parietal and frontal cortex, possibly related to creativity. However, so far no experimental studies have been conducted to analyze the brain activity during hand drawing. This article describes an investigation in which the electroencephalographic activity during freehand architectural drawing has been compared to CAD drawing with a mouse. The results obtained reveal that hand drawing is related to increased brain activity, which would support the hypothesis that creativity is enhanced by free hand movements on paper.