The primacy of hybridization within the design process: Thinking through making

Designers have consistently sought out the latest technological advancements to aid the effective expression of their creative ideas. The tools that are used to represent landscape influence and guide the process and creation of built environment. What is noteworthy at this particular moment is the recognition that landscape is now being regarded as both as product and process, a noun and a verb. In design, the first external act is to roll out a layer of trace paper over an existing aerial or site photo to test spatial options or relationships. At a basic level, the role of hybrid drawing as a mode of design exploration using analog or conventional media is one of fundamental primacy. Hybridization drawings are able to identify and illustrate complex interrelationships that occur on sites among ecology, hydrology, soil composition, and nutrient flows relative to human interaction and cultural practices. Hybridized drawings provide an evocative analysis of what would otherwise be invisible and disparate metrics.