Drawing Moveable Architecture: The Case of Piñero and Escrig’s Deployable Structures

The development of deployable structures began its journey in the early 1960s. Spain’s input in this area was pivotal on a global level, with the architects Emilio Perez Pinero and Felix Escrig leading the charge. Unfortunately, the graphical legacy underpinning their work is somewhat scant and in the main relates to the specifications of the patents for which they applied. That said, the drawings submitted along with their patents reflect a complex architectural school that forms part of Spain’s architectural heritage from the second half of the 20th Century. Our goal in this paper is to analyse the drawings and sketches contained in their patents that help define architectural projects in which geometric development is key to their dynamic functioning. From this material, a graphical depiction using parametrical design tools will be devised, representing their kinematic behaviour. The findings address aspects related to the graphical representation of an architectural legacy specifically linked to the representation of its moving parts.