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[EN] After a few decades of enthusiasm for the use of CAD tools in architectural design, there is now concern about the impaired creativity in the process of creating the project, due to the standardization of computer processing and the repetitive movement of the hands. Several theories suggest that haptic perception during freehand drawing favors creativity and thus generation of new ideas. Research on brain function has shown that perceived hand movements can trigger activity in cognitively relevant areas of the parietal and frontal cortex, possibly related to creativity. However, so far no experimental studies have been conducted to analyze the brain activity during hand drawing. This article describes an investigation in which the electroencephalographic activity during freehand architectural drawing has been compared to CAD drawing with a mouse. The results obtained reveal that hand drawing is related to increased brain activity, which would support the hypothesis that creativity is enhanced by free hand movements on paper., [ES] Tras algunas décadas de entusiasmo por el uso de las herramientas CAD en el diseño arquitectónico, surge ahora la preocupación sobre la pérdida de creatividad en el proceso de creación del proyecto, debido a la estandarización del procesamiento informático y al movimiento repetitivo de las manos. Diferentes teorías defienden que la percepción háptica durante el dibujo a mano alzada favorece la creatividad y así la generación de nuevas ideas. Las investigaciones sobre la función cerebral han demostrado que el movimiento percibido de la mano puede generar actividad en áreas cognitivamente relevantes de la corteza parietal y frontal, posiblemente relacionadas con la creatividad. Sin embargo, hasta el momento no se han realizado estudios experimentales para analizar la actividad cerebral durante el dibujo a mano. El presente artículo describe una investigación llevada a cabo en la que se ha comparado la actividad electroencefalográfica durante el dibujo arquitectónico a mano alzada frente al dibujo CAD con ratón. Los resultados obtenidos revelan que el dibujo a mano está relacionado con una actividad cerebral mayor, lo que respaldaría la tesis de que la creatividad se ve reforzada por los movimientos libres de la mano sobre el papel.

Architectural imagery and design are nowadays pervaded by computerization, consequently freehand drawing suffered a drastic decline. This paper reviews the advantages and drawbacks of digitalization, examines the reasons of the reborn need for freehand drawing and reports about published evidence of creativity being facilitated by hand movement. A new drawing medium is now available in the form of digital tablets. These allow freehand drawing with more ease and efficiency than on paper but hand movements and feeling are the same as in traditional drawing. Aim of this paper is to provide the basis for a proposal to merge advantages of digitalization with creativity stemming from freehand drawing by the use of modern digital drawing tablets in architecture. The preliminary results of a pilot survey carried out in 8 countries revealed that there is a widespread need for architectural academic courses of freehand drawing on digital tablets, so far not implemented. It is expected that the survey may be completed in the next few months and a wider sample may provide more detailed indications. In conclusion it is proposed that the digital tablets may be the future solution for a fruitful union between the digital and the creative imagery in architecture.

Background Cortical activity connected to movements has been investigated long since, and is related, among other factors, to saliency of the gesture. However, experiments performed on movements in actual situations are rare, as most of them have been performed in laboratory simulations. Besides, no research seems to have been carried out on subjects during freehand drawing. New method We propose a method based upon a commercial drawing tablet and wireless pen, that has been synchronized with EEG recording by means of a piezoelectric sensor attached to the pen tip. Complete freedom of movement is allowed, and any kind of drawing style can be performed using currently available graphics software. Results EEG recordings during meaningful drawing were compared with recordings where the pen was tapped and shifted on tablet without specific purpose. With reference to T0 event (pen touching tablet), several components could be observed in pre- and post-T0 epochs. The most important appeared to be a triphasic wave (N-150, P-40 and N + 30), where P-40 showed a striking difference between drawing and tap session, being much larger in the former. Comparison with existing methods Onset of muscle EMG is usually employed for synchronization. In complex and free gestures too many muscles are active to allow reliable identification of such reference. Our method provides a precise trigger event easily detected without movement constraints. Conclusions With this method it will be possible to record EEG activity related to creative aspects of drawing and explore other skilled movements.