Peter Märkli: Thinking Drawings

– Florian Beigel and Philip Christou

Peter Märkli (1953), untitled, c.1990. Charcoal on trace, 295 × 240 mm. DMC 2012.2.

These are an intriguing set of drawings … they are very memorable and have a charm and magic about them. They have a directness, a sense of humour and ease, they make you smile. At first glance they look as if they were done by someone who is untrained, they look imprecise, and they seem to have a childlike innocence … When one takes a closer look however, they are very thoughtful, and full of good judgements and good sense.

The thinking drawings that Märkli has been making over many years are spatial gestalt drawings. A sense of depth is drawn with a few pencil lines on paper. Although there is no sense of perspective, a gap is made between one element and the other within the depth of the page.

This is not a systematic way of working or of designing buildings. These drawings are not graphic or pictorial compositions; they are spatial gestalt thinking drawings.

Peter Märkli (1953), Untitled 1245, 1980–1999. Pastel on paper, 297 × 210 mm. Courtesy of the architect.
Peter Märkli (1953), language drawing – Untitled 1222, 1980–1999. Pastel on paper, 297 × 210 mm. Courtesy of the architect.