Chapter 7: Traceless Transitions: Studying the Role of Drawings and Gestures in Construction Project Meetings

This chapter zooms in on how bodily gestures allow negotiations on upcoming works in an underground construction project, to transition into subsequent stages without leaving a trace. The gestures were observed during joint meetings of contractors/project managers in their work at an infrastructure mega project located in an international airport. These gestures conveyed meaning through acts of pointing, circling, shielding and bracketing in front of a digitally screened technical drawing. While these gestures entail no significant engineering skills or training, upon closer analysis, they reveal a refined craftsmanship. The gestures clarify, augment and suggest – but leave no visible, formal trace. The gestures convey meaning ambiguously compared to drawing or sketching – and leave no mark. As such, the meaning revealed through gesture remains tacit craftsman’s knowledge. Enveloped within past events, it turns those present in the meeting into gatekeepers: only they have accessed local, tacit knowledge required to interpret the technical drawings correctly and make decisions on upcoming works that can progress infrastructure projects underground on time and within budget. Following the role of gestures therefore gives an account of the informal ways in which engineers negotiate progress in construction work.