>>7140
Forcing students to draw things for non-art-related subjects does seem excessive.
Though there are times when to demonstrate understanding of a topic one must also visualize something, even in a purely technical course, e.g. wave propagation, or circuitry (they do get complex and arcane-looking after a certain point even if you don't give them the Canticle of Leibowitz monk treatment).
Taking an elective in architecture and being surprised that the course would include art is indeed odd. Used to know someone who studied architecture, she had the whole shebang at home: busts, skulls, that one set of shapes everyone draws when they study shading etc. Even if one somehow ignores the artistic part of the field, they'd still be expected to make schematics, right?
Drawing as an artform isn't just about copying what one sees, I mean some probably make a living or receive acclaim by doing just that but there are successful "artists" who ducttape bananas to whiteboards or fling poop at canvas too.
From what I understood from all the media consooomed (partially or otherwise) to gain some understanding on the subject, in order to do it "right" one has to be mindful of what they are doing. You don't just directly copy what you see, you have to understand how and why. In case of using real world references we also have to be mindful of where to put the lines (we don't have thick black outlines around our eyes, mo