DRAWING/S
by
Kim Sammis
B.A, Wellesley College, Wellesley, Mass. 1978
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the
Requirements for the degree of
Master of Architecture
at the
MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
June 1986
c Kim Sammis 1986
The author hereby grants to M.I.T. permission to
reproduce and to distribute publicly copies of this
thesis in whole or in part.
Signature of Author
Kim Sammis.
Department of A
(
iijture,
May 16,
1986
/
Certfied by
Imre Halasz, Professor of Architecture.
Thesis Supervisor
Accepted by
Th9
.ms
C-has ain C a irman , Departfentai Committee
on Graduate Students
1986
JUN 0INS.s
MASS.
4
Ri E
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DRAWING/S
by Kim Sammis
Submitted to the Department of Architecture on May 9, 1986 in partial fulfillment of
the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Architecture Studies.
ABSTRACT
Drawing has become essential to the making of architecture. Though some of the most
magnificent structures were created without documentation, testified by The Pyramids,
the Parthenon, primitive dwellings, treehouses and many other "spontaneous" constructions,
the contemporary profession of making buildings demands countless representations.
From sketchy initial concepts to persuasive presentations to detailed construction
documents, the making of images for a design sometimes takes longer than the
construction process. Images must be read by many diverse people involved in the
formation of buildings, therefore architectural
notation systems demand consistency.
Despite the accepted language of representation, images are abstractions of real objects.
They are limited in their scope of information and allow us to bring our own
perceptions to them.
Architectural drawings stand between us and an object. Due to their two dimensional
nature, they must present information with symbols and conventions that we take for
granted, just as we accept the structure of language. Many contemporary drawings are
created not to serve the making of buildings, but to make a visual or ideological
statement. They are illustrative of ideas, and their resultant physical forms would
express the manipulations of drawings, rather than the reverse. This aspect of
representation has led me to question the substance of architectural images, their
functions and the use of traditional notation systems specific to architecture and its
.allied craf ts.
Herbert Spenser said. "language must truly be regarded as a hindrance
to thought."
We think in images, though the mandatory learning of verbal formations may well
befuddle our visions. Notation systems in architecture are similar to language. They
too are abstractions of concepts and require training for understanding and manipulation.
An investigation of their implications may offer more effective utilization.
3
Drawing is a communicative tool. In architecture, drawings specifically relate to three
dimensional space and its construction. This thesis is a study of particular types of
drawings, their deeper significance, their production, and their influence upon the
process of design.
Historical, as well as formal analyses are incorporated in order to
present a fuller understanding of the language.
A.
Walter
Gropius.
"The
j-
w
i
eye
compared
to
a
camera."
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
PROLOGUE
11
THE MAP OF SUZHOU PERCEPTION AND CONVENTION
21
HOUSE X, THE AXONOMETRIC AND THE MACHINE
53
SKETCHES
91
THE TOOLS OF DRAWING ARCHITECTURE
127
EPILOGUE
161
NOTES
165
BIBLIOGRAPHY
175
PICTORIAL SOURCES
181
7
/1
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
What a pleasure and relief to reflect upon, rather than be absorbed in, this process that has raised more questions
than answers. Little -do my friends know how they have guided me through not only the past few months, but the
past few years as well.
I thank
Leigh, whose gentle nature and kindness have often offset my dark swings.
Mary, an eternally kindred spirit who shames me with her generosity and devotion.
Jane, who maintains stability, humor and thoughtfulness throughout the toughest of times.
Hassan, who possesses a lust for life that sometimes makes even me blush.
Trina, who keeps us all in touch with what's real.
And to those friends outside this place who have not quite understood the compulsion, but have dragged me away
from it, nonetheless:
Thank you, Anne, Michael, Nan and Laurie.
My greatest appreciation to those teachers who have influenced my life as much as my architectural education;
Rosemary Grimshaw, Elin and Carmen Corneil and Peter Prangnell.
Thank you, Imre, for taking on this questionable project and candidly expressing appreciation and criticism.
The utmost gratitude goes to my mother, Lynn Kang, who has taught me well about freedom, love and friendship,
and to my father, S.
Fraser Sammis, who has done everything he could to help me through.
This work is dedicated to my grandmother, the foundation of my life, Marion Sammis.
10
The question is not what we look at, but what we see."
Thoreau
PROLOGUE
Drawing
is
a
universal
The
language.
subject of
representation
the
in
field
of
architecture crosses many topical borders and discussions inevitably lead to psychology,
philosophy and history - all aspects that contribute to the substance of representations
and more significantly, the things they represent.
This is the heart of the issue.
The
major difference between architecural drawings and others is that they are specifically
created for the purpose of communicating information about a tangible object. What
identifies them with other forms of art is that beyond the technical necessities, they
can
portray
ideas,
associations,
intentions,
atmosphere,
sequence...a
multitude
of
elements that make architecture "the livliest of the arts." Sometimes drawings display a
sense of
the perceptual
objective
facts
-
enough
conditions
to
of a building,
comprehend
offer
only
movement
and
though often they
relationships,
structure,
materials.
11
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t1
4
a
* ~-
The Carpenter Center For the Visual Arts is not Corbusier's most celebrated building,
even though he claimed that "he would put all his architectural elements into it."(1) It
is the only one that I have had the opportunity to explore and have realized in the
process
typical
that
drawings
architectural
substantial sense of its spatiality.
the
of
building
could
give
never
Of course, the interpretation of architectural
a
images
depends not only upon our experience with them but also upon the images themselves.
The things a designer chooses to portray, the method she uses to portray them and
the medium of presentation tells as much about the designer's intentions as does the
A.
Basement
Floor
Plan,
Carpenter
Center.
actual structure. In this particular case, none of the traditional systems of architectural
do the building justice, and their associative use doesn't add up the way
delineation
representation of a more planar building might.
Plan, section, elevation, axonometrics
or pespectives are unable to tell the story of The Carpenter Center. The experience of
the unified object defies that kind of notation. This is not to imply that other
buildings don't exist that are similarly complex.
M.I.T.'s
Maurice
Smith.)
notation
systems,
which
behind
Theories
include
all
(a local example being a design by
the
orthographic
forms
and
inherently
isometric
contradict
planar
consturctions.
An
interior or exterior perspective view would give a static impression when the buildings
themselves articulate just the opposite; movement and its temporal and spatial
manifestations.
This
is
all
very
academic
and
many
would
contend
that
two
dimensional representation of architecture could never give an accurate account of the
"experience"
of a building.
The point is that some buildings can be described
and
imagined through the use of a series of drawings though they can never emulate the
sense of being in or around a space, and others resist that kind of description.
An
B.
Longitudinal
Section,
Carpenter
Center.
inspection of architectural drawing conventions will help clarify this point.
Corbusier's drawing of the Carpenter Center is intriguing not only in the methods he
uses to describe the building, but in the form of the building itself, particularly in its
13
14-
relation to the surrounding environment. A site plan of the area best displays it as an
anomaly. The Center dramatically alters the circulation routes in the Quincy Street
area
and
its
form
looks
glaringly
noncontextual.
In
fact,
the
form
might
be
disassociated with anything else we know, except possibly in our dreams, or doodles, or
the lines left after mindlessly tracing our foot through the sand. The curves of the
studio walls are not rooted in mathematics, recognizeable geometries or images from
elements in the history of architecture. The shape is playful, imaginative, spontaneous.
and reminds us that these qualitiles are not relegated to reverie, but are freecdoms, or
may be so bold to say, necesities, in our daily lives.
Corbusier
proclaims
a
liberation
from
the
constraints
and
formulae
of
historical
the limitations of the drawing tools that implement our design
process. The curves in the Carpenter Center were not made with the aid of a
template, irregular curve or compass. They came directly from the mind of the artist,
his hand and pencil the only mechanics for representation. This particular aspect of
tradition and from
C.
Site
Plan
Photograph,
Carpenter
Center.
the drawing sparked a question in my mind about the things we use to make other
things. Contemporary buildings begin not with blocks of stone or trunks of trees and
eonough men to cut and haul them into place, but with knowledge, imagination and a
thin, fragile drawing surface and hand held tools to manipulate images. The tools used
for design drawing evolved in response to ideas and needs, and gently dictate certain
ways of thinking.
Architectural drawings are a step away from the real thing. Due to their abstract
nature - the depiction of three dimensional space on a two dimensional surface, they
rely on conventions that necessitate particluar ways of seeing. They require a standard
consistency in order to attain the penultimate goal of making buildings. The
conventions, or language of representation, carry with them certain assumptions and
limitations which we generally take for granted due to our familiarity with them. The
15
systems of notation force us to limit our perceptions to its requirements.
Questions
concerning those limits and requirements form the basis of this thesis.
Systems
of
information
notation
in
architecture
have
between
many
about buildings
developed
people.
in
order
to
share
objective
They consitiute a language
that
must be learned and practised for clear understanding. The components; plan, section,
elevation isometrics and perspective, can be comprehended singularly, but in order to
receive a full mental image of the volume and forms of a building, they must be
combined.
Each
one is a symbolic
representation
implies an interpretation of the thing.
of some
aspect of a
place and
We must respond to that interpretation with
knowledge and personal perceptions in order to attempt to reconstruct what was in the
mind of the architect.
To speak of the art of representation as a unified whole is unrealistic.
Drawings are
made for many purposes, and in many cases, the drawing we see is not rendered by
the creator of the idea. The following essays are not as much concerned with
presentation or competition drawings, but with formative drawings, the implicit systems
and rules and their meanings.
The history of architectural drawings is older than the profession
investigated through a myriad of themes.
itself and can be
Each drawing is not only about building, but
speaks of techniques, purposes, geometries, theories, systems and culture. The following
articles are not intended to be a chronological treatise on changing styles, nor are they
a critique of modes of representation, though distillation is required in both areas in
order to formulate a basis for investigation.
The four articles are separate inquiries
into the larger subject of representation, each focusing on a specific element of the
process of making and understanding architecture through its representation.
Inherent
17
in each is speculation about how these different subjects influence the way we create
architectural form.
D.
David
Hockney.
"Kirby
(After
Hogarth)
Useful
Knowledge."
19
"Indeed, oh Socrates - Teetatus says - I am full of wonder at what these
"appearances" are; and at times, if I dwell on looking at them, I really feel
dizzy."
Plato: Teetatus
THE MAP OF SUZHOU: PERCEPTION AND CONVENTION
Years ago,
not being particularly
interested
in
whether
the Mets were winning,
I
became fascinated with the possibilities of graphically representing a baseball game, or
a simple play on a two dimensional surface. The monuments were easy; home plate,
first base, shortstop, etc. Each one was X feet apart along a straight line, the shortest
distance between two points. The next task was more scientific, involving the use of
symbols and systems in order to clearly illustrate rules, positions, movement in space
and the key element of time. It occured to me that the idea of drawing baseball was
not unlike that of representing the game of pool: both games involve sticks and balls
that follow geometric principles with the additional elements of time and motion. A
simple idea became overwhelming.
21
L
*M3
-
plans concerns similar issues.
of architectural
The graphic representation
Sticks and
balls are replaced by people and objects in motion and at rest. Geometric principles
are applied to physical and spatial requirements. Clearly, a building is not a game, but
certain fundamental questions arise in relation to the delineation of both . It concerns
a
two
depends
dimensional
upon
the
representation
element
of
of
three
motion,
a
dimensional
concept,
space.
(sometimes
The baseball
called
the
game
fourth
dimension) which architectural theorists have been deliberating for centuries. The basic
elements of visual perception, direction, distance and their abstractions are inherently
the same in both.
Before notation systems for engineering were universally accepted as sciences, the art
of
two
dimensional
representation
similarly
developed
to the way drawing abilities
develop in children. This is most clearly illustrated by the evolution of cartographic
science, the foundation of spatial representation through plan drawing. Long before the
elements of the built world were designed
imperative
imperial
to understand
and preserved
the natural world -
growth and food gathering.
All
through drawing,
a prerequisite
it was
for travel, commerce,
the surviving map relics could
be called
"world maps", for as far as we know, the limits of the horizon might well have been
the world.
This essay is a brief investigation into fundamental issues of representation that cross
the boundaries of architecture, cartography, and art. A 750 year old map is used as
exhibit "A". The map of Suzhou, of Ping Jiang, as it was then called, is misleading,
not only due to its fourth (at best) generation quality, but the image printed here on
archival bond is the material opposite of the original representation which is presently
A.
Map
Ma
Suzhou
located at the Suzhou Museum in the People's Republic of China. It stands next to
two other stone carvings of the Sung dynasty, all of which are smooth black stone
with white engraving. The formidable size of the 2.84 x 1.4m carving allows careful
23
24
scrutiny of every chiselled line. The layout can be read with the eyes or the hands.
Purportedly the earliest plan map of an ancient city in China, the carving was
in 1229.(1)
engraved
It is testimony of
more than
a city
planning scheme,
the
placement of significant momunents or sophisticated engineering. The stone documents
a story about perception and representation; a vision of the world and its depiction in
two dimensions.
It
is
difficult
to
imagine
drawing
or
understanding
a
plan
without
map
or
comprehension of the notational systems. We are so accustomed to reading drawings
and photographs from a very early age that there is no need to question the
techniques and assumptions upon which they are based. We tend to take for granted
the tools used for surveying, measuring and drawing. It took hundreds of years before
topographical representation developed into a science that uses specific constructs and
symbols for a general understanding of space. There are some beautiful examples of
mapping from contemporary primitive cultures. Professor R. Carpenter gives an
account
of
impression
the
of
Alaskan Aklavik
the shape of
tribe,
nearby
who
islands
has
at
graphically
night
recorded
without the
an
help
accurate
of
visual
information. (2) Their drawings are a result of listening to the sound of waves lapping
against distant shores.
Before westerners reached the natives of the remote Marshall
Islands, the inhabitants constructed practical maps using narrow strips of the centers of
palm leaves lashed together with cord from fiber plants. Positions of islands were
marked
caused
B.
Stick
Chart.
by shells and the arrangements of sticks indicated patterns of wave masses
by wind direction.
A
metric system was probably unnecessary due to their
innate physical maneuvers. In this form, the information could be easily and safely
transported on a rough, wet, canoe ride.(3)
The content and comprehension of the previous examples is far more rudimentary than
of the map of Suzhou, though they are illustrative of naive and useful representations
25
CEUR ET MIROIR
N
N
vE
E
M0 C
OG
B
CE
A
P,
p
A
M
M
A
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P
P.
B
E
N
U
I
L
DANS
PLETS
CE
RE
LES
SONT
ME
COM
NON
ET
GES
AN
LES
NE
MI
RLOIR
JE
SUIS
Guillaume
VI
Apollinaire
VANT
iT
VRAI
COM
ME
GI
MA
26
EN
CLOS
ON
of
knowledge.
spatial
representation
and
"Visualization"
can
many
take
different
forms.The stone tablet is significant as an example for this inquiry not only due to its
impact as a visual object, but of the representational symbols it exhibits.
of
standpoint
additional
conventional
graphic
standards,it
is
in
orthographic
From the
elevation
with
elements of three dimensional, or isometric projection protruding from the
fortification walls or the bridges rising up over the canals.
If the walls are traced
around the perimeter of the city, we see that the view of elevation changes each time
On the top and bottom of the drawing the interior of the wall is
a corner is turned.
All the corners
portrayed and conversely, the right and left walls are exterior views.
are depicted in an awkward, distorted fashion.
These aberrations of contemporary plan notations provide clues regarding the nature of
drawing,
perceptual,
explicate
the
analytical
and
set of conventions
cognitive
used
mapping skills.
typical
in
It will
plan drawings
be useful
before
to
discussing
deviations from that set.
The use of any
grammatical
dangerous
accepted
orthogonal system relies upon
constructs in 'language,
territory.
(4)
symbols formed
Both
certain
rules.
These are similar
though pursuing this analogy
the written
language and
to
too far leads into
drawing is constructed
of
by conventions but the perception of the two systems is
entirely. different. We often rely on "gestalt" readings of drawings before analyzing
C.
component parts. This is impossible with the written word, even though certain poetic
Apoll/inaire
movements have attempted to disprove it. A friend of mine once wrote:(5)
concrete poetry
is like a brick
bullshit pressed
27
2-
.5-
S
.4
I0
The poem grossly comments upon the difference between
the content of writing and
drawing.
A
picture is a universal language,
cannot
though
its interpretation
personal.
is highly
It
Although it takes some training to fully comprehend all the
be read aloud.
elements of an engineering drawing, even untrained people can have a sense of the
movement
in
one
due
to
their
own
graphic
experimentation
and
physical/spatial
perceptions.
The primary value of maps or plan drawings is that of description of horizontal areas
that are too large to be perceived all at once.
Without maps, we must navigate using
the benefit of our common sense and experiential knowledge of space unless we have
a written description
as a guide.
Our minds do not conceive space
on a two
dimensional matrix unless we have seen that kind of spatial representation. Instead we
find our way by remembering images, monuments,
words, activities,
textures
and
sensations such as light, shadow and sound. These perceptions augment the information
found on maps and might alter our interpretation, depending on our abilities.(6) Maps
might be as simple as a street diagrams or as complex as an aerial photograph.
Learning the cha-cha is not a particularly difficult task.
Our bodies and minds recall
by rote repetition, our partners help guide us with their movements
and we may
remember different corners of the room while our limbs and torsoes assume the correct
D.
Cha-cha
diagram.
positions. The learning could take a number of rehearsals, depending upon the extent
of our neuro musular coordination. Someone (Arthur Murray?) devised a footprint and
arrow movement plan to expediate the process. We see in plan what our bodies follow
in space
and our
memories are aided
by
a visual abstraction.
We immediately
understand the skeletal notations on the dance plan and are able to manifest three
dimensional spatial movement with a two dimensional abstraction.
A plan drawing of a
29
building doesn't allow us the possibilities of full scale movement.
We are forced to
reduce our size to a designated scale and imagine the volume, movement and haptic
sensations of the
place.The cha-cha plan
is only
a diagram of movement
without
indication of substantial form, yet it exemplifies how valuable a visual aid is to our
psycho/
physical memories.
The plan offers a description of the possibilities of our horizontal movement through
space rather than visual or cognitive movement. What separates an orthogonal
description from other types of architectural
point of view.
representations is the lack of a specific
It is not a realistic image of what, or how, we see. There are an
infinite number of viewpoints by virtue of the fact that all the represented features
are perpendicular to an imaginary plane. Therefore, there are no distortions of metric
qualities or relationships. All the lines or edges are drawn equidistant from the viewer
(with the exception of an angled or curved plane that lies beneath the cut of the
) The surface of the paper is the cut. A major problem of the plan is that
we are unable to perceive vertical dimensions without additional drawings of references
to heights, although there are notational devices that suggest a third dimension such as
shadowing and dotted lines (overhang, hidden structure). The conventions do not allow
drawing.
for the comprehension of vertical displacement.(7)
Because
the
plan
is
the
plane
of
unencumbered
movement,
it
has
been
used
traditionally as the primary tool for design . If the nature of a building is revealed
by its plan, as Corbusier and the Beaux Arts theorists declared, it is of great interest
that an abstraction is the basis for creating such powerful influences in our lives, the
built environment.
The only times we might actually view an unobstructed plan is
when a new foundation waits for walls (or old walls have been removed).
The real
plan of a city can be seen only from a great height, and that view is distorted
toward the limits of the horizon by visual parallax.
31
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The map of Suzhou utilizes some of the conventions described above in addition to
some other, pre-established techniques of representation, judging from the systematic
spacing
layout of
and
roads and
canals.
ground
The
plane
is
imaged
from
an
undesignated spot above, yet the walls, buildings and mountains are shown as if they
are
vertical
planes standing
somewhere in
front
of
us.
significant vertical dimension are laid flat on the ground.
The elements
that
have
Elements that are heavy
constructions and protrude from flat surfaces are depicted in rough axonometric.
This
method, in fact, is closer to the way we might think about the experience of moving
through space.
though
It combines the visual walk through the city with metric conditions,
it is not clear
whether it is chiselled
to scale.
Today's conventions would
reduce the great exterior walls to thick lines, and the surrounding mountains to a
series of concentric
circles.
To enter into
this city
of elaborate waterways
on a
modern plan, we would have to break thorough a line. On this map, there is a direct
E.
Detail
of
visual understanding of the major gate - it looks like a gate with a wooden structure
front
overhead denoting its function.
gate.
Although the science of drawing in this case is somewhat unsophisticated, the elements
are clear and easily understood. The description of Suzhou is somewhat analagous to
the way a child would represent elements in space.
Piaget and Inhelder performed
copius investigations of the development of human perceptual and representational
capacities. Their studies are directly related to the history of cartography. If we
assume that above a certain age, children and adults see the smae world, then their
abstraction of that world in drawings relies on the level of interpretation. At a very
young age, there is a motor coordination problem but subsequently, the abstraction of
objects depends upon powers of analysis. According to Booker, the graphic efforts of
children display similar stages through which our ancestors passed. He shows as an
example an illustration of various "W's", copied by people of increasing ages from a
33
a
34
b
c
d
e
typeface.
sophisticated
concentrates
The
first
attempt
is
made
by
a
very
young
on the fundamental four lines that make the letter read.
child
who
The lines are
joined in the correct places and the angles drawn between the lines are an adequate
attempt.
An older child's drawing shows more analysis of the details of line weight
and serifs, though proportions are misjudged and parallel lines are still problematic.
F.
The untrained adult who drew the next, "W", is apparently aware of the parallelism
W's.
and the details, but fails to notice that the right serif is shorter than the left. The
problem is more difficult than it looks at first. In order to copy a letter correctly, a
person must have progressed through distinct conceptual stages; those defined by Piaget
as prallelism, angles, equality, sraightness and thickness. The first few are most
relevant to this story.
Piaget's investigations concern the nature of space itself; whether it is an innate idea
or a result of actions carried out by the individual. His studies encompass the realms
of perception, perceptual space, haptic space, pictorial, projective and Euclidean space.
The brief synopsis doesn't scratch the surface of Piaget and Inhelder's major text, The
Child's Perception of Space, but it will help to clarify this particular analysis.
Although all children progress through distinct stages of understanding perceptual and
representational space, they develop different degrees of sophistication in that
understanding.
Many adults never analyse drawings in a systematic way, regardless of
Piaget has corroborated that our first comprehension of
objects in space is that of topological relationships. This deals with the outlines of
perimeters of things and how/if they are connected or bounded with other things.
Qualities such as shape, size, distance, angularity or straightness are inconsequential at
their perceptual capacities.
this phase.
35
1E
low
li4.
lit,
t
H.
"Fisherman
On
51
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0
The
Flower
k
Stream."
-
Wang
7
Men.
Yuan
Dynasty.
Vt..1i
The
next,
and
representation
most
influential
of concepts.
stage
encompasses
the
more
When a child begins to recognize
difficult
projective
the distance between
objects, positions in space and the basic concepts of Euclidean geometry, the drawings
attempt
to display these projective
characteristics.
something becomes graphically literal.
an object are displayed.
Often, a verbal understanding of
Thoughts, rather than visual information about
The illustration is a typical example of the way a six year
old might depict a house and a yard. Since the bottom of the paper is closest to
artist, the nearer objects, gate and bushes, are drawn
the
there and the furthest ones,
chimney and smoke, are drawn at the top. This form of representation is reminiscent
of Chinese landscape painting, where distant scenery is shown at the top of the page
G.
rather than behind the components in the foreground.
Child's
realistic proportions.
recede.
All the components also have
It would be illogical to show trees- diminishing in size as they
Both the child and the Chinese landscape painter relate direct perception of
Illustration.
objects.
37
aO
-
14
With
a different intent,
although
the stone
tablet displays a similar Mlethod
the geometric concepts are more advanced.
of projection,
Landscape is shown as in
the
Chinese painting - flat elevations of mountains float up the page as they become
further away from an inaginary viewpoint that is somewhere in fromt of the city wall.
It appears to be above and just to the right of center. From this point we view the
most elaborate elevation in the drawing. The front buttresses appear to vanish to a
point just behind the center of the wall. Contrary to this, the right side wall
buttresses are drawn in a suggested axonometric as if we are standing outside looking
Detail
Wall
Buttress.
back and the left wall has us viewing them from the front. The substantiality of the
surrounding walls is emphasized. These and the bridges are the only things that show
attempts at three dimensional representation.
The map shares another characteristic of the child's drawing, even though its purpose
may be different. The only indication that the stick figure is someone's mother is her
written title, "mom". In the child's case, her specific features were too difficult to
draw and the resulting symbol of any lady had to be clarified by a verbal description.
The buildings in Suzhou are also represented by symbols of three major types, as if
they were stamped on. To those familiar with the city, the coordinates of each tells
what it is, but to others, only the written description offers that information.
A
mixture of symbol systems must be used to describe a world where one system isn't
adequate.
The issue of viewpoint is essential not only to the understanding of the concept of
specific drawings, but to major vicissitudes in the history of architectural representation.
After the discovery of edges, shapes and distances, a child is confronted with the
conflict of knowing certain shapes and seeing their awkward appearances in drawing
attempts.
A drinking glass has a circular opening on the top and a similar bottom
39
even though it can sit on a horizontal surface.
In a drawing, a straight line for the
bottom looks satisfactory, but a circle for the top looks wrong.
theory
of
"constancy
phenomena",
which suggests
Piaget developed the
that our perceptions
register
the
sameness of the thing although its projective image changes. The basic problem is that
of the drawing of an object that has shape in more than one direction. The conflict
is displayed on the walls of Suzhou.
categories:
Solutions to this dilemma
fall under
two
the first uses a number of drawings to describe objects from differing
viewpoints while the second involves the transformation of the third dimension on a
two dimensional field, displaying apparent rather than real shapes. (8)
The coordination of objects using understandable systems of reference is the main task
of the cartographer,
who generally utilizes the former category, specifically, the plan
drawing of the orthographic system. The location of objects or points are referenced
by perpendicular axes that is a diminutive version of the "gridded" world. Systematic
projections were first inspired by the heavens rather than the earth, as astronomy was
not as tangible as geography and stargazing potentionally provided answers to essential
queries concerning night and day, the changing of seasons, tides and weather.
The combined investigations of Pythagoras, and Aristarchus of Samos substantiated that
the earth was a sphere tilted on its axis by twenty three and one half degrees to the
plane of orbit and that the moon revolved around the earth.
B.C.)
At the time, (app. 250
our solar system was thought of as a series of concentric spheres, the stars
fixed upon one transparent surtace and the moons and planets on others. When the
astronomers found it necessary to document the stars and their relative positions, they
were
faced with
the same conflict as a child;
that of the
projection of three
dimensions into two. Eventually, two major systems accredited to Apollonius of Perga
and Archimedes, were invented.
It is documented that orthographic and stereographic
projections were derived from observations of shadows. Those cast by the light of a
..
SUN'S
RAYS
.........
V, '%x
PARALLEL
SHADOWS
b
HEMISPHERICAL GRID
CANDLE'S
\RAYS
CONICAL
.4.
.POINT
SOURCE
OF LIGHT
d
candle or point source, (sterographic) were larger than the object itself where as the
image formed by parallel rays from the sun (orthographic) was the same size as the
Spheres.
object. Of course, the "screen" had to be parallel to a major axis of the object.
The projection of a sphere implied the projection of lines of latitude and longitude,
derived from the methods used to measure a star's position in the sky. Gridded lines
produced by the cast shadow provided a flat framework for the plotting of points.
These discoveries form the basis for primary geometrical principles which concern the
Illustration b shows
implications of conical rays, the foundation of all camera images.
the longitudinal shadows
the projected
outline of
figures
plotted
on
the
projection, d , not only
becoming more and more distorted as they approach
circle.
resulting
lines remain
The latitudinal
grid
are
casts longintudinal
distorted
lines
at
the
horizontal.
edges.
Points or
Stereographic
as true arcs of circles.
but the
resulting matrix is a system of curves which intersect each other at right angles.
discovery
the
This
made it possible for Ptolomy to map the world, and formed a basis for
secondary geometries used in perspective and axonometric projection.
Most of the great writings from ancient Greece had disappeared form Europe during
the dark ages, though traces of Pythagoras, Euclid, Archimedes and Hero have been
discovered to exist in ancient Arabic cultural centers.
Images of compositional devices
have been dectected beneath Egyptian tomb papintings and relics of Mesopotamia show
similar
linear
grids as bases for agricultural
layouts.
Knowledge
of the ancient
documents eventually made its way back to Italy through northern Africa and Spain
by the Moors. The translation of these texts into Latin in the early sixteenth century
formed
the
foundations
of
Renaissance
thinking
and
the impetus
for
dogged
experimentation with image making based on geometrical principles. Up until this time,
cartographic images of the world were circular formats displaying idealized arrangements
of monuments often with a celestial or omnipotent viewpoint, portraying a hierarchical
43
'44
do
a
-4
I.
It'
O£r-
-W
(
9.
IIT
.9
5,
44
view of the cosmos.
projections.
There are no clues regarding measured distances of systematic
The information displayed is purely visual and appeals to our cognitive
mapping processes.
The most influential plan in the western world to deviate from this view is that of
K.
the city of Imola, drawn by Leonardo in 1502.
Leonardo's
plan
He presented
a new system of
abstraction, based on metric rather than visual information. This implies an imaginary
of
Imo/a.
bird's eye view of the city, which for the Renaissance man, was an extraordinary leap
of logic.
Topographical
horizontal
plane,
features are drawn as if
the
resulting image
known
as
they are reflected on a single
icnographic.
(8)
New,
selective
information could be scientifically coded and documented. Abstract information took
priority over visual impressions or symbolic values. Topographical measurements were
acheived by the use of a primitive odometer, described by Alberti in the Ludi
Matemati:
"A small hole was bored through the axle of an ordinary cart wheel so
that once every rotation one small pellet would fall from a container above the axle
through the hole and into a pouch."(9) Counting the pellets could ascertain the amount
of distance travelled. Other surveying tools, such as the transit and magnetic compass
were
necessary
to
complete
the
gathering
of
information.
Measured
angles
and
distances necessitated the use of scaling instruments for documentation.
----
IL
Leonardo advanced a coherent system of drawing processes.
Images of cities were
~ek
Im
revealed as objective constructs rather than perceptual interior images.
A similar development of cartography in China has been documented to have occured
even a few centuries
earlier
printed map is assumed
than
Leonardo's
plan
of Imola.
The earliest
to have been made about
1155 A.D.
and .shows
VIC
known
04
northern
orientation, settlements, rivers and a portion of the Great Wall. The Chinese gained
access
to
Greek
investigations
from
Arabain
coastal
settlements
before
750
A.D.
oi
VI
-
I
45
40"
46
Accurate, detailed surveys of China's eastern coastline and rivers have been discovered
etched in stone over precise grids.
Engineering and Cartesian geometry were both familiar to the waterway engineers and
stonecutter(s) at Suzhou. A rectangular city with a precise orthogonal road and
waterway system was planned using a geometric construct. Smaller blocks appear as
subdivisions of larger ones. The entire scheme appears to have been planned using
mathematical
equations and careful land division, though appearances are deceptive.
The science
of cartography
has as its roots, questions concerning
appearance
L.
Stone
carving
of
Suzhou.
and
reality, with the main goal of documenting clear, universally understandable information.
The "signature" of a mapping code is derived from the processes of encoding, or map
making, or decoding, or map reading.
In the words of Piaget, " The intuition of
space is not a reading or apprehension of the properties of objects, but from the very
beginning, an action performed on them."
Representations of space are intermediaries
between us and real objects, functioning like telescopes or microscopes, but relying on
graphic symbols rather than mechanics. The correct choice of symbols is imperative in
order to relay the desired information.
The more difficult task is understanding the
assumptions mad by the map readers or interpreters.
Due
to our
a priori
knowledge
of drawings and
symbols,
we can
make
certain
assumptions about ancient Suzhou, even though the drawing conventions are different
from what we might use. Some of the information is easily accesible, such as the
relative building positions, general locations on the urban framework, major structures
and entrances and the strong Chinese concept of juxtaposing and separating the natural
landscape and the highly intellectualized built world.
The quality and design of the
graphic marks indicates emotional attitudes about the elements. Mountains are drawn
with
jagged,
sharp
strokes
depicting
precipitous,
rough
terrain.
The
rhythmic,
decorative quality of the water flowing outside the city wall demonstrates a continuous
47
but turbulent current. Within the walls the movement of water is stilled by one clean
white cut following the long straits and sharp bends of the canal.
We can feel the
intentions, even though the symbols do not follow familiar graphic codes.
Our conventional plan drawings have evolved from perceptual or symbolic notations to
the representations of objective facts. When we use the plan for designing, we are
applying graphic symbols of objects to denotate judgements about space. The symbols
are precise conventions that can be deciphered by anyone familiar with the standards .
Without an indication of three dimensionality, or subsidiary drawings to complete the
elements or volumetric space,
vertical
the plan remains a factual statement.
In the
map of Suzhou, there is a combination of objective and subjective description, which
helps
us
to receive
impressions and sensibilities about the image as well as facts
concerning
critical relationships.
delineation
of
space,
not
We are reminded of an instinctive response to the
unlike
the
recent
award
winning
drawings
of
Janet
Needham-McCaffrey.
Cartographic science is most demanding due to user-referent problems.
must be devised in
order to relay dense information
to X number
unskilled readers without confusion or subjective overtones.
M.
Janet
Needham
MaCaffrey.
"Urban
Vignette."
Mapping codes
of potentially
The symbols must not be
misread.
Plans of buildings in themselves have ambiguities. Unless there are special notations,
or a key that clarifies special symbols, the implied spatial qualities can be misjudged.
It would be revealing to exchange formative plans in a studio to see what kinds of
sections develop. The limitations of the plan drawing inhibits the expression of our
ideas. If the different ideas are not chronicled in some other form, then the images
could be forgotten or lost to the abstract two dimensionality of the drawing.
49
V
'A/^/
a
faeo'a
ah
Ax
flop.
L/
72I.l
/-,e
Z"-i^ /a-b
4,'
r.?
P,
ziN/V~
o(kAc-
7
The eternally mysterious Garden of Ryoanji, in Kyoto, made me acutely aware of the
relativity of a plan. No more than five clusters of rocks distributed on a bed of
raked
pebbles,
the simple
garden
demands consideration.
Designed
enlightened gardner in the 15th century, the rocks might be depicted
by
Soami,
an
in plan, (were
we able to traverse the sacred ground for measurement) yet an elevation is virtually
impossible to draw. A slight shifting of eyes changes the relationships of the rocks.
There is no point of view where all the rocks can be seen simultaneously. The garden
defies representation, as much as it defies explanation. A line in the brochure reads,
"'Absorbed in this scene, we, who think of ourselves as relative, are filled with serene
wonder as we intuit absolute self." Objects in space can only be described in relation
to other things. To do this accurately, a third dimension is imperative, yet even that
is equivocal in drawings.
51
52
"In Holland, they throw away the flowers, they make them for the bulbs."
John Hedjuck
HOUSE X, THE AXONOMETRIC AND THE MACHINE
Despite the fact that Peter Eisenman's drawing of House X doesn't appear to be a
residence, or for that matter, contain the elements of architecture that we are most
A.
familiar with, the image evokes a sense of wonder. Does it have anything to do with
Axonometric
"house", and if so, would we want to live there?
and what are its origins?
domecile.
Based
on
If not, what is he trying to convey
Certainly not in traditional images, materials, or dreams of
the assumption
that the
answer
to
the first questions is
of
House
X.
an
unqualified "no", this essay explores the answers to the latter questions.
Clearly,
there is a deliberate method at work.
The form and its representation
are
charged with loftiness. The object itself and its portrayl, are not grounded in common
experience, but evolve from highly intellectual constructs.
The image of the house is
at least as significant as the design itself.
53
Appropriately,
the presentation is an axonometric drawing, the culmination of a series
of transformations using that particular method of graphical construction
as a design
Of course his intentions are rooted in other considerations which demand
vehicle.
analysis outside of the realm of this article, but the relevant issue concerns Eisenman's
of representational
choice
The constructional
methods.
geometry
inherent
in
the
axonometric drawing is analagous to the theories upon which he bases his procedures.
The image is as abstract as his assumptions.
the axonometric
-
Eisenman's house epitomizes the use of
it is not about architecture,
way of
but about a particular
organizing space.
Since we are presented only with the stripped down elements of an object, we are
forced
analyse
to
it in terms
of
Eisenman's
intentions,
which
are undecipherable
without his own written explanation:
Modernism, he states, "as developed
literature, music
and painting,
in the other arts, in philosophy,
broke decisively
with the
in
subject/object
relationship. In modernism the dominant mode of reading was an attempt
to have the object refer not to a reading subject, but to its own condition
of being.(1)
What is a condition of being?
In most drawings we can relate it to specific emphases;
light and shadow, hollows and voids, screens and solids, relation to landscape, use of
materials...Eisenman's drawings only relate it to itself. This is the essential matter and
the crux of the subject/object relationship.
His references are not drawn from design or building, but from linguistic theories,
those
particularly
originally developed
"suggests
conception
an
The
of Chomsky.
to explain
equivalence
of architecture
forms are derived
from
models
the foundations for creativity in language.
of deep
structure
and
that reacts against
syntax as
a
the perceptual,
basis
that were
Eisenman
for a
relativistic
formal
realm of
55
600-
30-1
450
0
Li
I
a
56
B
I'
I\\
b
C
-
d
conventional
meanings."(2)
architecture
and systems of
He
attempts
form
to
decompose
making into
a
the
formal
formal
attributes
not
grammar,
of
based on
traditional
building tools such as walls, columns, beams, floors, etc, but on abstract
expression
of spatial ideas.
In an article entitled, "Architectural
Linguistics," Keyser
and O'neill state,
We began with the assumption that archtectural design is an instantiation
of geometric knowledge, since architectural structures, whatever else they
may be, are three dimensional geometrical constructions. This suggests that
the study of the theory of innate geometry, and not linguistic theory,
should form
design.
the basis for any systematic
investigation of architectural
Eisenman's foundations in linguistic theory are an intellectual sidestepping of the major
issues.
Due
to the nature of these associations, the axonometric
representational
tool Eisenman could use for exploration.
model is the only
It is the only graphical
convention that fully embodies "the theory of innate geometry" of three dimensions.
A closer look at the construction of axonometric drawings and the history of their use
gives this credence, and suggests the possibilities and dangers as a design tool.
To simplify the technical constructs and distortions of an axonometric, an illustration
by
Bernard
capable
Schneider
will
be
helpful.(3)
In
general,
axonometric
illustrations are
of presenting objective characteristics of a complex three dimensional object
without breaking it down into a series of dislocated projections as do orthographic
representations.
to
the requisite
distortions:
Although the drawings account for measurable heights and lengths, due
construction of projection,
the
resulting image manifests angular
B.
Distortions
of
the
axonometric.
in the vertical plane, if the ground plan is to be undistorted (a), or in
the ground plan, if an undistorted front or sectional view is desired (b).
57
58
The cube represented in (a) displays correct longitudinal measurements, but the object
appears distended in a vertical direction. This, according to Schneider, is manifested
by "the false impressions created by the automatic interpretation of perspective of the
human eye." Our natural tendency is to minimize the depth of represented objects and
therefore apparent distortions are emphasized to a greater degree.
In an axonometric
illustration (b), where the plan is rotated at thirty or sixty degrees to the horizontal
base line, only the thirty degree side will appear proportionate. The forty five degree
angle of projection also disguises important planes that are perpendicular to the plane
of the paper. These planes are represented as lines, along with diagonals that are
angled into the depth.(c)
Schneider's example clearly illustrates simple ambiguities of axonometric representation.
Eisenman exploits the technique and its implied deformations as an operative tool for
The drawings of this houses look like three dimensional puzzles,
making architecture.
form
built specfically
the propose of mental entertainment
rather
than function.
Disparite pieces or entire rooms look as if they might slide out for inspection or
service and then lock securely back into place. There is no indication of scale, of
structural elements or recognizable materials. We can not perceive anything that might
be recognized as windows, doors, architectural detailing or emphases. Every element is
abstracted to its essential idea. The ungroundedness of the axonometric drawing gives a
Catapulted through space, the object might be as large as a
planet, yet a xerox reduction could make it look like the bauble at the end of a key
satellite like illusion.
chain.
Objects drawn
perceptual
awkward
using the axonometric
aspects
of
space.
e
Qualities
method are depersonalized,
such
as
light, materials
because their delineation mixes representational metaphors.
unable to portray
and textures look
The construction
C Various
isometric
projections.
of an axonometric requires the use of a static three dimensional grid, which is directly
59
..
associated with the way something is built, but not the way it is perceived.
representation
emphasizes
drawings are
one
though ironically, some indication of planes and massing is necessary to
keep the drawing from turning itself inside out.
actually
in
subjective reality are antithetical
reality, and perceptual,
objective
technical,
So, the
Although plan and section
nature of the image,
the abstracted
indications of character
shadows and other
similarly abstracted,
of pictoral elements
The addition
don't
appear unrealistic because the image is closer to the way we imagine things to be.
The third dimension of the axonometric implies volumes in a way that can't possibly
be experienced.
something
The viewpoint of a axonometric
from
three
dimensions
We are looking at
is ubiquitous.
sumultaneously,
opposed
as
to
a
perspectival
representation, which dispalys a static, singular point of view.
dimensional
space,
but
is
based
on
a
of
for the representation
drawing is also a geometrical construct
Perspective
discernable
vantage
three
Although
point.
its
construction has limitations concerning peripheral vision and visual curvature, it is
closer to the way we realize actual space from a frozen position.
information
is added
romanticized,
images
to a perspective
compared
with
drawing, it seems natural,
the mechanized
rely upon relative relationships rather
view
of an
When qualitative
even though it is
isometric.(4)
than rules of proportions,
Perspectival
as do the
other forms of architectural representation.
The method of axonometric representation refers to orthographic images without the
necessary cross referencing of distinct views.
The dimensions and scale are constant
and directly measureable, though angles are distorted. Orthogonal squares appear as
diamonds and circles are pressed into ellipses. There exists neither a specific point of
view,
nor a
inherently
sense
contradicts
of
realism.
The
complete objectivity
sensual understanding.
Each
plane
of
the drawing
is depicted
as if
method
we are
infinitely parallel to every point on that plane. The viewer is three dimensional space,
D.
Perspective
views.
differing from the point of view of a plan or section, where the viewer is an infinite
plane, hovering somewhere above or in front, as the case may be.
The creation of an axonometric contradicts the laws of visual perception. The object
is represented not as it appears, but according to its calculable characteristics based on
plane parallel projection.
Therefore the drawing technique is dependent upon the use
of right angles and a building formed through an analysis of the technique would
naturally facilitate their use. Curves as well as angles look distorted. It is appropriate
that the designs retain a boxy, orthogonal quality. If the form develops from a box
using axonometric techniques as form generators, then it follows that the final product
will reflect that process. Eisenman justifies the process by entitling it with a double
edged description, "Cardboard Architecture." It supports his polemic as a new style,
but also accurately describes what he creates. The term describes the blandness of an
unarticulated surface.
White forms are used to shift our visual perception and conception
of
such forms from the perception of a real, tangible, volumetric architecture
to the conception of an abstract, colored planar space, from the polemic
of the white of the 1920's to the neutrality of cardboard.(5)
E.
James
The
influence of mood,
atmosphere,
precedent, detail
and ornament is nonexistent.
These attributes may or may not emerge from the final exploration.
Stering
Axomometric.
Eisenman's parti is inherently abstract. Without a grasp of the principles of the
axonometric technique, it is impossible to follow the logic of the transformations. Not
only is the drawing itself (or any drawing, for that matter) once removed from the
the axonometric is such that it objectifies our
perceptions of space. His process has no foundations in perception. If axonometric
drawings are distorted images and Eisenman creates buildings from them, then the
resulting buildings must imply that distortion. Although most of his house designs were
built object,
but the nature of
63
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T.
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1
'
not
realized,
it
seems
that
an
of
inhabitant
the
experiences
buildings
not
an
architecture that brings something to the imagination,(6) but one that is reminiscent of
the white paper and straight edges of the drawing board. The buildings are as brittle
as the delineation.
The use of the axonometric drawing as a tool of representation in architecture has had
a sporadic history. An account of some of the salient periods will highlight its
character and its appropriateness as a design tool.
where
the technique
architecture.
Even
originated,
before
we
the images
know
that
found
in
Although it isn't clear when and
it was
used
in
pre-perspective
other arts
paintings,
before
there is
documentation of its essential principles in the fields of stonecutting, engineering and
construction. (Its practical use was called steriotomie in the seventeenth and eighteenth
These practices dealt directly with constructional geometry, with the aid of
two dimensional representation or graphical geometry for simple, dimensional relationships.
centuries.)
When plane geometry proved too complicated for solving three dimensional problems,
solutions were codified using actual models, then reapplied to drawings from
F.
Perruzzi.
St.
Peter's
in
Rome.
Interior
perspective.
calculations of physical dimensions.
Illusionistic isometric images can be found on drawings and paintings that date back to
ancient China,(7) though there is no sense of mathematical construction or use of
rigorous vanishing points until the experiments by Da Vinci, who drew what we refer
to as "cavalier perspective."(8) In his notebooks there are details of buildings that are
depicted in three dimensions with such a distant vanishing point that the images
appear to be axonometric. Often these studies are combined with sectional views of
buildings that help to ground them in a more realistic sense of space. A similar and
popular representation is a study by Baldassari Perruzzi, who collaborated with Sangallo
in the construction of St. Peter's in Rome.
G.
Da
Vinci,
Cavalier
Perspective.
In the foreground of the drawing there is
a ground plan with truncated columns that recede into the distance, each one vanishing
65
C,)
at such a distant perspective point that it seems to have its own set of axes. They
move back into the pictorial space until a sectional perspective view of the altar stops
the view into the distance.
of space doesn't
This kind of synthetic representation
reappear until the drawings of Choisy were published and circulated.
The influential treatises by Auguste Choisy, particularly his /'Histoire De L'Architecture,
(1899),
were inspired by the exhaustive investigations of the mathematician,
Monge, who is known in Europe as the "father of Descriptive Geometry."
and
formualtions
drawings
and
came
about
in reaction
the length of time
to
necessary
the
predominant
to calculate
use
and adapt
of
Gaspard
His ideas
orthogonal
them to three
dimensional space. He defined points, lines and planes and their positions in space by
the use of three coordinates and through a series of illustrative and explanatory
texts
beginning from the most basic spatial relationships to the very complex, analysing them
with the application of mathematical
It is interesting to note that the
fromulae.
precise pen and ink drawings are emphasized by illusionistic techniques. Shadows and
of depth are used in order
the articulation
isometric
images
are perceptually
to clarify his ideas.
confusing and
may
turn inside
Without these,
out or rotate
arbitrarily in space - a device which modern artists later exploited.(9) The methods of
Monge were taught as introductions to mechanical drawing and art from 1800-1950.
Choisy applied the principles laid out in Monge's, Geometri Descriptive, to his own
series of drawings illustrating the principles of architectural construction, proportions
and order throughout history.
"The system has the clarity of perspective and lends
itself to direct measurement."(10) This was the first time that the axonometric system
was methodically used to represent architectural space.
J. A/bers
His writings and meticulous
illustrations were popular with modern architects, though neglected by the proponents
of
Beaux
Arts
constructional
design,
where
considerations.
the plan and
Choisy's
treatises
the elevation
offered
the
took precedence
world
not
only
over
an
67
68
exhaustive collection of carefully calculated and rendered images of building systems,
but
a fascinating
new
view
publications coincided with
of
-
structures
the Beaux
from underneath. Although Choisy's
Arts movement, the constructional views were
not exploited until a quarter century later.
G.
Allen.
"A
Rustic
Shelter,"
prevented the drawing methods of
The widespread influence of Ecole Des Beaux Arts
"Choisy-metric"
the engineering world from crossing professional boundaries. Based upon a tradition of
French Expertise in Classical architecture from the reign of Louis XIV, the school
image
the
was
were
Drawings
conformity
basis
for
every
design.
as artistic
regarded
of technical
representation.
modes of
conventional
emphasized
and
even
though
works,
plan
and
elevations
Sections
precision and individuality
ignored in the presentation.
An axial
they
all
was suppressed.
graphical
its
were
subsidiary.
aspired
to
the
Construction was
Pictorial precision took precedence over building.
Isometric drawing was used primarily in the field of engineering until the reaction of
the modern architects to the Beaux Arts methods of design. "Isometric drawing was
taken up mainly in architecture and building drawing - beams, planking, brickwork
and such like being paticularly suitable for isometric
inherent
squareness
of
these
items and
of
building
representation
in
because of the
general."(11)
The use of
axonometric projection as used by draughtsmen today was first substantiated by Willaim
Farish, who delivered a series of lectures at Cambridge University on the subject of
"Arts and Manufactures, more particularly such as relate to chemistry." (1796)
third and fourth parts were concerned with the "Construction of Machines"
The
conveniences
and
"Hydraulics
and
Civil
Engineering".
He
describes
in
detail
the
and
organization of the drawing and emphasizes that it is particularly suited to the design
of machines.
69
Plate XXM.
oA
-
V
W
-
P
H
L-
J.
18th
Century
engineering
perspectives.
The kind of perspective which is the subject of this paper...I found much
better adapted to the exhibition of machinery; I therefore determined to
adapt it and set myself to investigate its principles and to consider how it
might most easily be brought into practice.(12)
K.
Wi//aim
Farish.
Mechanical
axonometric.
71
In the same lecture he articulates the projection methods and the tools for
construction. The isometric view is considered as similar to perspective, with the "eye"
at an infinite distance in order to make the projection rays parallel.
Although Farish was the first to chronicle a science of axonometric projection, the
theories developed by Monge were adhered to in the practical world due to his
experiential background in applied mathematics. Farish defined a philosophy of
application and outlined major tenets of construction without the use of concise
mathematics that Monge investigated. Monge's work remains the treatise on oblique
projection methods, particularly on the continent, while Farish is better known in
Britan.
---
-
-
<-L
- -------
-
-
--
--
---
--------
7
Many treatises have delineated the methods used in oblique and axonometric projection
but were not used as design tools or presentation means in architecture until after
1920, when powerful movements in art and design were radically altering accepted
notions of space; its constructs and representation. The development of Cubism and
Futurism in the plastic arts, formulated new visions about the nature of space.
Cezanne was one of the first artists to deny the centuries old tradition of perspectival
pictorial space and in his paintings, worked at destroying -the logic of geometry. New
awareness of time and energy propelled by Einstien's work in Physics, momentous
industrial development and experiments with photographic images directly affected the
conceptions, foundations and constructions of buildings. Often aligned with social
movements, various groups of artists circualted manifestos about the relation of art to
society and history, often expounding non-authoritarian philoophies, corresponding with
the suppression of one point perspective.
The Futurists experimented with notions about structure and movement. Their interest
in X-Rays inspired the manifestation of structure and light in their works. The idea
G. Monge
L.
X-Ray
photograph.
73
9;
I
*
If,
~
-0
Li
74
)
5~*
M.
El
Lizzitsky
illustration.
of movement around and through objects became their preoccupation.
"The world's
splendor has been enriched by a new beauty - the beauty of speed...We shall sing of
L1
the man at the steering wheel." (12)
Cubism explodes a subjective, descriptive vision of space and views objects relatively,
from
several
simultaneous
points
of
view.
It
is
impossible
to conceive
a
Cubist
painting from a fixed position; it concerns a continuously moving point of reference.
Picasso confuses the subject/object relationship by trajecting the viewer through space
and his paintings out of their frames.
was
an attempt
to render
the inside
He told Giedon that the painting, "Guernica",
and outside
of a room
simultaneouly.
(13)
Representation rediscovered its roots in primary perceptions. Visual problems posed by
movement, time and shifting object relations laid the new foundation for plastic arts.
Smooth,
chiaroscuoed surfaces
were replaced
by planes, angles and lines that break
down three dimensional surfaces into component parts.
-V
The Futurists in Italy, the Cubists in Spain and France, the Constructivists in Russia,
all with diverse theories hnd aspirations, attemped to rebuild the visual world without
senntiment or the reliance upon traditional methods. Perspective, plasticism and realism
all imply a distancing between viewer and referent.
El Lissitzky, in hs essay, A.
and
Pangeometry, wrote,
\
J%
The Impressionists were the first artists who began to explode traditional
perspective space.
The methods of the Cubists were more radical.
They
pulled the space confining horizon into the foreground and identified it
with the surface of the painting. They built up the solid surface of the
canvas by means of psychological devices (pasted on tapestries, etc.) and
by elementary destruction of form. They built from the plane of the
piicture forward into space....The Italian Futurists used a different approach.
They moved the tip of the visual cone outside the eye.
to stand in front of the object but to stand in iL(14)
They did not want
KvCE1f(t14ECKUV
K6,cTPyv
HII4W
PiCYtfOK.
N.
Malevich.
"Cubist
Construction
Drawing."
75
. ... . . .. ...
P
-
76
....
P....
The plane was the primary expression of volumetric form. Malevitch's early paintings
concerned planar relationships; their rotation, opacity, overlaps and interpenetration.
Lizzitsky points out that the Suprematist space is one that can be formed in front of
the surface as well as in depth. "Thus, Suprematism has swept away the illusion of
three dimensional space on a plane, replacing it by the ultimate illusion of irrational
space with attributes of infinite extensibility in depth and foreground. " Of all the
calculated
dimensional drawings,
three
constructed space in front of and behind
display
painters,
Malevitch
and
Mondrian,
is singular
the axonometric
abstracted
until
Picasso.
"Guernica."
in its ability to
the planar surface.
the plane
0.
it reached
While the
its
final
essence - the flat surface of the canvas - the architects continued to experiment with
planar composition in space. Giedon, in his book, Space, Time, Architecture, claims
that Mondrian and Van Doesberg attempted to "correct the aberration of Cubism".
Van
named after a
Doesberg was a founder of the De Stijl group in Holland,
periodical published by them in 1917. The group was composed of architects, painters,
sculptors and theorists who shared a common set of ethical and aesthetic principles.
They
vehemently
complimentary
creation."(15)
supported
notion
the
collaboration
that "harmonious
environment
Similar to the intentions of
primary
colors and
black,
artists and
should
craftsmen
reflect
grey and
and
the process
the painters, the architects
"palette" to the minimum of creative elements:
three
of
the
of
reduced their
the straight line, the angle, the plane,
white.
Working methods of research
scientists were models for their intellectual activities, which implied an avoidance of
subjective whim and absence of reference
harmony
to it in
the work.
The new concept of
is embedded in a spirit of scientific objectivity and the suppression of
individualism.
The geometry of right angles and straight lines exemplifies this ideology;
these constructs are rerely found in nature.
P.
Theo
Van
Doesberg.
"Diagram
of
A
3-D
Space
Projection."
77
*
wrC
A
C
I.
i
a
t!a5C
p-
.
Rietveld, Schroeder House.
78
The
architecture
these
manifests
example)
by
created
De
Stijl, (Reitveld's
principles.
The
outward
demonstrative of the ideas that govern the design.
surtace,
both vertically
Schroeder
appearance
relationships that dissolves the idea of planar elevation.
intensified
ambiguity,
by the
a
requiring
two
of
the
house
is
Exterior components penetrate the
There is an
and horizontally.
the popular
house is
interplay
of indoor/outdoor
The continuity of space is
dimensional
representation
that can
effectively display it.
Already the new principle of a spatial and functional architecture drawn
according to the axonometric method can be demonstrated.
This mode of
representation allows the simultaneous reading of every part of the house
seen in its right proportions, that is, without vanishing perspectives...the
plan disappears to make way for a system in which both the measures and
the necessary structures can be read. Of course, the whole project from its
foundation to the roof must also be worked out axonometrically"(16)
A modern revival of the use of axonometric drawing was precipitated by an exhibition
of the De Stijl group in 1923. Drawings and designs by Van Doesburg and Van
Esteren displayed the use of the system applied to architecture and paintings which
formed the basis for a new wave of architectural representation. Subsequently, the use
predominated in architeture studios and presentations
of the axonometric
throughout
the 1920's. Perspectives were outmoded, as was the supremacy of the facade.
The predominant use of axonometric construction related specifically to new concepts
about
space
and
form.
The
nature
of
the drawing
and
its construction
evokes
operative processes rather than true visual conceptions of the finished work. It is
these processes and their associations with the spirit of the age that most interested
the artists and architects who were denying the continuation of traditional representation.
Depersonalization,
precision, formulaic procedures and the influence of the scientific
intellect domininated
design attitudes.
The machine
and component production
were
79
............
....................................
reigning metaphors for art and design. The new objectivity didn't allow for emotional
or empirical decisions, and appearances were secondary to fact.
The representation
of objects
is a symbol
for
the real object and
its substantive
qualities. The axonometric drawing is a symbol of the mechanics of an object. It has
capabilities that no other drawing convention has. With one image it portrays a sense
of three dimensional movement in space and doesn't disregard the temporal element.
Our eye can freely move through volumetric space. Our depth of vision continues
infinitely in three directions. It demands precision and can serve as a construction
document. The axonometric itself is a metaphor for design efficiency. It is not an
effective representational tool.
The contemporary fascination with architectural
presentation drawings has stimulated a
proliferation of axonometric images and their metaphorical foundations. The construction
entices
a certain
geometrical
game playing that becomes more provocative than the
object it is suppose to represent. Manipulations of the construction is a device for the
ostensible creation of vanguard space.
Eisenman's House El Even Odd is presented as
three ideograms that seem to be axonometric drawings extruded from three different
levels, but in reality, they portray a house that was carefully designed to produce the
appearance of an axonometric in its representation.
0.
Eisenman.
House
El
Even
Odd
ideograms.
The real object becomes its own
"House El Even Odd is an axonometric object... It explores the conditions of
representation reading in architecture. As such it is concerned with the limits of the
image.
discipline of architecture", states Eisenman. His concerns do not dwell in the realm of
creating dwellings for man, but he seems to delight in the possibilities of man creating
a dwelling. (The term, dwelling, is used here loosely.) The subject and object are
intentionally reversed from the conventional attitudes toward design. The integration of
man and nature is irrelevant. The natural world ceases to exist. "As a program it is
81
SUPERIMPOSITION
OBLIOLIE
ELEVATION
FRONTAL
PLAN
PERSPECTIVE
82
INVERSION
FIRST STAGE TRANSFORMATION
SECOND STAGE TRANSFORMATION
intransigent, so self reflective that it exists not as an object, but merely as its own
representation.
There is no object."
The transformations of El Even Odd tell us more about the process and limitations of
an axonometric illustration than about building.
Eisenman plays a game with a cube,
not one with planes but one composed only of edges, like Calder's wire circus figures.
The planes are implied and we only imagine which are walls and which are floors.
The transformations are understood only in relation to contiguous drawings. Without
the categorical descriptions the three dimensional forms are unimaginable. He states,
"What is reality and what is the sign of that reality are thrown into question."
The
perspective representations at the bottom of the chart are most easily understood. The
use of perspective is directed toward the viewer.
The use of the axonometric is
focused on the object. (17)
Axonometric images display selective facts about an object.
Selective is stressed due
to the construction of the drawing and its tendency to present frontal elements and
their obstruction of background information. The term, object, describes the quintessence
of an axonometric drawing.
is required
addenda.
The
The image is discontinuous with the drawing surface and
to hover in space without the security of ground
form or naturalistic
Trees appear as plywood constructions. People reside in a vertical "flatland".
planar
construction
of
the drawing
forces
all
the elements
into
a
vertical
abstraction.
The axonometric model of House X stretches the concept back to the starting point of
Eisenman's self referential circle.
He builds the model of the completed design and
rotates the plan and elevation/section forty five degrees in order to reemphasize its
origins in the drawing. Our perceptions are challenged.
process, building or drawing?
Are we viewing reality or
We are forced to contort our position to recognize an
R.
Eisenman.
Transformation
Diagrams.
UN4J,
M
inhabitable
view -
idea that contradicts the implied
an
"view"
of an
axonometric
drawing.
"What is reality and what is the sign of that reality?"
Its impossible to move through his axonometric
the drawings of Daniel Liebiskind.
images as one would
representational
move through a built space.
methods
to give
Eisenman's statement applies to
us
an
existential
He exploits the ambiguities of
sense
about
space.
The image
represents ideas, not buildings.
My work is a kind of allegory of the "Mirror of Fools".
I work by
referring to those strata of graphic experience which belong to an obscure
and illegible artificialism: a proto image of convention...these plans, the
Lbeskind
,,beskind.
intention of making visible the abolished distance of architecture's reality,
Csotnometric
bring me closer to building, yet nearer to dwelling. They show me that in
abolishing distance and space, the realm between representaion and the
awesome nature of architecture comes into focus.
These examples provoke questions about the substance of architecture, which may well
have been their intention.
A represenational construction, in the final analysis, is only
as thin as a sheet of paper, regardless of its content. There is a danger in applying
its principles to the making of architecture. A real, third dimension is missing, and
without that, we can acheive nothing more than flat architecture.
Eisenman's houses evoke cerebral, rather than imaginative or intuitive responses.
They
demand a rigorous analysis of his calculations and drawing methods, similar to the
mechanisms of De Stijl.
although
the motivations and processes are different.
The
drawings and the designs have a finely calculated machine look about them, and take
on an importance far greater than buildings.
The house drawings and axonometric model tell more abut facts than appearances. By
using
this particualr
mode
of representaion,
Eisenman
not only
insists that
we
85
1 ~
-~
L
IL5&L
Still
from,
"Man
With
A
Movie
Camera."
investigate objects from a scientifically critical viewpoint, but the method of drawing
We are detatched from a perceptual understanding and wonder if geometrical
as well.
truth leads to more substantial form and space.
The axonometric is the ideal analytical tool for describing objective characteristics of
elments
spatial
architecture.
and
itself
It is extremely
movement,
interior
lends
to
the
of
theories
the
modern
in
movement
useful for giving an impression of three dimensional
construction
image of an exterior.
details or a technical
The
method of construction implies visual distortions, and the use of it as a design tool
could
lock in decisions due to the three point coordinate
isometric
calculated
drawing
precision
doesn't
that
allow
is
one
virtually
to
think
impossible
through
system.
his pencil
to sketch
without
The nature of
and
the
requires
aid
a
of a
straightedge and triangle.
The look, or gestalt of an axonometric is impersonal.
Its distorted, unrealistic image
and bouyant detatchment from the ground denies an experiential understanding of the
space.
Eisenman's houses portray a glaring synthesis of the use and intentions of this
kind of drawing. They purposefully switch the subject/object relationship. The image
and its formitory process is more important than the building itself. Eisenman's houses
are the distillation of the use of a representational system for design purposes.
Freed from the boundaries of time and space, I coordinate any and all
points of the universe, wherever I want them to be. My way leads
towards the creation of a fresh perception of the world. Thus I explain in
a new way the world unknown to you. (18)
D. Vertov
Dziga Vertov's 1929 film, Man With A Movie Camera, impresses us not only by a
timeless and sophisticated vision of the creative and technological world, but by the
87
intentional
objectivity of
the director.
sequences contain
The beginning
scenes composed of subjects that hold dormant kinetic energy:
footage of
a still bicycle in a
The moving image captures what could
store window, an unmanned sewing machine.
be a still photograph, yet the objects quietly wait for impetus. We become aware of
the pith of moving film:
time and sequence.
A drawing or still photograph entices
our imagination to conceive the next, or previous moment. It is an instant. The movie
of a photograph is not. We are manipulated by the motion. Vertov makes us
conscious of this objective scrutiny by the title of the film.
He tells us what we are
about to see; we are shown images and the making of them. A train rushes toward us
and we slip under the cowcatcher with a gasp as the huge machine surges over us.
Subsequently, a cinematographer with his camera climbs out of a hole dug between the
tracks. The camera is a self conscious eye. Venetian blinds open and close. A lens
aperture opens and closes. The camera films the camera.
A
similar
imbued
analytic demand
with
Architecture
an
intellectual
permeates
sterility
Eisenman's
that
is
at
"House"
once
is stripped down to the bare minimum.
processes that beg for attention.
design intentions.
Nothing is suggested.
series.
captivating
What
The designs
and
are
demanding.
is left are images and
Nothing looks superfluous to
The images, and their chosen representations are about the process
of making them, as they are in Vertov's film.
89
"It is not the thing done or made which is beautiful, but the doing. If we
appreciate the thing, it is because we relive the heady freedom of making it.
Beauty is the by product of interest and pleasure in the choice of action."
J.Brownowski
SKETCHES
Digging through the layers of process architectural drawings the way an archaeologist
might uncover evidence deep within the earth will offer clues to the generation of
form
through a personal language, but will never uncover the seeds of inspiration.
Like preliminary sketches, the genesis of an idea is highly individual, usually stated in
a language that adheres to recognizable graphic conventions but ultimately decipherable
only to the draughtsman. In our attempt to peel off the layers of "trace" one by one,
(if we are lucky enough to have access), at best, we can become familiar with an
architect's singular style and the chronological process of transformation.
If we are
able to explore the finished built form, it's possible to begin at the conclusion with
perceptions of actual space, then a decomposition can occur by working backwards
from production documents to the image of the original sketch - the primary image
that documents intention.
91
This investigation, as most regressive studies, might be misleading, unless there is access
to supplemental information. Unless we can personally interview a designer, we can
only speculate about the mental processes
that precede the first image and of the
additional explorations that transpire without graphic illustration.
Due to the amount
of accesible information, this essay is based upon certain assumptions, then continues
with analysis an conclusions based upon them.
If we presume that it's possible to interpret the sketches of an architect, then we can
follow a representative process. It is not necessarily the intricacies of the finished
structure that concerns us as much as the process of transformation and how that is
realized through freehand notation. Clearly, ideas precede representation, but I propose
that the drawn idea instigates thought, and conversely, the way one thinks is actualized
by the character of a sketch. The discussion that follows is based on the supposition
that the sketch of an architect has developed to a maturity that is consistent.
The sketch is a metaphor for an artist's intentions. The first one can be viewed as a
definitive statement of a problem to be solved. It may take the form of a
restatement of
restrictions or requirements,
or it may
be the first
glimpse of a
solution, though its mere existence is the declaration of a new problem statement.
This
visualization allows unimaginable situations to exist, and begins the mechanism of a
"modus operandi"; the statement of a problem, its implications, consequences of those
implications, and a transformation of the original problem, which begins a new cycle.
(1)
The initial diagram of a scheme is generated by an indeterminate number of factors in
addition to the demands of practical requirements. Firmly rooted in contextualism, or
guided by abstract notions exploring geometrical relationships, the first sketch provides
insights into a designer's priorities. Requirements of program and budget often don't
93
appear
until
major
priority over use.
drawings.
transformations
have
occured.
qualities
Spatial
generally
take
It's a difficult task to separate inspiration from practicality in the
A drawing may display
If a language is clear, then ideas may be extracted.
a sense of tension or ease in parts or the whole, a possible indication of unconscious
forces at work.
It would be presumptuous to extract too much information from a preliminary sketch.
A building design demands a series of transformations and requires investigation as a
synthesis of individual stops along a journey of discovery.
transport are highly personal.
may not be comprehended
Itineraries and modes of
Each traveller develops a graphic language that may or
through detailed analyses.
Notation systems are developed
from lines, shading, dots, scratches, smears and words. The substance of materials may
be realized by the energy
or pressure of
lines or shading.
Dots could indicate
tranparency, overlap or a specific material. An architect's language may be analyzed as
would a cryptologist, resulting in a catalogue as reference for marks, or the diagrams
can be viewed holistically, as succesive stages of a final- form.
A thorough examination
must include a combination of both, ultimately leading to an understanding of three
dimensional from and the decisions confronted along the way. The quality of sketches
must be assessed in terms of symbols and significance, not as exemplars of technique.
They are a means to understanding intentions.
Although every designer develops a highly stylized sketching language, each project
assumes
its own
system due to its inherent demands.
The following
pages briefly
investigate the initial sketches and final plans of four architects as an introduction to
the process sketches for the Carpenter Center and the Kimball Art Museum. ( The
choice of specific projects is due to the accesibility of visual materials.)
Each architect
uses the sketch as form generator in a different way and each finished project reflects
the diagrammatic process.
H. H. Richardson,
ARCHITECT.
14 4-
-
".77
~
y
-
Rudolph Arnheim states, "the kernel of artistic creation begins small."
also begin small.
How large is an architect able to think?
pure idea, initially unencumbered by practical concerns.
so do the demands on decisions.
Initial diagrams
In general, a diagram is
As a drawing grows in scale,
The size and scale of drawings affect the way we
think, as do the systems chosen for representation. The spirit of a sketch exemplifies
the spirit of a building.
H.H. Richardson's Ames house sketch (presently located in Houghton Library Archives)
A.
is approximately one and one half inches square. The proportions and articulation of
H.
rooms is well defined, without any indication of experimental adjustment of angles or
sizes.
He
works
requirements
from
around
a
that
strong
cross
framework.
axial
The
concept
centrality
and
of
organizes
the
sketch
the
program
denies
the
possibilities for growth without altering the scheme; one with circulation rooms rather
than hallways.
H.
Richardson.
Ames
House
preliminary
sketch.
Use allocations and spatial details are suggested with verbal notations
and sketchy stair lines. Calculations of square footage is an outstanding factor in this
early stage, and the design seems well controlled by the strong edged perimeter. There
is no suggestion of context.
Formal, interior manipulations are divorced from exterior
conditions.
The sketch displays the hand of experience.
It is roughly drawn
to scale, contains
many program requirements and has the mark of firm decisions. It is a drawing that
pertains to business rather than pleasure. Apparently, Richardson's first concept sketch
was immediately traced over with ink in freehand, then given directly to assistants for
precision draughting.(2) Due to his continuous ill health, the sketches were
of ten done in bed, where the state of his health obliged him to spend
much of his time...A plan two or three inches square embodied his idea.
The ultimate result of his study was inked in over the mass of sof t pencil
marks with a quill pen, and sometimes principal dimensions were figured.
That was usually the end of his work on paper.(3)
97
The
final
original
presentation
sketch.
The
plan contains
layout of room
the exact
is that
only major difference
and access as the
of dimensions.
The general
B.
north/south direction is elongated and the rooms are rectangular instead of square.
Materials and colors are carefully lettered in ink.
reuse
of specific
knowledge.
designs
materials, Richardson's
H.
H.
Due to his familiarity with, and
were partially
based
Richardson.
Ames
House
on apriori
It isn't surprising that his ground floor plan sketches are as dark and bold
final
as the heavy masonry that rises from the ground.
plan.
2
A
US
-M
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AI
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LsAv
j'IJ
"I e 40..06t
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s..f7 I Ob Ui..wLit~.
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16IN
wa
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99
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100
-
A house plan by Alvar Aalto exhibits a sketch style as different from Richardson's as
are their buildings. The loose, vibrating lines give the sense that the pencil was
tenuously held at the top and dragged across the surface of the page. They are not
drawn without intention, but reflect a dialogue between the architect and the lines.
They flicker and dance under the play of strong, imaginary light, contrary to
Richardson's heavy outlines and thick wall masses. The more squiggly are the lines,
the more screen like is that particular area of the finished plan. His pencil clearly
interacts with his finely tuned imagination.
The design is interactive with its environment. Topographic contour lines are drawn in
the surrounding landscape, and move directly into the form, suggesting the splayed
angle of the rooms. The building form responds to its surroundings - an essential
factor in the sketch. As growth and change are inherent in the vicissitudes of nature,
so they are innate in Aalto's drawings. The form itself recalls the spreading of a
peacock's wings, petals opening to drink sunshine or roots reaching out towards water.
The sketch belies intellectual concentration, although the image is not without
foundations of complex considerations. The resulting hard line plan contains minor
differences in relation to room dimensions, though the overall form remains the same.
D.
A.
Aalto.
Maria
House
final
plan.
C.
A.
Aalto.
Maria
House
preliminary
sketch.
-
%
x4.
Ar
4
4.
So designing is similar to gardening, writing, composing, painting, or what
F.
M.
have you. The general diagrammatic intention precedes the actual realization,
one decision leads directly go the next. Associative building is contextual,
so what's already there sets the stage for the next event...We' re not
simp ly repeating a decision
that's already
Smith.
Blackman
House
preliminary
sketch.
made...we don't simply draw
some lines on paper and then allow that single set of restraints control of
the foundation, floors, walls, windows, roof - the whole building.(4)
The house diagram by Maurice Smith did not begin with outlines, as did the last two
examples, It is built up through a process of decisions and reveals various strata, as a
painting displays pentimento. The single sketch unifies the process of three dimensional
spatial layering with certain areas richly embossed with decisions concerning mass, light
and form. At this stage, there is no graphic indication of use, though distinct areas
declare, but are not dictated by a structural grid.
The diagram exhibits a sense of
three dimensional depth without the intervention of a third axis.
Landscape decisions occur simultaneously with interior decisions. The perimeter of the
building is not clarified and inside/outside boundaries are dissolved. Structural columns
40
step outside and become trunks of trees. A singular tree is nestled in the zone of
entry. The smaller sketch reveals the clues to the making of rules. Proportions and
regulating
lines are dictated
surroundings.
by
trees;
the house
is
geometrically
rooted to
its
The final form has a similar complexity and can be understood only
through multitudinous plans and sections or myriad visits to the house.
The previous examples might be called traditional in that a quantity of information
may be extracted from the representations.
reached
a stage
preliminary
of development
drawing
can
embody
They are acheived by artists who have
where many
decisions are
them.
final
The
forms
made
are
at once and
reminiscent
a
of the
attitudes of the initial sketches, if not identical to them. All the examples sing with
E.
M'.
Smith.
Blackman
House
preliminary
sketch.
the spirit of the final form and its generation, and to varying degrees, "lock in"
major concepts.(5)
An alternative to these methods has been proposed by the atelier, Coop Himmelblau,
in Vienna. Its philosphy is embedded in an attitude of dissent and spontaneity.
In a
lecture given to the students at MIT, Wolfgang Prix, the travelling half of the duo,
obliquely referred to creativity/spontaneity:
"Look, if you only have architecture in
your head,
For
that's all that will come out.
example,
if
you only
think
about
Vetruvius, Palladio or Schinkel, then you will only do things like Vetruvius, Palladio or
Schinkel."(6) On dissent, he quotes Erich Fromm: "The history of mankind began with
an act of disobedience and it is not unlikely that it will end with an act of
obedience" Prix and his partner believe that the life and form of a structure is
G.
Wolfgang
produced at the moment of conception. Feeling, thinking and doing are simultaneous
Prix
"psychogram."
acts.
"Entwurf", the german word for conception is a compound of two meanings.
"Ent" signifies unconscious or subconscious human procedure and "wurf" means to
throw or give birth. Their initial sketches, or "psychograms", are derived from these
translations. The sketch is divorced from formal architectural elements and instead is
the psychic expression of feeling about a space or a client's needs. They shut their
eyes with pen in hand and feel the representation emerge.
instant free from pressure, cliche and formalism?"
Prix inquires, "Is this
After the sketch declares itself, a
model is made and the process of drawing, modelling and design dialogue occurs
unsystematically
throughout the remainder of the design process. The final form of
their structure doesn't lend itself to description in conventional architectural language.
The most appropriate explanation comes from Prix: (We want an) architecture that
bleeds, that exhausts, that whirls and even breaks."(7)
As unpremeditated as Prix's subconscious visions might be, the first drawing nas a
decisive impact on the form of the building. In fact, it is even more precious than
105
106
the sketches by Smith, Aalto or Richardson due to the tremendous significance of its
H.
"raison d'etre".
Wolfgang
Prix
Manipulating the sketch implies a reaction to the essence of a project
and infects the spontaneity of its conception. Richardon's initial visions are similarly
fixed,
though his investigative concerns are disclosed by the huge number of detail
drawings
that
metamorphose
throughout the process.
final
section.
The style and substance of
sketches by Smith and Aalto allow and encourage various scales of design decisions.
The
preceding
examples
have
documented vision of a project.
illustrated
the
substantial
influence
of
the
first
Methods, techniques and materials all have an impact
on design thinking, as well as our interpretation of the drawings.
But what of the
entire process - of the countless visions and revisions that follow the first?
The next
section delves deeper into the design drawings of two of this country's most potent
architects.
Louis Kahn and Le Corbusier
development of modern architecture.
their
major
concerns
have had an extraordinary impact on the
A study and comparison of their sketches reveals
and differences, and development
processes.
Major
issues of
concern include;
How much is the initial concept realized in the finished form?
What is the chronology of concerns?
What elements are emphasized and at what point does somethng become
determinate?
What precipitates major transformations?
What is established first?
This is not intended to be a comparison
of
designs, but an analysis juxtaposing specific drawings and finished form.
107
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The Kimball Art Museum, by Louis Kahn, was developed with a strong guiding notion
which appears on the first site plan sketch and never ceases to influence the building.
The notion concerns an exalted integration of structure and natural light. All the
other elements
of design
are subservient.
He concentrates
geometrical forms, their spatial qualities and interaction.
governed
by the Beaux
Arts principles
upon the use of pure
Most of his early works are
from his education
Pennsylvania even though his personal expression
at the University
of those ideals is generated
knowledge and understanding of materials and their construction.
is a natural extension of that comprehension.
of
from
Architectural detailing
"If we were to train ourselves to draw
as we build from the bottom up, when we do, stopping our pencil to make a mark at
the joints of pouring or erecting, ornament would grow out of our love for the
expressive method."
he speaks.
(8) Kahn's drawings do not initially present the concern of which
They are generated from large, abstract ideas, represented by hard, linear
perimeters acting as reinforcements. Though his ideas are not dictated by the linear
boundaries
he sets,
they
are
dependent on
the structural
system
implied
if
not
illustrated in the drawings from the start. Every sketch is organized by a deliberate
sense of order. Highly intellectual constructs permeate the designs.
Corbusier, as opposed to Kahn, often creates his first sketch from a volumetric image.
Unlike the flat, linear articulation that we see in the sketches of Richardson or Aalto,
Corbusier.
he indicates an impression of three dimensional form by a tiny perspective drawing.
Carpenter
The
Center
pre/iminary
first
sketch
of
the
Carpenter
Center
was
made
pondering. (9) What emerged on 1 April, 1960, is a drawing
after
just
three
months
of
large enough to show
sketch.
109
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some details and to suggest major conceptual notions; stacked, curved volumes hovering
above the ground on pilotis, a long processional ramp piercing through the center then
protruding
out the back
green crayon.
V.
and substantial foliage on various levels, emphasized
Exhibition...Ondulatories everywhere ascending way."
Sculpture. III.
II.
His annotations read; "1. Pllotis all over.
with
Painting.
All the documented principles
are retained in the built structure.
Corbusier was most concerned with the overall form of the building, but specifically,
the
way
according
it sits within
to their use.
the larger surroundings
and the significance
of
the spaces
His initail statement was best manifested as a formed object
that could be understood by anyone attempting to read the representation. Regardless
of its scientific accuracy in terms of dimensions of perspective methods, the image
embodies an immediate perceptual understanding.
Yes, the general rule commanding life is play...When a client of mine
stuffs my head with such and such little requirements, I accept, yes I
accept up to the point where I say no, impossible. For then the thing gets
out of the rules of my game, of the game in question...of this
combination whose rules have emerged at the moment of creation, have
developed, affirmed themselves, becoming commanding.(10)
One week after the first sketch, an orthoganal representation appeared.
It portrays the
elements of his process at the larger contextual scale. The drawing is neither a site
JCorbusier.
plan nor a building plan. It incorporates Corbusier's major concepts as they relate to
the surroundings. While the existing structures reinforce the rectilinear Beaux Arts
Carpenter
Center
Grid and their frontal relation with Quincy Street, the new form adopts the angles of
sketch.
second
the pathways of Sever Quadrangle as its axes. (All these elements are drawn in his
conventional yellow to denote circulation,) The bottom of the ramp at Quincy Street
splays out to incorporate all the major
perpendicular
to
the original,
directions, then
crosses itself
at an
loops around
undefined
level,
then
on an axis
terminates
111
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gradually
parallel
the path
to
from which
it
started.
This abstraction
synthesizes
Corbusier's attitudes in a quick, bold, diagrammatic sketch.
Kahn's site plan sketch preceded
the first interior plan sketch.
The larger form has
been decided, based on a guiding structural system of similar consecutive vaults with
light wells piercing the roof in seemingly arbitrary places.
Its form is a huge, low
K.
lying rectangle that isn't influenced by the geometry or conditions of the site. "Form
has nothing to do with circumstantial conditions", says Kahn. (11) In fact, the second
L.
Kahn.
project shifts the long axis of the building, but not the direction of the vaults.) Using
a thick piece of charcol, he begins to manipulate the elements and they inform the
Plan
overall composition.
large
box,
presence
The third site plan sketch emphasizes major spatial elements; a
delineated
with
of the auditorium.
thick
edges ground
into
the
Site
Sketch
second
version.
the major
sheet denotes
Other major elements include the -allocation of smaller
spatial components that seem to be placed randomly within the major linear expression
of overhead beams that support the directional vaults.
The composition is secondary to its structural statement.
artists
architects
and
structural
had
very
different
reality, whereas Corbusier
compositional
element.
concerns.(12)
Kahn firmly believed that
His sketches
is initially indifferent to structure
(Le Messieure, a structural consultant
are
based
in
except as a
on the site, has often
told students about the enormous complications in making the structural system work.)
Many of his architectural forms can be discovered in his paintings. The particular,
freehand, curved shape is a common motif.
The quality of the sketch is indicative of Corbusier's attitudes. The size of the sheet,
91.5 x 92 cm, allows enough room for his whole arm to generate the sweeping,
defiant gesture of ovals and diagonals against the rigidity of large boxes on a grid.
Circulation routes are emphasized as a deteriming notion. The diagonal hatching along
see
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Quincy
Street
reinforces
Sever
between
intersection
the
movement
the
realizing
direction,
Carpenter
the
and
Triangle
that
in
The
Center.
important
surrounding
buildings are colored in brown crayon, the curves and preliminary dotted structure are
red and the ramp is mauve - a color that combines the yellow tone of circulation
and the red tone of the building.
It isn't until the third sketch, accomplished on the same day as the larger plan, that
This is the first time that other tools are
there is any hint of the area requirements.
used besides the pencil or crayon. A common procedure is Corbusier's atelier was to
utilize mechanical devices only as a means for engineering.(13) As opposed to sketch
-drawings by Wright or Rudolph,
design process.
the mechanics of drawing never interfere with the
(Perhaps this attitude corresponds with the abundance of sculptural
forms in his work, rather than an obsessive preoccupation with linearity or overworked
geometries.) The third drawing is the beginning of a schematic plan and sections,
illustrating
the
requirements.
use of
cardboard
("papiers
pieces
These serve as devices that mediate between
paper and the three dimensions of model.
overlap
to
decoupes")
create
intersticies
and
serve
cut
the
to specific
area
two dimensions of
They can define proper square footage,
as straight edges
for
lining,
all
without
forfeiting the advantages of sketching.
is the building of meticulous models and
formality of hard lined plans. His creative process is sporadically checked by the
precision of mechanics. The sketch process can then freshly begin with a measured
base. The final version of the plan before the ninety degree axial shift concentrates
Interspersed
throughout
on a clear definition
nature
are defined by
Kahn's proces
of indoor/outdoor
the structural
spaces.
system.
The previous suggestive strokes of
The sketch
is analagous
to a child's
plastic puzzle, where letters slide about on a cartesian grid to form crosswords.
"rooms" are locked into their positions and circulation moves freely around them.
L.
Kahn.
Plan
sketch,
gallery
level.
The
115
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-
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-
Circulation emerges as a free flowing, continuoius movement that is interrupted only
by these "objects".
The drawings are quick and deliberate, as if there are too many
ideas to chronicle at one time.
The site plan tells about the image of the building.
Views from various angles and a small perspective sketch denote a sense of objective
with
explanatory
perception
supplemented
structure.
Corbusier's sketches never
fixed.
movement
notes concerning
give the impression
towards
that something
the
is rigidly
Elements are drawn with tentative strokes, and suggest the freedom of change
and movement that is expressed in the larger form of the building.
His plan sketch of May 1 1960, (level three) illustrates his concerns. The painting
studio on the right is littered with objects: easels? tables? general painting
paraphanalia?
It doesn't matter what the objects are, but how and why they exist.
Drawn with spontaneity and an aura of contingency, we are given an indication of the
freedom
he cares so much about.
Nothing is rigidly locked
architects demand precise furniture placement).
into a scheme.
(some
The elements of occupation can shift
as the movement of the sun and its shadow slide around the exterior curve.
M.
Corbusier.
Sketch
plan
of
Level
3.
Edges are drawn in specific colors, denoting light, mass and movement. Corbusier
believed that sunlight demands three colors to indicate its astatic qualities. Blue is used
for soft, northern studio light and its compliment, red, emphasizes the direct light and
heat of the sun at noon. Orange denotes the early morning rays and the remaining
lines, colored in black, are solid walls that completely block the sun.(14)
Kahn also uses color in his drawings, though it is representative of clear, static
concepts.
"Nature" is portrayed by the use of the side of the chalk, emphasized by
the character of energetic, calligraphic strokes. Long, white squiggles running contrary
to the direction of the building indicate the essential structure of light. Small section
sketches reveal how the light enters and is modulated.
"The light will give a glow of
117
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474
Plan
sketch.
Fourth
version.
L.Kahn
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Plan
sketch,
third
version.
L. Kahn
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120
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silver to the room without touching objects directly, yet giving the comforting feeling
of knowing the time of day." (15)
In
the third
site plan sketch,
the overhead
suggested
beams are merely
by
their
N.
L.
Kahn.
support. Double sets of columns take the place of bold perimeter walls and define the
edges of the primary circulation routes, running longitudinally through the center of
Colored
site
the structure.
sketch
fourth
The use of color defines differing functions. Black is chosen for hard
structure and vehicular patterns. "Landscape" is scribbled in ochre, the fountains are
blue and white, major circulation is orange and the oval geometry in the auditorium is
crimson, the apparent heart of the project.
Kahn's drawings are large. His expression of spatial elements is drawn with a strength
of hand that is constantly working on all parts of the drawing.
tentative and his notation suggests a three dimensional spatiality.
Decisions are not
Masses and walls are
boldly defined. Structure and movement are omnipresent.
His methods, as presented by his sketches, is derived from a strong, formal concept
and progresses through a series of interior manipulations that suggest perceptual visions.
Although the sketches are freehand, the lines are guided by the inherent structural
system and are reminiscent of archetypal geometries.
The freedom of the movement
within geometric constructs in Kahn's inspiration. This is the essence of his work; the
designs evolve from a foundation of pure geometries . Their interrelationships,
construction and detailing are mediated by experience and sensual intuition.
Corbusier approached his ideas with a different attitude.
the
concepts
take
precedence
over
constructional
Form dictated structure, and
considerations.
Many
of
the
intermediate sketches are not by the architect, but by his chosen assistant, Jullian de
la Fuente. His major job was to engineer the primary or poetic decisions made by the
plan
version.
PN
,0 o
Corbusier
travel
sketch.
master. Fuente's sketches are bolder and more precise that Corbusier's. The curvlinear
studios are redrawn as rectangles, and sections appear that display edges and
fenestration, but always maintain the essence of Corbusier's ideas accenting movement,
light, volume and greenery. ("Unable to put his building in the yard, he would do the
other thing, put the yard in it.")(16) Many of the drawings were played as a duet,
though Corbusier's influence is always apparent by the elements depicted and the
drawing conventions used. These things are clearly indicative of what his buildings
represent. He strove to create buildings that were truly democratic; that suppressed
concepts of hierarchy and embraced everyone without prejudice. The stamp of the
modular man not only displays a system of proportions within the body, but is used
to demonstrate the condition of regulating lines in facade. Man and building are
united dimensionally. The idea of the universal man permeates all of his work. Even
his sketchbooks show a concern with simple, everyday activities.
All Corbusier's sketches have a childlike quality and we receive a similar pleasure in
interpreting them as he probably had in producing them. He always carried a selective
set of crayons tied with a rubber band ready to document a sensation or an idea.
The crayons captured a spirit that was never lost in the careful scrutiny, deliberation
and consultation that carried through projects to their end.
A design sketch is a documentation of thought. It might stand alone as a momentary
statement of purpose having its own intrinsic time, with each dot and scribble
proclaiming, "eureka", or it may be viewed as a small island in the continuous river
of the design process. In that case we follow ideas that form a continuity, and watch
a process of transformation. We are able to gain insights into a designer's priorities,
even more specifically than writings could tell. Design drawings say more than words.
They are fresh, spontaneous and offer an image unhampered by adjectives. Although
r
123
personal styles dictate medium and methods, the quality of a sketch introduces
the
quality of a building.
Kahn and Corbusier begin with a powerful initial image.
The transformations never
dramatically alter the first documented impression. Instead they shape interior space to
complete the vision. Richardson begins with similar force, but most of the mental
processes are complete even before the first sketch.
There isn't much room for trial
and error. Smith's process of layering the sketch is reflected in his intricate spatial
forms
and
connections.
mind
and
Aalto's sensitive dialogue
with himself
is exhibited in
materials and
All the architects have developed a sophisticated communication between
hand.
Their
sketches
tell
stories
that
words
cannot,
and
present
an
immediacy of thought and process that neither buildings nor standard drawings can.
125
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clzmo"
IIIXOPPPP,
fosgoijopw
1000
"She blinded me with science."
Thomas Dolby
THE TOOLS OF DRAWING ARCHITECTURE
Every drawing is made with
the aid of
tools.
In
the literal definition, they
are
devices that we use to facilitate visual description. Anything from a stick of charcoal
to the technical sophistication of the computer can aid the delineation of buildings. In
a figurative sense, the idea of tools may constitute styles, or methods of design or
depiction. Throughout history, many buildings were created from certain "prescriptive"
Either way, the tools of representation have an influence on the way an
image is produced, and that influence extends through the design procedure. The tools
techniques.
we choose inevitably have an effect on a finished product.
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The tools of architectural design have developed in response to the changing needs of
the designer in order to facilitate a working process or new idea.
originally a craftsman.
The architect was
Although representational styles changed, the tools for making
drawings were well connected within one discipline until the powerful influence of the
Industrial Revolution, which broke the craft tradition.
separated from the users.
The making of tools became
The designers became separated from the builders and the
mass produced product radically altered the design procedure.
is the separation of human interaction.
a loss of one to one correspondence.
Whitney
states,
"Designing
for
a
Separation of industries
Quality takes on new meanings when there is
On the effects of the Industrial Revolution, G.
mass
audience
required
a
large
number
of
compromises in order to reach a level of average acceptability."(1)
This article explores relationships; the primary one is of the designer and the tools of
design, the secondary is of the tools of design and the resulting creations and the last
implied relationship is that of the tools and the people who are indirectly connected
of drawing instruments, though a thread of the evolution of instrument technology is
A.
Geometric
proportions
of
important in the understanding of the architect's craft. More significantly, the tools
man.
to them by virtue of the built environment.
It is not an history of the development
should be viewed not just as a medium for the expression of ideas, but as active
participants in the design and execution of a finished product.
Albeit a bit risky to
conjecture that our ideas are influenced by the techniques of drawing, and since that
process is mediated by the tools we utilize, that designs are affected by the method in
which they are expressed, some connections can be made.
Following is a synthesis of
fact and speculation: examples of specific instruments , their purposes and in addition,
ruminations on how the instrments affect the environment, even if only in subtle and
subconscious ways.
129
Long before architecture
ancient
times
was an independent
incorporated
integrated
occupation,
disciplines.
the design
He was
professional of
simultaneously
surveyer,
engineer, mathematician and planner, war strategist and mediator to the Gods.
His
tools were simple and direct, applicable to all the allied fields. The subdivision of
land for agriculture first necessitated mechanical extensions of the body for geometrical
purposes. Competitions between tribes forced the subdivision of land and its respective
custodies.
(The word, geometry, means land division in ancient Greek.) Straight lines
were found to be directly measureable with the use of knotted lines, and problems
concerning the most efficient cutting and piling of stones generated the geometrical
magic of the right angle.
Reference is made to crude levelling and surveying devices
that had to use mathematics for their efficiency.(2) The science of mathematics was
developed
from the need for solving physical problems.
Tools for the execution of
The earliest explorations in astronomy,
ideas were integral to mathematical processes.
optics, cartography and construction all relied on similar tools and equations, as the
disciplines were all based on the rudimentary laws of geometry.
demanding
environment
originally formed
sciences.
today,
it's
easy
to overlook
the fact
With our complex and
that buildings
were
through mathematical principles that laid foundations for all the
The purity of form symbolized the elevation of the human mind and its
B.
Positioning
the
style
of
a
sun
dial
for
determing
lines
parallel
to
collaboration with the higher or mystical orders.
Euclid was the first to document geometrical truths, although his experiments were
limited to figures formed by straight lines and circles. The conic sections:
ellipses,
the
earth's
axis.
1643.
parabolas, hyperbolas,were known, though the understanding and application of these
shapes was circumscribed.
Pure, geometrical
forms and their computations
formed a
basis for the art of building, and are epitomized by the Parthenon and ancient theatre
structures.
Vitruvius, in his work, On Architecture, writes about the knowledge and
techniques
required
of
the architect.
He stresses a concern
for a union between
131
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132
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science and craftsmanship.
An architect must be a man of letters that he may keep a better record
with notes. Then he must understand the art of drawing that he may be
able the more easily to show in painted pictures what will be the intended
appearance of a finished building. Geometry again furnishes many
resources to architecture. First it teaches the use of ruler and compass,
whereby the plan of buildings may be more easily shown on a flat surface
with the direction of right angles, plane surfaces and straight lines...By
arithmetic indeed the costs of a building are calculated the divisions of the
whole are explained and difficult problems of symmetry are solved by
geometric laws. (written between 25-23 B.C.)
The primary drawing tools that we use today are developed from prototypes found in
antiquity, and their refinements are concerned
more with the progressive need for
speed and accuracy rather than from revelations about the nature of space.
space hasn't. changed.)
In fact, all our contemporary drawings could be acheived with
the use of ancient apparatus and a consummate comprehension of
algebra.
geometry and
A straightedge and a set of dividers constitutes the fudamental equipment for
drawing architecture.
can
(After all,
be
calculated
formulations
were
With these two items, the most simple to most complex forms
with
not
the
worked
two
out
instruments.
In
mathematically,
ancient
but
times,
many
constructionally,
of
in
the
three
dimensions, with the use of real objects in space. They were not drawing, but building
tools.
There was no purpose for preliminary drawings due to the nature of on site
design and construction. The structures themselves served the purpose of documentation.
The discoveries of ancient mathematicians and the tools used to transcribe them served
C.
as foundations for systems of proportions, regulating lines and classical forms used and
and
"Mathematical
reused by designers for centuries. Le Corbusier, in, Towards A New Architecture,
Geometrical
begins his chapter on "Regulating Lines" with:
problems"
133
134
The necessity for order. The
An inevitable element of architecture.
regulating line is a guarantee against willfullness, it brings satisfaction to
the understanding. The regulating line is a means to an end; it is not a
recipe. Its choice and the modalities of expression given to it are an
integral part of architectural creation.
The regulating line is derived directly
underlying
from geometrical principles, the schematization
an ordered unity of parts. The order of regulating lines originates from
proportional triangles, but also is found in pure geometries and their intersections.
The
multiplication of lines can become very complex with the use of logarhythmic spirals
and root rectangles. These relationships and their geneses in natural forms fascinated
Corbusier. The use of lines in general appealed to him. Corbusier's paintings display a
D.
continuing exploration of contours and three dimensional form.
Corbusier
"It is the outline of
/ine
things which explain their volume" said he.
drawing.
The use of the line is the most elementary means of communication.
It is the first
notation a child uses for graphical expression even though it is essentially abstract. No
true lines exist in nature. A line is the fundamental element in geometry and drawing.
Everything can be represented by abstracting it to its contours, and planar or spherical
volume can be expressed by the layering of lines.
elements.
They are symbols of naturalistic
It is the abstractedness that serves objective functions such as measurement,
direction and location. Subjective characteristics can also be delineated. Line quality is
emotional and can be described and imagined by the use of animated adjectives: bold,
flimsy, stuttering, solid, intoxicated, tenacious, etc.
Almost anything can be used as a line marker in architectural drawings, as evidenced
by Kahn's rough charcoal sketches and Aalto's delicate line images.(3) The choice of
instruments tells about the way one thinks. Instruments for manual line drawing have
undergone limited modifications since the invention of ink in the fourth millenium,
B.C.
Before that, a stylus made from bone, hardwood or metal served to scratch
135
136
marks into soft wax or clay.
Accuracy in drawing was not compulsory. The invention
of paper in the third millenium, B.C. fostered the use of the pen, or reed pen, made
by sharpening and splitting the end of a natural stalk. Due to the fragile nature of
paper and the palimsest, very few pre thirteenth century plans survive today. Scholars
maintain that medieval and gothic structures were designed and built with the use of
full scale templates or drawings of parts which they felt no need to preserve once the
building was erected.
The
intricate
tracery,
vaulting and
rose windows
of Gothic
structure were created by the use of a compass and wing dividers.
As the form and style of architectural structures changed, so did the tools used for
their
representation.
The
earliest chronicle
of line
drawings
is
that of
Villard
d'Honnecourt, who sketched ground plans, elevations, details and furniture of buildings
throughout Europe. (1235) The annotated, freehand sketches, done with ink on vellum
(calfskin) have careful edges and are further described with geometric analyses, though
they are as flat as the paper itself, with no graphic hint of volume, materials, or
spatial depth. As these were not design drawings, but ones produced after construction,
he was concerned only with the impression and the facts. The Gothic structures he
recorded
were composed
of a filigree
of
lines on surfaces and his drawings
are
evocative of that. Honnecourt's sketchbooks are conjectured to be the reason for the
rapid spread of gothic forms throughout Europe.(4) Printing and publication might be
seen as another "tool" that has a tremendous influence on design, which will be
discussed in more detail later.
The development of perspective in the sixteenth century demanded the invention and
use of new drawing devices, even though Alberti's treatise on architecture, De Re
Aedificatoria, (the first formal distillation of ideas concerning proportion, the orders
and town planning.)
advised architects against the use of perspective and advocated the
traditional methods of design, the ground plan and the model. Vertical dimensions and
E.
Villard
D'Honnecourt
sketchbook
drawing.
138
volumetric shapes were determined by proportions conceived in the plan.
the design and drawing of architecture,
Lines ruled
though an obsession with the delineation
three dimensional space soon overwhelmed the fields of art and architecture.
of
Depth
and forshortening was first introduced in paintings, not in architecture, though it was
essentially a non-mathematical,
intuitive device.(5) The field of painting made a huge
impact on the represenation of architecture, and the image of buildings.
In the perspective experiments of Leonardo, and later, Durer, there are traces of three
dimensional construction lines as well as object contour lines. They both built
sophisticated machinery in order to view the world as if through a "picture plane",
and space was shown with a mathematical objectivity.The use of the grid predominated,
and drawings of the early Renaissance concentrated on the outlining of elements,
rather
than of larger, integrated
wholes.
James Ackerman surmised that the high
Rennaissance architects thought of the elevation as a "neutral field into which plastic
elements are set at intervals. Therefore, the facades of structures could be "expanded
and contracted at will."(6) Facade drawings by Leonardo and Bernini have a dancing
line quality, as if the sun is dissolving the edges into a mass of shimmering elements.
They were also pictured without sites.
The building was self contained
through its
isolation and dimensions.
Perspective drawing required highly precise
marked
a
plateau in
the advancement
instruments, and the seventeenth century
of all kinds of technical
tools.
Progressive
metallurgy skills allowed refinement and durability in very small implements.
Split
blade pens that adjusted with brass screws, to vary the thickness of line and pens with
dual line possibilities expediated the processes and enhanced the making
of images.
Drawings were still only a means for visualization, not for production. Master builders
sufficed for measured drawings.
Apparently, Michelangelo drew the details in front of
the masons in order to convey "a vivid experience rather than calculated measured
F.
A.
Durer.
"Drawing
of
A
Woman."
C~a 3
~2~'~L~&
constructions
endeavor
for carving."(7)
that required
In any case, the copying of drawings was a laborious
the careful transfer of calculations with dividers from one
drawing surface to the next. Another method was to prick holes through the original
drawing to a blank sheet underneath, and then to reline with pen and ink. Dividers
were used to scratch the vellum and the scores were filled in later with pen and ink.
Ink washes were used more and more on drawings of the late Renaissance, influenced
primarily by Bramante, who was trained initially as a painter.
He believed
methods
his buildings contain
of
illusionistic
artists and
devices
that
architects
were interchangeable
are
in the
used
construction
and
of
two
that the
dimensional
space.
Perspective was a visual game that altered the concepts of a gothic, linear style of
design
to
a
plastic,
painterly
architecture.
The
constructional
device
brought
the
separate, floating elements into a unified whole with a distinct focus. The use of ink
wash on drawings fills out the volumes and emphasizes the sense of depth and the
play of light and shade. Niches and hollows are rendered in greys and blacks, while
projective elements maintain the brightness of the paper. The use of wash binds the
formerly disparite pieces. Seventeenth century and baroque drawings concern the total
effect
of a building
in its environment.
The abstract qualities
of line and the
representation of individual elements is subjugated by a preoccupation
with overall
massing and the pictorial image.
Unecessary for full sets of working drawings to be produced, the architectural image
was made by the architect for personal exploration and as a sales tool for potential
clients.
The
etching
process
promulgated
the
sales
and
spread
of
architectural
presentation drawings in the next century, and without analysing effect of Baroque and
Rococo, it's imperative to mention the influence of Piranesi, whose work altered the
image of architecture and radically influenced the neo-classicists, who were already
reacting against the unrestrained ideas of the former styles. Piranesi earned a living as
G.
Seventeenth
Century
facade.
IT 7lli'l ae /ituum I
itra,
ti
142
.Pi2".t
//,A 1 , ,/iP
4
rta,
iu',rJ
J-AT,.F
Lzuren/upriI-
-Xmlrmjanai
air/af
1
a /ieiu, i.
In& rn.r . -P 7~-07 r'e
/
-e
Lin.I
An
a commercial draughtsman and began by selling his pictures on the streets of Rome.
His exaggerated visions of reconstructed Rome inspired flocks of tourists to visit (and
be disappointed
by)
the comparitively
tiny crumbles
engravings set fire in the minds of classicists.
that
remained.
His
published
They combined a preoccupation with
H.
the pure, simple Classical ideal and an imaginative force that included sharp contrasts
Piranesi.
"The
Aqueduct
of
of light, low perspective viewpoint and greatly exaggerated scale and the integration of
landscape
with architecture.
Piranesi's
redefinition
of stylistic
tools catapulted
the
Aurelain."
romantic movement in European architecture.
Pen, ink, and etchings were not the sole means for the illustration of ideas. Graphite
was discovered
in the sixteenth
century,
and its advantages
and disadvantages are
apparent. A sharpened piece can take the place of two drawing tools, the pen and the
brush.
Both lines and tones are easily depicted and can be rubbed out and altered
with the vicissitudes of the process. Graphite interacts with paper without becoming
absorbed and reduces the possibilities of creeping or blotchy images.
attribute
that
makes
it
ephemeral.
Pencil
drawings
must
be
well
It is the same
protected
for
longevity.
I
AKA
FEW
METHODS
OF
2
COMBINING
13
GROUPS
4
OF
15
LINES
GRADING ITONES
143
The invention and development of paper had a profound effect upon the design of
architecture. Papyrus, created from the stems of the tall sedge, Cyperus Papryi, was
used for a thousand years until the invention of parchment or vellum.
Although the
new material ws costly, due to its preparation from raw skin, it was not as brittle as
papyrus and could accomodate writing on both sides. The discovery coincided with the
earliest traces of architectural drawings, though it wasn't until the printing press was
invented in 1450, that the use of paper spread and designers began to work out
different
solutions before consturction.
The sheets were larger
than parchment, and
due to the time and cost of production, most design examples from the Renaissance
have numerous studies on one sheet.
Gradually, vellum was replaced by paper made
from pulped rags, which probably allowed a new looseness in freehand drawing. Paper
was produced in separate sheets by hand until 1799, when a machine was devised for
forming it on a continuous web. Translucency was acheived through a slow process by
soaking the sheets in linseed oil and drying them before images could be perceived
through them. Eighteen fifty marked the year for the production of tracing paper as
we are familiar with today.
"Trace" revolutionized the world of architectural design.
Though to a large extent,
designers relied on pattern books and classical elements, the new product allowed them
to visualize almost as fast as they could think with the use of overlays and ghosting
images. As paper was more accesible and expendable, so could be design decisions.
Paper, as a tool, had other influences as well.
-
m-4
.
-
4b-
i-
eV
-
V
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-
-%
-
6§
.
Thomas
Jefferson
was
the first
known user of
Surprisingly, the invention of gridded
graph paper
as
a design
tool.
paper was not in the field of engineering, but
in crafts. Silk weavers used it as a graphic pattern and picture code for their looms,
Jefferson.
not as a metric device.
u
of
Colored
and open squares denoted used or unused warps.
Jefferson's discovery inspired the use of the module system for design. Graph paper is
a useful tool in lieu of the metrics and orthogonals that a drawing board provides,
though the grid may well govern what we see and do. The Renaissance Picturesque
tradition,
beginning
in
the 1850's,
contradicted
Jefferson's
calculated
precision
Rotunda,
Virginia.
182 .
and
addressed harmony with nature.
As important as the simple tools, paper, pen and pencils, are to our design decisions
as mediators
between ideas and graphics, they in
themselves don't serve the larger
The shift from architect as craftsman/builder to the
emergence of discrete professional roles of architect and builder demanded new
methods of drawing reproduction. Woodblock printing was a laborious process and
requirements of the profession.
relied upon the careful use of wood chisels which are not particlarly sensitive to line
qulaities and not at all to shades or tones. Etching and engraving was a faster method
but was still a step away from actual drawing. An engraving is made after .a drawing
is completed. The introduction of lithography in the early nineteenth century, provided
the means for an exact replica to be produced regardless of the medium of the
original drawing.(8) Lithography could preserve the expressive advantages of the pencil
and many renderings were drawn specifically to be reproduced by the means.
The growing demands of the architect within the office brought about the development
of copying machines, and those machines in turn, promoted a technical efficiency that
changed design methods.
147
fig
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r
4
/iq.
I
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li
1)
I'
:7
r
I
3!
-~
h.~.
_______
I
In
the
triangular
century,
nineteenth
compasses
distances of three points simultaneously.
expediated,
an accurate reproduction
were
introduced
to
transfer
the
J.
Although the copying process was somewhat
was a painstaking
Pantograph.
process until the advent of
tracing paper. Pantographs and proportional compasses aided the making of copies by
enlarging and reducing by one half or two times. For over two hundred years, from
1598, an instrument called the Architectonic Sector was used for calculating ratios and
sides of angles and triangles. It was the mechanical precursor to the slide rule and
electronic calculator but could also calibrate the proportions of the five architectural
orders and aid in drawing them to any scale. The use of classical ordering systems
dominated architectural design through the turn of the twentieth century.
Blueprintting, invented in 1870, substantially changed the methods and time necessary
to produce sets of drawings for the building trades. Not only did it make possible the
dissemination of sets to various professionals involved in construction by reducing
draughting costs, but it freed the designer to spend more time on creative work. The
architectural office as small business was created. A hierarchy was established between
the designer and the production team. The blueprint established the drawing as a legal
document,
and
the head
architect
took
on
a
critical
responsibility.
Government
intervention established rules for public safety and architecture was subjugated by its
own design process.
The blueprint
machine denied
the worker as much individual
responsibility as before. These innovations in the profession also took emphasis away
from
the
apprentice
system
and
placed
it
on
education,
which
encouraged
a
preoccupation with theory and formalism.
Another factor that altered the making of drawings and forced a division of labor in
the architectural office was the rise of illustrative publications. In 1876, the first
major journal of
architecture, American
1hj,1
Architect and Building News, appeared.
Mass production of drawings placed a new emphasis on the quality of the presentation
11i-p,,tntxrrfn
lt 2. Il
149
Good hue
Z::.~
ppr
,;
'ir"dazzle"
rendering.
-V'
150
it
and the illustrations of architecture took on a competitive significance. The profession
of illustrator was established as separate from the architect or draughtsperson and the
emergence of architectural competitions demanded that major offices hire "ghosts" or
"perspectivists"
to elaborately
present
drawings was derisively referred
designs.
finished
The preparation
of
these
in washing", though ultimately, the
to as "taking
renderers had a great influence on design thinking, similar to Piranesi a century
earlier. Stylistic conventions were borrowed from the arts of painting and photography
arid illustrations of buildings took on their own inner life. The possibilities of popular
consumption spread
images of certain styles.
refers to as "democratization of the image."
This enforced
what Lewis Mumford
Clients, as well as designers were able to
adopt and adapt to certain stylistic looks. William Hubbard makes a clear argument
for this in his book, Complicity and Conviction. The technique of the scenographic
style influenced by John Ruskin's , Elements of Drawing, and later, Arthur Guptill's,
Rendering In Pen And Ink, created compositions of formal elements, textures, tones
and line qualities. The resulting picture became a preferred image of a building. He
contends that many decorative details grew out of the requirements of the rendering.
"One way the architects of this scenographic era made these decisions was to ask
themselves, what will make this sketch a good picture?"(9)
Later, the individual techniques of renderers such as Hugh Ferriss, made a persuasive
impact on the ideas of designers and the public. With his dramatic charcoal sketches
of the New York skyline, published in Metropolis of Tomorrow, he intentionally gave
K.
Buildings were
H.
birth to a vision of the city that was composed of abstracted elements.
black monoliths rendered in distinct planes of light and shade. He wrote,
Ferriss.
"Cring
"Crowding
Towers."
Even in commisioned illustrations, a delineator should aspire to be more
than a mere copyist, he should interpret the architectural significance of a
building...beyond
this,
too,
the
renderer
should
assume
even
greater
151
152
responsibilities in the future, to serve as a guide in city planning, to assist
in evolving new types of architecture and to strengthen the psychological
influence of architecture on human values.(10)
His predictions are correct, though dangerous. Ferrisses illustrations are not far from
the skylines of glass and steel so prevalent today. Mass consumption of architectural
images had enormous influence. Not only did the personal visions of architects and
illustrators create expectations that suggested certain prejudices, but they fabricated a
paper world. No longer did people have to experience the values built in a real place,
they could rely on interpretations given to them through magazines.
The refinement of photographic processes also altered drawing techniques and imaging
in general. Photomontage was utilized during design stages, and bits and pieces of
structures
existing
composites.
sharp
and
be
could
assembled
quickly
order
in
to
create
imaginative
Architectural design could build on its actual image with the aid of the
detailed focus of the camera. As early as 1857, the Architectural
Photographic Association was founded to promote "sharpness and precision...of the
The "dazzle technique", used by well publicized renderers
delineation of buildings"
such
as Henry
Kirby
and
Bertram Goodhue,
initiated
the crisp light
and bright
reflections on windows and wavy puddles similar to the way a camera captures the
qualities of light.
Light, glass, reflection and transparency were promoted by the precision of the camera
and
by technological
permeated
the
advances
drawings
of
in
the
the construction
1920's.
Drawings
industry.
by
aesthetic
An industrial
Mies
included
pieces
of
photographs, and the atmosphere is reduced to tones and shadows, sometimes, with
wispy, black figures looking like statues in the foreground. The aesthetic was spread
by international publications, and the style emerged worldwide. Mechanics of image
making and the mechanics of industrial society merged in a resultant bleakness.
L.
Mies
Van
Der
Rohe.
"Interior
Perspective."
153
.0&
fiL
Ql
231
22829
232
233
236
238
235
237
244
243
252
246
251
249
250
Xerox was introduced to the public market in 1960.
It and its developments have
expediated and enhanced the design and business of architecture.
At a time when the
business
of beautiful renderings was in a glut due to the stark linear and planar
surfaces
of
expression,
faster
the
international
the new
style
and
an
ideology
that
machine was well suited for duplications.
suppressed
decorative
Less expressive and
than diazo images, small studies could easily be worked up in succesive stages.
The danger of Xerox has always been one of scale. Rarely will a copy maintain tha
exact size of the original.
Simultaneously, Letraset appeared on the market and added even more of a mechanical
look to the already machine like drawings. In addition to typeface, little black lined
trees, textures, people , cars and furniture took the place of hand drawn elements.
The image of mechanical appliques was a graphic style that dictated a revolution in
M.
Standardized
people.
presentations. Hand drawn objects aspired to the uniformity of the rub-ons and books
teaching the emulation of letraset figures appeared in classrooms as well as offices.
The popular image of architecture was as lackluster as some of the constructions.
The role of the draughtsman was less dependent upon manual graphic skills, and he
became a tool of the tool. Contemporary demands are exacerbating this phenomenom
with the benefits of computer technology and its implications. The capabilities are
infinite and as yet, much territory is unexplored. Needless to say, the substantial
reduction of time and money will eventually be realized with the use of the computer
as a production tool, though there are major questions as to its effectiveness as a
design tool. With its infinite zoning capabilities, its various view generating processes
and its memory storage, the machine can accelerate decisions. Naturally, information
based on mathematical models must be explicit before testing and evaluation occurs.
Efficient buildings of any size must contain all of the above, but buildings that also
comprehend a quality of space(s) that speaks poetry, of man's relation to himself or
155
N.
Hardy,
Holzman,
Pfeiffer.
St.
Louis
Art
Museum,
site
plan.
-
-
I
- ..
a
0.
4~
i ~I:gI..
156
Computer
generated
space
drawings.
to something more intangible are dependent upon human judgement and inspiration.
These things are causative formations that I believe can transpire from the involvement
through the mind and the hand, but not through the hand and the machine.
Demands of the ever increasing complex world have inevitably altered the systems and
means of creating architecture.
The tools we use are directly connected to those
demands, though their primary functions are to serve as extensions of the mind and
hand in order to facilitate our concepts. The earliest tools were created by their users
to simplify constructional problems. When designing on paper became separate from
on site decisions, drawing tools were designed specifically for the two dimensional
surface, and later for three dimensional drawing constructions that dominated spatial
thinking
for
centuries.
Perspective
machines
and
basic
equipment
such
as
the
architectonic sector were both derived from geometrical constructs to delineate highly
formal concepts. The existence of the tools, the images they made and the subsequent
built forms all encouraged the continuation of certain ideas.
Tools urge play, but are circumscribed by rules. The more complex the tool, the more
highly defined
are the limits and the demands placed on the user.
Diluting the
socio/economic implications of professional equipment, it's easy to state that technical
specialization diversifies initial concepts and emphasizes commodity and consumption.
In order to meet and maintain contemporary demands, the divisions between idea and
product become more complex. Like in a game of "telephone", what is whispered in
the first ear often has nothing to do with what is issued at the other end of the
chain. The tools we use may be necessary for implementation in this world, but are
seductive in their capacities.
A good mechanical facilitator is only that. A belief in
the power of machines nay be a symptom of something deeper; possibly a fear that
denies the forces of expression and creation or, as Dylan Thomas so sensually said,
"the force that through the green fuse drives the flower."(11)
157
158
There is a profound difference between the charcoal and the computer. Not only does
the manual handling of each influence direct associations between the designer and the
product, but the image produced by the medium influences the invention of
architecture.
The striated concrete concrete found in many of Paul Rudolph's buildings
has been associated with his use of rendered texture by drafting tools. Sometimes even
the equipment itself is a reference.
In the Mummer's Theatre, in Oklahoma City, John
Johansen desired that the structure emulate the back of a computer, and assembled the
forms from hardware catalogues.
The less complex the device of delineation, the more independent we can be, unless
we
are
able
to
thoroughly
comprehend
the
limits
and
capacities
of
the
thing.
Impossible with the technical sophisticaion of some contemporary devices, but desirable
with some that are simple and familiar, it would behoove us to make explorations.
P.
The Chicago Institute of Art employed a method of teaching that was modelled after
Bauhaus principles. Introduction to mechanical drafting tools is based on experimentation
separated form architectural design.
Before a student is asked to do geometric projection and other types of
mechanical drafting, he is allowed to use his ruling pen and compass freely
to make thick or thin lines in any combination. The result is a "picture"
produced by the mechanical drawing set. More significantly, the student's
interest and pleasure are awakened in these tools. (12)
Pleasure is a pre-requisite for designing. If we aren't comfortable with the means of
expression, the product will reflect the construction. Most architects begin with
and not until it is necessary do they employ hard line tools. A
tool is merely an extension of the mind. Lewis Mumford in a lecture to students,
eloquently stated, " The expansion of the machine during the last few centuries has
freehand sketches,
taught mankind a lesson that was too obvious to be learned: the value of the singular,
the unique, the precious, the deeply personal." (14)
Exercise
for
the
use
of
mechanical
drafting
instruments.
1940.
EPILOGUE
A drawing is worth at least a thousand words. When a proposed building doesn't reach fruition (more often the
case than not) the drawings remain the only record of ideas.
If a building stands, drawings tell stories of lost
inspirations.
The
initial
proposal
for
DRAWING/S
outlined
investigations
into
specific
drawings;
methods,
styles,
tools,
procedures and the elements of the image itself were to serve as clues for discovering an architect's intentions. The
clues would also indicate historical influences, precedents, social climate and politics. As I hunted through the reams
of published drawings in order to find the ones that beckoned my research, I realized that I had more curiosity
about the "genre" of architectural drawings in general, than, about individual examples.
What makes them different
from fine art and what do universal notations systems imply? What influences architectural images and how much
information can accurately be presented?
161
Architectural drawings first and foremost must convey information about built space and have the added possibilities
the
of presenting qualities that are subjective or suggested. The articles that emerged straddle the line between
primary (specific) and the secondary (general) intentions, resulting in a work that might serve as a comprehensive
reference for subsequent investigations.
topic concerns
The larger
the long neglected realm of
"visual intelligence."
We always look, but rarely see.
Arnheim, in Visual Thinking, and Thiel, in Visual Awareness and Design, propose theories and strategies for
fundamental visual reeducation. Based upon their research and my own, I would continue investigations more
speculatively, perhaps beginning with hypotheses rather than facts. The subjects could deal more directly with the
way drawing influences form, and lead toward a theory of education in perceptual skills used in combinations with
traditional notation methods.
The "Morphologists" suggest that all problems can be reduced to visual/geometric images. Perhaps we would do
well to direct our attentions that way. It is important to understand the values inherent in pictures. They range
from the universal to the idiosyncratic, and demand careful scrutiny in order to break out of our accepted notions
of subject/object relationships. The increasing demands of the mechanized world isolate decisions to specialists, who
seem to be more and more unaware of integrative processes. The tools we use encourage formulaic thinking, and
boundaries become
Without exploration,
creative introductions to them might enhance their possibilities.
impermeable.
Some
of
the
groundbreakers.
speculations
I've
made
may
be
ungrounded
in
fact,
and
the
facts
I've
chronicled
are
not
At best, this work has been enlightening for me, and may serve as a foundation for others. And
now, too many words are getting in the way. It's time to get back to the drawing board.
II
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XZI
NOTES
Introduction
1. Sekler, p. 53.
"The Map Of Suzhou, Perception and Convention."
1.
Factual information
from
a
tourist's guide,
Sights and Scenes
of Suzhou, obtained
in
Beijing, PRC,
Summer,1985.
2. Porter, p.1.
3. Thrower, p.13.
4. See article, "House X, the axonometric and the machine," in this thesis.
5. Michael Johnson, circa 1973.
6. For detailed processes using these kinds of perceptions as integral to mapping, see, P. Thiel, Architectural and
Urban Space Time Sequences, or, K. Lynch, The Image of The City.
7.
8.
This information was culled from the thesis of S.
Rustow.
"Projective concepts imply a comprehensive linking together of figures in a single system, based on the
coordination of a number of different viewpoints. Side by side with the development of this organized complex of
viewpoints there also takes a coordination of objects - this leads ultimately to the idea of Euclidean space, the
transition between two systems. Such a coordination of objects naturally assumes the conservation of distance,
together with the evolution of the notion of displacement or congruent transformation of spatial figures, culminating
in the construction of systems of reference, or coordinates." Piaget, p. 153.
165
NOTES
"House X: the Axonometric and the Machine."
1.
Eisenman, Rassegna. p.69.
2. M. Gandelsonas, Introduction to House X.
p.18.
3. B. Schneider, p. 84.
4. "Isometrics" is a general term describing all drawings using three dimensions with equal axes at right angles and
lines of constant measure. The term, "axonometric", was first used to describe the precise drawings of machines
and parts by M.H. Meyer, in 1852. An axonometric drawing generally refers to a plan rotated at 45/45 degrees or
30/60 degrees with vertical projection lines.
5. Gandelsonas, op. cit.
6. This query was borrowed from Peter Prangnell.
7. See, "The Plan of Suzhou...", an article in this thesis.
8. "This type of perspective is concerned with the relative distance or closeness fo vertical forms whiletopological
information is almost completely lost, making it impossible to locate positions and connections on the plan." W.
Meisenheimer, p.31.
9.
i.e. Joseph Albers and E.
M. Escher.
10. Choisy, Introduction to volume II.
11. Booker, p. 124.
12. Ibid. p.116.
13. From the "Futurist Manifesto."
14. Maholy - Nagy, p.249.
15. El Lizzitsky, An Architecture For World Revolution p.144.
167
16. Theo Van Doesberg. Jaffe. p.84.
17. Paraphrased from, B. Schneider, "Axonometry Refers To The Object, Perspective Refers To The Viewer."
18. Berger, J.
Ways of Seeing, p.
p.17
169
NOTES
"Sketches."
1.
This applies to methods of design in general. For a systematic study, see, J. Christopher Jones.
2. Langton, "The Method of H. H. Richardson."
3.
Canadian Arch. and Builder XIII, Feb. 1920.
O'Gorman, James. Introduction to H.H.Richardson, His Life and His Work.
p.19.
4. Smith, M. p.60.
5.
Peter Prangnell posed this question in a seminar at M.I.T, "Verbal essays on architecture."
6. The entire lecture is documented in Jane Gitlin's theses, An Architecture Of Substance
7. Coop Himmelblau, p.7.
8. Kahn, L.
Notebooks and Drawings. (no p.#'s)
9. Sekler, p.57.
10.
Ibid. p. 73.
11.
Kahn, op.cit.
12.
13.
From
Sekler, op.cit. p.63.
"Thoughts About Louis I. Kahn." p.25 A&U.
14. Ibid p.127.
15. Kahn. Light is The Theme. p.15.
16.Sekler op.cit. p.68.
Nov.1983.
NOTES
"The Tools of Architectural Drawing."
1.
Whitney, p. 10.
2.
"The straight rod, the stock set at right angles to a timber blade, the wooden peg together with a length of
cord, and of course the plumb bob and line were all instruments and the setting out tools for primitive building."
Hambly, p.6.
3. See, "Sketches" article in this thesis for analysis.
4. From introduction, "A History of Architectural Drawing."
5.
Look at Giotto, Duccio and Massachio.
6. Ackerman, p.5.
7. Ibid. p.8.
8. The technique repalced woodcuts and etching. Lithographic images are first greased onto smooth limestone, then
inked. The grease repels water and accepts the ink and conversely, the stone accepts the water ane repels ink.
Drawings with shades and tones are reproduced best by this process.
9. Hubbard, p.34.
10. Ferriss, p.107.
11.
D. Thomas, title and first line of " The Force That Drives The Green Fuse Through The Flower," p.903,
Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry.
12.
Maholy - Nagy, p.96.
13.
Mumford, L, p.124.
173
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ABSTRACT
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PROLOGUE
A. Sekler p.344.
B. Sekler p.353.
C. Sekler p.8.
D. Painting located in Museum of Modern Art.
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B. Thrower. p.6.
C. From Appolinaire, Collected Poems.
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181
E.. Enlargement from plan.
F. Booker p.9.
G. Booker p. 14.
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E. Lampugnani p.
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G. Coulin p.
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R. Lampugnini. p.110
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SKETCHES
A. H. H. Richardson, p.73.
185
B. ibid. p.74.
C. Aalto p.34.
D. Aalto p.35.
E. Smith p.56.
F. Smith p.57.
G. Prix p.29.
H. Prix p.30.
I. Sekler p.56.
J. Ibid. p.60.
K. Kahn. p.346.
L. Kahn. p.4.
Sketches for the Kimball Art Museum
M. Sekler p.127.
N. Kahn p.301.
THE TOOLS OF ARCHITECTURAL DRAWING
A. Baynes and Pugh. p.8.
B. Bosse.
C. p.5.
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D. Sekler p.234.
E. pl.19.
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F. Eisenman p.12.
G. Coulin p.18.
H. Blomfield p.67.
I. Gebhard p. 78.
J. Rassegna p.43.
K. Ferriss.
L. p.61.
Mies Van Der Rohe James Speyer, Art Inst. Of Chicago. 1968.
M. p.41.
Graphic Vocabulary for Architectural Representation.
N. Gebhard p.265.
0. Porter p.104.
P. Maholy-Nagy p.97.