PRELIMINARY NOTES ON ‘GROOMING THE OBJECT’: THE EXAMPLE OF AN ARCHITECTURAL PRESENTATION

In this paper we analyse the use of a particular gesture during the presentation of an architectural drawing – a gesture, which we refer to as ‘grooming the drawing’. On the one hand, it is related to a practical concern of the activity at hand; during the presentation the architect works with the drawing itself and a transparent manifold paper on top of the original drawing, which enables him, and the co-participations in the presentation, to comment and draw graphics “on” the drawing in and through the manifold paper. As the manifold paper is not glued to the drawing, the architect needs to make sure that the manifold paper doesn’t move relative to the drawing underneath. He therefore often ‘grooms’ the manifold paper to straighten it out. On the other hand, the analysis reveals that although this (also) is of a practical purpose it occurs in specific positions and to serve an interactional function. The paper argues that the manipulation of objects in interaction is not just of a practical concern within an institutional practice, but is embedded within the socio-interactional organization that constitutes the ongoing activity.