Society of Architectural Illustrators
I’ve been a proud Member of the Society of Architectural Illustrators since 2015! But what/who/why are we!?
I’ve always been fascinated by drawing, and especially creative technical drawing and illustration—I’ve never really been one for making oil paintings of fruit or scribbly smudges of naked bottoms. Luckily for me the first few years of my career in architecture (and admittedly the many years since) didn’t require a great deal of lashing down charcoal whilst staring at bum-cracks, and was more focused on the kind of detailed technical-type illustrations which have always given me the fizz. And notwithstanding matters of actual architectural design (more on that here), I was excited to find in out that there was a professional body that would give some proper credibility to my scribblings. Enter the Society of Architectural Illustrators…
The Society itself has a fascinating history, having changed names a few times but always holding the same values and with the same mission. It was originally founded in 1975 by Eric Monk, as the ‘Society of Architectural and Industrial Illustrators’. In the 1980s it was decided to refine the Society, and the ‘industrial’ aspect was given the boot so that the focus would be greater on architectural illustration. Not long after that the newly-dubbed Society of Architectural Illustrators was granted charitable status… on the condition that the name was changed to represent the entire art, not just the individuals. Thus begins the era of the Society of Architectural Illustration, which stretched all the way through to the early 21st-century. In 2019 the SAI relinquished it’s charitable status (I have no idea why!) and once again became ‘…of Illustrators.’
Over the years a number of notable—and extremely talented—illustrators have called themselves Members, including Eric Monk himself, Don Coe, Sir Hugh Casson, Gordon Cullen, Edward Mills, Will Alsop, Sir John Betjeman, Joseph Robson, Ben Johnson, Stephen Wiltshire MBE, and Richard Rees (…and me, much further down the chain obviously). Although the work of the individuals is always to be celebrated, the Society does a fantastic job of bringing together those individuals and sharing our work to a wider audience than any one of us might otherwise entertain. The Society now calls itself home to a hugely diverse range of creatives who work in representing architecture in all forms: traditional and digital illustrators, photographers, physical model-makers, and even CG artists and modellers.
Since being accepted as a Member in 2015 I’ve had countless enquiries and commissions come through the official SAI website, and I’m always thankful to be a Member amongst such distinguished creators. I’d encourage anyone who loves drawing/modelling/photographing buildings to put together a portfolio and apply to join… or in the very least, go and have a look at the vast amount of talent represented by the SAI.
In his introduction to the SAI’s book ‘Drawing on Architecture,’ Joseph Robson FSAI (President of the Society from 2011-2014) said:
“Over the last 40 years technology, skills and styles have all changed but the original concept of a likeminded group of artists and their shared love of architectural illustration still remains. We may be the oldest surviving Society of its kind in the world, but there is still vitality that is so important in keeping us seeing, imagining and illustrating.”
I think that just about sums it up for me! SW
Society of Architectural Illustrators | My SAI Profile | How to apply
