With due interpretative caution and trying not to fall into simplification or cliché, it could be stated that the "rational" mind learns with "pure concepts" based mainly on the understanding of the essence and attributes of their objects of knowledge. The "logical" mind, on the other hand, learns to unravel the theoretical consequences of a formula within an abstract language. On its side, the "creative" mind of the designer acquires and achieves the object of knowledge -creativity- through a deep understanding of already completed designs. This paper aims to delve into the process of analysis of design examples, a process that could somehow resemble Alchemy, in which the alembic could be the pencil. Drawing is the analytical tool that allows the designer to distil the essence of the studied references departing from the overflow of images that arrive to the eye. With the gathering of different successful design examples, the designers build up a repository stocked in their memory that enlarges their creative capacity when facing new challenges.

It is one hundred years since the birth of Cano Lasso (1920-1996), an outstanding figure among the masters of modern Spanish architecture. Deserved winner of the Gold Medal (1991), his work has had a lasting international impact 1. He has received prizes and awards, and enjoys considerable recognition 2 by the general public. The reasons for this success could be due to a work of quality that has been produced over an extensive period of time and geographical location, which, with different accents, never loses intensity in its approaches. And this continuity is based on an unprejudiced confidence in modernity and tradition under the prism of a humanistic vision of the world and of spiritual progress. His attitude of asceticism and austerity knows how to delight in the gifts freely offered by nature, while respecting it. His example is timely in facing the current challenges of contemporary design. This text takes a look at drawings and aims to highlight their values of essentiality and timelessness. At a time when the visual culture of form seems to be heading towards parametric design, Cano Lasso vindicates "drawing" - without adjectives-as the ideal tool for configuring the architectural reality in the territory, with criteria of sustainability, efficiency and respect for the environment.