Drawing and Thinking: Representing Place in the Practice of Place-making

Socio-semiotic theory is suggested as a basis for exploring, empirically, how drawings and models are used in place-based design work. This is done to encourage more self-awareness amongst designers in how they produce images as well as reflection on how they might be interpreted in different settings. This builds from existing thinking on visual methodologies and multi-modality in social science and cultural studies research, and applies it to the design setting. The links between modes of representation and the reflective nature of professional practice are emphasized. There is a discussion about how the process of professional problem definition can direct the production of images, and how this process might be moderated by relationships established by people participating in the particular development process or planning systems. A framework for thinking about the production of images in place-making settings is introduced and explained.