A look back through some old sketchbooks. Sketching is visual thinking, and these sketchbooks become a sort of personal repository of thinking from the past.

Recently I have been working on concept sketches which solve the common problem of "What can we do with this space?" This is one of my favourite questions to be asked, and I always like to respond with a drawing. I have begun to turn these concepts into a short video series on my Instagram page (https://www.instagram.com/adamic_studio/). In the videos I share some of the thinking behind my design when I develop environmental concepts. As usual I draw everything by hand on an iPad with the Procreate app. Here are some examples from my latest projects. 01) The interior of a 3-room apartment currently for sale in Lillestrøm Before: After: 02) The garden around a house currently for sale in Hafrsfjord, Norway Before: After: 03) The interior of an apartment currently for sale in Oslo Before (a very awkward space): After: 04) The garden outside of a house currently for sale in Kristiansand Before: After: 05) A commercial space currently up for rent in Oslo Before: After: If you ever need hel

A series of drawings made to illustrate the Japanese dry landscape garden style, karesansui. Posted also on my Instagram page (https://www.instagram.com/adamic_studio/). ***

Recently I have been working on a concept for the total renovation of a small house in Haugesund, Norway. The site lies at the edge of an existing residential area, just south of the lake Urdadalsvatnet. At the moment there is a beautiful unbuilt forest patch right to the east. The brief was to improve both the house and the garden, and turn the site as a whole into a fantastic new home for a young family with small children. The existing house is relatively small (140 m2), with some awkward rooms and a tiny, enclosed kitchen on the first floor. A few years ago the previous owner built out a very large terrace on the south and west side, which seems to tower over the garden on a generous system of point supports. We attempted to find a way to accommodate all of the owners’ wishes within the footprint of the existing house and terrace, without the need for new additions. It worked out quite well. All bedrooms are moved down to the lower level, such that everyone can sleep on the same fl

The other day I found my drawing archive! Even though I went to school in the digital age I used to visualise all of my projects by hand like this, including most of my final thesis project. I would "borrow" a stack of A4 paper from a school printer, find myself a desk and get to work. Eventually I found that it gave the best effect first to draw an image in pencil, scan it and print a copy, and then colour the scanned print with coloured pencils to preserve the lines. I would freestyle entire cities like this. After a while I got quite good at rendering light too. Some of these drawings are over 15 years old, and I have been drawing just about every day since. It is always neat to look back at old work sometimes for a reminder of how far one has progressed personally as a designer. Naturally I see some of these and think "What was I thinking there!?!" (laughs). It is also clear that few people have botched more perspective than me. But we persist! I have an absolutely insane number of

Concept sketches of a fun little personal project: ideas for some dream houses. These are explorations of possible solutions to a very pressing architectural problem of the times (laughs): how can a house be built around a private tennis court? Imagine how awesome it would be to be able to walk out of your bedroom and have access to something like this. ***