Richard Coutts Sketching in Seville

"After I visited the Alvaro Siza archive and the Museo de Bellas Artes, I was determined to carve out more moments on my travels to sketch.

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Whilst in Seville, I found myself doing exactly that. Between wandering through the Plaza de Espana and enjoying delicious food in small neighbourhood restaurants, I pulled out my sketchbook to capture the city’s iconic spaces (and its feathered friends).

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One of the most spectacular was the sweeping curves of the Setas de Sevilla (Metropol Parasol). A predominantly steel structure in the old quarter of Seville, designed by Jurgen Mayer, it integrates the remains of a Roman colony into the foundations. Families wandered, and I even saw some children using one of the archways in the foundation as a goal post!

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Taking time to sketch makes you realise that drawing changes the way you interact with a city. You become still and start to notice the smaller decisions behind larger gestures, like how shade is cast and how routes are defined.

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These small observations often stay with me long after the sketch has been finished. Becoming reminders that architecture is not only about shaping a place but also shaping how the community will live within it."

- Richard Coutts