‘Is the architectural sketch dead?’ asks new Pratt exhibition

An exhibition examining the role of sketching in contemporary architectural practice has opened at the Pratt School of Architecture in Brooklyn, New York. Titled Levers Long Enough to Move the World: Sketches in Contemporary Architecture, the show is on view at Higgins Hall Gallery and North Room 304 at 61 St. James Place.

Curated by Andrew Holder, Chair of Graduate Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Urban Design at Pratt, the exhibition brings together more than 200 sketches produced by over 60 contemporary architecture practices. The works span a wide range of media and approaches, from pencil drawings on informal surfaces such as napkins to digitally layered images.

The exhibition is organized around two central questions: what constitutes a sketch in contemporary architectural practice, and how sketches function conceptually within the discipline today. The curatorial framework proposes that sketches act as “levers,” enabling architects to assert the physical and material dimensions of architecture within an increasingly digital and dematerialized design environment. Despite their small scale and provisional nature, sketches are presented as tools capable of exerting influence disproportionate to their size.

According to the curatorial concept, the selection intentionally places different generations and working methods in dialogue. Participants include practices that rely heavily on digital tools alongside others that prioritize analog or material experimentation. The range of works also reflects diverse roles for sketching, including conceptual exploration, technical development, and speculative representation.