TY - GEN A1 - Lengyel, Dominik A1 - Toulouse, Catherine T1 - Visual abstraction as key competence for critical thinking T2 - Inżynieria Mineralna N2 - Abstraction is a fundamental intellectual competence that enables the human mind to analyse and comprehend concepts in order to creatively develop new solutions. The ability to translate abstract spatial concepts into equally abstract sculptural artefacts, which is acquired in the context of architectural design and needs to be practised throughout life, can also be transferred to contexts outside of architectural practice. With this main objective in mind, intellectual hypotheses from the humanities, for example from archaeology, can also be represented visually without abandoning their scientific content. The way often practised in the games and film industry of subverting such content with lifelike fantasy worlds is not without alternative. On the contrary, by means of abstraction, the critical thinking of science can also be transferred to the artistic artefact. The methods used to achieve this goal will be presented using samples of visualisations of a number of important heritage sites, developed in close collaboration with major cultural institutions such as the German Archaeological Institute (DAI), Cologne Cathedral administration or Bern Minster Foundation. Essentially, the scientific hypothesis is translated through the two skills adopted from traditional architecture: modelling and photography. Firstly, genuinely new, abstract forms are designed. In the second step, these are projected as if the abstract forms were built architecture. This essential second step can therefore be termed virtual photography. In conclusion, artistic creativity promotes competencies and skills to cope with the uncertainties of the 21st century by practising imagination and critical thinking conceptually and visually through art, as effectively taught in our architectural courses. KW - Design KW - Composition KW - Modelling KW - Perspective KW - Projection KW - Photography Y1 - 2025 U6 - https://doi.org/10.29227/IM-2025-02-02-073 SN - 1640-4920 VL - 2 IS - 2 SP - 1 EP - 6 PB - Polish Mineral Engineering Society CY - Kraków ER -