Redrawing Peutz

Facade fragments of Peutz, drawn by architecture students

17 June till 13 August 2023

The architectural drawing is a representation of a spatial reality. Before the building is there, there is the drawing. It is an imagined dialogue between the architect and the future and an essential part of the craft. Based on the oeuvre of architect Frits Peutz (1896-1974) that is abundantly present in Heerlen, the master students of the Academy of Architecture Maastricht have been drawing detailed facade drawings of his buildings for the past two years. Redrawing the existing now creates a process of appropriation and explanation at the same time. Drawing is seeing, discovering, thinking and understanding.

The architectural drawing is a representation of a spatial reality. Before the building is there, there is the drawing. This drawing does not arise by itself: in a continuous dialogue of drawing, redrawing, tracing, thinking, copying and modifying, a sketch becomes a technically detailed piece, which the craftsman on the construction site can work with. The production of drawings, in which intention, meaning, knowledge, theory and fantasy go hand in hand, is the ideal place for the architect to show his craft.

Master's students Based on the oeuvre of Frits Peutz (1896-1974), the master's students of the Maastricht Academy of Architecture have been drawing detailed facade drawings of his buildings for the past two years. They first recorded the buildings on site and redrew the built reality.

This process of “recording/redrawing” follows an ancient architectural principle, where in understanding and reducing reality the process is reversed and drawing provides tools for understanding the past embodied in the physical built environment. In this way, design approach and attitude can be opened up again, but there is also freedom in interpretation: after all, we are not the designer, but the discoverer.

Drawing as a method By using the method of drawing as a knowledge-gathering process, one understands much more than one can see. Every stone, every size, door handle and every texture is repositioned in a conscious act. What do all these details mean for the bigger picture?

The result is deliberately presented as a uniform whole. However, behind each fragment are individual discoveries, stories and wonders. Redrawing as a craft is a suggestive and therefore sustainably productive act to generate new ideas for the future from an underlying logic.

Dates Saturday 17 June to Sunday 13 August
Admission regular entrance fees
People with limited means are welcome to inquire about the possibilities.

Opening of the Summer Programme (photos Moniek Wegdam)