FROM MODELS

TO DRAWINGS '

Edited by Marco
.In n a th p n o
From Models to
Drawings
 H R ñ •:
CRITIQUES: Critical Studies in Architectural Humanities

A project o f the A rchite ctural H um anities Research Association

Series Editor: Jonathan Hale (U niversity of N ottingham )

Editorial Board:
Sarah Chaplin (Kingston University)
M ark Dorrian (U niversity o f Edinburgh)
M urray Fraser (U niversity of W e stm in ste r)
Hilde Heynen (Catholic U niversity of Leuven)
A n d re w Leach (U niversity of Q ueensland)
T hom as M ical (Carleton University)
Jane Rendell (U niversity College London)
Adam Sharr (Cardiff University)
Igea Troiani (O xford Brookes University)

This original series of edited books contains selected papers from the AHRA Annual
International C onferences. Each year the event has its ow n the m a tic focu s w h ile
sharing an in te rest in ne w and em erging critical research in the areas of architectural
history, theory, culture, design and urbanism .

V o lu m e 1: Critical A rchitecture
Edited by: Jane Rendell, Jonathan Hill, M urray Fraser and M ark Dorrian

V o lu m e 2: From M o d e ls to D raw ings: Im ag inatio n and R epresentation in

A rchitecture
Edited by: M arco Frascari, Jonathan Hale and Bradley Starkey

V o lu m e 3: The Politics of M aking

Edited by: M ark Sw enarton, Igea Troiani and Helena W e b ste r

AHRA provides an inclusive and com prehensive support ne tw o rk fo r hum anities

researchers in architecture across the UK and beyond. It prom otes, supports, develops
and dissem inates high-quality research in all areas o f architectural hum anities.

w w w .ahra -arch itecture .o rg.uk

From Models to
Drawings
Im agination and rep rese ntatio n in
a rch ite ctu re

Edited by M arco Frascari, J o n ath an Hale

and Bradley S tarke y

¡ 1 Routledge
Taylor & Francis Group
LONDON AND NEW YORK
First published 2007
by Routledge
2 Park Square, M ilton Park, Abingdon, Oxon 0X 14 4RN

Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada

by Routledge
270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016

Routledge is an im p rint o f the Taylor & Francis Group, an inform a business

© 2007 Selection and editorial matter, Marco Frascari, Jonathan Hale and Bradley Starkey; individual
chapters, the contributors

Typeset in Univers by W earset Ltd, Boldon, Tyne and W ear

Printed and bound in Great Britain by The Crom well Press, Trowbridge, W iltshire

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any
electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and
recording, or in any inform ation storage or retrieval system , w ith o u t permission in w riting from the
publishers.

Every e ffort has been made to contact and acknowledge copyright owners, but the author and publishers
w ould be pleased to have any errors or omissions brought to their attention so that corrections may be
published at a later printing.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library o f Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Frascari, Marco.
From models to drawings : imagination and representation in architecture / Marco Frascari, Jonathan
Hale, and Bradley Starkey.
p. cm. - (Critiques, critical studies in architectural humanities)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-415-43113-2 (hardback : alk. paper) 1. Architectural drawing. 2. Architectural design. I. Hale,
Jonathan. II. Starkey, Bradley. III. Title.
NA2700.F727 2007
720.22-dc22
2007012601

ISBN10: 0-415-43113-1 (hbk)

ISBN 13: 9 7 8 -0 -4 1 5 -4 3 1 1 3 -2 (hbk)
Contents

Illustration credits viii

List of con tribu to rs x

A ckn o w le d g e m e n ts xvii

Introduction: m odels and draw ings - the invisible nature o f architecture

M arco Frascari 1

H istorical perspectives 9

Q uestions of representation: the poetic origin o f architecture

A lb e rto Pérez-Gômez 11

A reflection on paper and its virtue s w ith in the m aterial and invisible
factures of architecture
M arco Frascari 23

Im agination and architectural representations

Nader El-Bizri 34

D raw ing A da m 's navel: the problem o f disegno as creative tension be tw ee n

the visible and know ledgeable
R aym ond Q uek 43

Drawn to scale: the im aginative inhabitation o f architectural draw ings

Paul Em m ons 64

The cultural con text of design and the corporeal dynam ism of draw ing as the
foundations for the im agination of construction
Q iZ h u 79

A rch ite ctu re 's tw in n e d body: building and draw ing

Federica G offi 88

v
Contents

T ra n slu ce n t and flu id : P iranesi's im p o ssib le plan

Teresa S to p p a n i 99

C o n te m p la tin g the u n fin ish e d

N icholas T em ple a n d S ou m yen B andyo pa dhya y 109

Le C o rb u sie r's spirals: figu ral planning and te c h n iq u e in a rch ite ctu ra l design
A n to n y M o u lis 120

E m e rg e n t re alitie s 127

F orm s in th e dark: nature, w a s te and digital im ita tio n

R ichard Coyne 129

C o n ce a lm e n t, delay and to p o lo g y in th e crea tion o f w o n d ro u s d ra w in g

D o n a ld Kunze 137

A digita l renaissance: re c o n n e ctin g a rch ite ctu ra l re p re se n ta tio n and cin e m a tic
visual e ffe c ts
M a than raj Ratinam 146

D ra w in g air: th e visual cu ltu re o f bio-p olitical im aging

D a vid G issen 159

'H ig h e r' being and 'h ig h e r' d ra w in g : C laude B ra g d o n 's 'fo u rth d im e n s io n ' and
th e use o f c o m p u te r te c h n o lo g y in design
C hristina M a la th o u n i 168

C ritical d im en sio n s 179

Seeing tim e /w ritin g place

Jane R e nd ell 183

M a rks in space: th in kin g ab o u t dra w in g

J u d ith M o tt ram 193

D ra w in g lines o f co n fro n ta tio n

C atherine H a m e l 201

W e a th e r a rch ite ctu re , w e a th e r d ra w in g

Jon atha n H ill 209

D ra w in g on light
Sam R id g w a y 219

Post-se cula r a rch ite ctu re : m aterial, in te lle ctu a l, spiritua l m odels
B rad le y S tarke y 231

S pe cifyin g m aterials: language, m a tte r and th e con spiracy o f m u te n e s s

Katie L lo yd Thom as 242

vi
 Contents

A rchite cture as im a g e -s p a c e -te x t

B e tty N igianni 253

A cts o f im agination and reflection in architectural design

Peg Rawes 261

In the corner of perception: spatial experience in distraction

Katja G rillner 270

Index 285
 lustration credits

Julieta Aguilera 172

Allen M em o rial A rt M use um , O berlin, Ohio 54
Sam A ntonio 149
Biblioteca Hertziana 49, 53
A. Chung, D ra w in g B oundaries: A rch ite ctu ra l Im ages in Qing China, Honolulu,
U niversity of Hawaii Press, 2004, p. 10 (left) 83
D e pa rtm e nt of Rare Books and Special Collections, U niversity o f Rochester
Library, NY 169
Leonard Digges, A G eom etrical Practical Treatize nam ed Pantom entria,
divided in to three books: Longim etra, Planimetra and Stereom etria
(London, 1591), p .13 66
S.Y.J. Edgerton, The H eritage o f G io tto 's G eom etry, Ithaca, Cornell U niversity
Press, 1993 (right, m iddle) 84
The Fabbrica di San Pietro in the Vatican 90
© FLC/ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2007 120, 124
G hent U niversity, Special Collections 106
Paul Grundy 184, 186
Penelope Haralambidou 275
M ark Harden, A rtchive 58
Robert Hooke, M icrographia, o r som e P hysiological D escriptions o f M in u te
B odies m ade b y M ag nifying Glasses w ith O bservations and Inquiries
Thereupon (London, 1655), Plate II 69
H untington Library, San M arino, CA 55, 56
Arie Kaufman, SBU 160, 164
R. Kearney, The W ake o f Im agination: Ideas o f C reativity in W estern Culture,
London, H utchinson, 1988 (left) 81
Jie Li (1035-1110) Ying Zao Fa Shi Tu Shuo in Liang, Sicheng Quan Ji. Beijing,
Beijing JianZhu Gongye Chu Ban She, 2001 (right) 83

viii
 Illustration credits

A. Ramelli (1588). Le Diverse e t A rtificio se M achine. Paris, Gregg

International Publishers Lim ited England, 1970 (left) 84
Sala dei Cento Giorni, Palazzo della Cancelleria, Rome 95
Viviani Collection, Palazzo Ducale, Urbino 52
J. W ile y and Sons 162
Frederick W illson, Theoretical and Practical Graphics, an E ducational Course
on the Theory and Practical A pplications o f D e scriptive G eo m e try and
M ech an ical D ra w in g (N ew York, 1898), Fig. 10 73
Edward W orsop, A D iscoverie o f Sundrie errours and faults daily c o m m itte d
by Landem eaters, ig no rant o f A rith m e tik e and G eom etrie w ritte n
D ialoguew ise (London, 1582) 67
J. Xun, Xie G ei Da Jia de Zhong Guo M e i Shu Shi, Beijing, San Lian Chu Ban
She, 1993 (right) 81
Contributors

S oum yen Bandyopadhyay is Senior Lecturer in A rchite cture at Liverpool U niversity

w h e re he is D irector of Studies fo r the M A rch program m e and director of India
in the W orld Research Centre. Since 1983 he has been in architectural and
urban design practice in Om an and India. He heads an AHR C-funded study of
the Rock Garden in Chandigarh, on w h ich he has recently published a book
(Liverpool U niversity Press 2007).

Richard Coyne is based in A rchite cture and is Head of the Graduate School in the
School of Arts, Culture and E nvironm ent at the U niversity of Edinburgh. He
researches in the areas of com puter-aided design, digital media and design
theory. He is the author of three books on the im plications of inform ation
technology and design w ith M IT Press, and is co-author of a recent book w ith
Adrian Snodgrass, Interp retation in A rch ite ctu re : Design as a W ay o f Thinking
(Routledge, 2006). He currently heads a research project on the relationship
b e tw ee n voice and public space and a research clu ste r on Non-Space, both
funded by the Arts and H um anities Research Council.

N ader El-Bizri is a Research Associate at The Institute o f Ismaili Studies (London), a

C hercheur Associé at the Centre National de la Recherche S cientifique (Paris).
He lectures at the D epartm ent o f H istory and Philosophy o f Science, U niversity
of Cam bridge, and he previously held a lectureship in architecture at the U niver­
sity of N ottingham , and tau ght at Harvard U niversity and the Am erican
U niversity of Beirut. His research focuses on architectural hum anities, ph enom ­
enology and history of science. He is the author of The P henom enological
Q uest b e tw e e n Avicenna and H eide gg er (Bingham ton, 2000), and has pub­
lished num erous philosophy articles.

Paul Em m ons is an Associate Professor at the W ashington-Alexandria A rchitecture

C enter of Virginia Tech, w h e re he coordinates the PhD program m e in architec­
ture. Dr Em m ons received a PhD in A rchite cture from the U niversity of Penn­
sylvania in 2003 and a M aster of A rchite cture from the U niversity of M innesota
 Contributors

in 1986. His research in representation and design focuses on the im aginative

role o f diagram s and technical draw ing. C onferences w h ere this w o rk has been
presented include: Academ ia Eolia Revisited (Costozza, Italy); Intim ate M e tro p ­
olis (AA, London); O ther Voices, O ther Drafting Rooms (Society of A rchitectural
Historians). Som e o f this w o rk has also appeared in recent publications includ­
ing: Journal o f the S ociety o f A rch ite ctu ra l H istorians; A rch ite ctu ra l Research
Q uarterly; AA Files; and Body and Building (M IT Press). Dr Em m ons is a regis­
tered arch itect and m aintains a sm all architectural practice.

M arco Frascari was born under the shadow o f the dom e of A lb e rti's Sant'Andrea in
M antua. He achieved a D o tto re in A rchite ttu ra at the 'verum IpsLIm fA ctV m '
(Istitu to Universitario di A rchite ttu ra di Venezia) in 1969. He began his pro fe s­
sional career as an arch itect in Verona and at the sam e tim e ta u g h t at IUAV.
Later he m oved to the U nited States and earned an M Sc in A rchitecture at the
U niversity of Cincinnati and a PhD at the U niversity o f Pennsylvania. He has
taught at several in stitu tion s in North Am erica and is presently D irector of the
School of A rchite cture at Carleton U niversity in O ttaw a. He has w ritte n e xte n ­
sively on topics in architectural theory, representation and tecton ics. Since he
graduated from Venice, he has alw ays run a small architectural practice. He
believes strong ly th a t architectural the ory and the resulting buildings should
m ake life happy (vita beata).

David Gissen is a the orist, historian and designer w o rkin g at the intersection of achi-
tecture and contem porary geographical concepts. He is the ed itor of Big and
Green (2003) - an exporation of architecture, urban environm entalism and glob­
alization - and author o f the fo rthco m ing Techno-Nature Handbook (2008) - an
exploration o f ne w m etho ds fo r producing nature w ith buildings - both pub­
lished by Princeton A rchite ctural Press. David's w ritin g , research and design
have appeared in Cabinet M agazine, Interiors, M etrop olis, Thresholds, B lue­
prints, The Journal o f A rch ite ctu ra l Education, A rch ite ctu ra l Record, A rc h ite c ­
ture, the N e w York Times, the Village Voice, and in the edited collections
Design Ecologies (Princeton A rchite ctural Press, 2008), S aved! (M onacelli
Press, 2008), Urban W riting (Routledge, 2007), D irt and A rch ite ctu re (Taylor and
Francis, 2007), D isability and H isto ry (Duke U niversity Press, 2006), A m ph ib iou s
Living (01 Publishers, 2000) and The City o f the N e xt M illen nium (M arsilio,
2000). David is also an active curator w ith exhibitions staged at The National
Building M useum (Big and Green, Federal Design N o w !), M use um o f the City
o f N e w York (Big and Green), the Chicago A rchite cture Foundation (Big and
Green), Yale U niversity A rchite cture Gallery (Big and Green), and The Low er
East Side T ene m en t M use um (N e w York's Floating Bathhouses). For the exhi­
bition and book Big and Green he was awarded a Graham Foundation Grant,
the Richard Carroll lectureship at the Johns Hopkins University, and in 2006
M e tro p o lis M agazine nam ed the exhibition one of tw e lv e o f the m o st sig nific­
ant architecture and design exhibitions o f the last tw e n y-five years. He is
Contributors

currently an assistant professor of architecture and visual studies at the Califor­

nia College o f the Arts, San Francisco.

Federica Goffi is an A ssistan t Professor at the School o f A rchite cture, Carleton U niver­
sity, in Canada w h e re she teaches studio, a w o rksho p on aural arch itecture and
advanced building system s. She also taught studio, architectural representation
and a graduate sem inar focusing on 'tim e ' as a design m aterial at the Interior
A rchite cture D epartm ent of the Rhode Island School of Design. She holds a
D o tto re in A rchite ttu ra, U niversity of Genoa, and is a registered arch itect in
Italy. She is currently a PhD candidate in A rchite ctural R epresentation and Edu­
cation at the W ashing to n-A le xan dria A rchite ctural Center, Virginia Polytechnic
In stitu te and State U niversity, Alexandria, Virginia, w h e re she is w o rking under
the guidance o f D irector M arco Frascari (Carleton U niversity, O ttaw a, Canada)
and Professor Paul Em m ons (Virginia Tech). Her dissertation focuses on a
're d e fin itio n ' of the con cep t of 'conse rvatio n' through a phenom enological
approach. Follow ing a conjectual hypothesis and m icro-historical procedures,
the dissertation focuses on a specific draw ing o f Saint P eter's in Rom e to deal
w ith the concept o f se m p ite rn ity in architecture and ho w that reflects in the
process of conservation.

Katja G rillner (PhD, Docent) is an arch itect and critic based in Stockholm , Sweden.
She is a Senior Lecturer at the KTH School of A rchite cture, the director of
AKAD, and a m e m b e r of the board of the Sw edish A rchite cture M useum .
A m ong her recent publications is 01.AKAD - E xpe rim e ntal Research in A rch i­
tecture and Design (AxIBooks, 2005), fo r w h ich she w as the main editor.

Jo n ath an Hale is an arch itect and Associate Professor in A rchite cture at the School of
the Built Environm ent, U niversity o f N ottingham . He is Course D irector fo r the
M aster of A rchite cture (Design) and the interdisciplinary M A in A rchite cture and
Critical Theory. His research in te rests include: architectural theory and criticism ;
the philosophy of technology; the relationship be tw e e n architecture and the
body; and architectural exhibitions. His publications include: R ethinking Techno­
logy: a Reader in A rch ite ctu ra l Theory (w ith W illiam W . Braham, Routledge,
2006); Ends M id dle s B eginnings: Edw ard Cullinan A rch ite cts (Black Dog, 2005);
Building Ideas: an Introd uction to A rch ite ctu ra l Theory (John W iley, 2000), and
M o vin g City: the E lectronic Guidebook, a guided-w alk and exhibition, part o f an
ongoing collaboration w ith the School of C o m pu te r Sciences, U niversity o f N ot­
tingham . He is C oordinator and a fou nde r m e m b e r of the A rchitectural Hum ani­
ties Research Association (w w w .a h ra -a rch ite ctu re .o rg .u k).

C atherine Ham el is an A ssistan t Professor in A rchite cture at the Faculty o f Environ­

m ental Design at the U niversity of Calgary, Canada. Her research focus is the
experience o f forced displacem ent. Recent projects include the essay 'B eirut,
Exile and the Scars o f R e con stru ction', in M e m o ry and A rch ite ctu re and a solo
exhibit of draw ings entitled 'displace/graft/retrace'.
 Contributors

Jo n ath an Hill, an a rch ite ct and architectural historian, is also Professor o f A rc h ite c ­
ture and Visual T heory and D irector of the M Phil/PhD by A rchite ctural Design
program m e at the B a rtle tt School of A rchite cture, U niversity College London.
He is the author o f The Illegal A rc h ite c t (1998), A ctio n s o f A rch ite c tu re (2003)
and Im m a te ria l A rch ite c tu re (2006). Jonathan is the e d ito r o f O ccupying A rc h i­
tecture (1998), A rch ite c tu re - the S ub je ct is M a tte r (2001) and the 'Research
by D esign' issue o f The Journal o f A rch ite ctu re (2003). He is co-e dito r of C rit­
ical A rch ite ctu re (2007). G alleries w h e re he has had solo exhibitions including
the Haus der A rch ite ktu r, Graz, and A rchitektur-G alerie am W eisse nh of,
S tuttg art.

Donald Kunze has taught A rchite cture Theory and A rt Criticism at Penn State U niver­
sity since 1984. He received his professional degree in architecture from NC
State U niversity and his PhD in cultural geography in 1983. His research has
engaged a range o f topics dealing w ith the poetic dim ensions o f experience.
He w as the 1997 recipient of a Shogren Foundation grant to develop a graphi­
cal approach to problem s of the boundary in art, architecture and geography;
during his 2003 Reyner Banham F ellow ship at the U niversity at Buffalo, he
extended this project to include film study.

Katie Lloyd T hom as has w o rked in architectural education fo r ten years and is cur­
rently com p le ting a PhD at M iddlesex U niversity. She edited M a te ria l M a tte rs:
A rch ite ctu re and M a te ria l Practice (Routledge, 2006) and researches and pub­
lishes in the areas of architectural representation, m aterials and fe m in ism . She
collaborates w ith artist Brigid M cLe er on an ongoing project In Place o f the
Page w h ich has been exhibited in Ireland and the UK, and is a founder m em b er
o f the fe m in is t group Taking Place.

Christina M alath o u n i is currently a PhD candidate in A rchitectural H istory at the

Bartlett School of Graduate Studies, University College London. Her doctoral
research focuses on architects Claude Bragdon (1866-1946) and Theo van
Doesburg (1883-1931). Broader research interests include the significance of
'space' in such diverse disciplines as philosophy, m athem atics, physics and psy­
chology, and how this relates to architecture. She has lectured on her w o rk on
the 'fo urth dim ension' and presented related papers in several international con­
ferences. As a qualified architect in Greece, she has also practised architecture.

Ju d ith M o ttra m is Professor of Visual A rts at N ottingham Trent University. She is

Associate Dean fo r Research and Graduate Studies fo r the College of A rt &
Design and the Built Environm ent. Her research in te rests cover tw o main
areas: understanding con stru cted and enviro nm en ta l visual phenom ena,
particularly relating to draw ing, pattern and colour; and the inter-relationships
be tw ee n sub je ct know ledge, creativity, research and practice. She is a team
m em b er o f the Review o f Practice-led Research in Art, A rchite cture and
Design.
Contributors

A n to ny M o ulis is Head of A rchite cture in the School of G eography, Planning and

A rchite cture at the U niversity of Q ueensland, Australia. His curre nt research on
the history of the plan in tw e n tie th -c e n tu ry arch itecture incorporates w o rk
undertaken at the Foundation Le Corbusier and the Alvar A alto A cadem y in
2006. He received his PhD from the U niversity o f Q ueensland in 2002 w ith the
dissertation, D ra w in g E xperience: Le C orbusier's Spiral M u se u m Projects.

Betty N igianni trained as an arch itect at the Technical U niversity o f A thens and
studied history and theory o f architecture at the U niversity of East London. She
has practised as an arch itect and is currently Lecturer at the U niversity of East
London. She also w o rks tow a rds the com pletion of her doctoral thesis, w hich
exam ines literary representations o f m odern A the ns to discuss the role of
subjective narratives w ith in spatial experience. Publications include articles in:
G ram m a: Journal o f Theory and C riticism and Urban M in dsca pes o f Europe by
Rodopi (forthcom ing).

A lberto Perez-G om ez is Bronfm an Professor o f A rchite ctural H istory at M cG ill U niver­

sity, M ontreal, w h e re he chairs the H istory and Theory division, and is D irector
of Post-Professional Programs. He studied architecture in M exico City, at
Cornell U niversity and the U niversity o f Essex. He has taught at un iversities in
M exico, Houston, Syracuse, Toronto and the A rchite ctural A ssociation. His
book A rch ite ctu re and the Crisis o f M od ern Science (MIT Press, 1983) w on the
Hitchcock A w ard in 1984. Later books include the erotic narrative theory
Polyphilo o r The Dark Forest R evisited (1992), and m ore recently (w ith Louise
Pelletier) A rch ite ctu ra l R epresentation and the P erspective Hinge (1997), w hich
traces the history and the ory o f m odern European architectural representation.
He is also co-editor of a series of books entitled Chora: Intervals in the Philo­
sophy o f A rchite cture.

Raym ond Q uek is D irector of A rchite ctural Studies at U niversity of N ottingham .

M ath an ra j Ratinam is the D irector o f Lm no Studio and a research candidate in the

School of A rchite cture and Design at RMIT, Australia. He resides in N e w York,
practising and publishing in the area o f digital representation and visual e ffe cts
fo r film and television, and teaches in the A rchite cture program m es at C olum ­
bia U niversity, Parsons School of Design, and m aintains an ongoing Visiting Pro­
fessorship w ith the TU Innsbruck, Austria. (The anim ation described in the
p resent paper can be vie w ed at: w w w .lm n o s tu d io .c o m /re s e a rc h .)

Peg Raw es is C o-ordinator of Diplom a H istory and T heory at the B artlett School of
A rchite cture, UCL. Publications include: Spatial Im agination, Peg Rawes and
Jane Rendell (eds) (AHRC/EPSRC and B artle tt School of A rchite cture UCL,
2005); 'P lenum s: Rethinking M atter, G eom etry and S ub je ctivity', Katie Lloyd
Thom as (ed.), M a te ria l M a tte rs (Routledge, 2007); 'R efle ctive Subjects in Kant
and A rchitectural Design Education', Journal o f A e s th e tic Education, Spring
 Contributors

2007, volum e 41, no. 1 (U niversity of Illinois Press, 2007); Irigaray fo r A rch ite cts
(Routledge, 2007).

Jane Rendell, BA (Hons), Dip. Arch, MSc, PhD, is Professor in A rchite cture and A rt
and D irector o f A rchitectural Research at the B artlett School o f A rchitecture,
UCL. An architectural designer and historian, art critic and w rite r, she is author
o f A rt and A rch ite ctu re (2006), The P ursuit o f Pleasure (2002) and co-editor of
Critical A rch ite ctu re (2007), Spatial Im agination (2005), The U nknow n City
(2001), Interse ctions (2000), G ender Space A rch ite ctu re (1999), Strangely
Fam iliar (1995).

Sam R id gw ay is an architect and Lecturer in C onstruction and Design in the School of

A rchite cture, Landscape A rchite cture and Urban Design at the U niversity of
Adelaide, South Australia. His research exam ines the current conceptual and
structural split be tw e e n con stru ction and design (body and mind) in arch itec­
tural pedagogy and the profession. The aim o f this research is to reconceive
con stru ction know ledge in a less instrum ental fashion as the e m b o d im e n t of
the intangible in m aterial form and as indistinguishable from design.

Bradley S tarke y is a Lecturer at the Institute o f A rchite cture, U niversity o f N ottingham

and is a m em b er o f the school's A rchitectural H istory & Theory Group. He w as
on the organising c o m m itte e o f the second AHRA International Conference,
M o d e ls and D raw ings: the Invisible N ature o f A rch ite ctu re and is presently
com p le ting a PhD by A rchitectural Design at the B artle tt School of A rchitecture,
UCL on the subject o f A rchite cture and the Post Secular. He is a registered
arch itect and has practised in South East Asia, USA and the UK.

Teresa Sto pp an i is an architect. She tau ght Design and Theory at the IUAV, Venice
(1995-1999) and at the A rchite ctural A ssociation, London (2000-2002). She is
curre ntly Senior Lecturer in A rchite cture at the U niversity o f G reenw ich,
London, w h e re she directs the M A /M S c A rchite cture program m e and coordi­
nates H istories and Theories. R ecent publications include: 'The Reversible
C ity', Urban Space and Cityscapes, C. Lindner (ed.) (Routledge 2006), 'Voyaging
in Piranesi's Space', H aecceity Papers, 1:2, (2006), and the edited journal
'A ntip ode s/M e asu ring the W o rld ', H aecceity Papers, 2:2 (2006).

Nicholas T em p le is Professor o f A rchite ctural Design and head of the School o f A rchi­
tecture at the U niversity of Lincoln. A Rom e Scholar, he has previously taught
at the U niversity o f Liverpool, N ottingham U niversity, U niversity o f Pennsylva­
nia and Leeds M etrop olitan U niversity. He has a PhD on ea rly-sixteenth-century
urbanism in Rome and has published w id e ly on architectural history and theory,
m o st recently D isclosing H orizons: A rch ite ctu re , P erspective and R edem ptive
Space (Routledge, 2006).

Qi Zhu is a Researcher in the stream o f A rchitectural Representation and Education at

the W ashington-Alexandria A rchite cture C enter o f the Virginia Polytechnic

XV
Contributors

Institute and State U niversity. Her in te rest covers traditional Chinese architec­
ture and building con stru ction through com parative reflection w ith the w e ste rn
tradition. She holds a Bachelor o f A rchite cture Degree from Tongji U niversity in
Shanghai, China, and a M aster of A rchite cture Degree from Virginia Tech w h ere
she is curre ntly a PhD candidate. Her dissertation investigates the cultural
concept of Shir derived from Sun Tzu's The A rt o f War, as potentials born from
dispositions and its im plication in traditional building practice in early-
nine te en th -centu ry China.

xvi
Acknowledgem ents

The editors w o uld like to thank everyone w h o took part in the conference M od els and
D raw ings: the Invisible Nature o f A rch ite ctu re held at the U niversity o f N ottingham in
N ovem ber 2005. Despite the cold(!) it w as a fascinating event, draw ing delegates from
around the w o rld. Apologies m u st go to all those w h o se w o rk w e w e re not able to
include w ith in the lim ited scope o f this book, bu t appreciation is due to everyone w h o
con tribu te d to making it such a successful and enjoyable event. The th e m e of the con­
ference w as set by M arco Frascari, w h o at the tim e w as serving as a Leverhulm e V isit­
ing Professor at the U niversity of N o ttin gh am . Thanks m ust go to the Leverhulm e
T rust fo r supporting the conference in this w ay. The H um anities Research Centre at
N ottingham (via the interdisciplinary Im ages Project) also sponsored another o f the
keynote speakers, Professor Don Ihde o f the State U niversity of N e w York, w hose
paper w e w e re not able to reprint in this collection due to cop yrig ht restrictions. The
e ve nt w o uld not have succeeded w ith o u t the 'backstage' assistance of the indefatiga­
ble Lyn Shaw, plus the m ore visible input o f a num ber o f energetic N ottingham
stud ents, m o st especially Fidel Meraz Avila, Yan Zhu, Eirini-M aria G erogianni and
A m y Tang.
The editors w o uld like to express th e ir gratitude to Hannah Dolan at
W earset fo r guiding the book e fficie n tly through the production process and to M artyn
Hale fo r helping w ith proofreading. Special thanks m u st also go to Caroline M allinder
and her team at Routledge A rchite cture, not ju s t fo r th e ir w o rk on this book, but also
fo r the ir long-term support of the AHRA.
T h is P a ge i n t e n t i o n a l l y left b la n k
Introduction
M odels and draw ings - the invisible nature of
architecture

M arco Frascari

In an age in w h ich unconsidered con sum e rist in te rests have exploited architecture,
w h en a hasty abuse o f public and private edifices has reached institutional intensity,
and w h en buildings are the targe t of technologies o f absurd variations, it is im perative
to re-evaluate the graphical procedures involved in the conceiving o f buildings. It is vital
to recognize the processes of conversion and transform ation taking place w ith in the
highly undisciplined discipline of architectural im agination, in order to provide arch itec­
ture w ith a m easure o f resilience and resistance.
Nowadays w e are fu lly aw are of the kinds o f draw ings and m odels that
architects or architectural practices produce. The profession generally fo llo w s a m is­
guided interpretation of w h a t tradition and contract jurisprudence has codified, fo r the
purposes o f billing clients and guaranteeing products and services - w ith o u t any doubt,
a properly principled se t o f criteria. N evertheless, m o st of these codifications have
been the o u tcom e of som e not-so-proper m arket-driven and technologically biased
events th a t have disguised the m se lve s beyond the m anifold m asks of professional
appropriateness. The depressing consequence of all this is that curre nt architectural
graphic productions have reached an unchangeable and highly sterile phase o f inert
classifications and taxonom ies, based on a pseudo-transparency of scope and a
pseudo-scientific ju stificatio n o f the fun ctions and roles carried out by the d iffe re n t
kinds of architectural representations.
Even though the m ajority o f the existing handbooks, manuals and pseudo-
the oretica l te xts on the sub je ct o f architectural representation claim th a t they are
presenting innovative directio ns fo r elaborating professional and/or po etic tw o -
dim en sion al or three -dim ension al m odeling, w h e n sub je cte d to deeper scrutin y they
alw ays con firm and sup po rt th e im m o bile categorizations and nom en clature s o f the
con ven ien tly do m in ating conventional practices. These handbooks and m anuals
describing h o w to read and produce elaborate renderings, design and tech nica l d ra w ­
ings provide the du lle st com p ila tion of platitud es th a t a profession th a t has lost any
critical reference could possibly put to g e th e r. They offe r, as a panacea fo r the d e fi­
ciency in architectural im agination, the m o st insidious graphic banalities th a t can be

1
Marco Frascari

applied in a se t of architectural dra w in gs as allegedly e ffe c tiv e m eans of design

and com m u nica tion .
These publications spread easy form ulas and ready-m ade clichés, or
sm ooth, ever-so-accom m odating con firm atio ns of graphic conventions th a t prevent
any critical dispute o f the m o st pedestrian and prosaic design protocols. Their instruc­
tions reduce both the discipline and the profession of architecture to a trade w ith o u t a
tradition. Even the present digital production o f architectural draw ings is pseudo­
e ffic ie n t and often unnecessarily precise, fulfillin g the sole purpose o f m echanically
describing visual appearances th a t are u tte rly insignificant from a properly im aginative
w ay o f architectural thinking. M im icking only the visual m ake-up of traditional architec­
tural draw ings, m o st digital representations are lim ited only to the com m u nica tion of
conscious intent, since w ith in the realm o f conventional com puter-graphics there are
tw o im perative aspirations: on the one hand, the aim is to produce 'pho to-rea listic'
im ages th a t do not aim to em ulate the hum an phenom enology of perception, but
rather that o f the photographic cam era. On the oth er hand, the conceit is to describe
fu tu re -b u ilt artifacts w ith a precision and accuracy th a t no-one w ith in the existing build­
ing trades could possibly achieve during construction.
A rchite ctural draw ings have becom e highly deceptive and frustrating didac­
tic and professional tools that m agnify the false traits and values of graphic architec­
tural articulation. They do this by concealing, in a contrived likeness and an artificial
exactness, the actual suggestive and evocative p o w e r o f real architectural draw ings.
Accordingly, the innovation and im p ro ve m e n t of e ffe ctive architectural representations
becom es extraordinarily d iffic u lt and problem atic. H ow ever, in the light of the new
possibilities generated by the use of electronic media, a d iffe re n t and passionate chal­
lenge of these im m obile and sterile circum stances is needed to alter the present per­
ception o f the nature, skills and means that govern the conceiving and m aking of
architectural m odels and draw ings.
The undigested understanding o f the role o f ne w electronic m edia brings
into architecture the sam e predicam ents as those fostere d by the pseudo-innovative or
backw ard-looking graphic handbooks and m anuals. U nfortunately, those predicam ents
are exponentially augm ented in th e ir ennui by the continually increasing and extra­
ordinary speed and po w e r o f co m p u te r w o rksta tion processors. The digital production
of m odels and draw ings is faster and m ore precise, but they can often resu lt in rela­
tively m eaningless do cum e nts if they are considered from the point of vie w o f analogi­
cal 'th inking w ith in arch itecture '. The ne w electronic im aging prevents im agining,
and the resulting representations pro m ote acts o f m erely logical 'th inking about
a rch itecture ' rather than bringing architects, contractors, clients and critics to think
w ith in architecture.
The use of draw ings and m odels in advance o f production m akes the
search fo r the resolution of uncertainty in the prediction of future buildings a funda­
m ental and prim ary problem in architecture today. A w ay ou t has been proposed via a
kind o f 'in fo rm a tio n dra ftin g', w h ere the prediction of a fu tu re building can take place
sim ultaneously w ith the com puterized creation of details, schedules and levels of

2
 Introduction

structure. This can the re fore also provide pro du ct-sp ecific installation require m en ts and
4-D con stru ction scheduling that can autom atically be tied to building elem e nts fo r con­
struction sequencing on site. In this digital 'B uilding Inform ation M o d eling ' (BIM)
system , w h en the arch itect 'd ra w s' w h a t is actually taking place w ith in the shadow s of
the digital m achine (hidden from a rch ite cts' physical and m ental senses), is that
objects are being created in a database w ith an extensive array of standardized proper­
ties. This inform ation is used to generate 'd ra w in g s', but it is used in m any oth e r w ays
as w e ll, fulfillin g the pseudo-proficient dream o f a professional efficiency.
E fficiency is the disposition to be m otivated tow a rds the satisfaction of
o n e's final desires. The problem o f course is that in th e ir search fo r the architectural
'final desire', the com p uter program m ers w h o have predeterm ined the digital encoding
cannot pinpoint the final cause o f an im aginative architectural event. As this is always
an essential aspect o f the specific conditions o f an architectural m andate, and thereby
undeterm inable in advance, so the y su b stitu te it w ith the m o st com m o n pseudo-final
cause - the ultim ate desire o f entrepreneurs fo r financially profitable results. Success­
fully sub stituting ongoing cosm o po ietic tactics w ith cosm opolitan strategies, BIM is
seen as a novel tech nolog y th a t is still under de velopm e nt, the re fore ju stifying all of its
various sho rtco m in gs. As David R. Scheer, a professional and a professor at the
College o f A rchite cture + Planning, U niversity o f Utah, points out:

For m illennia the design tools used by architects w e re a pencil, a straight

edge, a triangle and a scale. 2-D CAD m erely uses a co m p u te r to m im ic
these traditional tools. BIM is a genuinely ne w tool that isstill in its in fa ncy.1

The traditional design tools w e re analogical tools: the square used on paper to guide
the tracing o f lines corresponded to the square used on site to guide the erection of
w alls. W ith o u t any doubt the digital m im icking has been de trim ental, but such
program s as BIM are fu rth e r rem oving from the process of conceiving o f buildings
the possibility of em otionally and bodily conjuring up of exp erim e ntatio ns in
architectural theory.
W hoe ver conceived the process o f BIM has fo rg o tte n the tw o essential
polar properties o f architectural draw ings and m odels: as fo rm s of com m unication they
are perceived as both categorical and inferential. Thus architectural m odeling m ig h t be
taken into account as a form of understanding in w h ich part of the input happens
to com e in throu gh the senses and part through cultural factors such as needs, expec­
tations and beliefs. The o u tp u t is the category of the con stru ction being perceived.
There is no distinctio n b e tw ee n a draw ing o f con stru ction and a th o u g h t o f con stru c­
tion. This correlation turns draw ings into the m o st sophisticated expressions of
architectural theory.
Analogy requires projection from a source to a target. A set of elem e nts in
the source m atches a set of elem e nts in the target. A n o th e r set of elem e nts in the
source is then transferred to the targe t to create ne w inferences. Analogy has been
considered a binary relation be tw ee n the source and target. H ow ever, w e should also
consider analogy as a ternary relation be tw ee n the source, targe t and their category.

3
Marco Frascari

By the analogical nature of draw ings, architects free the m se lve s from a fixed m odus
operandi, w h ich becom es habitual through the con stant repetition o f accepted building
procedures. B efore draw ings, buildings w e re com pulsory duplications and continuous
replications o f causal form s. H ow ever, in draw ing, designers take part in a m ulti-m odal
dialogue played o u t on a surface w ith visible tracings. V iew ing and responding to their
ow n draw n lines, even as they trace them dow n, a com pelling refle xivity em erges,
born out o f the relation occurring b e tw ee n the designers and th e ir draw ings. In their
analogic procedures th e y fo llo w the Vitruvian precept that indicates con stru ction (fab-
brica) as 'a continuous and m ed itative process com p le te d by the hands' (fabrica e st
continuata ac trita usus m editatio, qua m anibus perficitur). Their tho ugh ts engage a
separate te m p o ra lity from the flux o f the cosm os by w h ich e ffe cts occur indiscernibly
before or after the ir causes.
Draw ings make use o f a particular sensory conjunction - th a t be tw ee n
feeling and seeing. By both looking at and feeling a surface o f a draw ing, designers are
in con tact respectively w ith both the outw ard appearance and finish of an edifice, and
also the interior inauguration and solidity of con stru ction . The chiasm am ong the
senses m akes the designer aware o f the com plex interplay be tw e e n the inside and the
outside. It thereby provides a ne w locus of architectural invention, since to draw is to
enter into participation w ith both the inscriptions and the scribing that mark the surface
o f the drawing.
A rchite cts are bound to treat as real that w h ich exists only in an im agined
future , and to spe cify the w ays in w h ich the foreseen things can be m ade to exist. In
doing so th e y m u st predict the fu tu re nature o f an artifact and that it w ill w o rk as
expected. In oth er w o rds, the draw ing process is a cosm opoiesis that can help to
invent b e tte r future s and make potential w o rlds. A set of architectural draw ings always
corresponds to an in finite set of built possibilities. As Luigi Nono, an avant-garde m usic
com poser, a friend of Carlo Scarpa, has cleverly pointed ou t in the title o f a piece co m ­
posed to honor the Venetian architect: A Carlo Scarpa architetto, ai su o i in fin iti p o ssib ili
p e r orchestra a m icro interva lli (1984).2
Cosm ospoiesis, or w orld-m aking, 'alw ays starts from a w o rld already at
hand; the making is rem a king '.3 A rchite cts carry out the ir com m unal or diverse styles
of m aking in draw ing by w ay o f a sequence of operations based on com p osition and
decom position, w e ig h tin g , ordering, deletion and sup plem entation, and d e form atio n.4
By tracing draw ings, architects perform an act o f w orld-m aking: a cosm ographic
expression that is also the root to future cosm ospoiesis.
Buildings designed in the absence o f real physical constraints m ig ht not
w o rk, and since conditions m ig h t w e ll change by the tim e the artifact is actually made,
design unavoidably entails a large am o un t o f uncertainty and risk. C onsequently, archi­
te cts have developed drafting techniques th a t allow them to perform th e ir tho ugh t-
e xp erim e nts (G edankenexperim ent) in sets of graphic analogies. W orking from a 'great
un-digital database' of in stinctive inform ation picked up from experience, by dividing,
com bining, em phasizing, ordering, deleting, filling and distorting, architects have
w o rked out th e ir th o ugh t-e xpe rim en ts on paper, discovering som e th in g ne w about the

4
 Introduction

bu ilt w o rld even though they have no ne w data. O ut of this process they are able to re-
conceptualize the w o rld in a m ore e ffe ctive w ay by relating the surface o f paper w ith
the surfaces o f buildings.
The m ain s tu m b lin g block in th is challenge to the p re se n t negative co n ­
d ition of th e use and p ro du ction o f arch itectura l re p re se n ta tio n s is th a t the stu d y of
d ra w in g s is ge ne rally seen as subsidiary to th e analysis o f buildings. W here th e y are
considered, the se d o cu m e n ts are fig u re d ou t by m eans of rules of rep rod uction ,
reco gn ition and sim ila rity, rather than the rules o f co sm o sp o ie sis, i.e. o f analogy,
o p po sition and sym pa th y. C onsequently, in elaborating the orie s of arch ite ctu re ,
d ra w in g s are alw ays considered - and pre sen te d - as ancillary c o m p o n e n ts rather
than being tre a te d as the m o st im p o rta n t arch itectura l agents, since the y carry
e m b od ied in th e m th e non-verbal essence o f a rch itectura l the ory. The chapters
in th is book aim to s h o w th a t the origins and th e critica l nature of a rch itectura l th e o ry
m u st be derived fro m the p h e n o m e n o lo g y o f th e lines traced on site and on paper.
This unde rsta nd ing is th e proper w a y to breed the critica l e vo lu tion th a t those
lines w ill have in th e ir fu tu re d e v e lo p m e n t as the 'in p u t and o u tp u t' o f the ne w
e le ctro n ic m edia.
The m otivation fo r the conference call to w h ich the fo llo w in g chapters have
brought fru itfu l responses w as elicited from a profound and sincere dissatisfaction
w ith m uch of contem porary architectural graphic education and production - exagger­
ated by its patently non-specific evaluations of the media used during the act of
design. These chapters provide a reaction to the present conditions o f the act of archi­
tectural m odeling and draw ing that have gradually created an exasperating set of cir­
cum stances. It is not d ifficu lt to discern th a t the m ajority o f critical w ritin g s elaborated
by historians and theoreticians o f architecture generally lack an aw areness of the
cogency o f the m ultifa ceted sem iosis and m ultiple intelligences operating w ith in the
realm o f architectural representation.
A rc h ite c tu ra l d ra w in g s no w a days are m ore o fte n appraised as pieces to
be hung in art c o lle ctio n s rather than as d e m o n s tra tio n s o f arch ite ctu ra l th in kin g .
D esign d ra w in g s and re n de ring s have be com e art pieces w ith an a e s th e tic value
w h o lly separated fro m th e ir a rch ite ctu ra l value. They should instead be seen as the
e sse n tia l part o f arch ite ctu ra l pro d u ctio n , ra th e r than w o rk s o f art in th e ir o w n right.
D uring the Renaissance, a rc h ite c ts began to c o lle c t d ra w in g s ou t o f p ro fe ssio nal
in te re st, and fo r the s im p le reason th a t th e y could un de rsta nd th e kn o w le d g e
e m b o d ie d in the se 'th e o re tic a l a rtifa c ts '. They could read th e m not only as d e scrip ­
tio n s o f fu tu re , p re se n t or past e d ifice s, b u t also as a-tem poral th e o re tic a l 's ig n a ­
tu re s ' th a t could be read b e tw e e n th e lines. E ventually th e co lle ctin g e n thusiasm
spread to n o n -a rch ite cts and th e art m a rke t e xp lo ite d th e se d ra w in g s as w o rk s o f
art fo r sale and display, b ring ing to an end the in te rp re ta tiv e rich ne ss o f th e ir
analogical esse nce . T hey have been gradually tra n s fo rm e d in to alleg ories - rather
than analogies - by the red uce d im p o rta n ce o f th e Vis Im aginativa e m b o d ie d in
th e Vis D isegnativa, leading to pure au togra ph ic re p re se n ta tio n s and e m p ty and
p o w e rle s s im ages.

5
M arco Frascari

The re co g n itio n th a t in o u r age o f digital im aging a rc h ite c ts do no t build

b u ild in gs bu t m e re ly d ra w th e m does no t im p ly th a t w h a t an a rc h ite c t traces is eith e r
w o rld ly or u n w o rld ly , e xistin g or n o n-e xisting , physical or m e n ta l, s u b je ctive or o b je c­
tive . A rc h ite c tu ra l d ra w in g m u s t avoid such labels. The on ly thin g th a t th e act of
d ra w in g assu m es is th a t th a t w h ic h appears c o m e s in to v ie w . A rc h ite c tu ra l d ra w in g is,
in o th e r w o rd s , w h o lly based on an a w a re n e ss o f g ive n n e ss and on a m aterializatio n of
flu id invisible th o u g h ts . G iven ne ss is n o t u n d e rsto o d as an o b je ctive fa c t b u t as a
co m in g in to appearance. T hrough th e pro cess o f a rch ite ctu ra l d ra w in g a rc h ite c ts stud y
h o w d iffe re n t visio n s m o ve in to th e realm o f visu ality: th e g iving -act in w h ic h th e given
is given. D ra w in g is th u s a 's h o w e r o f g ifts ', and th is c o m p le x s h o w e rin g is th e reality
o f a rch ite ctu re , u n d e rsto o d graphically. A rc h ite c tu ra l d ra w in g s are p sych op hysica l
e xp re ssio n s o f a rch ite ctu re .
By reading and d ra w in g 'a rch ite ctu ra l im a g in g ' line-by-line, a rc h ite c ts read
and dra w 'b e tw e e n th e lin e s' to fo s te r a rch ite ctu ra l im a g in a tio n . For a rch ite cts, th a t
w h ic h is b e tw e e n th e lines is in rea lity earlie r - m ore archaic and g e nu ine - than the
lines th e m s e lv e s ; fo r th a t w h ic h is s h o w n in visib ly is th a t w h ic h appears m o s t p o w e r­
fu lly and m o s t d ire c tly in a rch ite ctu re . A rc h ite c tu re is no t re p re se n te d dire ctly; rather, it
is th a t w h ic h lies b e tw e e n th e lines th a t appears m o s t d ire ctly as it is able to m a n ife s t
itse lf, reveal itse lf, give itse lf, e x h ib it itse lf, arise and m aterialize. That w h ic h occu rs in
th is invisible realm is n o t 's o m e w h e re e lse ', it is 'in ' th e d ra w in g itse lf: th e a rch ite ctu re
th a t is able to be disce rn e d in -b e tw e e n is no t e ls e w h e re . If tw o people in love s it in a
park ta lkin g a b o u t ducks and th e w e a th e r, w h a t th e y are really talking ab ou t, using th e
in visib le language o f love, is n o t s o m e th in g th a t is e ls e w h e re b u t so m e th in g th a t is
rig h t th e re in th e park: in looks, m o v e m e n ts , lips, hands, p o stu re s, th o u g h ts , he sita­
tio n s, w o rd s , in o th e r w o rd s in th e syn a e sth e tic a rticu la tio n s o f th e con ve rsa tio n .
O th e rs w h o pass by see th is reality only in c o m p le te ly ; th e y see 'tw o lovers on a bench
in a pa rk', bu t th e y do no t see th e m a n ife s ta tio n o f love as such. In th e ir dra w in gs,
a rc h ite c ts seek to see A rc h ite c tu re 'as su c h '. A rc h ite c ts are no t passers-by, sin ce th e y
linger, have pa tien ce and are in no hurry. T hey abide in th e d ra w in g w h e re m a n ife s ta ­
tio n abides - ju s t as lovers abide in th e ir la ke -fro n t se ttin g .
To read and un de rsta nd 'b e tw e e n th e lin e s' is no t to read and un de rsta nd
e ls e w h e re ; it is n o t to look behind som e so rt o f sh u tte r, to lift a veil, o r to re m o ve a
screen. For w h a t is really th e re is sta n d in g rig h t b e fo re us - no t in so m e o th e r place,
n o t behind th e lines, and no t hidden o u t o f v ie w . A rc h ite c tu ra l d ra w in g is th u s the
tra cin g o f a 'm e ta p h y s ic s o f p re se n ce '. T his m ea ns th a t arch ite ctu ra l co sm o g ra p h y is
c o m m itte d to the idea th a t tru th is no t e ls e w h e re , n o t in so m e place o th e r than pre s­
ence, no t 'b e y o n d ' th e m a n ife sta tio n , b u t s o m e th in g th a t reveals its e lf in its o w n pre­
se n tin g o f itse lf. Looking around, a rc h ite c ts e v e ry w h e re see a chaos o f co n fu se d
th in kin g , m uch o f w h ic h is slack, easy-going, careless, un p ro fe ssio n a l and u n s y s te m ­
atic. D ra w in g research is o fte n carried o u t in th e natural a ttitu d e as w o o lly and u n d isci­
plined - u n fo rtu n a te ly a rch ite ctu ra l cu ltu re and ed u ca tio n do e s no t ten d to reduce this
w o o llin e s s b u t on ly m akes it m o re en tang le d. The h isto ry and u n d e rsta n d in g o f the
tra n s fo rm a tio n s o f reading and d ra w in g are th e on ly histo rie s g e n u in e ly w o rth y of

6
 Introduction

study because they sum m arize w h a t all the oth er histories tell us is of interest. The
'graphic' investigators o f architectural representations are to m ost architectural critics
and historians as archeologists are to stam p collectors.
A t a deep level o f elucidation, the processes o f architectural representation
are universal; the elaboration of a fe w sim ple structural values and principles result in a
huge variation o f architectural im agination w h ich can cu t all the w a y through tem poral,
spatial and cultural divides. If w e have to understand architecture - to thin k w ith in
architecture rather than about architecture - then w e have to understand som ething of
the m echanism th a t drives representational tho ugh ts, oth e rw ise w e are condem ned to
w a tch in despair as the architectural w o rld s created in the past continue to slip fu rth e r
and fu rth e r aw ay from our aw areness and beyond our intellectual capacities.
To recall the definition o f architectural vision offere d in the original call for
papers fo r the M o d e ls and D raw ings conference: the real architectural draw ing does
not resu lt from a vision o f the absent, but instead it provokes one. Rather than resu lt­
ing from the gaze aim ed at it, the draw ing sum m o ns insight by allow ing the invisible to
saturate the visible, but w ith o u t any a tte m p t or claim o f reducing the invisible to the
visible lines of the draw ing. The draw ing a tte m p ts to render visible the invisible as
such, and thus, strictly speaking, sh o w s nothing. It teaches the gaze to proceed
beyond the visible im age into an in finity w h e re b y som ething ne w of the invisible is
encountered. Thus the true 'draw ing-gaze' never rests or settle s on the draw ing itself,
but instead rebounds upon the visible into a gaze of the infinite.

Notes

1 David R. Scheer, 'AIA Building Information Modeling: W hat About Architecture?'

Online, available at: faculty.arch.utah.edu/bimAA/ebsite%20lnfo/Articles/BIM%20W hat
%20About% 20Architecture.doc.
2 John Warnaby, 'Only Travelling Itself: Reflections on Luigi Nono (1924-1990)',
Tempo, New Ser., 176 (March 1991), pp. 2-5.
3 Nelson Goodman, Ways o f Worldmaking, Indianapolis: Hacket Publishing Company,
1978, p. 6.
4 Ibid., pp. 7-17.

7
T h is P a ge i n t e n t i o n a l l y left b la n k
Historical perspectives

Introduction

In the opening chapter of this book, A lberto Perez-Gomez sets out both a historical and
a theoretical fram ew ork into w h ich m any of the subsequent chapters could be placed.
Tracing a broad intellectual arc from Vitruvius to the present-day. he pinpoints a series
of shifts in the scope, style and status of the architectural drawing, focusing on develop­
m ents in the use o f perspective. His skepticism as to the benefits of digital design
technology (or, as he pointedly prefers to call it, 'co m p u te r graphics') is tem pered by his
contextualizing o f these recent innovations in relation to previous historical ruptures in
the habitual patterns o f architectural vision. In M arco Frascaris' chapter, he questions
the perception of paper as m erely the passive support o f the finished architectural
draw ing. Through a detailed historical analysis of the various media in w hich design has
traditionally taken place, he highlights the subtle influence that the m ateriality of paper
has had on the de velopm e nt o f architectural thinking. Given that the process of drawing
does not sim ply involve an autom atic transcription onto a surface o f ideas that are
already clear in the arch itect's mind, he show s w h y the very m ateriality of drawings
should be seen as part o f the dynam ic character of w h a t he calls architectural factures,
that is, the things (distinct from buildings) that architects can be properly said to 'm ake'.
In the fo llow ing chapter, through an exam ination o f the role of the im agination in the
perception, conception and construction of architectural representations, Nader El-Bizri
interrogates the claim made in the conference call for papers, that 'th e model-gaze
reduces the possibilities o f innovation' and 'stifle s the pursuit o f the absent referent
beyond the present m odel'. This chapter suggests that the im agination is an integral
phenom enon of direct vision and part of our perceptual experience and not sim ply
illusory or fictional, and that it the re fore plays a role w ith in the m odel-gaze itself.
Raymond Q uek revisits historical de finitions o f the problem atic term
disegno. By exam ining its use in the w o rk o f a num ber of philosophical com m e ntators,
he also draw s ou t its continued relevance to con tem po rary debates on the notion of
visual know ledge. The m etap ho r of A da m 's navel is also used to highlight the problem

9
Historical perspectives

of origins in the m ystery of artistic creation. His chapter also illustrates the continuing
tensions and reciprocities be tw ee n conception, im agination and the process of visuali­
sation. Picking up the threads of M arco Frascari's discussion of paper, Paul Em m ons
focuses on questions of scale in his historical account o f architectural representation.
In explaining ho w the use o f scale m akes the very process of design and com p reh en­
sion possible, he also illustrates h o w the potential of CAD to produce one-to-one repre­
sentations can actually lead to a loss of architectural understanding. Qi Zhu looks at
tw o contrasting exam ples o f tw e lfth -c e n tu ry Chinese architectural im ages. By com par­
ing the graphical conventions com m o n in technical draw ings w ith those found in fine
art, she illustrates the im pact of both the cultural co n te xt o f the production o f im ages
and the em bodied actions o f their producers. In the ir occasional m isreadings of
unfam iliar stylistic codes, the Chinese artisans involved in 'copying ' technical draw ings
from the W e s t often produced highly im aginative im ages o f buildings that evoked the
tem po rally ordered activities of th e ir construction.
W ith reference to the th irte e n th -ce n tu ry narrative of the 'K ing 's T w o
Bodies', Federica Goffi discusses tangible/tem poral and intangible/sem piternal aspects
o f the tw in n e d bodies of kings and o f architecture. To expand the analogy, she exam ­
ines the role of draw ing in relation to Tiberio A lfarano's ichnography o f the Basilica of
Saint P eter's in the Vatican during its Renaissance renovation. Conceived w ith in an
understanding of the tw in persona of architecture, the chapter argues that draw ing
plays a significant role in allow ing the im agination to gro w and develop. Teresa Stop-
pani discusses the spatiality o f Piranesi's Cam po M arzio dell'antica Roma in contrast to
that o f N olli's Topografia d i Roma. W ith reference to Deleuze and G uattari's notion of
the sm ooth and the striated, she argues that, by understanding space in te rm s of
'm o v e m e n t' rather than by the static objects w ith in it, Piranesi con stru cted spaces that
anticipated the spatial and tem poral com p le xities of the con tem po rary city.
W ith reference to the study of the ruin in early sixtee nth-ce ntury Rom e and
the 'fa brica ted' ruin in Le C orbusier's projects in India, this chapter discusses the
th e m e of the 'u n fin ish e d ' in the architectural im agination. C ounter to the contem porary
preoccupation w ith 'fin ish e d ' states, w h e re the m essy processes o f design are erased
by the priority given to the u n ifo rm ity o f digital production, Nicholas Tem ple and
S oum yen Bandyopadhyay discuss the redem ptive potency o f the unfinished in gener­
ating ne w horizons o f creative in tervention. In the final chapter in this section o f the
book, A nto ny M oulis explores the generative po w e r o f the architectural diagram by
exam ining Le C orbusier's forty-year preoccupation w ith the graphical figure of the
spiral. W h e th e r vertically or horizontally em ployed, im plied or explicit, M oulis highlights
the significance of the spiral figure as a choreographer of m ove m en t. Beyond any sym ­
bolic or ae sthetic value, the spiral is seen as an organisational device - in both the
com p le te d building and, m ore intriguingly, in the em erging design draw ing.

10
Questions of
representation
The poetic origin of architecture

A lb e rto Pérez-Góm ez

D espite all the excite m e n t about digital media, it is still im possible to argue that the
integration of the se concerns in the production o f architecture has had an autom atic
positive e ffe c t on our bu ilt en viro nm en t. The digital 'avant-garde' has degenerated into
a banal m annerism , producing hom ogeneous results w ith little regard fo r cultural con­
te xts all over the w o rld. Clearly such m eans of representation are here to stay, and this
poses enorm ous questions. Addressing prim arily our vision (and not oth er senses of
em b od im en t), experim ental video, com puter-graphics and virtual im ages have trans­
form ed our conceptual understanding of reality. M onopolising the discourse surround­
ing visual representation, discussions around the so-called 'digital revo lu tion' often
exclude m ore prim ary issues o f m eaning and ethics.
Paradoxically, the fra g m e n ta tio n and te m p o ra lisa tio n o f space in itia te d by
film m on ta ge and m o d e rn is t collage th a t o p en ed up a tru ly in fin ite realm o f po etic
places fo r the hum an im agination s till a w a it th e ir translatio n in to a rch ite ctu re .
D uring th e last tw o decades, th e se d u ctive p o te n tia l o f virtu a l space has expanded
beyond all e xp e cta tio n s, throu gh both te ch n o lo g ica l b re a kth ro u g h s and a rtistic
e n deavours, y e t the arch ite ctu ra l p ro fe ssio n is s till re lu cta n t to q u e stio n certain
fu n d a m e n ta l p re m ise s co n ce rn in g th e transp are ncy and h o m o g e n e ity o f its m eans
o f re p re se n ta tio n .
A rchitectural conception and realisation usually assum e a one-to-one corre­
spondence be tw ee n the represented idea and the final building. The fa ct that digital
media also m ake this literal transcription m ore feasible through autom ation and rob ot­
ics has resulted in an un w illin gn ess to question this prem ise. A bsolute control is
essential in our technological w o rld. A lthough draw ings, prints, m odels, photographs
and co m p u te r graphics play diverse roles in the design process, they are regarded
m ost often as necessary surrogates or autom atic transcriptions o f the bu ilt w o rk. To
disclose appropriate alternatives to the ideological stagnation plaguing m o st arch itec­
tural creation at the end o f the second m illennium , the firs t crucial step is to a ckn o w ­
ledge tha t value-laden too ls of representation underlie the conception and realisation
o f architecture.

11
Alberto Pérez-Gómez

The process of creation prevalent in architecture today assum es th a t a

conventional set of projections, at various scales from site to detail, adds up to a com ­
plete, objective idea o f a building. It is this assum ption of the ideal as real, a conceptual
inversion w ith roots in early W estern m odernity, that con stitutes the firs t stum bling
block. W h e th e r the architect is effective ly or legally responsible fo r the production of
construction docum ents (working drawings), the assum ption remains. These projective
representations rely on reductive syntactic connections, w ith each projection c o n stitu t­
ing part of a dissected w hole. They are expected to be absolutely unam biguous to avoid
possible (m is)interpretations, and to function as e fficie n t neutral instru m en ts devoid of
inherent value oth er than the ir capacity fo r accurate transcription. The architectural pro­
fession generally has identified architectural draw ing w ith such projective tools.
The descriptive sets o f projections that w e take for granted operate in a
geom etrised, hom ogeneous space th a t w as construed as the 'real' space o f human
action during the nineteenth century. O ur im p licit tru s t in th e application o f a scie ntific
m etho do log y to arch itecture derives from techniques prescribed by Jean-Nicolas-Louis
Durand in his Précis des Leçons d 'A rch ite ctu re (1802 and 1813). D urand's M éca nism e
de la com p osition w as the firs t design m ethod to be thoroughly depe nd ent on the pre­
dictive capacity of these projections. For him, descriptive ge o m e try w as the m odus
operandi o f the architect. A lthough descriptive ge o m e try pro m oted sim p listic o b je ctifi­
cation, this projective tool is a product of a philosophical tradition and technological
w o rld -vie w that defines the European nineteenth cen tury and leads to our ow n 'w o rld
order'. It is, the re fore, not som ething w e can sim ply reject or pretend to leave behind.
As H ubert Dam isch has pointed o u t recently in his to u r de force on the origins o f per­
spective, the de stru cturin g of perspectival depth by the avant-garde in tw e n tie th -
century art has not pro m pted our culture of television and cinem a to make the
projective distance 'a thin g o f the past'. In architecture, the issue is rather to define
the nature of a 'd e p th ' th a t the w o rk m u st engage in order to resist the collapse of the
w o rld into cyberspace, a depth that concerns both the spatial or form al character o f the
w o rk, and its program m atic, tem po ral or experiential dim ension.
The technological w o rld has generally em braced the pragm atic capacity of
architectural draw ing over its potential to construe a sym bolic order. For architects it is
im p ortan t to re m e m be r th a t a sym bol is neither a contrivance nor an invention, nor is it
necessarily a representation of absolute truths or transcendental theological values.
Sym bols em body specific historical and cultural values, and buildings often possess
experiential dim ensions that cannot be reproduced in a conventional representation.
Expecting architectural representations to em body a sym bolic order - indeed, like any
oth er w o rk of art - w ill seem controversial unless w e revise the com m o n assum ptions
about art and its relationship to hum an life th a t have been w ith us since the eighteenth
century. For architecture the d iffic u lty of m anifesting a sym bolic order is necessarily
double, since it concerns both the project and its 'tra nsla tion ' - an unfolding th a t is
seldom present in oth er arts.
Projective draw ing need not be a reductive device, a tool o f prosaic sub sti­
tutio n. Projection evokes tem po rality and boundaries. D efining the space be tw e e n light

12
 Questions of representation

and darkness, be tw ee n the Beginning and the Beyond, it illum inates the space of
culture, of our individual and collective existence. Closer to the origins of our philo­
sophical history, projection w as identified w ith the space o f representation, the site of
ontological con tinu ity be tw ee n universal ideas and specific things. The labyrinth, that
prim ordial ground plan and image of architectural endeavour, is a projection linking
tim e and place. Representing architectural space as the tim e o f an event, the disclo­
sure of order b e tw ee n birth and death, in the unpredictable tem po rality o f human life
itself, the labyrinth w as literally the hyphen be tw ee n idea and experience, the figura­
tion of a place for human culture, the Platonic chora. Like m usic, realised in tim e from
a m ore or less 'o p e n ' notation, inscribed as an act o f divination for a potential order,
architecture is itself a projection of architectural ideas, horizontal fo o tp rin ts and vertical
effigies, disclosing a sym bolic order in tim e, through rituals and program s. The archi­
te c t's task, beyond the transfo rm a tion o f the w o rld into a com fortable or pragm atic
shelter, is the m aking of a physical, form al order that refle cts the depth of our human
condition, analogous in vision to the in te rio rity com m unicated by speech and poetry,
and to the im m easurable harm ony conveyed by m usic.
Since the inception of W estern architecture in classical Greece, the archi­
te c t has not 'm a d e ' buildings; rather, he or she has m ade the m ediating artefacts that
make sig n ifica n t buildings possible. These artefacts - from w o rds, to m any kinds of
in scriptions and draw ings, to full-scale m ock-ups - have changed th ro u g h o u t history.
Changing has also been th e ir relation to buildings. As late as the Renaissance, fo r
exam ple, the only draw ings tru ly 'indispensable' fo r building (from a technological
standpoint) w e re m od an i or tem plate draw ings, considered ne vertheless im p ortan t
enough by th e ir authors to be carefully pro te cted from unscrupulous copying.
For architects concerned w ith ethics and not m erely w ith aesthetic novelty,
w h o seek the realisation of places w h ere a fuller, m ore com passionate human life
m ig ht take place, the appropriateness of m ediating artefacts and too ls is param ount.
A rchite ctural traditions are rich in potential lessons and alternatives. H istory offers
am ple evidence fo r an architecture resulting from a poetic translation o f its representa­
tions, rather than as a prosaic transcription o f an ob je ctified image.
There seem s to be an in tim ate com p licity be tw e e n architectural m eaning
and the m odus operandi of the architect, his or her praxis at all levels, from abstract
and ethical concerns to practical and technical issues. There is also a relationship
be tw e e n the richness of our cities as places propitious for im agery and reverie, as
structure s of em bodied know ledge fo r collective orientation, and the nature of archi­
tectural techne, that is, d iffe ring m odes o f architectural conception and im p lem e nta­
tion. These relationships can never be grasped as m erely causal, obeying som e clear
principle of m athem atical logic. It is clear th a t the m eaning o f an architectural w o rk is
never sim ply the result o f an a u thor's w ill. In addition to the com plex factors th a t con­
tribu te to bring to life an absent building, once the w o rk occupies its place in the public
realm, a m u ltitu d e of additional considerations related to context, use, cultural associ­
ations, etc., have an im pact on how it is perceived. N evertheless, the arch itect
responsible fo r initiating the dream cannot abdicate responsibility. The changing

13
A lberto Pérez-Góm ez

re la tio n sh ip s b e tw e e n th e in te n tio n s o f arch ite ctu ra l d ra w in g s and th e b u ilt o b je cts

th e y d e scrib e hold im p o rta n t le sson s fo r a rc h ite c ts in o rd e r to e xe rcise e th ically the
personal im a gin atio n and co n s tru e a b e tte r, rich er place fo r hum an d w e llin g .
Prior to th e R enaissance, a rch ite ctu ra l d ra w in g s w e re rare, ce rta in ly in the
sen se th a t is fa m ilia r to us. In th e M id d le A ges, a rc h ite c ts did n o t co n ce ive o f a w h o le
b u ild in g and th e ve ry notion o f scale w a s u n kn o w n . G othic a rch ite ctu re , th e m o st
'th e o re tic a l' o f all m ed ie val building p ra ctices, w a s fu n d a m e n ta lly a c o n s tru c tiv e prac­
tice, o p era ting th ro u g h w e ll-e s ta b lis h e d tra d itio n s and g e o m e tric rules th a t could be
ap plied d ire c tly on site. From th e fo o tp rin t o f a building, c o n s tru c tio n p ro cee ded by
rh e to ric and g e o m e try , raising th e e leva tion as discu ssio n s ab o u t th e b u ild in g 's p h ysi­
o g n o m y c o n tin u e d , a lm o s t u n til th e end. The m a s te r m ason w a s re sp on sible fo r co n ­
s tru c tin g a m o d e l o f th e city o f God on Earth; on ly th e A rc h ite c t o f th e U niverse,
h o w e v e r, po ssesse d a c o m p re h e n s iv e fo re -k n o w le d g e o f th e p ro je c t and w a s d e e m e d
capable o f co n clu d in g th e w o rk a t th e end o f T im e. The various e xp re ssio n s o f G othic
cath edra ls w e re the re su lt o f d iffe re n t g e n e ra tio n s and diverse m e th o d s ap plied by itin ­
era n t bands o f sto n e m aso ns w h o m ig ra te d around Europe to w o rk on various building
p ro je cts. M u ltip le styles, as in th e C athedral o f C hartres, or c o m p ro m is e d g e o m e tric
s ys te m s , as in M ilan Cathedral, w e re regarded no t as an in co n s is te n c y b u t as a
layering o f d iffe re n t re sp o n se s to stru ctu ra l or sy m b o lic p ro b le m s du rin g th e course
o f co n s tru c tio n .
S tartin g w ith th e R enaissance, th e re latio nship b e tw e e n a rch ite ctu ra l d ra w ­
ings and th e b u ild in gs th e y de scrib e should be co n sid e re d w ith g re a te r care than has
been cu sto m a ry. From th e m o s t im p o rta n t a rch ite ctu ra l tre a tis e s and th e ir re sp e ctive
co n te x ts , it is e v id e n t th a t th e m a tu ra tio n fro m a rch ite ctu ra l idea to b u ilt w o rk w a s less
sys te m a tis e d than w e n o w take fo r gra nted . D uring th e early R enaissance, th e tra d i­
tion al u n d e rsta n d in g o f a rc h ite c tu re as a ritual act o f c o n s tru c tio n had n o t been lost.
The co n c e p t o f a s y m p a th e tic un ive rse, th o ro u g h ly alive, w a s pre va le n t th ro u g h o u t the
fifte e n th and s ix te e n th ce n tu rie s. D iffe re n t o rd ers o f rea lity - fro m a sto n e to God,
fro m a p o in t to a th re e -d im e n s io n a l solid - w e re co n n e c te d by a chain, by ero tic links
or vincoli. W h ile th is co n c e p t w a s based on th e old A risto te lia n co s m o lo g y , it w as
in crea sing ly open to m a n ip u la tio n by m a g icia n -a rch ite cts in te re s te d in p ro p itia tin g a
happy life, e m u la tin g th e o rd e r o f th e heavens. This cultu ral c o n te x t o b vio usly
d e m a n d s a q u a lifica tio n o f th e 'in s tru m e n ta lity ' o f th e to o ls or d ra w in g s o f th e archi­
te c t. P rojecting th e g e o m e tric p h ysio g n o m y o f a bu ild in g or c ity w a s a p ro p h e tic act, a
fo rm o f c o n ju rin g and divining as w e are to ld by M a rco Frascari, and in volve d m uch
m o re than th e personal w ill o f th e au thor. A rc h ite c tu ra l d ra w in g s crysta llise d th e m ira c­
ulous p o w e r o f th e im a gin atio n and w e re th e re fo re value-laden, ne ver u n d e rsto o d as
ne utral a rte fa c ts th a t m ig h t be tra n scrib e d un a m b ig u o u sly into buildings.
D uring the early Renaissance, Filarete discu sse d in his tre a tise th e fo u r
ste p s to be fo llo w e d in arch ite ctu ra l crea tion . He w a s care fu l to em p ha sise th e a u to ­
n o m y am o ng p ro p o rtio n s, lines, m o d e ls and bu ild in gs, d e scrib in g th e co n n e ctio n
b e tw e e n 'u n ive rse s o f id e a tio n ' in te rm s analogous to an a lche m ical tra n s m u ta tio n , not
to a m a th e m a tica l tra n s fo rm a tio n . U n qu estion ab ly, h o w e v e r, it is du rin g th e fifte e n th

14
 Questions of representation

ce n tu ry th a t a rc h ite c tu re cam e to be u n d e rsto o d as a liberal art, and a rch ite ctu ra l ideas
w e re th e re b y in crea sing ly co n ce ive d as g e o m e tric a l lin e a m e n ti, as bi-dim e nsiona l,
o rth o g o n a l p ro je ctio n s. A gradual and c o m p le x tra n s itio n fro m th e classical (Greco-
Arabic) th e o ry o f vision to a n e w m a th e m a tica l and g e o m e tric a l ratio na lisa tion o f the
im age w a s takin g place. The m ed ie val w ritin g s on p e rsp e ctive (such as Ibn Alhazen,
A lkind i, Bacon, P eckham , V ite llo and G ro sse te ste ) had tre a te d , principally, th e physical
and p h ysio log ica l p h e n o m e n o n o f vision. In th e cultu ral c o n te x t o f th e M id d le A ge s, its
applicatio n w a s sp e cifica lly related to m a th e m a tics, th e p rivile g e d ve h icle fo r th e clear
un de rsta nd ing o f th e o lo g ica l tru th . P ersp ectiva naturalis, seeking clear vision fo r
m ankind, w a s no t co n ce rn e d w ith a rtis tic re p re se n ta tio n , b u t w ith an un d e rsta n d in g o f
th e m o d e s o f G od 's p re sen ce; it w a s part o f th e q u ad riviu m o f liberal arts, associated
by T hom a s A quinas to m u sic as visual ha rm on y, and ne ver to d ra w in g or any o th e r
graphic m e th o d . H u m a n ity lite rally lived in th e light o f God, under G od 's b e n e vo le n t
gaze, th e lig h t o f th e golden heaven o f th e Byzantine fre s c o e s and m osa ics, o r th e
s u b lim e and vib ra n t coloured space o f th e G othic cathedrals.
The new un de rsta nd ing of a p e rsp e ctiva l im age in th e Renaissance
rem a ine d d ire ctly related to th e notion o f classical o p tics as a scie nce o f th e tra n s m is ­
sion o f light rays and to its u n de rlyin g m e ta p h ysics. The pyra m id o f vision, th e notion
on w h ic h th e R enaissance idea o f th e im age as a w in d o w on th e w o rld w a s based,
w a s in h e rite d fro m th e Euclidean n o tion o f th e visual cone. The eye w a s be lie ved to
p ro je c t its visual rays o n to th e ob je ct, w ith p e rce p tio n o ccu rrin g as a d yn am ic action o f
th e b e h o ld e r upon th e w o rld . V itru viu s (firs t c e n tu ry bce) had discu sse d th e q u e stio n o f
op tical c o rre ctio n in a rc h ite c tu re as a d ire ct corollary o f th e E uclidean cone o f vision,
d e m o n s tra tin g an a w a re n e ss (also p re se n t in so m e m ed ie val building practice) o f the
d im e n sio n a l d is to rtio n s b ro u g h t ab o u t by th e p o sitio n o f an ob serve r. The issue,
h o w e ve r, as is w e ll k n o w n fro m th e gre a t e xa m ples o f classical a rch ite ctu re , w a s to
a vo id d is to rte d p e rce p tio n . A rc h ite c ts w e re e xp e cte d to co rre c t certain visual asp ects
(by increasing th e size o f le tte rin g placed on a high architrave, fo r exam ple), in o rd e r to
c o n ve y an exp e rie n ce o f p e rfe c t a d ju s tm e n t or re g u la rity to s y n a e s th e tic p e rce p tio n ,
a lw a ys prim a rily ta ctile . R enaissance a rch ite ctu ra l th e o ry and pra ctice ne ver q u e s­
tio n e d th is aim , w h ic h rem a ine d unshakeable u n til C laude P erra ult's th e o re tica l re vo lu ­
tio n at th e end o f th e se v e n te e n th cen tury.
N e ith e r did certain fu n d a m e n ta l a s s u m p tio n s a b o u t p e rce p tio n change
during th e R enaissance. W h e n q u eried a b o u t th e tru th o f parallel lines, anyone w o u ld
have a n sw e re d th a t ob vio u sly, in th e w o rld o f action, th o se s tra ig h t lines n e v e r m e e t.
The h yp o th e sis o f a van ish ing p o in t at in fin ity w a s bo th un ne cessa ry fo r th e c o n s tru c ­
tio n o f p e rsp e ctive , and u ltim a te ly in con ceiva ble as th e reality o f pe rce p tio n in e ve ry­
day life. A lb e rti's cen tra l p o in t (p u n to cén trico) o f th e p e rsp e ctive c o n s tru c tio n , fo r
e xa m ple, is o fte n w ro n g ly associated w ith such a 'va n ish in g ' po in t. In fa c t th e p o in t o f
c o n ve rg e n ce in th e c o n stru zio n e le g ittim a is d e te rm in e d and fixe d by th e p o in t o f sig h t
as a 'c o u n te r-e y e ' on th e 'w in d o w ' or, in co n te m p o ra ry te rm s , th e ce n tra l p o in t on the
p ictu re plane. Even th o u g h fifte e n th -c e n tu ry pa in te rs w e re e xp e rim e n tin g w ith
m e th o d s o f linear p e rsp e ctive , the g e o m e tris a tio n o f picto ria l de pth w a s n o t y e t

15
A lberto Pérez-Góm ez

sys te m a tis e d and did n o t im m e d ia te ly tra n s fo rm th e quotid ian e xp erience o f th e w o rld ,

nor th e pro cess o f a rch ite ctu ra l cre a tio n . It w a s im p o ssib le fo r th e Renaissance archi­
te c t to con ceive th a t th e tru th o f th e w o rld could be red uce d to its visual re p re se n ta ­
tion , a tw o -d im e n s io n a l diaphanous se ctio n o f th e pyra m id o f vision.
D uring th e s ix te e n th ce n tu ry, tre a tise s on p e rsp e ctive tried to tra n sla te th e
p rim a rily e m p irica l un d e rsta n d in g o f p e rsp e ctive in to a sy s te m , and be cam e increas­
ingly dista n ce d fro m tre a tise s on o p tics. T hese n e w w o rk s , h o w e v e r, rem a ine d th e o ­
retical o r m a th e m a tica l e lu cid a tio n s and had a lm o s t no practical use in p re scrip tive
re p re se n ta tio n . In V ig no la's D ue R ególe della P rosp ettiva Prattica, a 'se co n d o b se rve r'
w a s in tro d u ce d and be cam e th e dista n ce p o in t th a t a llo w e d fo r a m a th e m a tica l regula­
tio n o f th e fo re s h o rte n in g . The d ista nce p o in t w a s p ro je cte d on th e p ictu re plane, on
th e horizon line at a d ista nce fro m th e ce n tra l p o in t equal to the dista n ce b e tw e e n the
eye o f th e o b se rve r and th e plane o f th e im age. In o th e r w o rd s , V ig n o la 's m e th o d
in tro d u ce d a seco nd o b s e rv e r at th e sam e dista nce fro m th e cen tra l p o in t, looking p e r­
p e nd icularly at th e beho lde r, th e re b y adding an e le m e n t e sse n tia l fo r th e re p re se n ta ­
tio n o f s te re o s c o p ic vision. Prior to this, w ith th e apex o f th e cone o f vision as a
sim p lifie d eye, p e rs p e ttiv a a rtificia lis had been, s tric tly speaking, a (very im p e rfe c t)
m o n o cu la r co n s tru c tio n .
B efo re D ürer, a plan w a s g e ne rally co n ce ive d as a c o m p o s ite 'fo o tp rin t' o f a
building, and an e leva tion as a face. V ertica l or horizontal s e ctio n s w e re n o t c o m m o n ly
used b e fore th e s ix te e n th ce n tu ry. It sho uld n o t c o m e as a surp rise th a t p e rs p e c tiv e 's
e m p h a sis on th e tru th o f p e rce p tio n being a se ctio n th ro u g h th e cone o f vision w o u ld
be tra n sla te d as a n e w e m p h a sis on th e im p o rta n ce o f s e ctio n s in a rch ite ctu ra l
re p re se n ta tio n . S e ctio n s be cam e th e le g itim a te e m b o d im e n t o f arch ite ctu ra l ideas,
precise as c o m p o s ite d ra w in g s could no t be, and th e re fo re m o re adeq ua te to e m b o d y
a Platonic c o n ce p tio n o f tru th . Yet, early use o f s e ctio n s betrays a fa scin a tio n w ith the
role o f b u ild in gs as g n o m o n s or sh a d o w tracers. V incenzo S cam ozzi's de sig n fo r the
Villa B ardelini, in his Idea d e ll'A rc h ite ttu ra U niversale, is a fa scin a tin g instance. The co­
o rd in a tio n o f th e ve rtica l and horizontal s e ctio n s o f th e b u ild in g reveal lig h t and sh a d o w
as c o n s titu tiv e o f the a rc h ite c tu re 's sy m b o lic order, very m uch in th e sp irit o f V itruvius
w h o had in tro d u ce d g n o m o n s as one o f th e th re e a rte fa c ts w ith in th e province of
a rch ite ctu re , to g e th e r w ith m ach in ae and build in gs. The p o s s ib ility o f takin g m ea sure
o f tim e (and space), in th e sense o f p o e tic m im e s is , w a s th e original task o f th e archi­
te c t, and th is h a d n 't been fo rg o tte n in th e R enaissance. T here w a s an ove rla pping of
th e no tion o f se ctio n as s h a d o w or im p rin t, revealing th e ord e r o f th e de ity, th e pre s­
e nce o f light, w ith th a t o f sectio n as a cu t. The ob se ssio n to reveal clearly th e insides
o f bodies, to m a g n ify and d is s e c t as a road to kn o w le d g e , is one th a t ta ke s hold of
European e p is te m o lo g y on ly a fte r th e m e ch a n isa tio n o f p h ysio lo g y in th e s e v e n te e n th
c e n tu ry. O nly th e n , light as divine e m a na tion, as 'lig h tin g ' m aking th e w o rld of
e xp e rie n ce possible, indeed, as p ro je ctio n , b e co m e s a passive m e d iu m , to th e e xclu ­
sion o f sh a d o w s. Today, m an y a rc h ite c ts rem ain fa scin a te d by th e re ve la to ry p o w e r of
c u ttin g , b u t it is clear th a t in scie nce th is o p e ra tio n has reached its lim its . F urther
c u ttin g in biolo gy, or particle sm a sh in g in physics, does no t reveal a g re a te r in te rio rity.

16
 Questions of representation

M ore light w ith o u t shadow s is of no use. W e are alw ays le ft on the outside by o b je cti­
fied vision, and the arch itect at the end of m od ern ity m ust clearly understand this if the
'e n fra m e d ' vision is to be transcended. U nderstanding the nature o f projections as
ephem eral, dynam ic and endo w ed w ith shadow s m ay generate an architecture once
m ore experienced as a flo w in g m usical com p osition, in tim e , w h ile the spectator
glances com passionately at its m aterial surfaces.
During the sixteenth century in Northern Italy, Daniele Barbaro, Palladio's
friend and patron, em phasised th a t perspective w as n o fa n architectural idea in the Vit-
ruvian sense. W e m ay recall th a t in V itruvius's Ten Books, the Greek w o rd 'ide a' refers
to the three aspects o f a m ental im age (perhaps akin to the A ristotelian phantasm )
understood as the germ o f a project. These ideas allow ed the arch itect to im agine the
disposition of a p ro je ct's parts: ichnographia and orthographia w o u ld eventually be
translated as plan and elevation, but do not originally involve the system atic correspon­
dence o f descriptive geom etry. In his treatise on perspective, Barbaro o ffe rs a fascinat­
ing com m e ntary on the Vitruvian passage. He believed th a t the translation of
sciographia (the third Vitruvian idea) as perspective, resulted from a m isreading of
sciographia as scenographia in the original text, w h o se application w as im p ortan t only
in the building of stage-sets. Thus he concludes that perspective, h o w e ver im portant,
w as m ainly reco m m en ded fo r painters and stage-set designers.
It is w o rth w h ile to fo llo w Barbaro's com m e ntary in som e detail in order to
understand its im plications. Sciagraphy or sciography derives etym ologically from the
Greek skia (shadow) and graphou (to describe). Scam ozzi's villa com es im m e dia te ly to
m ind. The etym olog y also speaks to the eventual relationship be tw ee n the projection
o f shadow s and linear perspective, an obligatory chapter in m o st seve ntee nth- and
eigh te en th -centu ry treatises on the subject. In the architectural tradition, how ever, sci­
agraphy kept its m eaning as a 'draught o f a building, cu t in its length and breadth, to
display the interior', in other w o rds, the profile, or section. This use of the term w as
still present in the nineteenth century (Encyclopedia o f A rchite cture, London: The
Caxton Press, 1852). M odern Latin dictionaries translate scaenographia (the actual
term as it appears in the firs t existing Vitruvian m anuscript) as the draw ing o f buildings
in perspective, and generally assum e that this w o rd is synonym ous to sciagraphia. The
fa ct is th a t perspective w as unknow n in ancient Rome and even w h en Vitruvius
speaks about the three types of stage-sets appropriate to tragedy, com edy and satire
(Book V, ch. 6), there is no m ention o f perspective in connection w ith classical theatre.
V itruvius describes the fixed scaena as a royal palace facade w ith periaktoi, 'triangular
pieces o f m achinery w h ich revolve', placed beyond the doors, and w h o se three faces
w e re decorated to correspond to each dram atic genre.
Barbaro argues th a t scenographia, w h ich is 'related to the use o f perspec­
tive ', is the design of stages fo r the three dram atic genres. A ppropriate type s o f build­
ings m u st be show n dim inishing in size and receding to the horizon. He does not agree
w ith 'th ose th a t w ish to understand perspective (perspettiva) as one o f the ideas that
generate architectural design (dispositioneY, ascribing to it the definition Vitruvius had
given to sciographia. In his opinion it is plain that 'ju s t as anim als belong by nature to a

17
A lberto Pérez-Góm ez

certain sp e cie s', th e idea th a t be lo ngs w ith plan (ichnographia) and elevation
(orth o g ra p h ia ), is th e se ctio n (profilo), sim ila r to th e o th e r tw o 'id e a s ' th a t c o n s titu te
a rch ite ctu ra l ord e r (dispo sition e). In V itru v iu s 's co n ce p tio n , th e se ctio n 'a llo w s fo r a
gre a te r kn o w le d g e o f th e q u ality and m e a s u re m e n t o f building, helps w ith the co n tro l
o f co sts and th e d e te rm in a tio n o f th e th ic k n e s s o f w a lls ', etc. Barbaro, in fact,
a ssu m e s th a t in a n tiq u ity 'p e rs p e c tiv e ' w a s on ly ap plied to th e painted re p re se n ta tio n s
on th e sides o f th e pe ria kto i.
It w a s on ly during th e s e v e n te e n th ce n tu ry th a t p e rsp e ctive be cam e a g e n ­
era tive idea in a rch ite ctu re , in th e V itruvian sense o f th e cate gory. B oth th e o lo g y and
scie nce c o n trib u te d to th is s h ift. W ith in th e J e s u it tra d itio n , Juan B autista V illalpando
h o m o lo g ise d p e rsp e ctive w ith plan and e leva tion in his e xe g e tica l w o rk on E zekiel's
vision fo r th e T e m p le o f Je ru sa le m . E m ph asising th e notion th a t th e hum an a rch ite ct
m u s t share th e divine a rc h ite c t's cap acity fo r visu alisin g a fu tu re building, he insists
th a t plans and e le va tio n s are sim ila r to p e rsp e ctive s, as th e y are m e re ly 'p ic tu re s ' o f a
b u ild in g -to -co m e . The in ce p tio n o f th e C artesian m o d e rn w o rld and th e e p iste m o lo g ica l
re vo lu tio n b ro u g h t ab o u t by m od ern scie nce , in tro d u ce d du rin g th e Baroque pe rio d a
c o n flic t b e tw e e n sym b o lic and m e ch a n istic v ie w s o f th e w o rld . A w o rld o f fixed
esse nce s and m a th e m a tica l la w s d e p lo ye d in a h o m o g e n e o u s, g e o m e tris e d space,
m uch like th e Platonic m od el o f th e heavens, w a s a ssu m e d by G alileo to be th e tru th
o f o u r e xp erience o f th e physical w o rld . As an exam ple, G alileo be lie ved , a fte r p o s tu la t­
ing his la w o f inertia, th a t th e esse nce o f an o b je c t w a s no t alte red by m o tio n . This
no tion , n o w an o b vio us 'tru th ' (as long as w e keep m aking a b stra ctio n s fro m con texts),
w a s at od d s w ith the tra d itio n a l A risto te lia n e xp e rie n ce o f th e w o rld in w h ic h p e rce p ­
tion , w ith its do ub le horizon o f m o rta l e m b o d ie d co n scio u sn e ss and a fin ite w o rld of
qu a lita tive places, w a s a cce p te d as th e p rim ary and le g itim a te access to reality. The
n e w s c ie n tific c o n ce p tio n e v e n tu a lly led to a sce p ticism regarding th e ph ysical pre s­
ence o f th e exte rn al w o rld . In th e te rm s o f D escartes, m an be cam e a su b je c t (a th in k ­
ing, rathe r than an e m b o d ie d self), co n fro n tin g th e w o rld as res extensa, as an
e xte n sio n o f his th in kin g ego. This d u alistic c o n c e p tio n o f reality m ade it po ssib le fo r
p e rsp e ctive to b e co m e a m o d e l o f hum an k n o w le d g e , a le g itim a te and s c ie n tific
re p re se n ta tio n o f th e in fin ite w o rld .
B aro qu e p e rs p e c tiv e in a rt and a rc h ite c tu re , h o w e v e r, w a s a s y m b o lic
c o n fig u ra tio n , one th a t a llo w e d re a lity to keep th e q u a litie s th a t it had a lw a y s p o s ­
se sse d in an A ris to te lia n w o rld . D u rin g th e s e v e n te e n th c e n tu ry , th e p rim a c y o f p e r­
c e p tio n as th e fo u n d a tio n o f tru th w a s h a rd ly a ffe c te d by th e im p lic a tio n s o f th is
new s c ie n c e and p h ilo s o p h y . P e rs p e c tiv e , now a le g itim a te a rc h ite c tu ra l idea,
b e ca m e a p riv ile g e d fo rm o f s y m b o lis a tio n . T he a rc h ite c tu re o f th e J e s u it c h u rc h e s
by A n d re a Pozzo, fo r e x a m p le , can h a rd ly be re d u c e d to th e ir s e c tio n o r e le v a tio n .
P ozzo 's fre s c o e s are in e x tric a b ly tie d to th e th re e -d im e n s io n a lity o f th e a rc h ite c tu ra l
spa ce, re v e a lin g tra n s c e n d e n ta l tru th in th e hu m a n w o rld . R a th e r tha n re m a in in g in
th e tw o -d im e n s io n a l fie ld o f re p re s e n ta tio n , th e p e rs p e c tiv e is p ro je c te d fro m a
p re cise p o in t s itu a te d in lived space and fix e d p e rm a n e n tly on th e p a v e m e n t o f th e
nave. T he p o s s ib ility o f 're a l o rd e r' fo r m o rta l e x is te n c e a p pe ars o n ly at th e p re cise

18
 Questions of representation

m o m e n t th a t a hum an pre sen ce occu pies th e statio n p o in t o f th e 'illu s io n is tic '

q u ad rattu ra fre sco .
Even though the the ory of perspective, as an offsprin g o f the ne w science,
allow ed human beings to control and dom inate the physical reality o f existence, the
arts, gardening and architecture during the seventeenth century w e re still concerned
w ith the revelation o f a transcendentally ordered cosm os. Thus it can be argued that
by geom e trising the w o rld, hum anity firs t gained access to a new transcendental truth.
Even though perspective becam e increasingly integrated w ith architecture, perspecti-
val systém atisation rem ained restricted to the creation of an illusion, qualitatively dis­
tin c t from the con stru cted reality o f the w o rld. Perspective m arked the m o m e n t of an
epiphany, the revelation of m eaning and the God-given ge om e tric order of the w orld.
For a brief tim e , illusion w as the locus of ritual. The revelation o f order occurred at the
precarious m o m e n t o f coincidence be tw ee n the vanishing point and the position of
the observer.
W hile m o st seve ntee nth-ce ntury philosophers w e re still striving to fo rm u ­
late the appropriate articulation o f the relation b e tw e e n the w o rld of appearances and
the 'a bso lu te ' truth of m odern science, the w o rk o f Gérard Desargues appeared as an
anom aly. Desargues disregarded the transcendental dim ension of g e o m e try and the
sym bolic po w e r of geom etrical operations. He ignored the sym bolic im plications of
in fin ity and thus transfo rm e d it into a 'm ateria l' reality. He sought to establish a general
ge om e tric science, one th a t m ig h t e ffe ctive ly becom e the basis fo r such diverse te c h ­
nical operations as perspective draw ing, stone and w o o d -cu ttin g fo r con stru ction , and
the design of solar clocks. Until then, theories of perspective always associated the
point o f convergence o f parallel lines w ith the apex of the cone of vision projected on
the horizon line. Desargues w as apparently the firs t w rite r in the history of perspective
to postulate a p o in t a t infinity. He m aintained that all lines in our ever-changing, m ortal
and lim ited w o rld actually converged to w a rd a real point, at an infinite distance, yet
present at hand for human control and m anipulation. Thus any system o f parallel lines,
or any specific geom etrical figure, could be conceived as a variation of a single univer­
sal system o f concurrent lines. O rthogonal projection as w e understand it today w as
already fo r Desargues a sim ple case of perspective projection w h e re the projective
point w as located at an in finite distance from the plane of projection. Desargues's
m ethod allow ed fo r the representation of com plex volum es be fore construction, im p le­
m enting an operation of deductive logic w h e re vision, perception and experience w ere
supposed to be practically irrelevant. P erspective becam e the basic (and paradigm atic)
prescriptive science, a ne w kind of the ory prophetic of the ep istem ological sh ift that
w o uld take place during the nineteenth century, w h o se sole raison d 'ê tre w as to
control hum an action, the practice of applied sciences and our enfram ed technological
w o rld. The scie ntific revolution had w itn e sse d in Desargues's system the firs t a tte m p t
to en do w representation w ith an objective autonom y. N evertheless, the prevailing
philosophical connotations of infinity, alw ays associated w ith theological questions, as
w e ll as the resistance o f traditionally m inded painters, craftsm en and architects, made
his system unacceptable to his contem poraries. D esargues's basic aim s w o uld

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Alberto Pérez-Gómez

eventually be fulfilled by Gaspard M o n g e 's descriptive g e om e try near the end o f the
eighteenth century.
Despite European cu ltu re 's reticence to d e m ystify infinity, perspective soon
ceased to be regarded as a preferred vehicle fo r transfo rm ing the w o rld into a m ean­
ingful hum an order. Instead, it becam e a sim ple re-presentation o f reality, a sort of
em pirical verification o f the external w o rld fo r hum an vision. Pozzo's treatise, Rules
and Exam ples o f P erspective P roper fo r Painters and A rch ite cts (Rome: 1693, English
trans. London: 1700), occupies an interesting, perhaps paradoxical, position as a w o rk
o f transition. From a plan and an elevation, his m ethod of projection is a step-by-step
set of instructions fo r perspective draw ing that establishes the ho m ology of projec­
tions and an absolutely fixed proportional relationship of orthogonal elem e nts seen in
perspective. Pozzo avoids the ge om e trical the ory o f perspective, and his theoretical
discourse am ounts to a collection o f extrem e ly sim ple rules and detailed exam ples of
perspective constructions, perhaps the firs t tru ly applicable manual on perspective in
the sense fam iliar to us. The consequential hom ology of 'live d ' space and the g e o m e t­
ric space o f perspectival representation encouraged the arch itect to assum e th a t the
projection w as capable of truly depicting a proposed architectural creation and, the re­
fore, to 'design in pe rspe ctive'. The qualitative spatiality o f our existence w as now
identical to the ob je ctified space o f perspective, and architecture could be rendered as
a picture.
In the eighteenth century, artists, scie ntists and philosophers lost in te re st in
the theory o f perspective. Building practice, in fact, changed very little despite the
potential of the ne w conceptual too ls to transform architectural processes. The
gé om étrisation of know ledge initiated w ith the inception o f m odern science in the sev­
en teen th century w as arrested by the focus on em pirical theories spurred by N e w to n 's
w o rk and by the identification o f the inherent lim itation s o f Euclidean geom etry.
In this context, architects seem ed ne vertheless ready to accept the notion
that there w as no conceptual distinctio n be tw ee n a stage-set con stru cted fo llo w in g
the m ethod p e r angolo o f Galli-Bibiena, one w h e re there w as no longer a privileged
point o f vie w , and the perm anent tecton ic reality o f th e ir craft. Each and every indi­
vidual spe ctator occupied an equivalent place in a w o rld transfo rm e d into a tw o -p o in t
perspective. Reality w as transfo rm e d into a universe of representation. The Baroque
illusion becam e a potential delusion in the Rococo church. Even the vanishing point of
the frescoes becam e inaccessible to the spectator, the ne w aesthetic chasm no w to
be bridged by an act of faith, w h ile the building appeared as a highly rhetorical, self-
referential theatre, one w h e re the traditional religious rituals w e re no longer unques­
tionable vehicles fo r existential orientation. H um anity's participation in the sym bolic
(and divine) order o f the w o rld w as starting to becom e a m a tte r of self-conscious
faith, rather than self-evident em bodied know ledge, despite the pervasive (and
unquestionably influential) M asonic a ffirm atio n of the coincidence be tw e e n revealed
and scie ntific truths.
O nly after the nineteenth cen tury and a systém atisation of draw ing
m etho ds could the process of translation b e tw ee n draw ing and building becom e fully

20
 Questions of representation

transparent and reduced to an equation. The key transform ation in the history o f archi­
tectural draw ing w as the inception of descriptive g e om e try as the paradigm atic discip­
line fo r the builder, w h e th e r arch itect or engineer. The École P olytechnique in Paris,
founded after the French Revolution, trained the new professional class o f e m in e n t sci­
e n tists and engineers o f the nineteenth century. D escriptive ge om e try, the fun dam e n­
tal core subject, allow ed fo r the firs t tim e a system atic reduction of three-dim ensional
objects to tw o dim ensions, m aking the control and precision dem anded by the Indus­
trial R evolution possible. Perspective becam e an 'invisible hinge' am ong projections. It
is no exaggeration to state th a t w ith o u t this conceptual tool our technological w orld
could not have com e into existence. W ith D urand's M éca nism e de la com p osition and
its step-by-step instructions, the codification o f architectural history into types and
styles, the use of the grid and axes, transparent paper, and precise decim al m easure­
m ents allow ed fo r planning and cost estim ates. D escriptive g e o m e try becam e the
'a ssu m p tio n ' behind all m odern architectural endeavours, ranging from the often
superficially artistic draw ings of the École de Beaux Arts to the functional projects of
the Bauhaus. The rendering o f draw ings in the Beaux A rts tradition does not change
the essence of the architecture it represents, nor does it succeed in form ulatin g an
alternative to the arch itecture o f the École P olytechnique. The Beaux A rts does not
retrieve m yth through draw ings, but rather only form alises appearances w ith a status
of con ting en t 'o rn a m e n t', in a sim ilar w a y to 'post-m od ern classical' styles. This is
indeed at odds w ith the possibility o f retrieving m eaning through a phenom enological
understanding of sym bolisation.
In this context, it is easy to understand th a t true a xo n o m e try could only
em erge as a preferred architectural tool after Durand, w h o w as already suspicious of
perspective and w h a t he believes are deceiving painterly techniques. Conversely,
'n e w ' theories o f perspective becam e concerned w ith depicting 're tin a l' im ages, such
as curved or three -po int perspectives. D espite sim ilarities, it is in the early nineteenth
cen tury and not in the w o rk o f Pozzo, that the tools taken fo r granted by tw e n tie th -
cen tury architects see th e ir inception.
Today the g ro w in g obsession w ith p ro du ctivity and rationalisation has trans­
form ed the process of m aturation from the idea to the built w o rk into a system atic
representation th a t leaves little place fo r the invisible to em erge from the process of
translation. C o m pu te r graphics, w ith its seductive m anipulation o f vie w p o in ts and delu­
sions o f three-dim ensionality, are m ostly a m ore sophisticated 'm echa nism o f co m p o ­
sitio n'. The question concerning the application o f com p uters to architecture is, of
course, hotly debated and as ye t unresolved. The in stru m e n t is not, sim ply, the equiva­
lent of a pencil or a chisel th a t could easily allow one to transcend reduction. It is the
culm ination o f the objectifying m en ta lity o f m od ern ity and it is, the re fore, inherently
perspectival, in precisely the sense that w e have described in this chapter. C om puter
graphics tend to be ju st a m uch quicker and m ore facile tool th a t relies on m ath­
em atical projection, a basic tool o f industrial production. The tyranny of com p uter
graphics is even m ore system atic than any oth er tool of representation in its rigorous
e sta blishm en t o f a hom ogeneous space and its inability to com bine d iffe re n t

21
Alberto Pérez-Gómez

structures o f reference. It is, o f course, conceivable that the m achine w o uld transcend
its binary logic and becom e a tool fo r a poetic disclosure in the realm of architecture.
The issue, perhaps the hope, in our post-historical, post-literate culture, is to avoid
delusion through electronic media and sim ulation, the pitfalls of fu rth e r reductive, non-
participatory representation. Conceivably, as a tool of representation, the com p uter
m ay have the potential to head tow a rds absolute flu id ity or to w a rd s fu rth e r fixatio n and
reduction. The latter is the unfortunate result o f the im p lem e ntatio n of the tech no­
logical w ill to pow er, i.e. control and dom ination. The fa ct is that the results of
co m p u te r applications in architecture, w h e th e r m erely graphic, or m ore recently
m otivated by a desire to extrapolate 'co m p le x naturalorders' to practice, remain
generally disappointing.
W hile descriptive g e o m e try atte m p te d a precise coincidence be tw ee n the
representation and the object, m odern art rem ained fascinated by the enigm atic dis­
tance be tw ee n the reality o f the w o rld and its projection. This fascination, w ith im m e ­
diate roots in nine te en th -centu ry photography and in optical apparatuses such as the
stereoscope, responded to the failure of a m odern scie ntific m en ta lity to acknow ledge
the unnam eable dim ension o f representation, a poetic w h ole ne ss th a t can be recog­
nised and ye t is im possible to reduce to the discursive logos o f science, w h ile it no
longer refers to an in te rsub jective cosm ological picture. A rtists since Piranesi and
Ingres have explored that distance, the 'delay', or 'fo u rth d im en sion ' in M arcel
D ucham p's term s, be tw e e n reality and the appearance o f the w o rld. Defying reduc­
tio n ist assu m ptio ns w ith o u t rejecting the m odern po w e r o f abstraction, certain tw e n ti­
eth-century architects, including Le Corbusier, Alvar Aalto, A nto ni Gaudi or John
Hejduk, have used projections not as technical m anipulations, but to discover som e­
thing at once original and recognisable. These w e ll-kn o w n architects have engaged the
dark space 'b e tw e e n ' dim ensions in a w o rk th a t privileges the pro cess and is con fide nt
o f the ability o f the arch itect to 'disco ver', through em bodied w ork, significant tactics
fo r the production of a com passionate architecture. This em erging 'archite cture of
resistance', a verb m ore often than a noun, celebrates dream s and the im agination
w ith o u t fo rg e ttin g th a t it is m ade fo r the O ther, and aim s at revealing depth not as
ho m ologous to breadth and height (3-D), but as a sig nifica nt firs t dim ension that
rem ains m ysterious and rem inds us of our lum inous opacity as m ortals in a w ond rous
m ore-than-hum an w orld.

22
A reflection on paper and
its virtues within the
material and invisible
factures of architecture
M arco Frascari

Since paper has becom e an essential ingredient o f architectural conceiving, it has had
- and alw ays w ill have - an essential purpose in the de velopm e nt o f an a rch itect's
thinking. In its continual m aterial progression and its interfacing w ith oth er drafting
paraphernalia and in stru m en ts, paper has regularly transfo rm e d the procedures of
architectural conceiving. It has allow ed architects to alter the tem po rality of the
process o f invention and to m ove aw ay from the site during the m aking of th e ir archi­
tectural factures. To speak o f an 'architectural facture ' is to consider both a piece of
architecture and its draw ing in term s o f th e ir m aking - as both can be seen as interfac­
ing records of th e ir ow n having-been-m ade (facture is the past participle of the Latin
verb facio, facere: to m ake or to do).1
The co n sta n t fascin atio n w ith an active rather than w ith a passive te c h n o ­
logy has alw ays m isled th e hum an pe rcep tion o f reality since active te ch n o lo g y pre­
ve n ts the kno w le dg e o f m aterial o b je cts in an im m a te ria l w ay. As a passive
in stru m e n t, paper is m ore im p o rta n t than an active in s tru m e n t such as the printing
press: if paper had not existed, G utenberg could no t have conceived o f using
m ovable characters. R egrettably, m any a rch ite cts and design critics perceive paper
as m e re ly a passive su p p o rt o f th e fin ish e d dra w in g, since th e y do not realize th a t
during the d ra ftin g procedure, sub tle m an ip ula tion s and changes in the paper play an
in flue ntial c o n tin u o -co u n te rp o in t, esse ntia l fo r the play of an a rc h ite c t's im agination.
The a s s o rtm e n t o f d ra ftin g papers cannot be de em ed as m ere su p p o rts fo r a rch ite c­
tural rep rese ntatio ns, bu t rather th e ir very m a te ria lity should be con sid ered as part of
the dynam ic cha racteristic o f the arch itectura l facture. In Italian, a factura (fattura) is
also a m agical procedure, a ritual m aking th a t is done w ith the scope of increasing or
reducing the vital and spiritual energy of individuals. By analogy, an arch itectura l
factura is a m o u n tin g or falling o f the energies played ou t during th e process o f archi­
te ctu ra l conceiving.
A lthough the trash cans of architectural o ffice s are gobbling up m ore paper
at present than eve r before, the w idespread sycophantic claim is th a t w e are in the
age o f 'paperless' architecture. The consequence of this sym bolic 'tra shin g' is th a t the

23
M arco Frascari

anagogic s tip u la tio n o f any tru e a rch ite ctu ra l p ro je c t - a vision above and beyond the
d ra ftin g surface - is trashe d to g e th e r w ith th e paper.
D ra w in g on paper does n o t involve an a u to m a tic tra n s c rip tio n o n to a
surface o f ideas th a t are already clear in th e a rc h ite c t’s m in d , i.e. a m e re ly figural d e lin ­
eation. But, rather, it p ro vid es a w a y to m e d ia te and su b lim a te a rch ite ctu ra l fa c tu re s of
fu tu re e d ifica tio n s.

'And nothing else w ill suit the age ..

Paper is a hu m ble m aterial th a t d o m in a te s o u r life. H o w e ve r, w e do n o t re fle c t on its

un th in ka b le pre sen ce un til a paper-associated e v e n t strike s us fo r its o m n ip re s e n t use.
The pervasive use o f paper w a s ce le b ra te d in London by a p o pu lar song e n title d The
A g e o f Paper, p e rfo rm e d by M r. H o w ard Paul - a ttire d in a s u it o f paper - in th e B ritish
m u sic halls during th e 18 60 s.2 The refrain a ffirm e d : 'F o r paper n o w is all th e rage, And
n o th in g else w ill s u it th e a g e '.3
Since the n, paper has ke p t its p o sitio n as one o f th e m o s t sig n ifica n t
te ch n o lo g ica l p re se n ce s in th e bu ild in g and design in d u stry. N e ve rth e le ss, a rch ite ctu ra l
critics and in te lle ctu a ls do no t o fte n a ckn o w le d g e its crucial and critica l role. In January
1999, th e D a ily Telegraph carried o u t a cross-cu ltura l su rve y on th e In te rn e t am ong
leading s c ie n tis ts and m a th e m a ticia n s, asking: 'w h a t w e re th e m o s t sig n ific a n t d e v e l­
o p m e n ts o f the last tw o m ille n n ia ? ' In his a n sw e r, C liffo rd P ickover, a research s ta ff
m e m b e r at th e IB M T.J. W a tso n R esearch C e n te r o f D uring, assign ed to th e d e ve lo p ­
m e n t o f paper a crucial role in the a d va n ce m e n t o f h u m a n ity :4

In ad 1 0 5 T s'ai Lun re p o rte d th e d isco ve ry o f paper to the C hinese E m peror.

T s'ai Lun w a s an o ffic ia l to th e C hinese Im perial C o urt and I co n sid e r his

early fo rm o f paper to be h u m a n ity 's m o s t im p o rta n t in ve n tio n and p ro ­
g e n ito r o f th e In te rn e t. Both paper and th e In te rn e t break th e barriers of
tim e and dista nce and p e rm it u n p re ce d e n te d g ro w th and o p p o rtu n ity .

B ecause o f th e in te ra ctio n o f th e ir m a te ria l qu a litie s w ith th e co n ce ivin g o f fu tu re b u ild­

ings, th e various kinds o f d ra ftin g paper (as evolved du rin g th e c e n tu rie s fro m th e carta
ba m ba gin a to b ris to l boards), sho uld be taken in to a cco u n t as in spiring th e m o re m e d i­
ta tive asp ects o f a rch ite ctu ra l fa ctu re s. An a rch ite ctu ra l m e d ita tio n on paper is a
c o n sid e ra tio n o f an a rte fa c t in te rm s o f its m aking - co n sid e re d as a record o f its o w n
ha vin g-be en -m ade - in th a t it b e co m e s a w a y o f castin g it in to th e fu tu re .
On the one hand, a re ce n t a cco u n t o f a house c o n s tru c tio n in Bosnia does
reveal h o w paper w a s histo rica lly to ta lly unnecessary, since th e m aking o f an e d ifice is,
and a lw ays w a s, a fa ctu re . On th e o th e r hand, it also s h o w s h o w im m e d ia te and spo n­
tan eou s de sig n a tio n s are th e origin s o f a rch ite ctu ra l c o n ce ivin g :5

O ne day th e o w n e r o f th e n e ig hbo rin g garden b ro u g h t a ca rp e n te r to the

site and to ld him to build up a house. T hey s to p p e d on a sp o t w h e re the

24
 A reflection on paper and its virtues

ground sloped ge ntly do w n w ard s. The carpenter had a look at the trees of
the garden, the grounds, the e n viro nm en t and the to w n in the valley. Then
he proceeded to extract from his cum m e rbu nd som e pegs, paced o ff the
distances and m arked them w ith pegs. Then he cam e to his main task. He
asked the o w n e r w h ich tree m ig h t be sacrificed, m oved his pegs fo r a fe w
fee t, nodded and seem ed satisfie d.6

Although the facture of architecture originated in paperless procedures of im m ediate

designation, architecture w as never com p le te ly w ith o u t m ediated draw ings. Early
architects produced a fe w scale draw ings on papyrus, vellum or parchm ent, but the
m ajor draw ing activity took place on-site. Full-size details w e re draw n onto a skim m ing
of plaster of Paris on the floo r of the 'tracing house', or carved into the stone paving in
the secondary parts o f the building. Sim ilar techniques had already been used in
Roman and Greek architecture. Examples of these kinds of tracings can been found at
the T em ple o f A pollo at Didyma or in Rom e near the P antheon.7 Tracing floors still
exist in m any places such as the cathedrals o f Strasbourg, Vienna, Prague, York and
W ells, in m any edifices in France and in oth er several locations around the w o rld. It
took a long tim e before draw ing on paper could replace these very e ffe ctive tracings.
As late as the end o f the seventeenth century, there w e re still instances o f this tradi­
tion. The plans fo r Francesco B orro m ini's bell to w e rs th a t once em bellished the Pan­
theon in Rome (likened to 'don key's ears', they w e re rem oved in the late nineteenth
century) are detailed on top of the cornice stone slabs encircling the Pantheon's dom e.
A rchite cture cam e into the age of paper during the fou rte enth century. By
the m id-eighth century, Chinese paper-m aking fo llo w in g the Silk Route reached
Samarkand and from there the trade w as introduced to the Arab w o rld, w h ere paper
quickly becam e popular as a support fo r calligraphic w o rk s .8 Through the Arab con­
qu est of North Africa and Southern Spain, the craft o f paper-m aking firs t reached the
M oorish parts o f Spain in the eleventh century. From the eleventh century on, Arabic
papers w e re exported th ro u g h o u t the Byzantine Em pire and Christian Europe. The firs t
European paper m ill w as established in the m id -th irtee nth century and the use o f paper
spread all over Europe, even though the earliest paper w as very expensive, fragile and
suffere d from a strong cultural distrust: the W estern Church initially declared that only
parchm ent could carry the Sacred W o rd .9 O f course, there w e re architectural draw ings
on papyrus and parchm ent before the em ergence of paper, although they w e re m erely
replicas o f the paperless draw ings taking place on con stru ction sites. Their m ateriality
and portability allow ed a new kind of considered cross-transcription, although not a
conceiving transform ation.

From parchment to 'bum-wad'

On arch itects' tables, slow ly, paper began to reach the condition of enhancing the fac­
tures o f architectural conceiving. N evertheless, the m ajority o f contem porary architects

25
M arco Frascari

do no t th in k to o m u ch o f paper, ironically e sp ecially no w a days w h e n pa pe rless o ffic e s

and stu d io s are c o n s u m in g m u ch m o re paper than e ve r be fore. A rem a rkab le sign of
th is p re d ic a m e n t can be seen in th e language o f the d ra ftin g room , in th e practice of
using a play o f assonance to id e n tify th e lig h tw e ig h t y e llo w tracin g paper as 'tra s h ' or -
perhaps w o rs e - th e id e n tific a tio n o f it (w ith o u t any m e to n y m ic a l flair) as 'b u m -w a d '.
P rofe ssion als and s tu d e n ts o f a rch ite ctu re alike tra ce a fe w lines on a piece o f 'b u m -
w a d ' and, if th e re su lt is no t to th e ir s a tisfa ctio n , it is im m e d ia te ly trashe d. O f course
th e re are e xce p tio n s to th is in se n sitive act, as w itn e s s e d by Louis I. Kahn's, Bob
V e n tu ri's and M ich a e l G raves' fa m o u s d ra w in g s on 'y e llo w tra c e ' - as notable e xce p ­
tio n s th e y co n firm th e n e ga tive v ie w .
The e ffe c t o f th is denial o f th e crucial active role played by th e se paper
's u p p o rts ' is th a t tw o se e m in g ly unrelated p ro b le m a tic e ve n ts have c o m b in e d to m is ­
re p re s e n t th e task p e rfo rm e d by paper during th e elab oratio n o f th e a rch ite ctu ra l
pro je ct. On th e one hand, th e re is th e C artesian m e ta p h ysica l p h e n o m e n o n o f th e s e p ­
aration b e tw e e n th e im age and its su p p o rt and, on the o th e r hand, th e physical phe­
n o m e n o n o f the w a y in w h ic h th e pro fe ssio n has organized th e billing o f c lie n ts in
relation to th e p ro d u ctio n o f dra w in gs.
A rc h ite c tu ra l d ra w in g s have been a lw ays co n sid e re d as sou rces and m a te r­
ial fo r th e historical in ve stig a tio n o f a rch ite ctu re , to help re c o n s tru c t or analyse the
h isto ry o f bu ild in gs, citie s or th e w o rk o f individual a rch ite cts. D ra w in g s are seen as
im ages o f th e idea, im a ge s o f d iffe re n t phases o f de sig n, im ages o f c o n s tru c tio n p ro ­
ced ure s, im ages o f realized c o n s tru c tio n s , as fin ish e d o r tra n s fo rm e d by tim e . T hese
d ra w in g s are seen as sim ulacra, con cep tu al or 'm y th o lo g ic a l' m o d e ls th a t have no co r­
relation or fo u n d a tio n in th e p h ysica lity o f d ra w in g on paper, b u t on ly on a 'p la to n ic '
re la tio n sh ip w ith a rc h ite c tu re . This d e ce ivin g notion can be tra ce d back to Rene
D escartes w h o , on th e one hand, explains im a ge s as partial s im ilitu d e s to th e ir o b je cts
and, on th e o th e r, explains th a t im a ge s are ju s t as ink lines laid d o w n on paper: 'u n peu
d 'e n cre posee ca e t la sur du papier .. . '10
In his c o m p e llin g re fu sa l o f sen sua l p e rc e p tio n s , D e sca rte s had no t
d e te c te d th a t th e m a te ria l re a ctio n s b e tw e e n papers and inks plays a key p a rt in th e
m aking o f d ra w in g s. T hese m a te ria l re a ctio n s are ne ce ssa ry in g re d ie n ts o f th e fa ctu re
o f any a rc h ite c tu ra l im age, sin ce d ra w in g s are n o t th e sim u lacra o f w o rk s o f a rc h ite c ­
tu re to be bu ilt, re s to re d o r m o d ifie d , b u t th e y are w o rk s o f a rc h ite c tu re in th e m ­
selves. H o w e v e r, g iving to C aesar w h a t be lo ngs to Caesar, I m u s t reco gn ize th a t
D e sca rte s had re m a rka b ly s e t th e c o n c e p tu a l basis fo r in k je t p rin te rs w h ic h p ro du ce
im a ge s by laying ink here and th e re on any kind o f s u p p o rt p ro p e rly sized fo r fa st-
drying ink.

The digital and the anagogical imperative

D uring th is n e w era o f paperless o ffic e s and stu d io s, it is crucial to re fle c t m ore

broadly on th e uses and fu n c tio n s o f paper in th e fa ctu re o f a rc h ite c tu re itse lf. As

26
 A reflection on paper and its virtues

already noted, the act of draw ing on paper does not sim ply involve an autom atic
transcription onto surfaces o f ideas th a t are already clear in the arch itect's m ind.
W orking on paper has been a w ay fo r m any architects to handle the m ediation and
sublim ation o f architectural m aking. Follow ing an often -m isun de rsto od Vitruvian
precept stating that m aking architecture is 'a continuous m ental process com p le te d by
the h a nd s,'11 by w o rkin g on paper, architects have added m anifold interpretative
dim ensions to th e ir m anually pe rform ed intellectual w o rk.
In 1994, on an Internet site, tw o architecture professors from Colum bia Uni­
versity publicized the ir studio as an a n sw e r to the 'digital im perative':

The 'digital im p e ra tive ’ to sw itch from analog to digital m ode w ill m an ifest
itse lf this year at the arch itecture school in the form o f the Paperless
Studio. Projecting ahead, w e envision the inevitable and ubiquitous pres­
ence of advanced digital design and com m unication technologies. A rch ite c­
ture stud ents w ill routinely use the best o f new tech nolog ies w ith in an
inform ation-rich and fully ne tw orke d, m ultim edia en viro n m e n t.12

O f course they had not appreciated that architecture had begun as a paperless practice
and that the use of paper had accom plished the m ove from an interpretation of archi­
tectural projects based on analogical expressions to the virtues o f anagogical m an ifes­
tations. To bring digital ou tputs from being sim ply 'analogical and replicas o f paper
representation' to becom e po w e rfu lly anagogical in th e ir o w n right, a valid concern is
to understand ho w the m ateriality o f paper has interfaced w ith the intellectual activity
of architectural facture in generating anagogical de m onstrations. The term originated in
textual biblical exegesis: anagogy becam e w e ll know n during m edieval tim e s w ith a
m em orable cou plet attribu ted to A ugustine o f Dacia (previously considered by Nicholas
de Lyra) describing the fo u r senses o f a text: 'Littera gesta docet, quid credas allegoria
M oralis quid agas quo tendas anagogia'.13 The w o rd anagogia is a transliteration
derived from the Greek ' anagoghe', a com p osite w o rd from ana (above, high) and from
the verb agein (to lead). The proper Latin translation fo r the Greek ' anagoghe' is 'sur-
sum d uctio ', w h ich can be fou nd in the w ritin g s o f Isidore o f Seville, Venerable Bede or
Rabanus M aurus. Anagogy belongs to the layer o f deeper sense that sum m arizes and
encapsulates in a final event the oth e r three senses. In the list and description of the
four senses o f a piece of w ritin g (literal, allegoric, moral and anagogic), anagogy always
occupies the final place. Structural and qualitative reasons de term in e such a location,
since anagogy not only co n stitu te s the last o f the fou r senses o f w ritin g s but it is also
th e ir ultim ate goal or telos.
Similarly, the fo u r senses can be de tected in architectural representations.
On paper, concealed w ith in the architectural delineation, the literal and the allegorical
senses of a draw ing strictly represent d iffe re n t analogical con stru cts that articulate the
te cto n ic and form al im agination. The literal and the allegorical senses have an obvi­
ously didactic and parallel purpose since they both describe the building envelope, its
m ateriality, and the various aspects necessary to represent the poly-functional nature
o f every building. The tropological or m oral sense o f the draw ing addresses intellectual

27
M arco Frascari

co n s tru c tio n s and p ro vid e s th e reasons by w h ic h te ch n o lo g ica l, religious and social

cod es are d e fin e d and tra n s fo rm e d .
R e su ltin g fro m th e in te rla c in g o f th e lo gica l c o n s tra in ts o f th e o th e r th re e
in te rp re ta tiv e se n se s, th e an ag og ical se n se illu s tra te s th e te lo s e m b o d ie d in th e
a rc h ite c tu ra l p ro je c t by d e m o n s tra tin g an im m a te ria l re a lity b e yo n d its m a te ria l c o n ­
d itio n . In th e te x t o f his D e A d m in is tra tio n e , A b b o t S ug er reveals th a t an ag og y
oc c u rs w h e n th e c o n n e c tio n b e tw e e n m a te ria lity and im m a te ria lity re s u lts in a
su s p e n s io n o f tim e :

Thus, w h e n - o u t o f m y d e lig h t in th e b e a u ty o f th e ho use o f G od - th e

lo ve lin e ss o f th e m an y c o lo u re d g e m s has called m e aw a y fro m exte rn al
cares, and w o rth y m e d ita tio n has in du ced m e to re fle c t, tra n s fe rrin g th a t
w h ic h is m a terial to th a t w h ic h is im m a te ria l, on th e d iv e rs ity o f th e sacred
v irtu e s : th e n it s e e m s to m e th a t I see m y s e lf d w e llin g , as it w e re , in
so m e stra n g e region o f th e U n iverse w h ic h n e ith e r e x is ts e n tire ly in th e
slim e o f th e earth nor e n tire ly in th e p u rity o f H eaven; and tha t, by th e
grace o f G od, I can be tra n s p o rte d fro m th is in fe rio r to th a t h ig h e r w o rld in
an anagogical m a n n e r.14

C losely re la te d to an ag og y is th e idea o f tra n situ s, w h ic h re fe rs to th e v ie w e r's

m e n ta l jo u rn e y across an im age in th e act o f in te rp re ta tio n . In th e m o d e o f e n tra n ce
th e re is a th re e -d im e n s io n a l w o rld d e p ic te d and th e v ie w e r is d ra w n d ire c tly in to th e
he a rt o f th e u n ive rse o f th e im age, and perhaps even to th e w o rld b e yo n d th e
d e p ic tio n itse lf.
The firs t co n d itio n fo r th e use o f paper as a co n ce ivin g to o l w a s ge ne rated
by th e tra n s fe r o f analogical and allegorical sen ses fro m th e d ra w in g p e rfo rm a n ce s
taking place at th e c o n s tru c tio n site to th e surface o f th e paper on th e d ra ftin g table. In
his c o m m e n ta ry on V itru viu s, p u blishe d in C om o in 1521, Cesare Cesariano o ffe rs us
so m e e xtra o rd in a ry sim ile s to help to u n de rsta nd th e analogical and allegorical use of
paper in a rch ite ctu re . In c o m m e n tin g on V itru v iu s ' d e fin itio n s o f a rch ite ctu ra l dra w in gs,
C esariano reveals th e role o f paper in co n ce ivin g a rc h ite c tu re by statin g th a t a piece of
paper is sim ila r to a layer o f du st, p la ste r o r s n o w on a field, on w h ic h a rch ite cts could
trace the plan o f a bu ild in g w ith th e ir fo o ts te p s by pacing around:

Icnographia . . . : cio e una im p re ffio n e facta sopra il te rre n o a u t p u lv e re ue l

pa sta o n e ve : n e l c o m o i d iseg no fopra il p a p e ro : & u u lg a rm e n te fi dice
e tia m h o lm e feu p e d a n e ,15

The paper used by Cesariano w a s m o s t likely th e carta bam bagina, s o ft as c o tto n w o o l

(Greek, ba m ba x, Italian, bam bagia). W ith its m u ltim o d a l qu a litie s it could easily evo ke a
sn o w -co ve re d field. On a sh e e t o f carta bam bagina, the legs o f th e co m p a ss could lit­
erally and alleg orically pace o u t th e d im e n s io n s o f a plan. For Cesariano, ich n o g ra p h y -
a scaled and d im e n sio n e d d ra w in g o f a plan - e m b o d ie s an anagogical sense if it is
accu rately tra ce d by a com p ass: an analogue fo r an a rch ite ctu ra l diviner. A com p ass
and a ruler are analogical d ivin a to ry to o ls th a t op era te in a sim ila r fash ion to the

28
 A reflection on paper and its virtues

unburnable litu u s e m p lo ye d by R om ulus to trace th e fo u n d a tio n plan o f R om e - an

im p le m e n t used to achieve the transitus:

T h e re fo re Ichn ogra ph y is n o th in g else than a m o d u la r d e sig natio n on a

surface, as it is said o f th e b o rde r (Circigatura) m ade w ith th e ruler and the
com p ass to indicate th e o b je c t to be m ade. S im ilarly done w ith th e un b u rn ­
able w a n d - litu u s used by th e M a s te r R om ulus to in dica te th e fo u n d a tio n s
o f e d ific e s .16

The ord in ary m a n n e r o f takin g th e auspices, th a t is to d e fin e by d ivina tion th e an ag og i­

cal sense o f th e place, w a s as fo llo w s : Rom an augurs firs t m arked o u t w ith a w a nd ,
th e litu u s, d e sig n a te d a divisio n in th e heavens called te m p lu m o r tescu m , w ith in
w h ic h th e y in te n d e d to m ake th e ir ob se rva tio n s. The statio n w h e re th e y w e re taking
th e auspices w a s also separated by a so le m n fo rm u la fro m th e re st o f th e land, and
w a s also nam ed te m p lu m or tescu m . For Cesariano, th e paper w a s th e te m p lu m
w h e re a rch ite cts as a u sp ice s could d ivine th e telos o f fu tu re b u ild in gs by a m en ta l
jo u rn e y acro ss an im age. The co m p a ss and ruler tra cin g s on paper, as L itu u s tracin gs
on th e ground, co n s e n t to e n te r in to a m u lti-d im e n s io n a l re p re se n ta tio n and th e v ie w e r
is d ra w n d ire ctly in to th e heart o f th e u n ive rse o f th e im age, and to the w o rld
b eyond it.

From recto to verso

If all th e changes and in te rfa ce s th a t th e d iffe re n t asp e cts o f a rch ite ctu ra l d ra w in g s
have u n de rgon e du rin g th e long 'age o f p a pe r' are e xa m in ed ste p -b y-ste p , it w o u ld
take us w e ll beyond th e scope o f th is cha pter. T h e re fo re , I pro po se to ju m p o ve r a fe w
c e n tu rie s and tu rn q u ickly to V incenzo S cam o zzi's didascalic re co m m e n d a tio n s on the
use o f in s tru m e n ts and papers given in his tre a tise L 'id ea d e ll'a rc h ite c tu ra universale,
p u blishe d in V enice in 1600. In th e ch a p te r e n title d 'O f th e in s tru m e n ts n e ed ed by the
a rch ite ct, o f d ra ftin g m aterials, o f m o d e ls: in s tru c tio n s on h o w to m ake th e m w e ll',
S cam ozzi d iscusse s th e virtu e s and qu a litie s o f paper in the fa ctu re o f a rch itectura l
d ra w in g s. The firs t ste p is to sm o o th , burnish and press th e paper in an a tte m p t to
m ake th e surface ready to a cce p t th e th re e kinds o f m arks necessary to an a rc h ite c ­
tural d ra w in g . The firs t kind o f line is m ade w ith a dull m etal p o in t or bone and ivory
scriber. T hese lines are gro ove d in to th e paper; th e y are th o se signs tha t, in his archi­
te ctu ra l w ritin g , S ebastiano Serlio, a frie n d o f th e Scam ozzi fa m ily, had called 'o c c u lt
lin e s' (linee occulte). The seco nd kind o f line is th e trace le ft by pe ncils or charcoal on
th e surface o f the paper. The th ird kind is th e ink line, to g e th e r w ith th e w a s h e s th a t
are laid by th e pen or run by bru she s. H o w e ve r, although he does n o t m e n tio n th e m as
a sp e cific s e t o f signs, Scam ozzi discu sse s and uses in his o w n d ra w in g s a fo u rth
kind o f m ark. These are in d ire c tly revealed in a se t o f in s tru c tio n s fo r th e quasi-
a lche m ical m aking o f a go od typ e o f ink - an ink th a t is m e ta p h o rica lly and p h ysica lly
fu ll o f 's p ir it':17

29
M arco Frascari

Ink can be m a n u fa ctu re d p ro pe rly w ith e x c e lle n t R um anian w in e , or w h ite

w in e , and it m u s t be q u ite clear (because it ab sorb s th e su b sta n ce be tte r)
and w ith th e crin kled Gall g ro w in g in th e peninsula o f Istria, s o m e w h a t
cru sh e d and le ft in fu sin g in th e w in e in a glass vase fo r ten days exp o se d to
th e Sun, in th e s u m m e r heat, stirrin g it eve ry d a y__ The e xce lle n ce o f th e
ink, s o m e th in g w e have a lw a ys pu rsue d, is recognizable fro m th e purple
hue o f its w a sh e s, w h ic h g ive s such elegance to the d ra w in g s, and fro m
th e fa c t th a t th e slig h t m a rkin g s appearing on th e back o f th e paper are of
th e sam e color, w h ic h is a sign o f th e in k's quality, instead o f an ugly yel­
lo w is h color, o r reddish or even rusty.

The m arkings on th e back th a t in filtra te d th ro u g h th e paper are im p o rta n t for

S cam ozzi's a rch ite ctu ra l fa ctu re s, as revealed in his d ra w in g s o f th e se ctio n and eleva­
tio n o f th e Salzburg cathedral. On th e recto, th e ele va tio n and th e se ctio n are care fu lly
d ra fte d, and on th e verso, using th e trace o f the ink th a t had p e rm e a te d throu gh
th e fib re o f th e paper, Scam ozzi had also d ra w n th e se ctio n and th e eleva tion of
th e d o m e .'8
F urthe rm o re, fo r Scam ozzi, paper is no t on ly a passive anagogical in s tru m e n t
b u t it also b e co m e s an active tool o f the facture. He advises th e use o f a piece o f paper
as lituus: a piece fold ed to re se m ble a triangle th a t m ay be m arked to tra n sfe r d im e n ­
sions and p ro po rtions - a piece o f paper th a t be com e s an e ffe c tiv e d ra ftin g and im p le ­
m e n tin g in stru m e n t. In ap plying th is dra w in g procedure, Scam ozzi states th a t th e firs t
step is th e accurate tracing o f tw o o rtho go na l crossing lines o n to th e dra w in g surface,
e xa ctly as th e Rom an augurs did in th e delin ea tion o f th e te m p le on the ground.
The d e v e lo p m e n t o f th e re c to -v e rs o re la tio n sh ip is clo se ly related to the
h isto ry o f paper, w h ic h w a s on ly w id e ly used in Europe fro m th e s ix te e n th ce n tu ry. A t
firs t, th e scarcity o f th e n e w reso urce pushed a rtis ts to use a s h e e t to its fu lle s t capac­
ity: in m any cases th e y cra m m e d both re cto and verso w ith ske tch e s, a rch ite ctu ra l
plans and no tes. S o m e tim e s th e y d re w on th e backs o f le tte rs or re ce ip ts, w h ic h can
help to id e n tify th e date o f th e d ra w in g s a fe w ce n tu rie s later. In Italy th e m a tte r o f th e
p e rm e a tio n b e tw e e n re cto and verso in a rch ite ctu ra l fa c tu re s on paper be cam e a fu n ­
da m en ta l issue w ith th e use o f a special type o f heavy tracin g paper - e sp ecially in
c o n n e ctio n w ith th e d e v e lo p m e n t and use o f b lu e p rin ts and th e Italian a rch ite ctu ra l tra­
ditio n in preparing d ra w in g s. Even w h e n paper w a s b e co m in g m o re accessible, o u t of
co n ve n ie n ce m an y a rtists c o n tin u e d to use bo th s id e s .19

Tracing the transitus

The physical p h e n o m e n o n o f transitu s, a literal and 's p iritu a l' cro ssin g o f th e fib re s o f a
s h e e t o f paper, is p re se n t in m an y a rch ite ctu ra l fa ctu re s, as in a d ra w in g o f Saint
P e te r's by B ram a nte and Sangallo, and in m any o th e r e xa m ples o f d ra w in g s fro m the
Renaissance and Baroque periods.

30
 A reflection on paper and its virtues

To conclude this discussion let us focus on one special type o f paper, a

heavy tracing paper w e should refer to by its traditional Italian name, carta da lucido.
Italian architectural tradition in preparing draw ings fo r reproduction - w h e th e r fo r pres­
entation to clients or to be su b m itte d to approving and controlling in stitu tio n s - is quite
dissim ilar in nature from the m arket-dom inated situation prevalent in North Am erica.
In th e ir discussion o f Am erican draw ings, Gebhard and Nevins point out
th a t new drafting technologies and codified processes o f education had

decidedly affected the uses to w h ich architectural draw ings w e re put. It

w as in the 1870s and 1880s th a t the three fold division of architectural
draw ings becam e fully so lid ifie d __ The firs t tw o aspects of draw ing - pre­
lim inary sketches and especially presentation draw ings - continued to have
a loose tie w ith High A rt (sic) draw ing and painting.20

These changes configured the relations b e tw ee n architects and draftspersons in the

production of architecture and architectural draw ings.
In the larger offices, the principals w o u ld supposedly produce the under­
lying con cep t of the building prim arily through sketches. A fte r this had been w orked
out, the form alized presentation draw ings w o uld then be m ade by a skilled draftsper-
son or by an itinerant delineator. Once this had been approved by the client, w o rking
draw ings w o u ld be produced: 'It becam e increasingly advantageous to em ploy pro fe s­
sional Tenderers w h o could produce im pressive form al draw ings used to sell the
product to the cu sto m e r and/or to advertise the firm through pu blicatio ns'.21
W ith in th e Italian tra d itio n , a rc h ite c ts prepare 'u n d e r-d ra w in g s ': a blend
o f d ra ftin g and d ra w in g co m b in e d w ith w ritte n and sketch ed m arginalia ge ne rally
carried o u t on paperboards and labelled so tto -lu cid i. Then, in te rp re tin g th is m e d le y
o f graphic e xp ressions and de scrip tio n s, th e d ra ftsp e rso n s or a rch ite ctu ra l in te rns
trace th e d ra w in g in ink on heavy tracin g paper tagged carta da lu cid o and th a t
d ra ftin g is called lucidare. This anagogic cam era lucida, i.e. carta da lucido, cam e
in to a rch ite ctu re fro m the pra ctice o f using oiled paper fo r pre pa ratory d ra w in g s
in pa in ting.
In the a tte m p t to envisage a fu tu re building, the roles played by presenta­
tion draw ings and renderings and the so tto -lu cid i are d iffe re n t, but both dom inate
during architectural gestations. The presentation draw ings present the m se lve s to a
person's vie w and purport to be representations o f a building-to-com e and thus
propose to o ffe r know ledge pertaining to its oth e rw ise invisible referents. This vie w
does not progress once the presentation draw ing is experienced and any fu rth e r
pursuit of the invisible beyond the draw ing is e ffe ctive ly annulled. Any discussion of
w h e th e r the invisible rem ains invisible or instead becom es visible belongs to the
dom ain of the presentation draw ing. The fun ction of this draw ing is to divide the invisi­
ble into that part w h ich is reduced to the visible and another part w h ich is invisible due
to the vie w e r's inevitable fixation on the 'pho to-rea listic' precision o f the presented
image; this share o f the invisible is thus invisible. These are the results of a m etap ho ri­
cal cam era obscura.

31
Marco Frascari

As another category of draw ings, the sotto-lucidi, how ever, do not result
from a vision of the invisible, but instead they provoke one. Rather than resulting from
the gaze aim ed at it, the sotto-lucido sum m o ns sig ht by allow ing the invisible to satu­
rate the visible, but w ith o u t any a tte m p t or claim of reducing the invisible to the visible
draw ing. The sotto-lucido teaches the gaze to proceed beyond the visible into an infin­
ity w h e re b y som ething ne w of the invisible is encountered; this gaze never rests or
settle s on the draw ing itself, but instead rebounds upon the visible into a gaze tow ards
in finite possible w o rlds. The sotto-lucido becom es the 'flatlan d' w h ere the transitus
takes place.
W hat has this tracing on paper got to do w ith buildings? W hat makes these
sheets relate to w h a t w e finally w ill call 'co n stru cte d ' architecture? Nothing: diffe re nt
m atter, d iffe re nt dim ensions, another substance. Should w e take the 'real' architecture
to reside in the stones, the bricks or the paper? Conceivably, none of these are architec­
ture. Rather it is som ething that escapes us w h en w e describe it factually. It possesses,
exactly, only the substance of a facture plus an extracorporeal essence - a 'subtle body'
- foreshadow ed by the badly inadequate character of the signs w ith w hich w e atte m p t
the im possible venture of ineffably representing that w hich cannot be desired, i.e. the
beautifully vague traces o f architectural factures that w e can only grasp through a
speculum in aenigm ate, i.e. through a (Claude)-glass darkly - realizing a true architec­
tural re cto -ve rso transitus. So, let's praise the hybrid nature of paper and sing again:

For paper no w is all the rage,

And nothing else w ill suit the age.

Notes

1 I am expanding the meaning of 'facture' as elaborated by David Summers (Real

Spaces: W orld A rt History and the Rise o f W estern Modernism, London: Phaidon,
2003, p. 74) to include a further influential dimension of the meaning: the use in
Italian of the w ord fattura as related to conjuring and supernatural events performed
through the making and assembling of organic and inorganic objects.
2 Howard Paul, a journalist whose comic magazine Diogenes, a would-be rival to
Punch, failed shortly after its creation. His w ife was a famous singer.
3 Howard Paul, The Age o f Paper {c. 1860).
4 W ith a zestier flavour, Pickover repeats the same remark in a book properly entitled
Calculus and Pizza: a Math Cookbook for the Hungry Mind, Hoboken, NJ: John W iley
& Sons, 2003.
5 The Italian disegnare derives from designare.
6 D. Grabrijan and J. Neidhardt, Architecture o f Bosnia, Ljublijana, 1957.
7 'The Construction Plans for the Temple of Apollo at Didyma,' in Scientific American
(December 1985), pp. 126-32.
8 Quoted by Karen Garlick, 'A Brief Review of the History of Sizing and Resizing
Practices,' in The Book and Paper Group Annual, Vol. 5, 1986. Available online, at:
aic.stanford.edu/sg/bpg/annual/v05/bp05-11 .html.
9 Dard Hunter, Papermaking: the History and Technique o f an Ancient Craft, New York:
Dover Publications (Margaret Starbird, 1943), 1970, p. 61.

32
 A reflection on paper and its virtues

10 'a touch o f ink laying here and there on paper Rene Descartes, La Dioptrique,
1 De la lum iere; A.T. VI, p. 81.
11 V itru viu s IJ.iii.
12 ww w.arch.colum bia.edu/D D I_/paperless/N EW SLIN E.htm l.
13 The literal sense teaches w h at happened,
The allegorical w h a t you believe.
The moral w h at you should do,
The anagogical w here you are going.
(The distich is generally attributed to A ugustine of Dacia, and was previously con­
sidered by Nicholas de Lyra.)
14 Abbot Suger, De A dm inistratione, XXXIII.
15 Ichnography: an im print made on the ground or in dust or plaster or snow : as in a
draw ing done on the paper: and in the vulgar called steps or foot-m arks.
16 Aduncha Icnographia non uol dire altro che una m odulata defignatione fuperfi-
ciale com o e a ' dire Circigatura facta con il circino & regula p e r indicare la cofa
fienda. fi com o etiam con lo sep tro lituuo inconbuftibile che ufo Rom ulo prae-
cipue in indicare fundatione deli aedificii.
(Liber Primus)

17 By the way, if you change the Istrian Gall for green w alnut fruits you have aw ell-
known Northern Italian digestive liqueur, the ink-black Nocino.This is the recipe for
w h at m y grandm other called Nocino d i Seconda: Nocino is a sticky, dark-brown
liqueur from the central Po Valley and is made from unripe green w alnuts steeped in
spirit. It has an arom atic but b itte rsw e e t flavour. The w alnuts used for making it are
then recycled in a dry w h ite w ine to make a lighter digestive drink.
18 The term s 're cto ' and 'verso' originally came from the w o rld o f m anuscripts. Folio
recto w as the 'right leaf' of an open book, from the Latin fo r 'rig h t' or 'stra igh t.' Folio
verso w as the 'turned le a f/ the one on the left. As the opposite o f 'rig h t,' verso took
on a negative connotation as the less-desirable side. The developm ent of the
recto-ve rso relationship is closely related to the history o f paper, w hich w as only
w idely used in Europe from the sixteenth century.
19 The artist did not usually designate one side as recto; that decision was often le ft to
dealers, collectors or curators. Som etim es the designation for a particular drawing
changed over the years, depending on the ow ne rs' preferences, and the changes
help art historians to trace the developm ent of taste.
20 Gebhard and Nevins, 200 Years o f Am erican A rchite ctural Drawing, p. 40
21 Ibid.

33
Imagination and
architectural
representations
Nader El-Bizri

Introduction

This chapter exam ines the role o f im agination in architectural conventional representa­
tions in v ie w of critically rethinking the experiential and intellective conditions of envi­
sioning architecture in absentia. The physical m anifestation of architectural entities
(built structures, installations, representational m odels and drawings), along w ith their
m athem atical determ inations, highlight the m ultiple perform ances of im agination in the
conception, perception and con stru ction o f architecture, w hich entangle the sensible
(visible) w ith the intelligible (invisible). Guided by selected analytic con stru cts from
philosophy and the history o f science, this inquiry interrogates the generalising claim
that 'th e model-gaze reduces the possibilities o f innovation' and 'stifle s the pursuit of
the absent refere nt beyond the present m o d e l'.1 C onsequently, I explore the potentials
of originality and discovery that architectural representations inspire beyond the expe­
dient descriptive and con stru ctive fun ctions they perform in presenting expressions of
con stru ctible realities. In this sense, architectural m odels and draw ings do not sim ply
'rend er the invisible visible as such', but furthe rm o re o ffe r pointers and directives to
events that carry m anifold possibilities of realisation, and are thus not reducible in their
bearings to solely being ge om e trical and perceptual in stru m en ts th a t form ally repre­
sent prospective physical habitable structures. The visible points to the invisible as that
w h ich conditions the very perception o f w h a t is physically present, w h ile being experi-
entially engulfed by an active im agining that hints to w h a t rem ains 'o th e r' and absent.
M odels and draw ings becom e past approxim ations o f present architectural built-form s,
or m ay be grasped as being suggestive m odalities of visualising w h a t has not-yet-been
m aterially accom plished or w h a t m ig h t never be applied. The destining o f such repre­
sentational objects to be eventually lifted from the spheres o f u tility transfo rm s them
in th e ir visionary properties into archival item s. And yet, they m ay w e ll be construed as
being articles that get valued fo r th e ir self-referential artistic and intellectual m erits, or
even carry a paradigm atic significance. Present representational m odels and draw ings
o ffe r perceptual signs of future architectural dom ains that ontologically belong to the

34
 Im agination and architectural representations

im aginary. D e sp ite th e c o n fid e n t te ch n ica l kn o w le d g e th a t th e se re p re se n te d spaces

cou ld be c o n s tru c te d and susta ine d as co n cre tise d e xp e rie n tia l realm s o f d w e llin g and
o f m u ltifa rio u s in te r-su b je ctive a p pro pria tion s, th e y n o n e th e le s s p o in t to d e fe rre d
places, in so fa r th a t th e y are in e sse n ce p o te n tia litie s rather than actu alities.

This in qu iry fo cu se s on basic ph e n o m e n a a sso cia te d w ith visual p e rce p tio n in v ie w of

exa m in in g so m e o f th e m u ltip le fu n c tio n s o f im a gin atio n in a rch ite ctu ra l con ven tion al
re p re se n ta tio n in th e e ffo rt to also critica lly re th in k th e e xp e rie n tia l and in te lle c tiv e co n ­
d itio n s o f 'e n visio n in g a rc h ite c tu re in ab sen tia'.
The physical p ro p e rtie s o f a rch ite ctu ra l e n titie s , along w ith th e ir c o m p le x
m a th e m a tica l d e te rm in a n ts , all h ig h lig h t th e varieg ated p e rfo rm a n ce s o f im a g in a tio n in
th e co n ce p tio n , pe rce p tio n and c o n s tru c tio n o f a rch ite ctu re , w h ic h co -e n ta n g le the
se n sib le -cu m -visib le w ith th e in te llig ib le -cu m -in visib le . A id e d in th is in ve stig a tio n by
s o m e an alytic c o n s tru c ts fro m p h ilo so p h y and by s e le c te d n o tio n s fro m th e h is to ry of
science, w ith an em p ha sis on p h e n o m e n o lo g y and classical o p tics (P ersp ectiva e tra d i­
tions), I shall in te rro g a te th e gene ralising p ro p o sitio n s th a t 'th e m odel-gaze red uce s the
p o s s ib ilitie s o f in n o va tio n ' and 's tifle s th e p u rsu it o f th e ab sen t re fe re n t beyond
th e p re s e n t m o d e l'. A fte r all, one w o u ld argue th a t th e w o rk in g s o f im a gin atio n, w h ic h
are at play in visual p e rce p tio n and in th e c o n te m p la tiv e as w e ll as d iscern ing
in te lle ctio n , are no t readily c o n stra in e d by w h a t is visu ally given th ro u g h m o d e s o f
a rch ite ctu ra l re p re se n ta tio n .
Even in th e ir con ven tion al fo rm s , arch itectura l dra w in g s or m od els ['le s
m a q u e tte s ', in d istin ctio n fro m th e paradigm atic sense o f 'm o d e ls ' as 'e xe m p la rs') do in
som e in sta nce s inspire origin ality and discovery, beyond the e xp e d ie n t d e scrip tive fu n c ­
tion s or ge ne rative opera tions th a t th e y p e rfo rm in pre se n tin g co n cre te or h yp othe tical
e xp re ssio n s o f cu rre n t or fu tu re co n stru ctib le a rch itectura l realities. M o re o ve r, th e cre ­
ative rece ptio n and adaptive assim ila tion o f w h a t arch itectura l re p re se n ta tio n s stim u la te
all re fle c t the im a gin ative capabilities o f th e designer, th e critic as w e ll as th e c o n te m ­
plating observer. Im aginative associations and variations d e te rm in e th e potential
unfold ing o f in ve n tive n e ss in re fere nce to th e inspirational p o ssib ilitie s locked in tim e -
honoured arch itectura l rep rese ntatio ns. In th is sense, notable arch itectura l d ra w in g s and
m od els ('m a q u e tte s ') do no t m e re ly 're n d e r th e invisible visible as such ', bu t th e y fu r­
th e rm o re o ffe r po in te rs and d ire ctive s to e ve n ts th a t carry m an ifold p o ssib ilities o f reali­
sation, and are th u s no t reducible in th e ir bearings to solely being g e o m e trica l or
physical in s tru m e n ts th a t fo rm a lly re p re se n t p ro sp e ctive or actual habitable stru ctu re s.
It is by w a y o f im a gin atio n and its e n ta n g le m e n t w ith d isce rn m e n t, com p ara­
tive m ea sure and co n te m p la tio n th a t th e visible p o in ts to th e invisible, and th a t the
unveiled re fe rs to the veiled. H ence, in visib ility co n d itio n s the p o ssib ilities o f perceptual
e xp eriencing in te rm s o f e n g u lfin g w h a t is physically p re se n t by an active im agining. It
th u s p o in ts th ro u g h w h a t p re se n ce s to w h a t is 'o th e r', ab sen t and d e fe rre d . M od els

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N ader El-Bizri

and draw ings becom e past approxim ations of present architectural built-form s, if they
have inform ed the generation o f such architectural w orks. They m ay also be grasped as
being suggestive m odalities of visualising w h a t is 'not-ye t' m aterially accom plished or
w h at, in deferrals, m ig ht never be realised. Such 'repre sen ta tion s' are determ ined
against the horizon of tem porality, in the sense that they are at tim es anterior to w h a t
they 'repre sen t' (or ‘pre-present'); hence, they are 'proto-presentations' in being prior to
the realisation of w h a t they point at. They could also be posterior to w h a t they re­
present, in being descriptive o f w h a t came to be eventually realised in actuality as an
e n tity of 'generation and corruption' (namely as w h a t is subject in its m ateriality to
decay and ruin). They m oreover accom pany w h a t they hint at of architectural en tities in
the very processional acts of producing the m , descriptively or constructively, as instru­
mental and technical de term inants o f architecture. In retrospect, certain built architec­
tural dom ains re-turn our contem plative perceptions to the draw ings and m odels that
pre-conditioned their realisation. In this sense, such architectural w o rks re-present the
pictorial and model-based 'repre sen ta tion s' that facilitated their generation, or, in vision­
ary and im aginative term s, pre-projected the possibilities o f the ir reality.
The destining of representational objects to be eventually rem oved from
the diverse operational spheres of utility transfo rm s the m in reference to th e ir poten­
tially innovative properties into 'archival' en tities (nam ely as item s to be displayed in
m useum s or in 'conce ptua l' art/architecture exhibitions). Such representational objects
may w e ll be construed as being 're p re se n ta tive ' articles that get valued fo r th e ir self-
referential artistic and/or intellectual m erits; they m ay even carry a paradigm atic sig nifi­
cance in being exem plary o f 'in flu e n tia l' trends ('styles') under particular surrounding
circum stances o f th e ir historical architectural-cum -ideological reception.
Some p re s e n t representational m odels and draw ings (nam ely those given
to us in direct vision) o ffe r perceptual design-signs of fu tu re architectural dom ains that
belong in ontological te rm s to the im aginary (I'imaginaire). Yet, despite the con fide nt
technical know ledge that these represented architectural spaces could be constructed
and m aterially sustained, as concretised experiential-cum -utilitarian realm s o f dw elling
and of m ultifarious inter-subjective appropriations, they nonetheless signal deferred
places, in so far tha t th e y rem ain in essence as po tentia litie s rather than actualities.

In refle cting on the 'invisible' nature of architecture, w e w o n d e r about the conditions

o f visual experiencing th a t 'in visib ility' furnishes. W e are furth e rm o re com pelled to ask:
'w h a t led to this theoretical interrogation about architecture?' And, are w e m oreover
aim ing 'to let w h a t appears sho w itse lf as it appears itself'? Hence, of approaching our
questioning about im agery by w a y of 'phenom enological m e th o d s' in investigating
vision?2 But, w h a t should w e m o st fittin g ly state about 're p re se n ta tio n ' in an era seen
by m any o f our contem poraries as being m arked by dislocating fragm entations, discor­
dant sem antics and relativist dissem inations?

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 Im agination and architectural representations

A rc h ite c tu ra l c o n ce p tio n s and c o n s tru c tio n s c o n s is t o f m u lti-laye red fra g ­

m e n ta ry p ro ce sse s o f realisation. This m a tte r is no t re stric te d to th e a d ve n t o f te c h n o ­
logy, nor is it readily th e re su lt o f spe cia lise d m a n u fa ctu rin g , as m uch as it is also a
re fle c tio n o f th e co -e n ta n g le m e n t o f g e o m e try , p h ysics, in te lle ctu a l and a rtistic
a cu m en in g e ne rating a rch ite ctu re , and in situ a tin g its rig orou s m a n ife s ta tio n s w ith a
ca re fu lly p o site d sense o f h is to ric ity .3
U nlike th e p h ilo so p h e rs {that is, th e m e ta p h ysicia n s in particular; nam ely
th o s e w h o su p p o se d ly inquire ab o u t th e 'u ltim a te princip le s o f re a lity' and do no t h e s it­
ate on so m e occasions to a tte m p t to resolve th e rid dle s o f p h ilo sop hical sceptics),
a rch ite ctu ra l th e o ris ts ten d to tru s t w h a t is o ffe re d by th e o u te r sen ses, and c u s to m a r­
ily leave th e on to lo g ica l and e p is te m ic p re m ise s th a t surro un d re fle c tio n s on th e visible
and invisible a lm o s t u n q u e s tio n e d .4 W ith o u t b e co m in g to o co n stra in e d by th e m e ta ­
physical im p o rts o f th in kin g ab o u t th e re fra ctio n o f w h a t p o in ts to the in visib le in visib il­
ity, and in tu n e w ith th e c o n fid e n ce by w h ic h se n so ry ph en o m e n a are received
a rc h ite c tu ra lly ,5 I shall a ssu m e herein (w ith su sp en de d qua 'b ra c k e te d ' ju d g e m e n t;
nam ely, w h a t p h e n o m e n o lo g y de sig n a te s as: 're d u c tio n ' or 'e p o c h e ') tha t: w h a t is
o ffe re d to th e senses o f a rch ite ctu ra l e n titie s is s u ffic ie n tly g ro un ded , in 'e p is te m ic
and o n to lo g ic a l' te rm s , and th a t it can be p o site d as a pre -re fle xive given o f in tu itio n .
N o n e th e le ss, I m u s t add th a t a rch ite ctu ra l re p re s e n ta tio n s are no t m e re ly satu ra ted
w ith allegorical sig n ifie rs, w h ic h te m p tin g ly appeal to th o se w h o m e d ia te th e w o rk in g s
o f a rch ite ctu ra l th e o ry by w a y o f e cle ctic and, at tim e s , u n re fle c tiv e d e fe re n tia l b o rro w ­
ings fro m lite rary and critica l th e o ry. C o n se q u e n tly, w e need to re fle c t on th e m o d a li­
tie s by v irtu e o f w h ic h w e are able to p re s e n t so u n d ly ju d g e d u tte ra n ce s and c o h e re n t
p ro p o sitio n s regarding th e 'in visib le nature o f a rc h ite c tu re ’, a w a y fro m d o g m a tism .
C o nve ntion al m od ern a rch ite ctu ra l re p re se n ta tio n s are esse n tia lly signs of
s c ie n tific , m a th e m a tica l and te ch n o lo g ica l a c c o m p lis h m e n t, w h ic h ren de r a rch ite ctu re
a d isciplin e th a t is no t s im p ly co n fin e d to a 'pla y o f w o rd s ' o r th e a rticu la tio n o f
'e c s ta tic ' im ages, b u t m o re sig n ific a n tly as being a m u ltiv a le n t dom ain o f co g n itive
e xce lle n ce and in te g rity in praxis. It is in th is sen se th a t th e fie ld o f 'A rch ite ctu ra l
H u m a n itie s ' w o u ld n o t develop in to a rig orou s d isciplin e un le ss it se rio u sly in te rro g a te s
th e co h e re n ce o f its research m e th o d o lo g ie s and th e ir p re -co n d itio n in g th e o re tica l
gro un ds. This calls fo r m ore in fo rm e d a cco u n ts o f th e in te lle ctu a l e vo lu tio n o f 'c o n ­
c e p ts ' and 'c a te g o rie s ' o f th in k in g based on scru p u lo u s approaches to th e h is to ry o f
scie nce , th e histo ry o f m a th e m a tic s and ph ilo sop hy, rathe r than m e re ly co n tin u in g to
err, w ith da m aging sp e cu la tive distra ctio n s, due to facile and at tim e s g ro u n d le ss
'te x tu a l collag es'.

Like th e m yria d sen sib le o b je cts th a t w e e n c o u n te r in o u r q u o tid ia n dealings, a rc h ite c ­

tural s tru c tu re s are no t im m e d ia te ly visib le in th e ir p le n itu d e . T heir seen 'a d u m b ra ­
tio n s ' and p e rceivable asp e cts are rather unveiled in an e xp erientia l co n tin u u m o f

37
N ader El-Bizri

m anifold appearances in sp a ce -tim e . It is through sp a tial-te m pora l bodily displace­

m e n t (be it of the observer/experiencing subject, and/or o f the kinaesthetic rotations of
the ob je ct o f perception) that the form al to ta lity of w h a t is seen can potentially be
brought from concealm ent to un-concealm ent.
A rchite cture is invisible as a w h o le in its perceptual reality; since it is
offere d to vision in the partial ye t sequential continuum o f the m anifold appearances of
its visible aspects by w ay o f journeying in s p a ce -tim e around and w ith in the architec­
tural objects of sense perception. This experiential invisibility of the plenitude of an
architectural e n tity is also attested in another m odality of perception w ith architectural
representations like m odels and draw ings. W hile a m odel is not solely a representa­
tional entity, but is rather prim arily a sensible ob je ct of visual as w e ll as tactile percep­
tion, it is itse lf experienced in fragm e nts and in a continuum of the appearing of its
m anifold visible aspects. W ith draw ings, w e m ove from the realm o f the objective and
sensory presence of a physical sensible thing to the dom ain o f graphical geom etrical
con stru cts th a t acquire the sem blance o f 'spatial d e p th ' in pictorial projections. In the
case o f axonom etric and perspective draw ings, the level of representation is restricted
to certain visible aspects o f the represented entity; w h ile w ith orthographical and
ichnographical sections, elevations, and plans, 'n o rm a l v ie w s' of the m ultiple sides of a
given architectural w o rk are represented in a m etric scale that facilitates the recollec­
tion of the form al to ta lity of w h a t is represented. In this sense, m athe m atic representa­
tions establish a g e om e tric ground {fon d geom etraf) fo r the m anifestation of the form al
plenitude of w h a t is given to sight, and thus facilitate the verification and ascertain­
m e n t of its eidos.
An architectural e n tity is visible in its to ta lity from now here but o ffe rs itself
in direct vision through the appearing in a continuum of its m anifold visible aspects. It
is, rather, seen through a m u ltitu d e of perspectives in sp a ce -tim e , w h ile its ge om e tric
co n stitu tio n gathers its visible parts in a structural w h o le that rem ains itself invisible in
its totality. The perceptual field opens out in its stream of m anifold appearances by
w a y o f bodily m ove m en t. The visual is w eaved w ith the manual in spa tial-te m pora l
experiencing. It is in spatial depth (profondeur), as the cleared and perceivable leew ay
fo r corporeal m ove m en t, th a t architecture becom es experientially visible. From the
standpoint of classical optics, be it physiological or geom etric, it is the very invisibility
o f the transparent m edium th a t grounds the visibility of w h a t is brought to light and is
seen. It is the lit transparent m edium , as the cleared leew ay be tw ee n the eyes o f the
observer and the object of vision, that o ffe rs the visible to sight. Depth as the distance
be tw ee n the observer and the ob je ct o f sight w as itse lf questioned in te rm s of its visi­
bility w ith in the radical im m aterialism o f George B erkeley.6 In reference to historical
precedence, the Arab polym ath Alhazen (al-Hasan Ibn al-Haytham ; died a fte r CE1040)
a ffirm ed the visibility o f depth in his m on um e ntal K itib al-M anazir (O ptics; De
a sp ectib us; Perspectivae).7 Therein he dem on stra te d through experim ental installa­
tions th a t space as the depth (a l-bu 'd; al-'um q) be tw ee n the eyes (al-basar) o f the
observer and the object of vision (al-mubsar) is itself visually perceivable; m oreover, he
classed it as being one of the 'visible pro pe rties' (m a 'in i m ubsara; in te ntio ne s

38
 Im agination and architectural representations

visibiles). His th e s is re fle c te d a classical m e d ita tio n on th e 'm y s te ry o f d e p th ' th a t

radically co n tra ste d w ith th e co n tro ve rsia l and fragile d o ctrin e th a t e m e rg e d ce n tu rie s
later in B e rke le y's w ritin g s (w ith o u t im p lyin g herein th a t a d o c u m e n te d tra n sm issio n o f
k n o w le d g e did h isto rica lly co n n e c t th e au thors w ith each oth er). The a ffirm a tio n o f the
v is ib ility o f d e p th gained fu rth e r im p o rta n ce in th e fo u n d a tio n a l m od ern stu d ie s o f
M a u rice M e rle a u -P o n ty as th e y w e re gro u p e d in th e se ctio n on space (espace) in his
vo lu m in o u s tre a tise , P h é n o m é n o lo g ie de la p e rc e p tio n .8 The visib le reality o f de pth
w a s also c o n firm e d in E dm und H u sse rl's D ing u n d Raum, in re fe re n ce to the kinaes-
th e tic c o n s titu tio n o f space by th e tra n sce n d e n ta l su b je ct, and in M a rtin H e id e g g e r's
a ffirm a tio n o f the sp a tia lity o f D asein w ith in a te m p o ra l fra m e w o rk (at least as e n co u n ­
te re d in Sein u n d Z e it).9 In all o f th is, th e v is ib ility o f de pth rem a ine d a m y s te ry o f
appearing, w h e re in u n -co n ce a lm e n t is en tang le d w ith co n ce a lm e n t.

Im agina tion secu res a gro un d fo r th e d is c e rn m e n t and c o m p a ra tive m ea sure o f the

e id e tic q u id d ity o f a given o b je c t o f visual p e rce p tio n (nam ely w h a t classical scholars
d e sig n a te d also as being a ' fo rm a un ive rsa lis '; sûra kullîyya). P erceiving a th in g in parts,
and by w a y o f th e u n fo ld in g o f a co n tin u u m o f its m a n ifo ld visible asp e cts, engages
th e im a gin atio n in revealing th e stru ctu ra l fu lln e s s o f th e fo rm o f th a t th in g , even if th e
th in g is in visib le in its w h o le n e s s . The fo rm a l p le n itu d e o f an o b je c t o f vision su p p le ­
m e n ts th e im m e d ia te ly visible fa c e ts o f th is o b je c t w ith 'p o te n tia lly pe rce iva b le ' im a g ­
in e d asp e cts th a t m ay b e com e un con cea led in actu ality.
S eeing th re e surface s o f an opaque cube in im m e d ia te vision is s u ffic ie n t to
ju d g e th a t w h a t is seen is a 'c u b e ', even th o u g h its o th e r th re e sides are no t visible.
The w h o le n e s s o f th e cube as a g e o m e tric solid fo rm e d o f six planar un-curved su r­
face s can no t be o ffe re d to vision in its e n tire ty unless th e cube is fu lly transp are nt.
H o w e ve r, each o f th e se su rfa ce s can be visu ally in sp e cte d and ve rifie d by ro ta tin g th e
cube in space or m o vin g around it. The cube is revealed in its visible asp ects in th e
succe ssive u n fo ld in g o f its m a n ifo ld ap pearances th ro u g h m o v e m e n t in s p a c e -tim e .
Seeing th re e su rfa ce s o f th e cube as s k e w e d and sharp-edged planes e xte n d e d in
d e p th , and id e n tify in g th e m as such as being th re e squ are -surfaces associable w ith a
cu b ic g e o m e tric solid, is s u ffic ie n t to ju dg e w ith p rior kn o w le d g e th a t th is co n fig u ra tio n
o f planes is 'a c u b e '. This p h e n o m e n o n is fo u n d e d on an e xp e rie n tia l tru s t in th e s tru c ­
tu re o f w h a t is seen, along w ith th e pe rce p tu a l c o n fid e n ce th a t w h a t appears in parts
is the w h o le th a t re m a in s invisible in its p le n itu d e . The fu lln e ss o f th e cube is thu s
revealed th ro u g h 'a u th e n tic ' visible asp ects th a t are pe rceived in im m e d ia te d ire ct
vision and in pre sen ce, along w ith im a gin ed s u p p le m e n ts th a t are taken in tru s t to be
th e con cea led 'p o te n tia lly v is ib le ' asp ects o f th a t cube, w h ic h stru c tu ra lly c o m p le te its
fo rm a l fu lln e ss. This p h e n o m e n o n po in ts to th e p e rce p tio n o f a un ifie d o b je ctive s tru c ­
tural id e n tity w ith in a stream o f m a n ifo ld appearances. Each visible a sp e ct o f an o b je ct
is d e p e n d e n t on th e stru ctu ra l w h o le o f w h ic h it is a part. A stream o f co n se cu tive

39
N ader El-Bizri

facets becom es a volum e through kinaesthetic (ocular-corporeal) 'c o n s titu tio n s ', w hich
let the w h ole ne ss of the object gradually appear via the sp a tial-te m pora l gathering of
its sequentially visible aspects; and yet, as tim e lapses, there are no w arrants that it
w ill be ‘ w h a t it w a s' in perm anence. Hence, its being as b e com ing calls continually for
verification. This process o f direct vision happens in a very m inim al lapse of tim e,
w h ich passes alm ost unnoticed by the beholder, though it is at w o rk in the fun ctions of
im agining in visual perception.

Even though im agination assures the preservation o f the invariance o f geom etrical
entities, and secures th e ir 'e xiste n ce ', its w o rkin g s in m athe m atics are not the same
as those in physics; given th a t in corp ore al-se nso ry conditions w e have m ere approxi­
m ations o f m athem atical ‘ idealities'. And yet, im agination plays a fun dam e ntal role in
abstracting the form al characteristics o f a given ob je ct from its m aterial appendages.
Hence, it lets things appear in the ir eidetic essences as ge om e tric extensions (what
seve ntee nth-ce ntury philosophers called 'a prim ary quality').
Im agination w as conceived in classical traditions in science and philosophy
as being a m ental capacity or facu lty tha t is engaged in experiencing, con stru cting or
m anipulating m ental im ageries, and as being the source o f fantasy, inventiveness and
insightful tho ugh t. Phantasia referred to a process by virtue o f w h ich a 'm e n ta l' im age
is presented to the self (ego: anima), as w e ll as being connected w ith 'co m m o n sense'
and its capacity to apprehend sensible phenom ena. M oreover, the tradition o f the
early-m odern transcendental philosophy posited 'im ag in ation ' (Einbildungskraft) as a
faculty that furnishes the a p rio ri grounds o f the possibility of subjective experiencing
by synthesising the m anifold of sensory im pressions into the form of a unified image;
hence, rendering our know ledge of the phenom enal w o rld possible, as w e ll as
recollecting appearances into representations that underlie the concepts of 'und er­
s ta n d in g '.10 N evertheless, im a ge ry is at tim e s auxiliary to abstract fo rm s of m ental
representation, and it is not readily the case that the unim aginable is ab solutely
im possible (or that w h a te ve r is im aginable is possible). A fte r all, w e are incapable of
im agining 'curved s p a c e -tim e ', or 'm u ltid im en sio nal space', ye t w e are 'in fo rm e d ' by
contem porary physics, w ith all its m athem atical intricacies, that these phenom ena are
not only possible, but are rather 'real'.

Although im agination can be grasped as being a m ental facu lty or activity that form s
projected im ages of potentially 'e xtern al' objects th a t are not pre sen t to the senses,
the im aginary is not sim ply illusory (or fictional) in the sense of not corresponding w ith
som e form al counterparts or sensory m aterial data. In m athem atics, im agination

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 Im agination and architectural representations

sustains the hypothetical existence of g e o m e trica l-a rith m e tica l en tities to serve
particular purposes in dem onstration, con stru ction , illustration or definition. It is, m ore­
over, an integral phenom enon o f direct vision and perceptual experiencing.
In visualising 'th e invisible o f the visible ', im agination presupposes percep­
tual stabilities, patterns o f congruence and objective structural plenitudes. It thus
refers to an 'e id e tic vision' o f the q u id d ity of w h a t appears, w h ich, in its existential
status, has the sem blance of constancy in presence, but is fun dam e ntally determ ined
against the horizon of tim e. It is in this sense th a t the transito ry nature o f visual experi­
ences is contrastable w ith the distinctness, clarity and invariance of m athem atical 'id e ­
alities'. The transition from the sensible to the intelligible is thus undertaken by w ay of
im agining, w h ich also brings the visible to visibility by 'm aterialising the visu a l',11 and
by saturating the architectural p icto ria l order (and/or 'm a q u e tte '), w ith anim ating im ag­
inings o f the 'inh ab iting ' o f its spectacles.

Notes

1 As described by Marco Frascari in the Call for Papers for the conference Models and
Drawings: the Invisible Nature o f Architecture, 2005.
2 I am hinting in this context at Heidegger's explicative reflections on the meaning of
'phenomenology' as being w hat the Greeks named ' apophainesthai ta phainomena';
namely, the condition of 'letting w h at shows itself be seen from itself, just as it
shows itself from itself'. See Heidegger, 1977, section 7.
3 I place an emphasis on the phenomenological significance of 'historicity' rather than
on objectified history, on historicism or historiography.
4 By 'ontological', I refer to metaphysical speculations concerning the question of being
(Seinsfrage), w hilst by the term 'epistem ic' I evoke the phenomenal pre-conditions of
knowledge, along w ith their subjective/inter-subjective determinations in reference to
'meaning' and 'truth'.
5 I am referring in this context to the prominence of the visual in the writings and
design endeavours of a large number of em inent architectural theorists, historians,
critics, pedagogues and practitioners.
6 This polemical doctrine was elaborated in Berkeley's Theory o f Vision and Three Dia­
logues between Hylas and Philonus.
1 Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen), 1989. This monumental work influenced mediaeval Euro­
pean scholars like Roger Bacon, John Peckham and Vitello, as w ell as impacting on
the meditations of Renaissance theorists like Leon Battista Alberti (De Pictura) and
Lorenzo Ghiberti (Commentario Terzo). I have addressed this question elsewhere, in
Nader El-Bizri, 2004a, pp. 171-84; Nader El-Bizri, 2005, pp. 189-218.
8 Merleau-Ponty, 1945. I have also studied this issue in Nader El-Bizri, 2002, pp.
345-64; 2004b, pp. 73-98.
9 Heidegger attem pted to derive spatiality (Räumlichkeit) from temporality (Zeitlichkeit)
w ithout success, as he later confessed in his 1962 seminar: Zeit und Sein (preserved
in Heidegger, 1969).
10 Kant, 1965, A120-1, A141-B181.
11 Bachelard, 1962, pp. 14-15.

41
N ader El-Bizri

Bibliography

Gaston Bachelard, A ir et songes, Paris: Corti, 1962.

Nader El-Bizri, 'A Phenomenological Account of the Ontological Problem of Space', Existen-
tia Meletai-Sophias, 12, 3 -4 (2002).
Nader El-Bizri, 'La perception de la profondeur: Alhazen, Berkeley et Merleau-Ponty', Oriens-
Occidens: Cahiers du Centre d'Histoire des Sciences et des Philosophies Arabes et
Médiévales, CNRS, 5 (2004).
Nader El-Bizri, 'O N KAI KHÔRA: Situating Heidegger Between the Sophist and the Timaeus,'
Studia Phaenomenologica, 4, 1-2 (2004).
Nader El-Bizri, 'A Philosophical Perspective on Alhazen's O p tic s A ra b ic Sciences and Philo­
sophy, 15, 2 (2005).
Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen), The Optics, Books l - l ll on Direct Vision, trans. A.I. Sabra, London:
Warburg Institute, 1989.
Martin Heidegger, Zur Sache des Denkens, Tübingen: Nieymeyer, 1969.
Martin Heidegger, Sein und Zeit, Frankfurt am Main: Vittorio Klostermann, 1977.
Immanuel Kant, Critique o f Pure Reason, trans. Norman Kemp Smith, New York: St.
M artin's Press, 1965.
Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Phénoménologie de la perception, Paris: Gallimard, 1945.

42
Drawing Adam 's navel
The problem of disegno as creative tension b etw e en
the visible and know ledgeable

R aym ond Quek

Introduction

Ernest Gellner, in his discussions on nationalism , rem arked th a t the existence or not of
A da m 's navel m ig h t end the riddle be tw ee n creationism and Darwinian evolution. A
sim ilar riddle existed in the Renaissance: does visual creation fo llo w nature or is it
created in the mind?
Joseph M ed er co m m e n te d : 'th e concept of disegno w as a great the m e for
the hair splitting intellectuals o f the late R enaissance.'1 This hair-splitting is largely lost
in the translation o f disegno into the separate ideas of practical draw ing and intentional
design in the A nglophone w o rld. Lucy G ent has identified this as occurring as early as
1598, w ith the English translation of Lom azzo's Trattato by Richard Haydocke.2 Baxan-
dall's study of the A nglophone anxiety w ith the polysem ic nature of disegno records
som e inte rfe ren ce w ith the French notion o f dessein; further, he concludes that its
closest translation should have been 'd ra u g h t'.3 The French notion o f dessein is also
sim ilarly sem antically disjunctive, as it also is in the G erm an,4 although the tw o Ital-
ianate sem antic senses m ee t sim ultaneously in disegno and they are distinguished in
contextual usage.
Though w e inherit the w eakness in translation in the m odern day, the e ty­
m ological hair-splitting in the days o f Vasari, Zuccaro and Lomazzo has m uch to inform
us about the creative tension th a t exists be tw e e n visual and intellectual know ledge,
be tw ee n the im agination and its m anifestation, m o st particularly in relation to arch itec­
ture as a problem o f creative know ledge. The m etaphor of draw ing A da m 's navel then
is the m ystery in the problem of artistic creation - the reciprocities that continue in the
struggles be tw e e n conception, the im agination and the various possibilities o f visuali­
sation. The problem of in te lligibility itself has very ancient ro o ts.5 This chapter w ill
focu s on aspects o f disegno as a problem of know ledge, particularly in the Cinque-
cento, its form ative role as the foundation of the arts, and note its transform ation in
the early tw e n tie th century.

43
R aym ond Quek

The problem of knowledge and the arts

K n o w le d g e in th e M id d le A ges w a s cla ssified in to th e T rivium and th e Q ua drivium .

Beyond th e liberal arts, fu rth e r p ro fe ssio n a l e d uca tion in Law , M e d ic in e and T heo lo gy
de rive d fro m th e base kn o w le d g e and skills o f th e T rivium and Q u a d riviu m . The liberal
arts c o m p ris e seven d isciplin es, w h ic h w e re be lie ved to be co n n e cte d to each o th e r as
an am algam o f universal kn o w le d g e . The T rivium w a s th e basis o f e le m e n ta ry educa­
tion : G ram m ar ta u g h t th e cra ft o f reading and w ritin g ; Logic, o f ca re fu l rea son ing ; and
R hetoric, o f e ffe c tiv e co m m u n ic a tio n . The Q ua drivium , on th e o th e r hand, w a s the
basis o f advanced ed uca tion : A rith m e tic ta u g h t th e art o f n u m b e r; G e o m e try, nu m b e r

in space; M u sic, o f n u m b e r in tim e ; and C o sm olo gy, o f n u m b e r and tim e in space in

relation to an ove rriding order.
D ra w in g, painting, scu lp tu re or, fo r th a t m a tte r, a rc h ite c tu re fell in to a lo w e r
c a te g o ry o f th e m ech an ical arts and did no t belong to th e fo rm u la tio n o f universal
kn o w le d g e . There is so m e m y s te ry as to h o w bu ild ers and m a s te r m aso ns c o m m u n i­
cated; and several a rg u m e n ts have been p u t fo rw a rd on the oral tra d itio n or th e m ys­
te rie s of m ed ie val exe m p la or m o d e l b o o k s .6
W e are, o f course, con cern ed here w ith the m od e o f co m m u n ic a tio n of
a rch ite ctu ra l k n o w le d g e . The a b ility to c o m m u n ic a te beyond th e oral via ich no grap hy
has been an a b ility since a n cie n t tim e s as w e have m an y histo rica l m aps and even

w h a t see m to be m ea sure d flo o r a rra n g e m e n ts re se m b lin g flo o r plans o f th e m od ern

da y.7 A c o m m u n ic a tiv e visual m arking is a t th e ro o t o f th is , and it is no surp rise th a t th e
Latin root o f th e Italian vern acu lar o f d iseg no is th e verb designare. The m o d e rn notion
still exists and se rve s to ascribe m eaning in English, to 'd e s ig n a te ', a m a rking th a t
m ake s m ea ning. The m ed ie val idea o f th e w o rd had a c o n n e ctio n w ith th e m ed ie val
sig na tu re, a m ark o f the hand o f a person, a d e sig natio n o f claim or an indication
o f o w n e rsh ip .
In th e T re ce n to and early Q u a ttro c e n to b o tte ga, th e vern acu lar exp ression
o f th e idea as d ise g n o w a s already in curre ncy. C e n n in i's c ra fts m e n 's handbook notes:
'El fo n d a m e n to de ll'a rte , di tu tti q u e s ti I lavorii di m ano il p rin cip io é il d ise g n o e'l
c h o lo rire .'8 C e n n in i's handbook w a s handed d o w n fro m b o tte g a to b o tte g a and not
really pu blishe d un til th e n in e te e n th cen tury, and it m ay be argued th a t th e handbook
did little to fo rm a lise th e vern acu lar usage o f d iseg no as 'fu n d a m e n ta l'. Lorenzo G hib­
e rti also s u p p o rte d th e idea o f fo u n d a tio n , 'e l d ise g n o é il fo n d a m e n to e t teórica
di q u e ste due a rti', th o u g h in ' due a r t i he w a s m aking re fe re n ce to painting
and s c u lp tu re .9
B ru n e lle sch i fo rm u la te d n e w c o n fid e n ce in p e rs p e c tiv a a rtificia lis throu gh
his e x p e rim e n ts on th e im age o f th e b a p tiste ry. The co in cid e n ce o f natural and artificial
p e rsp e ctive m ade possible th e re p re se n ta tio n o f ph en o m e n a as if 'alike to appear­
a n ce'. The op tical co n ve rsio n o f th e b a p tis te ry in to a su b je c t o f p e rsp e ctive in his p rim i­
tive cam era obscura ach ie ved in one stro ke tw o co n se q u e n ce s. O ne, p e rsp e ctive is
fo rm a lise d and u n d e rsto o d m a th e m a tic a lly - p e rs p e c tiv a naturalis, can now be

44
 D raw ing A dam 's navel

're c re a te d ' th ro u g h th e g e o m e try o f p e rs p e c tiv a a rtificialis. The e n try o f a rtificia l p e r­

s p e ctive gives rise to th e seco nd co n se q u e n ce - th a t visual rea lity is th e re to be
'e n fra m e d , ob serve d and in v e s tig a te d ' th ro u g h o b se rva tio n . Prior to B run ellesch i,
p e rs p e c tiv a naturalis, th e natural vision o f th e eye, w a s e xp e rie n tia l rathe r than
ob se rva n t. The role o f disegno, in th e se m a n tic sense o f a rtificia lly created m a n i­
fe s ta tio n in p e rsp e ctive , is no less im p lica te d in th e c o in cid e n ta l m e e tin g o f vision and
visual d e scrip tio n .
A rgan observe d th a t B ru n e lle sch i's usage o f p e rsp e ctive d iffe rs m arke dly
fro m his T re ce n to p re d e ce sso rs: he used p e rs p e c tiv e as an in s tru m e n t o f kn o w le d g e ,
sim u lta n e o u s ly a rticu la tin g and o rg an isin g space as it w a s being re p re se n te d . Unlike
M a s s a c io 's spatial s e ttin g s fo r th e d e p ictio n o f su b je cts, B ru n e lle sch i's use o f p e rsp e c­
tive w a s not im ita tin g reality bu t ord e rin g reality in its e lf.10 This sense o f a visual o rd e r­
ing o f reality is sim ila r in A lb e rti's De re a e d ifica to ria w h e re he va rio u sly de scrib es
lin e a m e n ta and d ise g n o as ‘ im a g o quaedam ab o m n i m ateria s e p a ra ta ' {'A separation
of im age fro m all m a tte r').
The te rm 'lin e a m e n ta ’ and its tra n s la tio n had its e lf a c o n tro v e rs ia l
h is to ry .11 S e m a n tic a lly , its usage in A lb e rti's te x t va rie s, b u t w e can in fe r fro m
its usage a s im u lta n e o u s se n se o f m e a s u re d c o n tro l, o f c o n to u re d s e p a ra tio n
of m a tte r, and of o rd e rin g . T h e se se n s e s are s im u lta n e o u s ly v isu a l and
co n c e p tu a l. A lb e rti in B o o k I o f his tre a tis e c o n fe rs fo u r a s p e c ts o f th e d u ty o f
lin e a m e n ta : th e p re s c rip tio n o f a p p ro p ria te place, e x a c t n u m b e rs , a p ro p e r scale and
a g ra c e fu l o rd e r.
A lb e rti fu rth e r reco gn ised th e d iffe re n c e b e tw e e n th e use o f d ra w in g s in
painting and a rch ite ctu re :

The d iffe re n c e b e tw e e n th e d ra w in g s o f th e pa in te r and th o se o f th e archi­

te c t is this: th e fo rm e r take s pains to em p ha size th e re lie f o f o b je c ts in
pa in tings w ith shading and d im in is h in g lines and angles; th e a rc h ite c t
re je cts shading bu t take s his p ro je ctio n s fro m th e gro un d plan and w ith o u t
a lte rin g th e lines and by m a intainin g tru e angles, reveals th e e x te n t and
shape o f each ele va tio n and side - he is one w h o d e sire s his w o rk to be
ju d g e d not by d e c e p tiv e appearances b u t according to certain calculated
sta n d a rd s.12

E lse w h e re he d iscusse s th e m od el, w h e re he de scrib es th e fu tility o f m aking elaborate

de tails, p re fe rrin g th e m o d e l to be an esse ntia l schem a.

The elevation of the mechanical arts

It m ay be u se fu l at th is p o in t to o b serve th a t A lb e rti a tte m p te d to raise the se

actio ns fro m th e lo w e r classes o f th e m ech an ical arts by relating th e m to th e fo rm s of
kn o w le d g e in th e Q ua drivium . Della p ittu ra w a s w ritte n in th re e se ctio n s, and in the
p ro lo gue o f his Italian version , A lb e rti de scrib e d th e s tru c tu re to B run ellesch i:

45
R aym ond Quek

You w ill see th re e books: The first, all m a th e m a tic s {tu tto m a te m a tico ) co n ­
cern in g th e ro o ts in nature w h ic h are th e sou rce o f th is d e lig h tfu l and noble
art. The seco nd book pu ts th e art in th e hand o f th e a rtist, d istin g u ish in g its
pa rts and d e m o n s tra tin g all. The th ird , in tro d u ce s th e a rtis t to th e m eans
and end, th e a b ility and th e de sire o f acq uiring p e rfe c t skill and k n o w le d g e
in p a in tin g .13

In B ook II, A lb e rti fo llo w s th e m o d e l o f th e rhe to rica l arts, relating th is tim e to the
T riviu m . P ainting is divided again in to th re e : circ u m s c rip tio n , c o m p o s itio n and the
re ce p tio n o f lig h t.14 A lb e rti w ro te sep ara te ly ab o u t pa in ting, scu lp tu re and a rch ite ctu re ,
o p tin g to tra n sla te in to Italian D ella P ittura b u t no t D e Re A e d ifica to ria . D e sp ite m o d e l­
ling his te n books on V itru viu s, th e V itruvian a rch ite ctu ra l te x t is a ch ro n icle o f past
pra ctice w h e re a s A lb e rti p ro p o se s a th e o ry o f practice. Ludo vico D olce in his D ialogo
della p ittu ra also separated th e labours o f th e pa in te r in to in ve n tio n e , d ise g n o and co l­
o rito .15 This trip a rtite sche m a is sim ila r to th e art o f rhe to ric: in ve n tio , d is p o s itio and
e locu tio. A lth o u g h separated, th e n o tio n s o f in v e n tio n e and d ise g n o , as in in v e n tio and
d is p o s itio b e fo re th e m , share th e sen ses o f creation, o rd e rin g and cog na te fo rm . The
eleva tion o f the m ech an ical arts reached its acm e in th e C in q u e ce n to w h e n A nto n
Francesco D oni related it to 'd iv in e s p e c u la tio n ' - th e firs t act o f d iseg no is the in ve n ­
tio n o f th e e n tire un ive rse, im a gin ed p e rfe c tly in th e m ind o f th e prim e m o v e r.16 The
n o tion o f th e c o m m o n sou rce or fo u n d a tio n o f th e arts th a t w a s e m b o d ie d in diseg no
is b e st de scrib e d in de H ollanda's F our D ialo gu es on P a intin g w h o noted th a t te c h ­
nique separated th e arts, b u t th a t d iseg no w a s th e un ity o f the arts: 'th e dra ug htsm an
w ill have th e skill at once to build palaces and te m p le s and to carve sta tu e s and to
p a in t p ictu re s .. , '17
W ith re fe re n ce to th e T rivium and th e Q ua drivium , th e n e w ly elevated
disegno, as visual k n o w le d g e , cou ld be seen to be a c o m p le te co n se q u e n ce o f the
liberal arts, w h ic h e n co m p a sse d and u n ited th e arts as its c o m m o n fo u n d a tio n .
D isegno, sim u lta n e o u s ly crea tive in te n t and exp re ssio n , is a rhe to rica l c o s m ic revela­
tio n o f a tho usan d w o rd s o f o rd ere d n u m b e r in tim e and space. Painting, scu lp tu re and
a rch ite ctu re , o f cou rse, fo llo w d isegno. The b o ld ness o f th is no tion is fo rm a lise d in the
A cca d e m ia d e l D ise g n o in Florence, th e firs t p ro pe r scho ol o f de sig n, w ith G iorgio
Vasari as th e leading p rin c ip a l.18 In th e second ed itio n o f his L ives o f the A rtis ts , he
in se rte d a long in tro d u c tio n .19 The fa m o u s passage in w h ic h Vasari w ro te o f disegno:

P erché il disegno, pa dre de lle tre a rti n o s tre a rch ite ttu ra , scultu ra e pittu ra ,
p ro c e d e n d o d a ll'in te lle tto cava d i m o lte cose un g iud izio u n ive rsale s im ile a
una fo rm a ove ro idea d i tu tte le cose della natura, la quale è sin go larissim a
ne lle sue m isu re, d i q u i è che non so lo ne c o rp i um ani.e. de gl'a nim a li, ma
ne lle p ia n te ancora e ne lle fabriche e s c u ltu re e p ittu re , co g n o sce la p ro ­
p o rzio n e che ha il tu tto con le pa rtie. che hanno le p a rti fra loro e c o l tu tto
in s ie m e ; e p e rc h é da q u esta co g nizion e nasce un c e rto c o n c e tto e giudizio,
che s i fo rm a nella m e n te quella tal cosa che p o i esp ressa con le m a n i s i
chiam a d ise g n o , s i p u ò c o n ch iu d e re che esso d iseg no a ltro non sia che una

46
 D raw ing A dam 's navel

a p p a re n te e sp re ssio n e e dichiarazione d e l c o n c e tto che s i ha n e ll'a n im o , e

d i q u e llo che a ltri s i è nella m e n te im a g in a to e fab ricato n e ll'id ea . E da
q u e s to p e r avve ntura nacque il p ro v e rb io d e ' G reci D e l-l'u g n a un leone,
qu ando q u e l valente uo m o, ve d e n d o sculpita in un m a sso l'u g n a sola d 'un
leone, co m p re s e con l'in te lle tto da quella m isu ra e fo rm a le p a rti d i tu tto
l'a n im a le e dopo il tu tto in sie m e , c o m e se l'a v e s s e a vu to p re s e n te e dinanzi
ag l'o c c h i.20
(D is e g n o , fa th e r o f o u r th re e arts o f a rch ite ctu re , scu lp tu re , and
pa in ting, th a t pro cee d fro m the in te lle ct, d e rive s fro m m a n y th in g s a un ive r­
sal ju d g e m e n t o f fo rm or idea o f all th in g s in nature, and is unique in its
m e a s u re m e n ts . This happens no t o n ly in hum an bo dies and th o s e o f
anim als, bu t in plants as w e ll and b u ild in g s and s c u lp tu re s and paintings,
reco gn isin g th a t the w h o le has a p ro p o rtio n a te re la tio n sh ip to the parts and
th e parts to o th e r parts and to th e w h o le . From th is w e reco gn ise a certain
n o tion and ju d g e m e n t such th a t so m e th in g is fo rm e d in th e m ind w h ic h ,
w h e n exp resse d, is n o th in g o th e r than a visible e xp re ssio n and declaration
of th a t n o tion o f th e m in d, and th is w e re fe r to as disegno. W e m ay co n ­
clude th a t diseg no is no t o th e r than a visible e xp ression and a reve la tion o f
ou r in ne r co n ce p tio n , o r th a t w h ic h o th e rs have im a gin ed and given fo rm to
in th e ir idea. A nd fro m this, perhaps, arose th a t proved am o ng th e a n cie n t
G reeks, 'e x un gu e le o n e m ', w h e n so m e w o rth y person, see in g carved in
sto n e th e cla w on ly o f lion, u n d e rsto o d w ith th e in te lle c t fro m its m easure
and fo rm , th e parts o f th e w h o le anim al and the n th e w h o le anim al to g e th e r
as if he had it b e fo re his eye s.)21

The fo u n d a tio n a l role o f d ise g n o is both in s titu te d and c o n s titu te d at th e sam e tim e ;
nam ely, its fo rm a lis a tio n is re co g n itio n o f a co lle cte d un de rsta nd ing , its e m b o d im e n t in
th e kn o w le d g e o f th e tim e d e sp ite so m e variance. This is sig n ific a n t as its sym b o lic
e xte n sio n s d e pe nd on th e m a in te n a n ce o f its in s titu tio n a l and c o n s titu tio n a l c o in c i­
de nce . From th is declaration, w e have a w h o le m u ltitu d e o f ensuing p ro b le m s and
issu e s.22 First, w e have th e issue o f th e re la tio n sh ip o f th e trin ity o f painting, sculpture
and a rc h ite c tu re to the tra n s c e n d e n t or supra no tion o f disegno. This is re fle c te d in the
parag one pro b le m , or the pro blem o f co m p a riso n o f th e arts, w h ic h Leonardo Da Vinci,
B e n e d e tto Varchi and o th e rs m o o te d . Leonardo in pa rticular se e m e d to fa vo u r painting.
Then w e have th e issu e o f 'g iu d iz io ' o r ju d g e m e n t - w h ic h Vasari p re s u p ­
posed p rior to c re a tio n , b u t in his m a n n e r o f d e cla ra tio n , in tro d u c e d th e n o tio n o f
critic a l ju d g e m e n t o f w o rk . His Vite, th e lives o f th e a rtis ts , it has be en a rg ue d, is
m o re tha n a b io g ra p h y o f w h o 's w h o , b u t can be seen in th e la te r e d itio n s to be a
na rra tive e la b o ra tio n n o t d is s im ila r to e k p h ra s is .23 V a sa ri's g iu d iz io d e l p o p u lo , a
n o tio n he in tro d u c e d in an a n e c d o te d e s c rib in g h o w th e p u b lic w ill m ake ju d g e m e n t

on th e s c u lp tu re o f his ch a m p io n , th e D ivine M ic h e la n g e lo , w a s tra n s fo rm e d by

V arch i in to g iu d iz io u n ive rsa le . V asari raised th e visu al to a d o m in a n t role, th o u g h
e ls e w h e re in his in tro d u c tio n he also spo ke o f th e ta c tile . He raised th e issu e o f

47
Raymond Quek

ideality. He also raised the issue of the im agination and its relationship to nature, and
also its relation to pe rcep tion.
Panofsky derided Vasari's declaration as not fu lly understanding the Platonic
notions before h im .24 The declaration itse lf is actually syncretic o f A ristotelian and Pla­
tonic traditions, and this has been supported by m ore recent scholarship.25 O f the con­
tribu to rs to the discussions on disegno, very clearly o f the Platonic tradition, is the
figure of Federico Zuccaro, brother of Taddeo the painter. In the creation o f architec­
ture and art, the problem of disegno w as brought into sharp focus by Zuccaro as
disegno interno and disegno esterno in his L'idea de Pittori, S cultori e t A rc h ite tti.76
A lthough Zuccaro may have published his ideas of disegno in te rno and
disegno esterno in his Scritti, they w e re neither startlingly novel nor entirely original as
there had always been som e recognition of the sem antic diffe re nce s and th e ir d istinc­
tion in context. In A lberti, w e have seen the ten den cy to distinguish. It is not d iffic u lt to
see a speculation on separation o f the sem antic senses as a plausibly obvious conclu­
sion, though he made no sh o w of this at his lectures. Zuccaro repeatedly assigned lec­
tures on disegno to others, and w h en the assigned person w as unable to cope,
Zuccaro w o uld w altz in and po ntifica te on the m anifestation o f the hand and the intel­
lection of the idea.27 He also m ade the conceited pun out o f disegno of segno d e i- the
sign of God.
An earlier s ta te m e n t on the separation of im aginative intention from visual
m an ifestatio n is noted here: 'II disegno é di due sorte, il prim o e quello che si fa nell'
Im aginativa, et il secondo tra tto da quello si dim ostra con lin e e '.28 This c o m m e n t was
u ttered by no less than Benvenuto Cellini, com m e ntin g on the seal o f the Academ ia in
Florence. Here is a clear recognition o f the tw o sem antic senses of disegno outside of
contextual understanding prior to Zuccaro, the abstract im aginative idea and practice of
linear description. W olfgang Kemp has made the plausible arg um e nt o f Zuccaro's
dependence on Cellini, though despite the separation o f disegno interno and disegno
este rn o, Zuccaro m aintained the foundational role o f disegno, celebrated m ost dram ati­
cally in the ceiling fresco in the Sala del D isegno at the Palazzo Zuccaro.
The three sister arts surround the pe rsonification of father disegno, resem ­
bling God the Father, w h o holds a sceptre in his right hand. On his left, he w ie ld s the
com pass and square of architecture and the too ls o f sculpting and painting - ham m er,
ink pot and quill; and in the sam e hand, he also holds a painting. The iconography is
com parable to the iconologies o f disegno and giudizio in Cesare Ripa's Iconología of
1603. The sceptre is th o u g h t to be representative o f the moral intellect, w h ils t the rela­
tionship of disegno and giudizio, raised earlier in Vasari, can be seen to have a m utually
d e pendent co-existence. Ripa's disegno is depicted as a w ell-dressed noblem an, carry­
ing in one hand the com passes of m easurem ent, and in the oth er the m irror of im agi­
native reflection. Giudizio, w h o is depicted naked and the re fore honest, sits on the
rainbow o f a w e a lth y experience carrying a square, rule and com passes. The notion of
giudizio, exe m plified by the visual ju d g e m e n t of giudizio dell'occhio, is closely tied to
the secret of disegno. In the story o f D onatello's abacus, M arco Barbo sought the
secret of D onatello's abacus, believing it to be the tool by w h ich he m easured his art.

48
 Drawing Adam's navel

Fresco at Sala Del

Disegno, Father
Disegno and his
three daughters.

Donatello eventually revealed that he was him self his abacus - he had the ability of
giudizio dell'occhio - the judgem ent of the eye.29
In a comparative study of a preparatory cartoon o f the fresco, Hermann-
Fiore argued that the sketch of a sphere corresponding to the indiscernible detail of the
painting in the left hand o f father disegno represents the sphere of the cosmos. In the
cartoon, the pedestal is inscribed faintly w ith the word 'disegno'. A more elaborate
script is seen in the corresponding pedestal of the fresco: 'LUX INTELLECTUS ET VITA
OPERATIONUM' ('The Light of the Intellect and the Operation'). W e may see the
cartoon as the fresco in shorthand, the inscription 'disegno' in the cartoon correspon­
ding to the fuller inscription in the fresco w ith its expanded explication of the intellect.

49
Raymond Quek

G iu dizio from Cesare

Ripa's Iconologia.

F i g, 13 9 . Giuditio : J U D G M E K T.
A naked M an, attem pting to fit dow n upon the R ainbow ; holding
.
the Square, the R ule, Com paflcs, and Pendulum, in his Hand.
T h e Inftruments denote D ¡[courje, and Choice, Ingenuity fliould makeoC
M eth ods to undcriland, and ju d g e o f any thing ; for he judges not aright,
w h o w ould mcafurc every thing in one and the fame Manner. The
R ainbow , that much Expcricncc teaches Judgment ; as the Rainbow refutes
from the Appcarancc o f divcric C olours, brought near one another bv D escription of
G iu dizio in Cesare
V irtu e o f the Sun-beams. Giudizio in c *
Ripa's Iconologia.

The notion of 'SCINTILLA DIVINITAS' ('D ivine Spark') w ritte n into the fram e be lo w the
fresco adds fu rth e r com m entary.
W e can see in both the fresco at the Sala del Disegno and its preparatory
cartoon Z uccaro's position on the paragone. 'A rch ite ctu re ' is rem o te ly connected to
disegno, and her sister 'P ainting' is clo sest to fathe r disegno. It has been recorded that
the short de finitions of each daughter's inscription in relation to fathe r disegno was
agreed w ith principal Zuccaro. Further, discussions on the paragone w e re forbidden in
the statutes o f the academia. An even m ore curious observation of the statutes
records that the paragone con flict pertained only to painting and sculpture, and that
architecture w as o m itte d . In the fresco, 'A rch ite ctu re ' is supported by the inscription

50
 D raw ing A dam 's navel

'PARENS C O M M O D IT A T IS ', th a t w h ic h gives c o m fo rt. 'S c u lp tu re ' carries th e in scrip ­

tio n 'CUSTO S EFFIGEI', the appearance o f fo rm . The in scrip tio n 'A E M U L A N A T U R A E '
su p p o rts 'P a in tin g ' - she is th e im ita to r o f nature. The re la tio n sh ip to nature is
re fle c te d in th e re latio nship to fa th e r disegno, th e d a u g h te r 'P a in tin g ' is clo se st as she
is th e m o s t universal o f th e arts.
Z uccaro elaborated on his m e tap hysical notion o f d iseg no in te rn o in his
S critti, he w ro te th a t as God created nature a fte r an idea in th e m ind, God m ig h t be
said to p o ssess d iseg no in te rn o .30 Zuccaro co m p a re d th e diseg no in te rn o o f God and
angels to th e d ise g n o in te rn o o f m an. U nlike anim als, man has a soul, and unlike
angels, m an has a body. B ut fo r th e body, m an w o u ld be like a divine being. God
created th e w o rld by brin g in g th in g s in to e xiste n ce - m an on ly ap pre h e n d e d th e m .
Thus m an is in fe rio r to God; h u m a n ity is p ro p e rly su ite d to th e realm o f acquiring

d i s e g n o .

're m
D is e g n o fro m C esare
R ipa's Ic o n o lo g ia .

Fig. 95. Diilegno : DESI GNI NG.

D esc rip tio n of
D is e g n o in C esare
R ipa's Ic o n o lo g ia .
A S trip lin g , o f a noble A lp e d . w ith a G arm ent o f rich C loth , Compaifcs
111 one H and, and a M iro ir in th e other.
T h e A ip c d (hew s that all things m ade b y A rt, arc m ore or Iefs fwitfem,
acco rd in g co lIic m ore o r lefs dcfignifig : T h e Companies, that Dcfigning
confifts in Me«faring; th c G la fs , a g ood laugin^iion rcquifitc.

51
R aym ond Quek

kn o w le d g e th ro u g h sense. T h e re fo re , th e hum an in te lle c tiv e soul has by nature a

p o s s ib ility o f k n o w in g th ro u g h sense th e 'sp iritu a l fo rm s re p re se n tin g all th e th in g s in
th e w o r ld '.31
This v irtu e , w h ic h c o m e s fro m God, m akes m an 'a lm o s t a seco nd G od'. In
th is sense he is able to fo rm a 'n e w w o rld ', a w o rld o f hum an cre a tio n . M an 'a lm o s t
im ita tin g God, and e m u la tin g nature m ay pro du ce in fin ite artificial th in g s sim ila r to th e
natural, and by m eans o f pain ting and scu lp tu re , m ake us see n e w paradises on
e a rth '.32 D ise g n o in te rn o is de scrib ed as a 'lig h t' th a t gu id es th e lo w e r sensing
fa cu ltie s. The d ise g n o in te rn o is at once tra n sce n d e n ta l, passive and active . It is
passive in th a t it is su sce p tib le to all th in g s. It is also active as it has th e nature of
in te lle c tio n . It has th e cap acity to 'fo rm one im age fro m m a n y'. The tra n sce n d e n ce

P re p a ra to ry c a rto o n ,
fresco a t S ala del
D is e g n o , F a th e r
D is e g n o a n d his
th re e d a u g h te rs ,
Federico Z u ccaro .

52
 D raw ing A dam 's navel

In scrip tio n s : 'L U X

IN T E L L E C T U S E T
VITA OPERA T IO N U M '
('T h e L ig h t o f th e
In te lle c t an d th e
O p e ra tio n ') and
' S C IN T IL L A
D IV IN IT A S ' ('D iv in e
S p a rk '). D e ta il fro m
Fresco a t S ala D el
D is e g n o , F a th e r
D is e g n o a n d his
th re e d a u g h te rs .

o f th e diseg no interno, its s ta tu s as 'lig h t' and 'd ivin e sp a rk', is d e p e n d e n t on God. The
pun o f s e g n o d e i is probably cle vere r if seen in th e se te rm s than has been d ism isse d
by various c o m m e n ta to rs .
C uriously, w e can see so m e p rior con sid eratio n o f th e divine spark in an
earlier pre pa ratory sketch fo r th e central scene in th e vault in the chapel o f th e Villa
Farnese a t Caprarola, o u tsid e R om e - The Creation o f the Sun a n d M o o n - tw o lu m i­
nous b o d ie s.33 The w o rk reveals a m ore con ven tion al te n d e n c y w ith in Z uccaro's
rep rese ntatio n o f th e Creation and his su p p o rt o f G od's m iraculous crea tio ex-nihilo. On
th is evidence, w e m ay c o m m e n t th a t his ideas in his S c ritti m u s t have d e velope d m uch
later, particularly on th e con sid eratio n o f th e body and soul in th e qu e stio n o f disegno,
w h ic h m ay have been a re su lt o f a fo rce d a tte m p t to elevate th e visual arts throu gh the
academ y. Q uivige r has observe d Zuccaro passionately believed in a ca de m ies.3'1 He had
earlier tried to in te re s t th e lite rary academ ies w ith th e idea o f a Rom an Academ ia del
D isegno w ith no success. M u n d y has argued th a t th e rulings o f the C ouncil o f T rent
a ffe c te d the spiritual qu ality o f F ede rico 's w o rk .35 This m ay have c o n trib u te d a m ore
spiritua l turn against his earlier M ich ela ng elo -in fluen ced exp ression o f the creation.
On th e stre n g th o f his th e o rie s. Zuccaro gained ad m issio n into th e A ccade-
m ia degli In n o m in a ti o f Parma and th e A ccad em ia Insensata at Perugia. His con cern , it
w o u ld see m , w o u ld be th e am b itio n o f p a rity th a t pa in ting m ig h t have w ith p o e try in
th e lite rary aca de m ies, via d o ctrin e and resp e cta b le a c tiv ity in th e a ca d e m y.36 Indeed,
as late as 1605, fo u r years b e fo re his death, he pu blishe d a la m e n ta tio n on p a in tin g .37
The A ccad em ia di San Luca38 w a s fina lly esta b lish e d in Rom e. The annals recorded by
R om ano A lb e rti s h o w th a t G iacom o Della Porta, w h o w a s to re p re se n t the voice o f
'A rc h ite c tu re ', w a s a b se n t on several o cca sio ns and eve n tu a lly replaced by oth e rs.
Payne o b se rve d Z u cca ro 's e xp lo ita tio n o f th e situ a tio n to declare th a t diseg no the ro o t
o f all the arts, d e sp ite giving pain ting th e e d g e .39 W h ils t th is m ay be tru e on th e e vid ­
ence o f th e p ro ce e d in g s, it is also tru e th a t ap athy on th e part o f o th e r c o n trib u to rs led
to th e d e m ise o f Z uccaro 's academ y. Q u ivig e r also no ted th a t Z u cca ro 's parallel o f
visual th in kin g could be seen as sim ila r to a p h ilo s o p h e r's syllo g ism s:

53
R aym ond Quek

-------- -----

P re p a ra to ry c a rto o n ,
fresco a t V illa
C a p ra ro la , The
C re a tio n o f th e S u n
and M oon.

You sho uld k n o w th a t th e re are tw o kinds o f disegno, th a t is one called

in te lle ttiv o , and one called p ra ttico . This is because th e re are in us tw o
in te lle c ts . O ne is called th e sp e cu la tive in te lle ct, and its aim is to un de r­
stand th in g s universally. The o th e r is th e practical in te lle ct, and its sp e cific
and u ltim a te aim is action [ operare], or rather, it is th e p rin cip le o f our
actio ns. It is th e re fo re related to o u r [tw o ] in te lle c ts . O ne is th e su b je c t of
th e sp e cu la tive in te lle ct, and re p re se n ts to th is in te lle c t th in g s universally
u n d e rsto o d [le cose u n iv e rs a lm e n te in te s e 1. The o th e r is th e o b je c t o f the
practical in te lle c t and it re p re se n ts individual th in g s to th e in te lle c t.40

Zuccaro actu ally tra ve lle d to England to o ffe r his se rvice s to th e Q ueen. A le tte r of
in tro d u c tio n fro m B elgium e xists in th e B ritish M u s e u m .41 His S c ritti have no t really

54
 D raw ing A dam 's navel

been tra n sla te d to English, th o u g h various c o m m e n ta rie s in English e xist. W e can only
spe culate w h a t th e p o ssib ilitie s m ig h t have been had he tra ve lle d and p o n tific a te d on
d ise g n o in te rn o and este rn o. A c o n te m p o ra n e o u s te xt, by Lom azzo, h o w e v e r, m ade it
in 'tra n s la tio n ' to th e A n g lo p h o n e w o rld and had con sid erab le in flu e n ce on Inigo Jones,
R oger de Piles and oth e rs. H aydocke tra n sla te d Lo m azzo 's cen tra l s u b je cts in th e Trat-
ta to d e ll' arte della p ittu ra , scu ltu ra e t a rch ite te ttu ra , as 'p a in tin g , carving and b u ild ­
in g '.42 W h a t diseg no s o u g h t to unite in th e d iffe re n t te c h n iq u e s o f the arts is in fa ct
unravelled and re tu rn e d to its sep ara te c o n s titu e n t te ch n iq u e s. Lucy G ent w a s
scath ing o f th e H aydocke translatio n: 'W h e n Lom azzo w rite s a b o u t "a rte disegna-
tr ic e ", H aydocke is flo o re d '.43 Ironically, in th e year o f p u blicatio n o f H a yd o cke 's tra n s­
lation, th e A n g lo -ltalian G iovanni F lorio's dictio n a ry o f Italian and English w a s also
pu blishe d; it accu rately records a sense o f pu rpo se in th e te rm dise g n o , and also the
verb and plural fo rm s .44
W e have seen th e m o d u la tio n o f th e n o tion o f diseg no fro m C e nn ini to
Zuccaro and its fo rm u la tio n in th e academ y. W ith Zuccaro, th e m od ern s p lit b e tw e e n
d ra w in g as m a n ife s ta tio n and de sig n as in te n t can be said to co m m e n c e . D e sp ite th is
variance in disegno, th e w o rd its e lf carries no special m yste ry. Its role as th e fo u n d a ­
tion o f th e arts, or as th e n o tion th a t gives th e arts unity, is a curiou s on e as w e com e
to m o d e rn tim e s . The p u rsu it o f a po ssib le u n ity o f th e arts a fte r th e Baroque, th e last
a u th e n tic g e s a m tk u n s tw e rk , can be seen in th e a tte m p ts o f Richard W a g n e r, w h o p riv­
ileged dram a b u t sa w a rc h ite c tu re as its fra m e :

A rc h ite c tu re can s e t b e fore its e lf no h igh er task than to fra m e fo r fe llo w s h ip

of a rtis t w h o in th e ir o w n pe rson s po rtra y th e life o f m an, th e special
su rro u n d in g s n e cessa ry fo r th e display o f th e hum an a rtw o rk . O nly th a t

F ro n tis p iec e,
L o m a z z o 's Trea tise
on P a in tin g .

55
Raymond Quek

TO THE RIGHT
W O R SH IPFVLL T H O
MAS B O D L E Y
E S Q^V I H E.

[ R , it h a t h fo fa ln e o u t ( w ith what fucxeite

I k n o w n o t) that m an y im y (pare h o w c r s o f
recreation, haue b in o ccu p ied in the iw eete
C o n te m p la tio n , and d e lieh tfu ll P r a iH ie o f
the m ore curious kin d es o f Taoitm o, Qarymg,
A an d B u ild in g as m ay in fo m e lo rte ap-
p tere, b y m y p ain es taken in tranflating th is w o rk e ; the w o rth
w h e re o f I fo rbcare oth etw ife to co m m en d v n to any o th e r ,
then b y recom m ending m in e in d evou rs therein v n to y o u r
fe lfe ; w h ofe fo u n d n e ile in v ariety o f L e a rn in g , w h o fe skill in
this and th e better Lan guages, and w hoie h arty affection to all
go o d A rte s , th o u g h it w ere e v e ry w a y fu fficien d y kn o w n e to
the m o ft, y e t hath it m ore a b o u n d a n tly d ifc o v e re d it felfe in
that m em orable M o n u m e n to f y o u r exceed in g lo u eto w ard es
this o u r V n iv e r iit y , b e g u n alread y w ith n o im all ch a rg e , and
happily h eereafter c o b te finiflied to yo u r great H on o ur.
In regard-full ackn o w led gem en t w h e r e o f, I c o u ld w i ih I
w e re a sw o rth y , a s l am w illin g , to b ee the firft,w ho (houlde
fteppe fo rth ,to y e e ld e y ou P u b liq u e thankes,in the nam e o f the Page fro m
ij W h o le L o m a zzo 's Treatise
on Painting.

ed ifice is b u ilt according to necessity, w h ic h a n sw e rs m o st b e fittin g ly an

aim of m an; th e high est aim o f man is the artistic aim o f man; the high est
artistic aim - th e dra m a .45

W a g n e r w as no t alone in recognising th e p o ssib ility o f unity: Bruno Taut proclaim ed

the Z u kunftskathe drale - the C athedral of the future:

T o geth er let us build a stup end ous s tru c tu re ! A building th a t is no t only

a rchitectu re, bu t in w h ic h eve rything - painting and sculpture - all to g e th e r
w ill form great architectu re and w h e re in architectu re once again m erges
w ith the o th e r arts. Here architectu re m u s t be fra m e and co n te n t all
at o n c e .46

56
 D raw ing A dam 's navel

It w a s in the p u rsu it o f sim ilar ideals o f un ity th a t inspired a young W a lte r G ropius, w h o
to o k the se aim s and develope d th e Bauhaus along the lines o f a un ity o f the arts. Ironi­
cally, in th e m od ern g e s a m tk u n s tw e rk o f G ropius, th e m e rg e r o f in du stry and th e arts
m ea nt th a t th e notion o f design w a s to be seen qu ite d iffe re n tly . The eleva tion o f ve r­
nacular cra ft in to one w h e re p ro du ction w a s a con sid eratio n m e a n t th a t th e everyday
p ro d u ct had to be con ceived and visualised - in o th e r w o rd s , p ro d u cts could be
d e sig n e d fo r industrial p ro d u ctio n .47 In the lite rature o f th e tim e , design is o fte n included
as a s is te r craft, and is no longer fa th e r to th e arts as in Zuccaro or Vasari. From his firs t
m a n ife sto o f th e Bauhaus, G ropius radiates the s ta te m e n t o f his p ro g ra m m e , w h ic h is
q u o te d here at length to fully appreciate its eva ng elistic zeal borde ring on vitriol:

The u ltim a te aim o f all visual arts is th e c o m p le te b u ild in g ! To e m b e llish

bu ild in g once th e n o b le st fu n c tio n o f th e fin e arts; th e y w e re th e in d isp e n ­
sable c o m p o n e n ts o f great a rch ite ctu re . Today th e arts e x is t in isolation
fro m w h ic h th e y can be rescu ed only th ro u g h th e con scio us, coo pe rative
e ffo rt o f all cra fts m e n . A rc h ite c ts , painters and s c u lp to rs m u s t recognize
an e w and learn to grasp th e c o m p o s ite cha racter o f a bu ild in g bo th as an
e n tity and its separate parts. O nly th e n w ill th e ir w o rk be im b u e d w ith the
arc h ite c to n ic s p irit w h ic h it has lo s t as 'salon art'.
The old scho ols o f art w e re unable to p ro du ce th is un ity, since art
can no t be ta u g h t. T hey m u s t m erg e once m o re w ith the w o rk s h o p . The
m e re d ra w in g and painting w o rld o f pa tte rn d e sig n e r and th e ap plied a rtist
m u s t b e co m e a w o rld th a t builds again. W h e n you ng people w h o take a jo y
in a rtis tic crea tion once m ore begin th e ir life 's w o rk by learning trade, the n
th e u n p ro d u ctive ’a rtis t' w ill no lo ng er be c o n d e m n e d to d e fic ie n t a rtistry,
fo r th e ir skill w ill n o w be p re serve d fo r the crafts, in w h ic h th e y w ill be able
to achieve exce lle nce .
A rc h ite c ts , scu lp to rs, painters, w e all m u s t return to th e c ra fts ! For
art is no t a 'p ro fe s s io n '. T here is no esse ntia l d iffe re n c e b e tw e e n th e a rtist
and th e cra ftsm a n . The a rtis t is an exalted cra ftsm a n . In rare m o m e n ts o f
in spira tion , tra n sce n d in g th e con scio u sn e ss o f his w ill, th e grace o f heaven
m ay cause his w o rk to b losso m in to art. B ut p ro ficie n cy in a c ra ft is e s s e n ­
tial to eve ry a rtist. It is th e re th a t the prim a ry source o f c re a tiv ity lies. Le t us
the n crea te a n e w guild o f cra fts m e n w ith o u t the class d is tin c tio n s th a t
raise an arro ga nt barrier b e tw e e n cra ftsm a n and a rtis t! T o g e th e r le t us
desire, co n ce ive and crea te th e n e w s tru c tu re o f the fu tu re , w h ic h w ill
em b ra ce a rc h ite c tu re and scu lp tu re and pa in ting in one un ity and w h ic h w ill
one day rise to w a rd s heaven fro m th e hands o f a m illio n w o rk e rs like the
crystal sym b o l o f a n e w fa ith .48

C uriously, th e B auhaus d e v e lo p m e n t o f th e sp lit b e tw e e n crea tive in te lle ctio n and

m a n ife sta tio n and d ra w in g , n o rm a lly d iffe re n tia te d in Italian th ro u g h co n te xtu a l usage
o f disegno, e n te rs Italian discou rse in the early tw e n tie th ce n tu ry w ith th e industrial
de sig n o f p ro d u cts as d ise g n o in d u s tria ls . So w e have c o m e fu ll circle. The sp lit

57
Raymond Quek

b e tw ee n creative visualisation and creative intellection is eve ryw h ere and is a tho r­
oughly m odern phenom enon. The in stitu tion of 'design ' in the industrial sense has lost
its coincidence w ith its c o n stitu te d identity. The unity that existed in disegno has
largely been lost; and lost w ith it is the integral relationship w ith giudizio - the capacity
to make integral ju dg em en ts. W ith o u t this integral relationship, disegno as separated
m anifestation and intellection suffers from an exposure to relativism . As if discussing
architecture, Ernst Cassirer provided an uncanny description of the responsibility of the
historian in analogy to a draughtsm an:

Even the historian, like the draughtsm an, produces only caricatures if he
sketches detailed circum stances and events m erely as they seem to
present the m se lve s and as they fo llo w upon each other. The apprehension
of events m u st be guided continually by ideas; ye t on the oth er hand these
ideas m ust not be m erely added on the history as an unrelated appendage -
an error into w hich philosophical history so-called easily fell. The 'idea' can
appear only in the natural connection o f things and can never be separated
from the m as som ething in dependent and existing fo r itse lf alone.49

G oya, S leep o f
Reason.

58
 Drawing Adam 's navel

The relationship be tw e e n kno w le dg e and critical observation developed in the nine­

tee nth century in the form of the m odern novel, and in particular the m odern novel set
in the m odern city.50 Visual know ledge, in particular developed in nine te en th -centu ry
culture in the m anifestation o f the spe ctacle .51 W hen w e understand, w e say 'I see'. In
the legal accounting of truth, the e ye w itn e ss is all-im portant. Under the m odern rule of
law w e have enshrined this he gem ony of vision - vision is kn o w le dg e.52 The unity of
disegno m arried both the intellection and m anifestation, and allow ed fo r giudizio to be
consequentially and integrally possible in a m eaningful way. Goya, in the Sleep o f
Reason, used an integrated disegno to tell us this: th a t oth e rw ise the sleep o f reason
produces hallucinatory m onsters, or in the true sense of the w o rd m on stra - im agined
con stru ction s w ith o u t the ability to con stru e.53

Acknowledgements

The author w ish e s to thank M arco Frascari, Jam es M cQ uillan and Thom as Kong for
many conversations in the preparation o f this chapter. An earlier version of this chapter
w as published in A rch ite ctu ra l Research Quarterly, and the author also w ish e s to thank
the editors of ARQ. The author also w ish e s to thank Kim V eltm an fo r generously
casting his critical eye on the paper.

Notes

1 Joseph M eder and W inslow Ames, The M astery o f Drawing, 2 vols (New York:
Abaris Books, 1978), I, pp. 22-23.
2 Lucy Gent, Picture and Poetry 1560-1620: Relations Between Literature and the
Visual Arts in the English Renaissance (Leamington Spa, England: J. Hall, 1981),
pp. 8-10.
3 Michael Baxandall, 'English Disegno', in Words for Pictures: Seven Papers on
Renaissance A rt and Criticism (New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2003),
pp. 83-97.
Baxandall took a more prosaic perspective of the English reception of disegno. He
described four senses of the word: (1) intention, (2) graphic expression, (3) ideation,
design, (4) activity. W e have no disagreement w ith this exposition of the semantic
senses. Baxandall also noted the first appearance of the word 'design' in English is
spelt 'dessein', which is closer to the French 'desseing'.
4 Jacqueline Lichtenstein's entry for disegno in the Dictionnaire de la langue française
"le Grand R obert" traces its etymology and its entrance into French, German and
English thought.
5 Leen Spruit, Species Intelligibilis: From Perception to Knowledge (Brill: Leiden; New
York, 1994).
6 See, for example, Joseph Rykwert, 'On The Oral Transmission Of Architectural
Theory', AA Files 6 (1984), pp. 14-27, and Robert Scheller, Exemplum: Model-Book
Drawings and the Practice o f A rtistic Transmission in the M iddle Ages (c.900-c. 1470)
(Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 1995); the m ost famous of these is the
exemplum of Villard de Honnecourt.

59
Raymond Quek

7 Vitruvius records ichnographia, orthographia and scaenographia. The Vitruvian text of

course had famously lost its illustrations. Orthographia is not thought to have
developed fully until the sixteenth century. See James Ackerman, 'Architectural Prac­
tice in the Italian Renaissance', The Journal o f the Society o f Architectural Historians,
13, (no. 3, October 1954), pp. 3-11.
8 Cennino Cennini and Fernando Tempesti, II libro dell'arte: o, Trattato della pittura
(Milan: Longanesi, 1975). Translated as Cennino Cennini, The Craftsman's Handbook:
the Italian 'II libro dell'arte' (New York: Dover, 1960). A nineteenth-century translation
is Cennino Cennini, Giuseppe Tambroni and Mary Philadelphia Merrifield, A Treatise
on Painting (London: Lumley, 1844).
9 Lorenzo Ghiberti, I com m entari (Napoli: Ricciardi, 1947). G hiberti's w ork was known
since the Q uattrocento but was not published until the tw en tieth century. A further
tendency to recognise the value of the separated sem antic senses can be seen in
Angelo Poliziano's lecture on Panepistemon, w hich has been described to be 'a
w hole intellectual system in outline, based on the Aristotelian premise of the unity
of knowledge ... ' See David Summers, M ichelangelo and the Language o f A rt
(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1980), pp. 242-261. In Poliziano's outline,
the arts of design fell under the low er category of the practical arts, and these
w ould include architectura and graphike. The latter idea of graphike is sim ilar to
disegno, both shared the sem antic sense of the intelligible diffe re ntia te d from
the visible.
10 G.C. Argan, T h e Architecture of Brunelleschi and the Origins of Perspective Theory in
the Fifteenth Century', Journal o f the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, 9 (1946), pp.
96-121.
11 S. Lang, 'De Lineamentis: L.B. Alberti's Use of a Technical Term (in Notes)',Journal
o f the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, 28 (1965), pp. 331-335.
Lang's conclusion that ‘ lineamenta' is the ground plan is unsatisfactory. Also see
the glossary in Leon Battista Alberti, On the A rt o f Building in Ten Books (Cambridge,
MA: MIT Press, 1988).
12 Leon Battista Alberti, On the A rt o f Building in Ten Books, op. cit., p. 34.
13 Leon Battista Alberti, On Painting, trans. J Spencer (New Haven; London: Yale Uni­
versity Press, 1966), p. 40.
14 Ibid., p. 66.
In Della pittura the words are circonscrizione, composizione and ricevere di lumi.
The observation of the rhetorical model is w ell known, as has been discussed vari­
ously by many scholars. For a recent study, see David Rosand, Drawing Acts: Studies
in Graphic Expression and Representation (Cambridge; New York: Cambridge Univer­
sity Press, 2002), pp. 54-55.
15 Mark W. Roskill, Dolce's Aretino and Venetian A rt Theory o f the Cinquecento (New
York: for the College Art Association of America by New York University Press, 1968).
Dolce was influenced by Pietro Aretino, and Paolo Pino before him. Disegno, as a
Florentine or Roman notion, and colore as a Venetian notion w ere thought to be in
conflict. The conflict is not in the ambit of this chapter, though elsewhere I develop a
w ider study that includes colour as a problem in the issue discussed here. An excel­
lent resource on the problem is Maurice Poirier, T he Disegno-Colore Controversy
Revisited', Explorations in Renaissance Culture, 13 (1987), pp. 80-86. This was
w ritten as a rejoinder to Poirier's unpublished PhD Thesis on the controversy: Studies
on the Concepts o f Disegno, Invenzione and Colore in the Sixteenth Century and Sev­
enteenth Century Italian A rt and Theory, PhD dissertation, New York, University of
New York, 1976.
16 James Haar and Paul E. Corneilson, The Science and A rt o f Renaissance Music
(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1998).

60
 Drawing Adam 's navel

17 Francisco de Hollanda, Four Dialogues on Painting, trans. by Aubrey F. G. Bell

(London: Oxford University Press, 1928), pp. 28-46 (p. 36).
18 See, for example, Mary Ann Jack, 'The Accademia del Disegno in Late Renaissance
Florence', Sixteenth Century Journal, 7 (no. 2, Oct 1976), pp. 3-20. A more recent
study is Karen-Edis Barzman, The Florentine Academ y and the Early Modern State:
the Discipline o f Disegno (Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000).
19 Indeed it has been extracted and published on its own. See Giorgio Vasari and G.
Baldwin Brown, Vasari on Technique: Being the Introduction to the Three Arts o f
Design, Architecture, Sculpture and Painting, Prefixed to the Lives o f the M ost Excel­
lent Painters, Sculptors and Architects (New York: Dover, 1960). Various arguments
have been made that the second edition was a reaction to both the ill reception his
work, and of disegno, in response to Dolce and others.
20 Giorgio Vasari, Carlo Ludovico Ragghianti and Giorgio Vasari, Le vite dei più eccellenti
pittori, scultori e architetti (Milan: Rizzoli, 1945).
21 In my translation of the passage, I have left the w ord disegno as it was used. Other
published English translations have either substituted 'design' or 'draw ing' in place of
disegno. A recent exegesis of Vasari's declaration can be found in Robert Williams,
Art, Theory, and Culture in Sixteenth-Century Italy: From Techne to M etatechne
(Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1997).
22 A classic study is Maurice Poirier, 'The Role of the Concept of Disegno in Mid-Six­
teenth Century Florence', in The Age o f Vasari: a Loan Exhibition Under the High
Patronage o f His Excellency, Egidio Ortona, the Ambassador o f Italy to the United
States at A rt Gallery (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame, 1970), pp. 53-68. W e
have also seen recently in the work of Karen-Edis Barzman, Robert W illiams and
others a renewed interest in the exegesis of Vasari.
23 Svetlana Alpers has dealt w ith the m om ent of ekphrasis in Vasari, and David
Summers has chronicled the issues on Judgem ent of Sense following the rise
of naturalism.
24 Erwin Panofsky, Idea: a Concept in A rt Theory (Columbia: University of South Carolina
Press, 1968), p. 62.
25 Barzman, op. cit., pp. 149-151.
26 Federico Zuccaro, S critti d'arte di Federico Zuccaro, curated by Detlef Heikamp (Flo­
rence: Olschki, 1961); containing facsimiles of Romano Alberti and Federico Zuccaro,
Origine, et progresso dell'Accademia del Dissegno, d e ' pittori, scultori, et architetti di
Roma (Pavia, 1604); Federico Zuccaro, Lettera a prencipi, e t signori amatori del dis­
segno, pittura, scultura, e t architettura; con un lamento della pittura (Mantova, 1605);
Federico Zuccaro, L'idea d e ' pittori, scultori, e t architetti, divisa in due libri (Torino,
1607). Federico Zuccaro was a som ewhat difficult character, as has been famously
noted in the incident involving his commission of a painting for Pope Gregory, which
resulted in his banishment from Rome until 1583. Ten years after his return, he was
elected as the principal of the Accademia di San Luca in Rome. He had tried earlier to
organise the Roman Academia del Disegno unsuccessfully on the model of the liter­
ary academy. See François Quiviger, 'The Presence of Artists in Literary Academies',
in Italian Academies o f the Sixteenth Century (Colloquium) (1991 Jun: London),
(London: Warburg Institute, 1995), pp. 105-112.
27 Meder and Ames, op. cit., I, p. 22. Many episodes resulting in the dominant soliloquy
of Zuccaro can be seen in Romano Alberti, Origine, e t progresso (Pavia, 1604); in
Zuccaro, Scritti.
28 Cited in W olfgang Kemp, 'Disegno: Beitrâge zur Geshichte des Begriffes Zwischen
1547 und 1607', M arburger Jahrbuch für Kunstwissenschaft, 19 (1974), pp. 219-240.
29 Summers, Michelangelo and the Language o f Art, op. cit., p. 364.
30 Federico Zuccaro, L'idea d e ' pittori, scultori, e t architetti (Torino, 1607); in Zuccaro,

61
Raymond Quek

Scritti. I have also consulted the following commentaries on Zuccaro: David

Summers, The Judgm ent o f Sense (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990),
pp. 283-310; Anthony Blunt, A rtistic Theory in Italy, 1450-1600 (London: Oxford Uni­
versity Press, 1962), pp. 137-159; Panofsky, op. cit., pp. 71-153; Robert W illiams, op.
cit., pp. 123-186.
31 Summers, The Judgem ent o f Sense, op. cit., p. 291.
32 Ibid., p. 292.
33 Federico Zuccaro worked on the decoration of the Villa Farnese in Caprarola after the
death of Taddeo in 1566. Zuccaro's fresco is the central scene in the dome.
34 Quiviger, op. cit., p. 111.
35 Federico Zuccari, E. James Mundy, Elizabeth Ourusoff De Fernandez-Gimenez, Mil­
waukee Art Museum, National Academy of Design (US) and Taddeo Zuccari, Renais­
sance into Baroque: Italian M aster Drawings by the Zuccari, 1550-1600 (Milwaukee:
M ilwaukee Art Museum; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989), p. 19. For a
background on the Council of Trent and Art, see Blunt, op. cit., pp. 101-136.
36 Quiviger, op. cit., p. 110. Blunt notes that Zuccaro and Lomazzo joined academies
that had 'nothing in particular to do w ith their professions' (Blunt, op. cit., p. 147).
37 Federico Zuccaro, Un Lamento della pittura (Mantova, 1605); in Zuccaro, Scritti, op.
cit., pp. 119-129.
38 St. Luke is the patron saint of artists.
39 Alina Alexandra Payne, The Architectural Treatise in the Italian Renaissance: Architec­
tural Invention, Ornament, and Literary Culture (Cambridge; New York: Cambridge
University Press, 1999), p. 228.
40 Quiviger, op. cit., p. 111; translation by Quiviger, taken from Romano Alberti, Origine
e progresso, p. 19; in Zuccaro, Scritti, op. cit., p. 31.
41 Roy C. Strong, 'Federigo (sic) Zuccaro's Visit to England in 1575', Journal o f the
Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, 22 (no. 3/4, July-Decem ber 1959), pp. 359-360.
M undy notes greater activity in England: Mundy et a!., op. cit., p. 20. I argue though
on the dispute over his portraits of the Queen, that given his known work the
resemblance of his maniera in disegno pertaining to the English Queen is not strong
at all.
42 Giovanni Paolo Lomazzo and Richard Haydocke, A Tracte containing the Artes o f
Curious Paintinge Caruinge Buildinge w ritten first in Italian by Paul Lomatius Painter
o f Milan and Englished by R.H. Student in Physik (Oxford: loseph Barnes for Richard
Haydocke, 1598).
43 Gent, op. cit., p. 9.
44 John Florio, A Worlde o f Wordes o f M o st Copious, and Exact Dictionarie in Italian and
Englishi, collected by John Florio (London, 1598), p. 106.
Disegno - a purpose, an intent, a desseigne, a draught, a modle, a plot, a picture,
or pourtrait. See Frances Yates, John Florio: the Life o f an Italian in Shakespeare's
England (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1934).
45 Richard Wagner, cited in Dieter Borchmeyer, Drama and the W orld o f Richard
Wagner, trans. by Daphne Ellis (Princeton; Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2003).
46 Bruno Taut, 'Eine Notwendigkeit', Der Sturm, 4 (nos 196-197, February 1914), pp.
174-175; translated as Bruno Taut, 'A Necessity', in German Expressionism: Docu­
m ents from the End o f the W ilhelmine Empire to the Rise o f National Socialism, ed.
by Rose-Carol W ashton Long (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995), pp.
122-139 (p. 126).
47 I use the word 'design' here thoroughly in the dominant modern sense of motivated
intent, w ith minimal sense of visual manifestation. The other sense of 'design' as
visual manifestation is still recognisable in the English language, as it is in French and
German, but this usage is only possible after production. The paradigm of industrial

62
 Drawing Adam 's navel

production is the real wedge that sustains 'design' as separated motivated intent
from its visual manifestation.
48 W alter Gropius, 'Programme of the Staatliche Bauhaus in W eim ar' {April 1919), in
Hans Maria Wingler, The Bauhaus: Weimar, Dessau, Berlin, Chicago, ed. by Joseph
Stein (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1969), p. 31.
49 Ernst Cassirer, The Problem o f Knowledge: Philosophy, Science, and History Since
Hegel {New Haven: Yale University Press, 1950), p. 239.
50 There are numerous publications on the relationship of expanding vision and its paral­
lels in literature, particularly in novels of the nineteenth century set in the bursting
Urban environs. See, for example, Burton Pike, The Image o f the City in Modern
Literature (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1981).
51 Jonathan Crary, Suspensions o f Perception (London; Cambridge, MA: MIT Press,
20 0 0 ) .
52 David Levin, M odernity and the Hegemony o f Vision (Berkeley: University of Califor­
nia Press, 1993).
53 Marco Frascari, T h e Tell-the-Tale Detail', in Theorizing a N ew Agenda for Architec­
ture: an Anthology o f Architectural Theory 1965-1995, ed. by Kate Nesbitt (New York:
Princeton Architectural Press, 1996), pp. 500-514.

63
Drawn to scale
The im aginative inhabitation of architectural draw ings

Paul Em m ons

This sm all reflection on scale begins w ith rem em bering Jorge Luis Borges' w o n d e rfu l
tale o f a certain seve ntee nth-ce ntury Spanish treatise describing a place w h e re 'th e A rt
o f Cartography attained such P erfection' that a map of the Empire w as made:

w h ose size w as that of the Empire, and w h ich coincided point fo r point
w ith it. The fo llo w in g G enerations, w h o w e re not so fond of the Study of
C artography as the ir Forebears had been, saw that th a t vast M ap was
Useless, and not w ith o u t som e P itilessness w as it, that they delivered it
up to the Inclem encies o f Sun and W inters. In the Deserts of the W est,
still today, there are T attered Ruins o f th a t Map, inhabited by Anim als
and Beggars ..

B orges' full-sized map helps us to understand the delirious condition of scale draw ing
gone aw ry that occurs in CAD w h e re buildings are claim ed to be represented at 'fu ll
scale'. Rather than aspiring to the false exactitude o f a map enveloping its territory,
scale draw ing invites im aginative projection b e tw e e n a plan and its future building.
A fte r thousands o f years o f developing architectural draw ing in scale, it behooves our
th o u g h tfu l study, as scale is not m erely a technical issue, but a question o f the nature
o f architectural conception.
A scale draw ing is m ore than a m iniature; it has a co n siste n t specific ratio
to its o b je ct.2 The scale of an architectural draw ing consists of equal parts m easure
and proportion w h e re a unit of m ea sure m ent is chosen and a ratio established
b e tw ee n actual and apparent size.3 Eighteenth-century surveyor Samuel W yld captured
this in his definition o f scale as 'th e true and exact Figure o f the Plott, th o ' of another
B ig ne ss'.4 Scale is a stair providing the m eans fo r ascending and descending be tw ee n
the great and the sm all or in m usic be tw ee n the high and the lo w .5 'Scale' is sim u ltan­
eously an in stru m e n t fo r the hand to m ake draw ings and fo r the m ind to im agine
buildings.6 Scale draw ings have been used fo r at least several thousand years.7
From the m iddle o f the second m illennium bce, fo r exam ple, a statue of Gudea, leader
of the City State of Lagash in present-day Iraq, is seated w ith a floor plan resting on his

64
 D raw n to scale

lap. A lso carved on th e ta b le t are a sty lu s and a scale rule, s h o w in g fin e d ivisio n s of
th e fin g e r m e a su re .8 S cale's pre sen ce in a rc h ite c tu re is so e n o rm o u s th a t it is
a lm o s t im p e rce p tib le .

Representing scale

M o d e rn a rch ite ctu ra l scale d ra w in g began early in th e R enaissance w ith th e w id e ­

spread use o f paper and th e separation o f th e a rc h ite c t fro m th e c o n s tru c tio n site, so
th a t early illu stra te d a rch ite ctu ra l tre a tise s did n o t y e t co n ven tion alize re p re se n ta tio n s
o f scale.9 M ea sure s w e re still d ire c tly related to the hum an body such as th e fing er,
palm and fo o t, and e xh ib ite d sim ila r a m o u n ts o f variation. S ebastiano Serlio and Andrea
Palladio give th e full-size d im e n sio n o f th e basic m ea sure s, because as Palladio
explains, 'u n its o f m e a s u re m e n t d iffe r ju s t as citie s and regions d o ’ .10 V incenzo
S cam ozzi's tre a tise p ro vid es a table o f c o m p a ra tive fo o t m ea sure s, a n cie n t and
m od ern , fo r various lo cale s.11 C h risty A n d e rso n rep orts th a t Inigo Jon es, in his personal
copy o f Scam ozzi, added th e English fo o t at th e b o tto m o f th is table and tin y pricks
reveal th a t he used d ivide rs to scale d ra w in g s fro m th e pa g e .12 N ot on ly did th e sam e
m ea sure s d iffe r geographically, th e y even d iffe re d w ith in th e sam e locale by m aterial
to be m ea sure d. The fo o t fo r v e lv e t w a s sh o rte r than th e fo o t fo r c o tto n , re fle c tin g the
m a te ria ls' d iffe re n t va lu a tio n s .13
Early illu stra te d a rch ite ctu ra l tre a tis e s in c o n s is te n tly p ro vid e scales w ith
th e ir d ra w in g s. R ather than a scale, Palladio records prim a ry d im e n s io n s d ire c tly on
plans, bu t th e ir precise re latio nship to th e d ra w in g is u n cle a r.14 Serlio s o m e tim e s
in clud es scales w ith plans and, w h e re th e y occur, he o fte n explains h o w to use th e m ,
s u g g e stin g graphic scales w e re not y e t w id e ly un d e rsto o d :

T his plan w a s m ea sure d w ith th e a n cie n t palm . . . . I have scaled it d o w n

w ith th e u tm o s t care to th is sm all, p ro p o rtio n e d fo rm so th a t th e d ilig e n t
a rc h ite c t can w o rk o u t th e m e a s u re m e n ts o f th e e le m e n ts fairly accurately,
using th e sm all palm s . .. on th e line divide d up in to ten parts. . . . Thus,
takin g a pair o f co m p a sse s in hand so m e o f th e m e a s u re m e n ts o f th is b u ild ­
ing can be d e d u c e d .15

O ccasionally, Serlio explains th a t he does n o t pro vid e a scale because th e plan is w e ll-
p ro p o rtio n e d :16 'I shall not p u t d o w n all th e m e a s u re m e n ts o f th e St. P eters because,
being w e ll pro p o rtio n e d , fro m one part o f th e m e a s u re m e n ts th e w h o le can be
d e riv e d .'17 Serlio also in te rcha nge d m ea sure w ith scalar p ro p o rtio n w h e n w ritin g :
'A n yo n e w h o w a n te d th is g a te w a y to be larger or sm a lle r should increase or d im in ish
th e fe e t. '18 R ather than cha ng ing th e scale, th e a rc h ite c t could s im p ly use d iffe re n tly
sized fe e t.
W h e n a graphic scale is in clud ed in one o f th e early tre a tis e s , it is s h o w n as
a horizontal line w ith sm all ve rtica l s u b d ivisio n s and its m id p o in t is a lm o s t alw ays
located on th e p rim ary axial ce n te rlin e o f th e plan. Since early arch ite ctu ra l d ra w in g s

65
Paul Em m ons

w e re m ade to re p re s e n t pro ce d u re s on th e c o n s tru c tio n site, th e scale re p re se n ta tio n s

derived fro m th e kn o tte d lines o f ropes or chains th a t w e re s tre tc h e d on site to lay ou t
th e bu ild in g in fu ll size. The p ro ced ure w a s to begin by s tre tc h in g a rope along the
m ajor axis and the n su b sid ia ry m e a s u re m e n ts w e re pulled fro m th e ce n te rlin e . The
graphic scale line is d ra w n o u t on paper ju s t as th e rope lines are s tre tc h e d on site. In
p re se n t d ra ftin g c o n ve n tio n , a line o f d im e n s io n s is still called a 's trin g ' and th e sho rt
pe rp e n d icu la r m arks su b dividing th e line are s h o w n as 'a rro w s '. The co rre sp o n d in g
Renaissance m arks, h o w e ve r, have th e a rro w h e a d p o in tin g in to th e scale line. This
re p re se n ta tio n probably derived fro m site surve yin g te c h n iq u e s w h e re , at the end of
each le ng th o f chain, a p o in te d p o s t w a s driven in to the gro un d th a t had th is shape and
so w a s called an 'a r ro w '.19 An e ig h te e n th -c e n tu ry tre a tise d ire cts th a t th e a rro w s are to
be 'p ric k 'd d o w n ' into th e ground, using th e sam e te rm in o lo g y as fo r d ra w in g s .20
Scale d ra w in g spread n o rth w a rd s fro m Italy during th e s ix te e n th cen tury.
English m aps firs t e xh ib ite d c o n s is te n t scale around 15 40 .21 B ecause un its o f m ea sure
w e re so variable, it w a s im p o rta n t to a ffix th e physical scale to th e d ra w in g . By th e end
o f th e six te e n th ce n tu ry, a rch ite ctu ra l scales w e re engra ved on th e sides o f d ra w in g
to o ls, such as th e p ro p o rtio n a l co m p a ss or th e squ are .22 Bar-shaped scales on flat
plates w e re de ve lo p e d w ith m u ltip le scales on each side, including th o s e fro m various
lo cale s.23 These to o ls provide th e im age o f th e graphic bars still in c o m m o n use for
re p re se n tin g th e scale on d ra w in g s. The renaissance graphic scales be ca m e elabo­
rated th ro u g h re p re se n tin g th e d ra w in g to o ls used in scaling .24 S tre tch e d o ve r th e ends
o f th e sub divide d d im e n sio n bar w a s usually an op en co m p a ss o r divide r. N o t m ere ly
d e cora tive, it visu ally d e m o n s tra te d h o w to use th e scale because dista nce s w e re
a lw a ys taken o ff th e scale w ith divid e rs and the n tra n s fe rre d to th e d ra w in g . Edw ard

S u rv e y o rs m e a s u rin g
o n -s ite .

66
 Drawn to scale

committed in Landmeating.

The use of
com passes on a
d ra w in g scale.

W orsop, in 1582, explained: 'The know ledge, how e to apply the com passes to the
scale, is com m o dio us, fo r the re by . .. the Lord sitting in his Chayre at hom e, m ay ju stly
know e, how m any m iles his M anor is in circ u ite .'25
That the graphic scales w e re representations of too ls to be used on the
draw ings is clearly evident in a sixtee nth-ce ntury Italian map o f England w h ere the legs
o f the divider are draw n casting 'sh a d o w s' across the scale bar.26 The surprisingly
pro m ine nt size of the scale on plans such as those draw n by sixtee nth-ce ntury English
surveyor and arch itect Robert Sm ythson (15367-1614), best know n fo r W ollaton Hall
outside of N ottingham and fam iliar w ith Dutch and Italian architectural treatises, is
probably because the dividers are draw n as if in th e ir full size resting on the paper.27
The practice of using dividers to transfe r scale on to draw ings continued fo r hundreds
o f years.28
The sort of architectural scales in use th ro u g h o u t the tw e n tie th century
w ith a single scale at each edge of a straight edge w e re introduced tow a rd the end of
the nineteenth century.29 In 1889, it w as necessary to distinguish an 'ordinary' scale
from a 'p lo ttin g scale, w ith the divisions on a fiducial edge, by w h ich any length m ay
be m arked o ff on the paper w ith o u t using d ivid e rs'.30 The technique of using the scale
directly on the paper replaced dividers only at the end of the nineteenth-century. In
1898, a drafting manual cautioned: 'A distance should rarely be transferred from the
scale to the draw ing by the dividers, as such procedure dam ages the scale if not the
paper.' And by 1918, w h e n Thom as French declared: 'N e v e r take dim ensions by
setting the dividers on the scale', the practice o f scaling had foreve r changed.31 Scaling
m oved tow a rd becom ing a solely m ental act o f m easurem ent, and started to lose its
related physical action.

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Paul Emmons

Scaled literature

During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, questions o f scale g re w to pro m i­

nence w ith the d e velopm e nt and use o f the telescope and m icroscope. These devices,
in extending the ability o f the senses, made ne w w o rlds visible. This scalar fascination
w as explored in G ulliver's Travels (1726) by Jonathan S w ift and M icrom egas
(1738-1752) by Voltaire, both o f w h ich refer to telescopes and m icro scope s.32 W hen
Voltaire w as exiled to England for three years, he w as a stu d e n t of English em pirical
science and developed a friendship w ith Jonathan S w ift. Like an architect making
draw ings, these authors describe a person venturing into an im aginary w o rld of
another size.33
Both stories begin w ith bodily scale relationships. In Lilliput, G ulliver
encounters 'a hum an Creature not six Inches high' giving him the scale o f one inch to
G ulliver's fo o t.34 In his next voyage, G ulliver's scale proportionally becom es th a t of the
Lilliputians as he m ee ts a seve nty-tw o-foo t-ta ll farm er, m aking both lands the same
ratio o f 1:12, translating neatly be tw ee n im perial fe e t and inches.35 S w ift's original illus­
trations are exclusively m aps of the territories G ulliver accidentally discovered that
sho w no scale and allow s the m to alternate b e tw e e n gargantuan and tin y .36
Voltaire gives M icrom egas, a traveler from a Sirian planet, the Vitruvian
Doric proportions of a w e ll-fo rm e d man, but at enorm ous size, standing 120,000
Parisian fe e t tall, w h ich is 24,000 tim e s the size of a hum an. This proportion probably
derives from V oltaire's The E lem ents o f Sir Isaac N e w to n 's P hilosophy (1737), w herein
he calculated the height of each planet's possible inhabitants in proportion to the
p lan et's circu m fe ren ce based upon gravity.37 M icrom 6gas sees proportion everyw here,
since the residents are small, th e ir w o rld is small. During V oltaire's life tim e, there was
a spirited debate be tw ee n N ew tonians and Cartesians about the shape o f the Earth. A
French survey team w as dispatched to the A rctic Circle to m easure the length of a
m eridian to resolve the con flict. Voltaire w as w e ll aw are o f this voyage and used the
survey team to populate his story w h e n M icrom egas discovers a ship returning from
m easuring the m eridian o f the A rctic Circle.38 It seem s likely that Voltaire w as treating
the relationship be tw e e n M icro m ega s and the tiny hum ans as the proportion be tw ee n
planet and person; since the Earth's circu m fe ren ce w as considered to be about 24,000
m iles, Voltaire gives M icro m ega s' circu m fe ren ce (an o th e rw ise unusual proportion)
and in his scie ntific w ritin g s refers to the planets w ith the male pronoun 'h e '. In the
story, the relatively m inuscule hum ans ascended and surveyed the reclining M icro ­
m egas to d e term in e his height w ith exactly the sam e procedures as the y did in reality
at the North Pole. Voltaire's seven chapters of M icrom egas m atch his proportional
height as w e ll as the nu m be r o f know n planets. Both of these stories project oth er
possible w o rld s through proportional bodily presence.

68
 Drawn to scale

Micrographia

A key source fo r both S w ift and Voltaire w as M icrographia (1665), prepared by Robert
Hooke fo r the Royal Society to carefully d o cu m e n t m icroscopic and telescopic observa­
tions, 'producing new W orlds and Terra-lncognita's to our v ie w '.39 Hooke w as also Sur­
veyor for the City o f London and designed num erous buildings, including the Royal
College o f Physicians, Bedlam Hospital and m any city churches w ith his friend Sir
Christopher W ren after the great fire .40 Hooke transferred his fam iliarity w ith scale
from architectural draw ing to the m icroscope.
Hooke organized his w ritte n and draw n observations in M icrographia pro­
gressively from sim ple to com plex and m inute to gargantuan by ending the book w ith
telescopic planetary observations. Hooke began w ith the point, like a geom eter, and
then line, plane to volum e, and ascended the chain of being from m ineral to vegetable
and finally animal. O bserving firs t the point o f a pin, w h ich to the naked eye appeared
like a g e om e tric point but, under the m icroscope, as Voltaire w ro te , it 'abounds w ith
Em inences and rugged p a rts'.41 Hooke next analyzed a dot m ade by a pen, and in a
scalar reverie im agined this dot as the Earth in space. Em phasizing the im portance of
total en ga ge m e nt for observations through the m icroscope w ith 'Sincere Hand and
Faithful Eye', Hooke advises: 'begin w ith the Hands and Eyes, and proceed on through
the M em o ry, to be continued by the Reason; nor is it to stop there, but to com e about
to the Hands and Eyes again.'42 H ooke's science required joining visual understanding
w ith the dextrous know ledge of the hand.
Hooke explained his unique m ethod of de term in ing the m icro scope 's scale
o f m agnification by looking w ith one eye through the m icroscope as the oth er naked
eye exam ines a ruler, sim ultaneously engaging both scales.

M a g n ifie d pin p o in t,
ink sp ot and razor
edge.

69
Paul Em m ons

A t th e sam e tim e th a t I look upon th e O b je c t th ro u g h th e Glass w ith one

eye, I look upon o th e r O b je cts at th e sam e dista n ce w ith m y o th e r bare
eye; by w h ic h m eans I am able, by th e help o f a ruler divide d in to inches
and sm all parts, and laid on th e pe de sta l o f th e m icro sco p e , to cast, as it
w e re , th e m a g n ifie d appearance o f th e O b je c t upon th e Ruler, and th e re b y
e xa ctly to m ea sure th e D ia m e te r it appears o f th ro u g h th e Glass, w h ic h
being c o m p a re d w ith th e D ia m e te r it appears o f to th e naked eye, w ill
easily a ffo rd th e q u a n tity o f its m a g n ify in g .43

Since na ture on ly exists in full scale, im a gin atio n is req uire d to p ro je c t a change of
scale and it o ccu rs th ro u g h relation to a stable e n tity , our o w n body. As L illip u t appears
q u ite ord in ary w ith o u t G u lliver's lo o m in g pre sen ce, H ooke kee nly e m p h a sise d th a t the
hand, as m uch as th e eye, w a s ne cessa ry to u n de rsta nd scale.44

Malebranche's Cartesian dream

N icolas M ale b ra n ch e (16 3 8 -1 7 1 5 ), an e x tre m e ly d e v o u t C artesian, w a s also stim u la te d

by th e se n e w d isco ve rie s, b u t in a d iffe re n t d ire ctio n . His firs t e n th u s ia s tic reading of
D escartes 'cause d him such v io le n t p a lp ita tio n s o f th e he art th a t he w a s fo rce d to
in te rru p t his reading in o rd e r to b re a th e '. Sadly, he did no t realize th a t th is dra m atic
d e m o n s tra tio n o f th e in te rc o n n e c tio n b e tw e e n m ind and body already de nied his n e w ­
fo u n d C a rte sia n ism .45 M aleb ra nch e argued fo r th e re la tivity o f p e rce p tio n by p e rfo rm ­
ing a th o u g h t e x p e rim e n t o f an in fin ite ly sm all cre a tu re on an in fin ite ly sm all ball
com p are d w ith an in fin ite ly large crea tu re on an in fin ite ly large ball, w h ic h , w ith o u t a
c o n sta n t bo dily presence, appeared id e n tica l.46 C ontra H ooke, M ale b ra n ch e seve rs the
body to crea te a d ise m b o d ie d s c ie n tific eye;

Since it is no t certain th a t th e re are tw o m en w h o v ie w the sam e o b je c t as

having th e sam e size, and since s o m e tim e s even th e sam e m an sees
th in g s larger w ith his le ft eye than w ith th e rig h t . .. , it is clear th a t w e m u st
n o t rely on th e te s tim o n y o f our eyes to m ake ju d g m e n ts a b o u t size. It
w o u ld be b e tte r to liste n to reason .. ,47

Like V oltaire and S w ift, M aleb ra nch e c o n clu d e s th e re is no such th in g as tru e e xte n t,
o n ly relative size p ro p o rtio n a l to o u rselves. H o w e ve r, M a le b ra n ch e 's so lu tio n is to dis­
tru s t th e sen ses and rely on th e m in d 's p re su m e d d ire ct access to ideas. The m aterial
w o rld , 'th e m ain cause o f all our errors and m is e rie s ', he co n tra s ts w ith th e m ind,
w h ic h 'th ro u g h God rece ive s its life, its light, and its e n tire fe lic ity '.

Cartesian computing

CAD applies th is C artesian approach to scale in a rch ite ctu ra l d ra w in g s by fo rg o in g th e

senses to assu m e scale is so le ly in th e m in d. Data is recorded a t 1:1 or fu ll scale, b u t

70
 D raw n to scale

on ly as an a b stra ctio n . The size o f th e scree n im age in d e fin ite ly varies as th e op era to r
zoo m s in or o u t to c o n sid e r various a sp ects, cre a tin g th e in ab ility to pu t th e im age in to
a pe rceivable relation to th e o p e ra to r's body. CAD on ly req uire s scale w h e n p rin tin g in
paper space. As D e scartes tra n s fo rm e d g e o m e tric a l c o n s tru c tio n s in to m a th e m a tica l
fo rm u la s, th e CAD scale fa c to r is a m u ltip lie r th a t c o n ve rts th e full-size m e a s u re m e n t
in to a scale fo r th e p lo t.48 This re la tio n sh ip is m e re ly nu m erica l and m u s t be kn o w n to
th e m in d since it is no t in tu itive . This odd relation to scale is revealed by th e n e ce ssity
to p u t te x t in to scale rathe r than th e d ra w in g so th a t th e le tte rin g is p rin te d in an a p pro­
priate size. O nly in paper space does th e CAD re p re se n ta tio n take on a s y n o p tic scale
in relation to th e o b serve r. It is at th is m o m e n t th a t co m p u te r-g e n e ra te d d ra w in g s m ay
reveal th e ir scalar lim ita tio n s and fail to a llo w th e im a gin atio n to fo cu s on particular
s e ts o f issues.
C A D 's m y th o f th e exa ctn e ss o f full-scale d ra w in g is in fa c t th e absence o f
scale. This absence m ake s it m ore likely th a t th e d e sig n e r looks at th e im age as an
o b je ct rathe r than p ro je ctin g o n e s e lf in to the im age th ro u g h an im a g in a tive inha bita­
tio n . Scaled s ig h t is n o t an a b stra ctio n ; it is achieved th ro u g h ju d g in g the size o f thin gs
in relation to ou rselves. W ith CAD, w e do n o t op era te at any particular scale because
th e im age is seve red fro m o u r (bodily) fra m e o f refere nce . In m o vin g fro m scaled d ra w ­
ings to CAD, 'm a n th e m e a su re ' is replaced w ith 'm a n th e m e a su re r'.

The scalar imagination

Since the m aking o f a rch ite ctu ra l d ra w in g s is a sou rce fo r th e im a gin atio n rather than a
reco rdin g o f prior ideas, scale a ssists in th is e ffo rt. As d ra ftin g ha nd bo oks re c o m m e n d ,
one m u s t learn to th in k w ith in a scale ra th e r than tra n sla te fro m actual m e a su re .49 This
valuable approach m islead s so m e to be lie ve th a t fu ll scale is m o s t desirable. Yet, the
fic tio n o f scale aids th e a rc h ite c t in c o m p o sin g a sto ry by p ro vid ing a s yn o p tic v ie w th a t
c o n s is te n tly asks fo r particular so rts o f in fo rm a tio n . W h ile C artesian approaches
a ssu m e th a t scale is m e re ly n u m e rica l d im e n sio n s know n to the m ind, early
exp la natio ns o f scale s h o w th a t e m p a th e tic bodily p ro je ctio n is critica l to im a gin in g a
fu tu re edifice.
The virtu o u s Renaissance a rc h ite c t and a u th o r Filarete explains h o w the
a rc h ite c t im a g in a tive ly be gins to in ha bit a scale d ra w in g by su b d ivid in g a square in to
tin y squares th a t each re p re s e n t ten braccia, a tra d itio n a l m e a su re fro m th e e lb o w to
th e fin g e rtip th a t is close to tw o fe e t in le ng th . F ila rete's early graphic scale w a s a p ro ­
p o rtion al fie ld like a tile flo o r ra th e r than a line. He goes on to explain:

If you w a n t to u n de rsta nd th is d im in u tio n clearly, take th e se co m p asse s

and divide one o f th e se parts in to ten. Then w ith th e co m p a sse s, e re ct a
pe rp e n d icu la r line th a t is th re e tim e s as long as one o f th e se parts. . ..
(M ]ake a hum an fig u re o f th e sam e size. Then co n sid e r it to be as large as
th is. Then you w o u ld un de rsta nd th e d im in u tio n o f th e braccia and o f eve ry
o th e r m e a su re .50

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Paul Em m ons

F ila re te 's hum an is d ra w n n e ith e r as a scale fig u re nor a m ea surin g stick, instead as a
veh icle to im agine m ea sure th ro u g h p ro je ctin g o n e s e lf in to th e d ra w in g . As th is im a g­
ined m in ia tu re s e lf inhabits a d ra w in g , tra d itio n a l re p re se n ta tio n s o f th e hum an soul
p ictu re a tin y s e lf th a t o fte n stan ds on th e p e rs o n 's sh o u ld e r or in th e ha nd .51 W ith
m ea sure s de rivin g fro m th e hum an body, th e tin y body o f th e a rc h ite c t is th e m ea sure
and th e con scie nce o f th e p ro je ct. Filarete c o n tin u e s:

by p re te n d in g th a t m an is sm all, all th e m ea sure s d ra w n fro m him are

sm all. . . . Even th o u g h this d ra w in g se e m s sm all in appearance to us w h o
are large, if m en w e re as sm all as it is, it w o u ld seem as large to th e m as it
w ill to us w h e n it is all w a lle d up and c o m p le te d .

Filarete d re w his explanation fro m A lb e rti's m ore philosophical discussion in On P ainting:

[l]f th e sky, th e stars, th e seas, th e m o u n ta in s and all living creatures,

to g e th e r w ith all o th e r o b je cts, w e re , th e gods w illin g , red uce d to half th e ir
size, e ve ryth in g th a t w e see w o u ld in no re sp e ct appear to be d im in ish e d
fro m w h a t it is no w . . .. all th e se are such as to be k n o w n on ly by c o m p a ri­
son. C o m pa rison is m ade w ith th in g s m o s t im m e d ia te ly kn o w n . A s man is
b e s t k n o w n o f all th in g s to m an, perhaps Protagoras, in saying th a t man is
th e scale and th e m ea sure o f all th in g s, m e a n t th a t a ccid e n ts in all thin gs
are du ly c o m p a re d to and k n o w n by th e a ccid e n ts in m an .52

V olta ire chide s M ale b ra n ch e in M icro m e g a s, and e x p licitly in his book on N e w to n 's
P hilosophy, w h e re he w rite s : 'F a th e r M a lleb ran che , w h o s e G enius w a s m o re sub tle
than tru e , and w h o a lw a ys co n su lte d his M e d ita tio n s , b u t n o t a lw a ys N ature, adop te d
th e E le m e n ts o f D escarts (sic) w ith o u t P roo f'. V oltaire, ag ainst M aleb ra nch e, argues
th a t o u r sen ses do no t d e ceive us, bu t th e y m u s t a ssist each o th e r m u tu a lly, as
H o o k e 's m e th o d o lo g y o f hand and eye d e m o n s tra te d . For exa m ple, the idea of
dista nce is k n o w n on ly th ro u g h co m b in in g to u ch w ith v is io n .53 The m aking o f a rch ite c­
tural d ra w in g s m u s t engage th e e n tire body into th e physical act o f im a gin atio n to
u n de rsta nd scale.

Imaginative inhabitation of drawing

The sy n o p tic scalar v ie w in vites im a g in a tive in ha bitatio n o f th e d ra w in g . W h e n no clear

relation e xists b e tw e e n body and d ra w in g , th is in ha bitatio n is at b e st partial and s h ift­
ing. Perhaps th is relation o f th e d e s ig n e r in th e d ra w in g , like H o o ke 's tw o eyes fo c u s ­
ing sim u lta n e o u s ly at fu ll and scaled relatio ns, explains w h y divid e rs w e re used fo r
c e n tu rie s to scale plans. The co m p a ss b e c o m e s th e a rc h ite c t w a lkin g across the
d ra w in g .54 As th e d ra fts m a n 's language sh o w s : th e 'fo o t' o f th e co m p a ss grips the
paper, and the tw o 'leg s step o ff pa ces' to m ea sure a d ista n ce .55 John Soane, w h o
k e p t a tin y s e t o f d ra w in g in s tru m e n ts including a co m p a ss and an ivory scale hidden
inside th e top o f his w a lk in g stick, m ade a d ire c t c o n n e ctio n b e tw e e n th e a rc h ite c t's

72
 Drawn to scale

Procedure for
w a lk in g th e com pass
legs in scale across a
d ra w in g .

bodily m easures and draw ing m easures.56 The shaft o f the cane holds tw o rules that
can be joined to m easure sixty inches, w h ich is a fathom or tw o paces. W alking the
com pass to m easure a draw ing w as analogous fo r Soane to peram bulating London
w ith his cane. Sim ilarly, w h en G ulliver w as in a land o f giants, like the a rch ite ct's scalar
im agination, he w alked across a map, explaining that: 'I [m easured the city) m yself on
the Royal Map, w h ich w as laid on the Ground fo r me, and extended an hundred Feet; I
paced the circu m fe ren ce Bare-foot, and com p utin g by the Scale, m easured it pre tty
e xa ctly.'57 This ability to project a tin y self into draw ings allow s architects to im agine
inhabiting the building that the draw ings rep rese nt.58 Am erican arch itect Claude
Bragdon invented the character Sinbad fo r his 1924 treatise, w h o clim bs out of
B ragdon's ink bo ttle to represent his ow n im agination (or soul?) and is then seen per­
am bulating th ro u g h o u t Bragdon's architectural d ra w in gs.59 Borges' criticism of full
scale as the m yth of exactness reveals its ultim ate uselessness.60 Rather than scaled
draw ing lim iting accuracy as the Cartesian approach assum es, scale m akes the co m ­
prehension o f draw n w o rld s possible. A draw ing is scaled fo r its destination tow a rd a
fittin g understanding.61 A rchite ctural draw ing assum es a plurality of w o rld s to describe
an en viro nm en t inferior to our size so that w e m ay com prehend a possible fu tu re place
w h ich is superior.

Notes

1 Jorge Luis Borges, On Exactitude in Science (Del rigor en la ciencia), in Collected

Fictions, trans. by Andrew Hurley, New York, 1998, p. 325.
2 This is made clear by the French phrase for scale: Echelle de proportion.
3 Cecil D. Elliott, 'The Variety of Scale', Journal o f Architectural Education, (1963)
pp. 35-37. Of the four kinds of scale Elliott identifies - Graphic, Personal, Building
and Conceptual - this chapter intends to address all four simultaneously.
4 Samuel W yld, The Practical Surveyor, o r Land-Measuring Made Easy, London, 1725,
p. 111.
5 Dorit Tanay, Noting Music, Marking Culture: the Intellectual Context o f Rhythmic
Notation, 1250-1400, Holzgerlingen, 1999.
6 Raymond Nicyper, Scale Drawing: Graphics Underlay Guides, W estport, 1973.
7 Both the ancient Egyptians and the Greeks probably had scale rules. The drawings

73
Paul Em m ons

inscribed in the wall of the Tem ple o f Apollo at Didyma identified by Lothar Hassel-
berger sho w a colum n draw ing w ith the w id th at full scale w h ile the height is at one-
sixteenth scale (the num ber o f fingers in a foot). Roman bronze fixed-proportional
com passes have been uncovered from the beginning of the Christian era. H.W. Dick­
inson, 'A Brief History of D raughtsm en's Instrum ents', Transactions o f the N e w ­
com en Society, 27 (1949-1951) pp. 73-83, 73. A fixed-proportion bronze Roman
com pass at the British M useum is pictured in O .A.W . Dilke, M athem atics and M ea­
surem ent, London, 1987, frontispiece. Gordon Higgott, 'Book Review, Maya Hambly,
D raw ing Instrum ents 1580-1980', Journal o f the S ociety o f A rchite ctural Historians,
49, 1 (March 1990) pp. 111-112.
8 Flem m ing Johansen, Statues o f Gudea A n cie n t and M od ern, M esopotam ia Volume 6,
Copenhagen, 1978, p. 10.
9 Maya Hambly, D raw ing Instrum ents 1580-1980, London, 1988, p. 115.
10 Andrea Palladio, Four Books on A rchitecture, trans. by Robert Tavernor and Richard
Schofield, Cambridge, 1997, 1.13, p. 19.
11 Vincenzo Scamozzi, L'idea della architettura universale, Venice, 1615, Parte Prima,
p. 73.
12 Christy Anderson, Inigo Jones and the Classical Tradition, Cambridge, 2007, p. 98.
13 In every country there are diffe re nt m easures according to the place and
things measured. As the thing is more precious, so the measure is larger or
sm aller even w ith a measure of the same name and properties, as, for
instance, the braccio. The braccio for measuring w ood is longer than that for
w ool. The braccio for w ool is longer than that for velvet. . .. The braccio is
longer in Rome than in any other place. ... Perhaps this is because the braccio
took its origins from large men. Since Rome w as still the largest city, perhaps
the y w ished to accord [w ith this greatness].
(Filarete, Treatise on Architecture, trans. by John Spencer, N e w Haven, 1965,
I. 4r, p. 9)

For the renaissance measures, see: W illiam Parsons, Engineers and Engineering
in the Renaissance, Cambridge, 1967, Appendix B, 'M easures of Length',
pp. 625-635.
14 Palladio show s scales in tw e n ty -tw o o f the drawings in his treatise:

For ease o f com prehension and to avoid the tim e and tedium w hich w ould be
inflicted on the reader w e re I to describe the dim ensions of every part in
m inute detail, I have indicated all the dim ensions in the designs w ith numbers.
(Palladio, Four Books on A rchitecture, IV. 6, p. 221)

15 Sebastiano Serlio, Sebastiano Serlio on A rchitecture, Volume One, Books I-V o f Tutte
L'O pere D ‘A rchite ttu ra e t Prospetiva, trans. by Vaughan Hart and Peter Hicks, N ew
Haven, 1996, Bk. Ill, p. 187.
16 'I w ill not discuss [the villa plan's) m easurem ents because since it is in propor­
tion, the experienced architect w ill be able to plan the size o f one place accord­
ing to the w ishes o f his patron, and having made it so many fe e t - or other
measure - all the other parts o f the building can be deduced.
(Serlio, On A rchitecture, Bk. Ill, p. 242)

17 Serlio, On A rchitecture, Bk. Ill, p. 127.

18 Sebastiano Serlio, Sebastiano Serlio on A rchitecture, Volume Two, Books VI and VII
o f Tutte L'O pere D ‘A rchitettura e t Prospetiva, trans. by Vaughan Hart and Peter
Hicks, N ew Haven, 2001, Extraordinary Book, p. 462.
19 Leonard Digges, A G eom etrical Practical Treatize nam ed Pantomentria, divided into
three books: Longimetra, Planimetra and Stereom etria, London, 1591.

74
 Drawn to scale

20 Samuel W yld, The Practical Surveyor or, the A rt o f Land-Measuring Made Easy,
London, 1725, w ith notes by David Manthey, Arlington, Virginia, 2001, pp. 6, 199.
21 P.D.A. Harvey, Maps in Tudor England, London, 1993, p. 8.
22 H.W. Dickinson, 'A Brief History of Draughtsmen's Instruments', Transactions o f the
Newcom en Society, 27 (1949-1951) pp. 73-83, 81. Maya Hambly, Drawing Instru­
m ents 1580-1980, London, 1988, p. 115.
23 John Robertson, A Treatise o f such M athem atical Instrum ents as are usually pu t into
a portable case, facsimile of the third edition, Arlington, Virginia, 2002 11775].
24 'In one of the corners at the bottom, make a Scale equal to that by which the Plott
was laid down, adorning it w ith Compasses, Squares, Ovals & c.' (Wyld, Practical
Surveyor, p. 113).
25 Edward Worsop, A Discoverie o f Sundrie errours and faults daily com m itted by Lan-
demeaters, ignorant o f Arithm etike and Geometrie w ritten Dialoguewise, London,
1582, n.p. W orsop's student in this dialogue proclaims that: 'I have seene the like
lines, and compasses set in mappes, but I never understood what they meant till
nowe. ... The opening and extending of the compasses upon the scale [is] the appli­
cation of the compasses to the scale.'
26 Anonymous, Map of the British Isles, c.1534-1546, British Library, Cotton MS.
Augustus 1.i.9, reproduced in P.D.A. Harvey, Maps in Tudor England, London, 1993.
27 Mark Girouard, Robert Smythson and the Elizabethan Country House, New Haven, 1983.
28 W .M . Minifie, Architect, A Text Book o f Geometrical Drawing for the use o f Mechan­
ics and Schools, Baltimore, 1849, p. 28.
29 H.W. Dickinson, 'A Brief History of Draughtsmen's Instruments', Transactions o f the
Newcom en Society, 27 (1949-1951) pp. 73-83, 81.
30 The scale should be w ritten on every drawing, or the scale itself should be
drawn on the margin. ... the paper itself contracts or expands w ith every
atmospheric change, and the measurements will therefore not agree at all
tim es w ith a detached scale; and, moreover, a drawing laid down from such a
detached scale, of w ood or ivory, w ill not be uniform throughout, for on a
damp day the measurements will be too short, and on a dry day too long. Mr.
Holtzapffel has sought to remedy this inconvenience by the introduction of
paper scales; but all kinds of paper do not contract and expand equally, and the
error is therefore only partially corrected by his ingenious substitution of one
material for another.
(W.E. W orthen, editor, Appleton's Cyclopedia o f Technical Drawing, embracing
the Principles o f Construction as applied to Practical Design, New York,
1889, p. 49)

31 Thomas E. French, A Manual o f Engineering Drawing, New York, 1918, p. 37 (empha­

sis in original) and see pp. 21-22. Frederick Newton Willson, Theoretical and Practical
Graphics, an Educational Course on the Theory and Practical Applications o f Descrip­
tive Geometry and Mechanical Drawing, New York, 1898, pp. 16-17.
32 Microm6gas uses a diamond microscope to see the diminutive human that he calls,
like bacteria, 'a little animalcule in academic dress'. Gulliver was studied by the giants
w ith a 'Magnifying-Glass' (Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's Travels, Complete, Authoritative
Text with Biographical and Historical Contexts, Critical History and Essays from Five
Contemporary Critical Perspectives, edited by Christopher Fox, Case Studies in
Contemporary Criticism. New York, 1995, pp. 108, 111).
33 Libeskind knowingly borrowed the title Micromegas for a series of his architectural
drawings. Daniel Libeskind, Micromegas, Symbol and Interpretation. Cranbrook
Academ y o f Art, Zurich, 1981.
34 Swift, Gulliver's Travels, p. 42. Vaughan Hart, 'Review, Gulliver's Travels, Jonathan
Swift: Case Studies in Contemporary Criticism', Utopian Studies, 22 March 1998.

75
Paul Emmons

35 Sw ift uses architectural elements to provide an understanding of human scale in

describing Gulliver as unable to ascend a stair w ith risers that are six-feet tall (Swift,
Gulliver's Travels, p. 93).
36 The Hunting o f the Snark, on the other hand, did have a map that showed only ocean
(i.e. was blank) and included a scale, but one that was w ithout any numerals (Lewis
Carroll, The Hunting o f the Snark, London, 1974).
37 Voltaire gives the Earth’s circumference as 126,249,600 Paris feet, which are 0.78"
longer than English and explains that 'from that alone may be derived the whole
system of attraction' (Voltaire, Letters Concerning the English Language, Oxford,
1999 [1733], p. 69).
38 'M . Picart's clarification of the meridian corrected earlier efforts by showing there are
seventy English miles to one degree of latitude' which was described by Voltaire as
'sublime verity w ith the aid of a quadrant and a little arithm etic' (Voltaire, Letters,
p. 69).
39 Robert Hooke, Micrographia, or Some Physiological Descriptions o f M inute Bodies
made by M agnifying Glasses with Observations and Inquiries thereupon, London,
1655.
40 Lisa Jardine, The Curious Life o f Robert Hooke, The Man Who M easured London,
New York, 2003. One of Hooke's innovations was the double-hung w indow . Stephen
Inwood, The Forgotten Genius: the Biography o f Robert Hooke 1635-1703, New
York, 2003.
41 Voltaire, The Elements o f Sir Isaac N ew ton's Philosophy, trans. by John Hanna,
London, 1738, p. 23.
42 Hooke believed a researcher needed constant and fruitful interaction between Bacon­
ian fact and Cartesian theory. Stephen Inwood, Forgotten Genius, p. 60.
43 Robert Hooke, Micrographia, or Some Physiological Descriptions o f M inute Bodies
made by M agnifying Glasses with Observations and Inquiries thereupon, London,
1655.
44 A fter returning to his own kind from the land of the giants, Gulliver found that ordi­
nary-sized men appeared to him as 'Pigm ies' (Swift, Gulliver's Travels, p. 142).
45 André Robinet, Système et existence dans l'oeuvre de Malebranche, Paris, 1965, p.
12, cited in Nicolas Malebranche, The Search after Truth, Wherein are treated the
Nature o f M an's M ind and the Use He M ust M ake o f It to Avoid Error in the
Sciences, trans. by Thomas Lennon and Paul Olscamp, Cambridge, 1997
[1674-1675], p. viii.
46 To understand better w hat w e should judge concerning the extension of
bodies on the basis of the testim ony of our eyes, let us imagine that from a
quantity of m atter the volume of a ball God has made a miniature earth and
sky, and men upon this earth having the same proportions observed in the
larger world. These tiny men would see one another, the parts of their bodies,
and even the little animals that might bother them, for otherwise their eyes
would be useless for their preservation. It is obvious on this supposition, then,
that these tiny men would have ideas of the size of objects quite different
from ours, since they would regard their world, which is but a ball to us. as
having infinite space, more or less as w e judge the world w e are in.
Or, if it is easier to conceive, suppose that God created an earth infi­
nitely more vast than the one we inhabit, such that this other earth would
stand to ours as ours stood to the one w e were just speaking about in the pre­
ceding supposition. [Assuming god preserved the same proportions]. ... It is
ridiculous to suppose that they see things as having the same size as we see
them.
(Malebranche, Search A fte r Truth, pp. 29-30)

76
 Drawn to scale

47 Nicolas Malebranche, Search A fte r Truth, p.28.

48 Jenk Bos, Redefining Geometrical Exactness: Descartes' Transformation o f the Early
M odern Concept o f Construction, New York, 2001.
49 For example, if you use a scale of 1" = 10' and the actual measurement on the
drawing happens to be 3?", you do not say that the particular line is three and
one-half inches; rather, read the measurement as 35 feet.
(John Traister, Blueprint Reading for the Building Trades Carlsbad, California,
1985, p. 119)

50 Filarete, Treatise on Architecture, p. 81.

51 Rosalie Osmond, Imagining the Soul: a History, Stroud, 2003.
52 Leon Battista Alberti, On Painting, trans. by Cecil Grayson, London, 1991, p. 53, Bk.
1 ,1 8 . According to Rykwert et al., Alberti probably knew Protagoras from Diogenes
Laertius, De vitis philosophorum, IX, 51. Of Protagoras' surviving fragments, the most
famous is the homo-mensura (man-measure) statem ent (DK80b1): 'O f all things the
measure is man, of the things that are, that [or "h o w ''] they are, and of things that
are not, that [or "h o w "] they are not.'
53 Similarly, Swift, a friend of Bishop Berkeley, emphasizes that 'nothing is great or little
otherwise than by Comparison'.
54 Marco Frascari, 'The Compass and the Crafty Art of Architecture', M odulus (1993) pp.
1-14. L.R. Shelby, 'Medieval Masons' Tools II. Compass and Square', Technology
and Culture, 6, 2 (Spring 1965) pp. 236-248. The Greek mythical inventor of the
compass is Perdix, nephew of Daedalus (Diodorus Siculus, IV.76; III. 58).
55 W .M . Minifie, A Text Book o f Geometrical Drawing for the Use o f Mechanics and
Schools, Baltimore, 1849, p. 28. Frederick W illson, Theoretical and Practical Graphics,
an Educational Course on the Theory and Practical Applications o f Descriptive Geom­
etry and Mechanical Drawing, New York, 1898, p. 12. Thomas E. French, A Manual o f
Engineering Drawing, New York, 1918, pp. 22-23. Greek words for compass include
diabetes meaning walking or stepping across.
56 I wish to express appreciation to the Soane M useum for allowing me to examine the
walking stick. Soane purchased it believing that it belonged to Sir Christopher Wren,
but it was actually made much more recently. Review: Maya Hambly, 'Drawing
Instrum ents', Journal o f the Society o f Architectural Historians, Vol. 49, No. 1, Gordon
Higgot (March 1993) pp. 111-112.
57 Swift, Gulliver's Travels, p. 115.
58 Marco Frascari, 'The Body and Architecture in the Drawings of Carlo Scarpa', RES 14
(Autumn 1987) pp. 123-142.
59 Claude Bragdon, Frozen Fountain, Being Essays on Architecture and the A rt o f
Design in Space, New York. 1924.
60 This idea also appears repeatedly in the famous logician, Charles Dodgson's writings:

And then comes the grandest idea of all! W e made a map of the country, on
the scale of a mile to the mile! Have you used it much? I enquired. It has never
been spread out yet, said Mein Heer, The farmers objected: they said it would
cover the whole country and shut out the sunlight! So w e now use the country
itself, as its ow n map, and I assure you it does nearly as well.
(Lewis Carroll, Sylvie and Bruno Concluded, New York, 1893)

61 At the tim e that scaling was changing from walking the compass to merely measur­
ing from a rule, Neutra recalled:

In the year 1900, Adolf Loos started a revolt against the practice of indicating
dimensions in figures or measured drawings. He felt, as he often told me, that
such a procedure dehumanizes design. 'If I w ant a wood paneling or wainscot

77
Paul Em m ons

to be of a certain height, I stand there, hold m y hand at that certain height, and
the carpenter makes his pencil mark. Then I step back and look at it from one
point and from another, visualising the finished result w ith all m y powers. This
is the only human w a y to decide on the height of a w ainscot, or the w id th of a
w in d o w .' Loos was inclined to use a m inim um of paper plans; he carried in his
head all the details of even his m ost com plex designs, and prided him self on
being an architect w ith o u t a pencil.
(Richard Neutra, Survival Through Design, N ew York, 1954, p. 300)

78
The cultural context of
design and the corporeal
dynamism of drawing as
the foundations for the
imagination of
construction
Q iZ h u

Introduction

As in stru m e n ts that reveal the im agination of construction, the a rch ite ct's draw ings are
intricately grounded on tw o critical underpinnings: the cultural co n te xt o f design and
the corporeal act o f draw ing. This idea is explored by contrasting the role of im ages as
tools and the nature o f m im e tic im ages. Plato criticizes the utility o f m im e tic im ages as
contrary to reasoning. H ow ever, he endorses im ages as devices to m ediate be tw ee n
experience and intellect. In the m edieval icon paintings of Christ, portrayed to attract
the onlooker to en ter the divine realm through im agination, im ages are em ployed as
in stru m en ts stirring the onlooker's im agination. In Chinese culture, sim ilar kinds of fig ­
urative im ages are illustrated as m etho ds to raise im agination, suggesting a m eaning
beyond that represented. The tw e lfth -c e n tu ry Chinese architectural draw ings are con­
textua lly analyzed w ith tw e lfth -c e n tu ry Chinese architectural paintings to elaborate on
ho w the im agination o f con stru ction is revealed through draw ings and th e ir details.
Q uite often, details such as m ortise and tenon joints that are neglected in the paintings
are m eticu lo usly arranged in the draw ings to induce the observer's im agination of the
con stru ction technique.
The tw o critical underpinnings associated w ith architectural draw ings - the
cultural con text of design and the corporeal dynam ism o f draw ing - are exam ined by
com paring tw o Chinese reconstructions o f A gostino Ram elli's drawing, C rankshaft W ell
W indlass (1588), w ith the Ramelli original. This study concludes that the exhibited archi­
tectural draw ings - displayed as final outcom es and static visual objects - are rem oved
from the foundations on w hich the original im agination of construction w as form ed.
They tend to be regarded as m im e tic im ages rather than as instrum ents o f the im agina­
tion of construction. How ever, w hen the critical observer m akes the e ffo rt to redraw

79
Qi Zhu

th e e xh ib ited d ra w in g s and re co n n e ct w ith th e cultural c o n te x t o f design and corporeal

act o f d ra w in g , the d ra w in g s b e com e vastly richer fo r im aginative exploration.
T here are tw o approaches to d ra w in g an im a gin ed m oon. The firs t d ire ctly
s k e tc h e s a m im e tic im a ge - a circle or c re s c e n t to im ita te its visual co n to u rs. The
seco nd ren de rs c lu ste rs o f clo ud s leaving a round or c re s c e n t un-dra w n area a m id s t
th e clo ud s to evoke th e im a gin ed fo rm .1 The c o n te x t and th e action o f d ra w in g th e
'c lo u d s ' crea te th e ru d im e n ta ry e n v iro n m e n t fo r th e final realization o f th e m oo n. The
role o f a rch ite ctu ra l d ra w in g s is analogous to the la tte r approach w h ic h reveals im a gi­
nation in stag es rathe r than as a d ire c t o u tlin e . A rc h ite c tu ra l d ra w in g s are de vice s for
th e a rc h ite c ts to co m p o se th e 'c lo u d s ', step -b y-step, e v e n tu a lly leading to the visu ali­
zation o f th e im a gin ed c o n s tru c tio n . This fu n c tio n o f arch ite ctu ra l d ra w in g s is e lu ci­
dated by Stan Allan as 'th e d ra w in g as a rtifa c t is u n im p o rta n t, it is rathe r a s e t of
in s tru c tio n s fo r realizing a n o th e r a rtifa c t'.2 G iven th e p re scrib e d re latio nship b e tw e e n
a rch ite ctu ra l d ra w in g s and th e im a g in a tio n o f c o n s tru c tio n , th e tw o critica l u n d e rp in ­
nings asso cia te d w ith d ra w in g s - th e cultu ral c o n te x t o f design and th e corporeal
d yn a m ism o f d ra w in g - be co m e pa ra m o u n t in th e pro cess to w a rd im a gin atio n and
con cep tu alizatio n o f a de sig n in absentia.
A re c e n t p h e n o m e n o n is th e g ro w in g e n th u sia sm fo r e x h ib itin g or p re se rv­
ing a rch ite ctu ra l d ra w in g s as valuable a rte fa cts. D isplayed as im ita b le im a ge s and the
end re su lts o f a process, a rch ite ctu ra l d ra w in g s b e co m e de tache d fro m th e original
flo w o f th e ir cultu ral c o n te x ts and th e ir corporeal crea tion . B esides th e loss o f th e ir
u tility as in s tru m e n ts , th e y tra n s fo rm in to co n te x tu a lly in d is tin c t and sta tic sna psh ots.
J u s t as th e im a gin atio n o f th e m oo n b e co m e s o b scu re d w h e n th e s u p p o rtin g clouds
are erased, th e im a gin atio n o f c o n s tru c tio n b e co m e s in visib le w h e n the displayed
a rch ite ctu ra l d ra w in g s disen gag e fro m th e ir design c o n te x ts and th e d yn a m ic act of
d ra w in g th e m . T hey alone ca n n o t re co lle ct the e m b e d d e d c o n s tru c tiv e im a gin atio n.
Instead, th e act o f re d ra w in g in itia te s a jo u rn e y in to th e original design im a gin atio n. It
co n clu d e s by pro p o sin g to re -e n te r th e c o n s tru c tiv e im a gin atio n o f th e e xh ib ite d
d ra w in g s th ro u g h re d ra w in g .

M im etic images versus images as tools - and their

relationship w ith imagination

A cco rd in g to Plato, sig n ific a n t d iffe re n c e s e x is t b e tw e e n m im e tic im ages th a t d u p li­

cate na ture and im ages used as to o ls fo r reasoning. M im e tic im ages are reproached
because th e y have no su b sta n ce e x c e p t to pro du ce im ita tiv e cop ie s fro m a copy. In
Book X o f The R epublic, Plato builds his a rg u m e n t w ith th e exa m ple o f th re e ab stra c­
tio n s o f a bed. The firs t re p re se n ts th e e sse nce or ideal fo rm o f th e bed, w h ic h is
c rea te d by God as a re su lt o f reasoning. The second is a physical copy o f G od 's bed
fa b rica te d by th e carp en te r. The th ird is a visual im age o f th e c a rp e n te r's bed d ra w n by
th e p a in te r.3 The last o f th e th re e is th e m o s t in fe rio r since it is fa rth e s t re m o ve d fro m
th e tru e o b je ct and hence req uire s little e ffo rt o f reasoning. For Plato th e act of

80
 The cultural co ntext of design

im a gin atio n is s y n o n y m o u s w ith th e act o f m aking m im e tic im a ge s, th e nature of

w h ic h is im ita tiv e and devoid o f d ire c t c o n ta c t w ith th e esse n ce o f th in g s or tru th .
H o w e ve r, Plato realizes a gre a t paradox in his criticism o f im ages or im a g i­
nation: he re so rts to crea ting m im e tic im ages or im a gin atio n o f beds in rea de rs' m inds
to prove his reasoning. To ju s tify his c o n tra d ictio n , Plato d istin g u ish e s 'th e le g itim a te
fu n c tio n o f im a g e s', as th a t in w h ic h th e y are 'n e v e r tre a te d . . . as ends in th e m s e lv e s .
They serve rathe r as in s tru m e n ts fo r m e d ia tin g b e tw e e n se n sib le exp e rie n ce s and
rational in te llig e n c e '.4 The pra ctice o f using im ages as de vice s e xte n d s in to m edieval
tim e s w h e n im ages and th e aroused im a gin atio n did n o t a lw a ys serve as the vehicle
fo r reasoning - ra th e r th e y w e re used to open up a w o rld o f sp iritu a lity. The typical
m ed ie val icons o f C h rist w e re c u s to m a rily p a in te d to reveal th e im a gin atio n o f divinity,
d e -em p hasizin g any visual rese m bla nce . W h e n clo se ly e xa m in ing th e eyes o f C hrist,
th e y are n o t po rtra yed as staring o u t w ith fe e lin g s o r im m e n s e p o w e r, bu t as e xp re s ­
sio nle ss. The e m p tin e s s o f th e eyes and th e e m o tio n le s s facial e xp ression en courage
th e o n lo o ke r to gra vitate to w a rd th e divine realm th ro u g h the im a gin atio n. The icon
brings th e v ie w e r fro m th e re p re se n ta tio n a l in to the im a g in e d .5
Sim ilar co n te m p la tio n around th e use o f im ages as too ls fo r attaining c o m ­
prehension beyond the rep re se n te d is de e p ly roo te d in C hinese cultu re. An im age th a t
c o n tra sts w ith th e C hrist icon s h o w n b e lo w is th e e ig h th -ce n tu ry dra w in g o f th e leg­
endary scholar, Fusheng, by W ang W e i in Fu Sheng S hou Jin g Tu (FSSJT).6 A ccording
to th e con ven tion al explanation, FSSJT de scrib es th e sto ry o f Fusheng w h o m em o rized
th e classics b u rn t by th e Chinese firs t em p ero r, and ta u g h t th e se m e m o rize d w o rk s to
th e later Han rulers. The scholar sits n e xt to a sm all table w h e re th e scho la r's ink-stone
and ink-tainted brush are placed. O ne hand holds a blank scroll, w h ile his o th e r hand
points to it. Both hands exte n d o u t to the edge o f the table, ready to pass on th e lost
kn o w le d g e . Y et fu rth e r ob serva tion reveals a de e p e r m eaning beyond the re p re se n ta ­
tion . The scho la r's body is e x tre m e ly w ith e re d , y e t his head is d ra w n disp ro p o rtio n a te ly

Left: C h ris t th e
P a n to c ra to r,
Anonym ous.
R ight: F u sh eng
H a n d in g o u t th e
C las sica l C an on
) by
W a n g , W e i k^lL,
e ig h th ce n tu ry .

81
Qi Zhu

large and round - a cultural profile that indicates attainm en t o f the ultim ate enlighten­
m en t of a Taoist. Fusheng's eyes, instead of follow ing his hand pointing to the blank
scroll of paper, m indlessly glim pse into the future w ith an out-of-this-w orld expression.
The image, using the story of Fusheng as a m etaphor, possibly discretely m irrors the
painter's ow n life experience. It functions not just as m im e tic delineation but as a
device fo r the observer to delve into - m editating tow a rd a contem plative realm.

Architectural drawings are not mimetic portraits of absent

buildings

A rchite ctural draw ings are im ages that serve as tools fo r architects to im agine the con­
struction o f th e ir buildings as part o f the continuous flo w o f the ir design practices.
They reveal the im agination of con stru ction through a com plex unfolding process
rather than representing the frozen m im e tic depiction of the absent building. These
draw ings are d iffe re n t from paintings about architectural subjects, know n as Jie-hua in
the tradition of Chinese painting. Jie-hua literally m eans the painting made w ith the aid
o f the Jie-ruler, w h ich guides the line-brush to draw straight and parallel lines. The
term Jie-hua w as firs t theorized in the N orthern Song period by Guo Ruoxu in his
treatise Tu Hua Jian W en Z hi (1074).7 He co m m e n ts on this genre of painting as a
technical process, accurately illustrating the im age of a building:

W hen one paints w ooden con stru ction , calculations should be faultless and
the linear b ru shw ork should be robust. . .. H o w can one paint con stru ction if
he does not understand about Han Halls. W u Halls, beam s, colum n s and
brackets, ridge purlins, cross-beam s, king-posts . .. ?8

The faultless calculation and the thorough know ledge of the building elem e nts are
the re fore critical in generating the correct duplicate o f the building. Xuan He Hua Pu,
another Song dynasty treatise about architectural painting, is tinte d w ith a sim ilar tone.
Xuan He Hua Pu states:

W hen painters to o k up these subjects (buildings, boats, oars, and chariots)

and com p le te ly described th e ir form al appearance, ho w could it have been
sim ply a question of m aking a grand spectacle of terraces and pavilions, of
doors and w in d o w s? In each dot or stroke one m u st seek ag ree m ent w ith
actual m easurem ents and rules. In com parison w ith oth er types o f painting,
it is a d iffic u lt field in w h ich to gain skill.9

These w ritin g s exe m plify not only the ten den cy to w a rd exquisite precision in Song
architectural paintings, but also position them as m im e tic copies of buildings rather
than as in stru m e n ts to aid the im agination. The surviving m asterpieces illustrate this
tendency. The city gate, fo r exam ple, is portrayed in the e a rly-tw elfth -century painting,
Going up the R iver on the Q ing M in g F estival (see the figure below , le ft portion), w ith
the fin e st details and a great exactness, providing an im pressive panorama for the

82
 The cultural context of design

Left: G oing up the

R iver on th e Q ing
M in g F e stiv al
) by
Z h a n g ,Z e d u a n
).
Right: Ying Zao FaS h i
illu stratio n .

human activities. H ow ever, Jie-hua painting generally renders the final image o f the
characteristic architecture rather than revealing ho w the buildings are made.
Contem porary to these treatises about Jie-hua, the Song cou rt also pub­
lished a building manual w ith illustrations. The illustrated draw ings, not granted as art­
w o rks, serve a d iffe re n t purpose. They take the vie w e r to the im agination o f the
making o f buildings and their elem e nts. The building structure s are not draw n in axono-
m etric overview , but in sections (see the figure above, right portion). The im agination
o f con stru ction is em bedded in the carefully delineated details o f the draw ing. For
exam ple, the colum ns draw n on the section have vertical plum b lines in the center.
A t the top, the plum b line crosses a square w h e re it needs to be m ortised to allow
the transverse beam tenon to rest. A t the bo tto m , another square indicates tw o
constructional possibilities: a transverse threshold fo r receiving the door; or a special
technique of carving out part of the bo tto m o f the w ooden colum n to m inim ize its
con tact area w ith the stone colum n base to prevent erosion and provide su fficie n t ven­
tila tio n .10 These details in the draw ing serve as in stru m en ts fo r the realization o f the
im agined con stru ction . If the architectural draw ings are tools in a process o f disclo­
sure, this process is grounded on both the cultural co n te xt of design and the corporeal
act of draw ing.

The cultural context of design and its relationship to the

imagination of construction

The cultural co n te xt o f design as the foundation fo r the im agination o f construction

is illustrated by exam ining draw ings developed in one culture that have been co n te xtu ­
ally translated by another. The altered cultural co n te xt distinctive ly am ends the
im agination o f construction.
In the early seventeenth century, under the sponsorship o f the Jesuits in
China, the Chinese artisans re-carved A go stino Ram elli's draw ing of C rankshaft W ell
W indlass (1588) on a w o od block. The 1627 reproduction w as in the folio called N ovel
Apparatus from the Far W est, initiated by the S cholar-B ureaucrat Philip W ang Zheng
(1571-1644), a disciple o f the Je su it Schreck.11 There are m any m od ifica tions in the

83
Qi Zhu

Left: D iv e rs e e t
A rtific io s e M a c h in e
(1 5 8 8 ), F igure
LXXXV.
M id d le : A n o n y m o u s
C hin ese artis a n ,
1627.
R ig h t: A n o n y m o u s
C hin ese artis a n ,
1726.

C hinese re-carved version . The c o n tin u ity o f th e m ech an ical m o v e m e n t, w h ic h the

Ram elli d ra w in g in te n d s to con vey, w a s no t grasped by th e C hinese artisans. The
c u ta w a y line on th e gro un d o rigin ally used to p re s e n t th e o th e rw is e in visib le un d e r­
gro un d s tru c tu re w a s re-im agine d by th e C hinese artisans as m agical and m ira culo us
flo a tin g clouds. This re -in te rp re ta tio n is o fte n v ie w e d as re su ltin g fro m th e lack of
u n d e rsta n d in g o f th e w e s te rn c o n c e p t o f p e rsp e ctive and the co n v e n tio n s o f e n g in ­
ee rin g re p re s e n ta tio n s .17 H o w e ve r, th e d iffe re n c e s reveal m o re than m isco n ce p tio n s.
The hum an fig u re in R a m elli's p rin t uses one hand to ro ta te th e crank to in itia te the
m o v e m e n t, w h ile th e o th e r hand stab ilize s th e rising b u c k e t - th e final o u tc o m e o f the
m o v e m e n t. Y et in th e C hinese translatio n, th e fig u re rests one hand on th e crank w h ile
he uses th e o th e r hand to p o in t to w a rd th e b u c k e t in th e dista nce , h ig h lig h tin g th e
n o ve lty o f th e apparatus to s u it th e pu rpo se o f th e p u blicatio n as d e scrib in g im a gin a­
tive in s tru m e n ts fro m th e Far W e s t. In Gu Jin Tu Shu J i Cheng, a Q ing dyn a sty en cy­
clopedia o f 1724, a n o th e r artisan trie s to d e cip h e r his p re d e c e s s o r's w o o d c u t cop y of
R a m elli's m ech an ics. The second re co n stru ctio n w a s pro du ced a b o u t a hundred years
a fte r th e earlier copy. The n e w tra n sla to r used his im a gin atio n to rationalize his pre de­
ce s s o r's e m p h a sis on no velty. The clo ud s th a t replaced RameNi's c u ta w a y lines on the
gro un d w e re p o rtra yed th is tim e as flu tte rin g w a v e s to s u it th e m o re co n ve n tio n a lly
im a gin ed C hinese w a te r w e ll.13 T hrough th e se exa m p le s, th e im a gin atio n o f c o n s tru c ­
tio n can be seen to derive fro m th e fa ctu a l exp e rie n ce o f th e a u th o r c o n d itio n e d by the
cultu ral c o n te x t o f design. S im ilarly, a rch ite ctu ra l p ro je cts are gro un ded on a w id e
va rie ty o f cultu ral c o n te xts, pro vid ing both th e fo u n d a tio n and the boundary fo r the
im a g in a tio n o f co n s tru c tio n .

The corporeal act of drawing and its relationship to the

imagination of construction

In addition to th e cultural c o n te x t o f design, th e re are also variations in th e corporeal act

of m aking b e tw e e n R a m elli's original engraving and the Chinese red raw n version.

84
 The cultural co ntext of design

R am elli's d ra w in g is printed from an engraved cop pe r plate. The c o m m o n engraving

te ch n iq u e uses a burin or graver w ith a sharp fin e po in t. The th u m b and fo re fin g e r guide
and push th e burin across th e surface o f th e plate. This action carves o u t thin strip s o f
m etal and leaves slim fu rro w s in the p la te 's surface fo r the ink to fill. This tech n iq u e
a llo w s the engraver to co m p o se a variety o f sha ding-ton es or chiaroscuro to rep rese nt
d e p th . The use o f chiaroscuro to ren de r depth is c o n s is te n t in R a m elli's p rin t (see the
fig u re on page 84). The surfaces o f th e w o o d e n po sts receding in to the d ista nce are
shaded darker w ith de nse r carvings and m ore in-fill o f ink than on th e fro n ta l surfaces.
Sim ilarly, th e de pth o f th e w a te r w e ll, th e curved-in surface o f the bucket, and the
oblique surface o f the fo re g ro u n d free-sta nding m echanical parts are all rep rese nted
w ith chiaroscuro. N aturally, th e de pth o f th e un de rgrou nd pit beneath the cu t-a w a y lines
is shaded black, e xce p t fo r th e exposed m echanical parts buried w ith in .
By co n tra st, fo r th e C hinese a rtisa n 's re d ra w n copy o f R am elli's original
co p p e r plate print, th e m ed iu m used w a s th e w o o d b lo c k and th e w o o d engraver. Tradi­
tional Chinese w o o d b lo cks are m ade fro m plan k-w oo d cu t along th e grain. An even,
close-grained and relatively hard w o o d plank w a s pre fe rred . W ith de n se r grain, m ore
precise carving can be achieved and m o re press-runs can be e n d u re d .14 Y et co rre ctly
cho osing th e hardness or s o ftn e ss o f the w o o d plank is im p o rta n t. If the w o o d plank is
to o hard, it w ill be d iffic u lt to carve. If to o s o ft, it w ill be prone to w e a r a fte r ju s t a fe w
presses. Due to th e nature o f the w o o d plank and the w o o d -ca rvin g tech n iq u e , th e tonal
gradations are lim ited. Instead, ou tlin e d ra w in g s are w id e ly used. H o w eve r, chiaroscuro
is no t u n kn o w n in China, although it is assigned a d iffe re n t m eaning. For exa m ple, in
landscape painting, the te ch n iq u e o f shading th e surfaces o f th e sto n e s w ith d iffe re n t
parts o f th e ink-brush is utilized to re p re se n t d iffe re n t te x tu re s o f the rugged surfaces o f
th e ston es. Shading in C hinese cu ltu re is a con ven tion al te ch n iq u e to re p re se n t te xtu re
rather than de pth. Clearly, the C hinese artisan scrutin ize d th e chiaroscuro rep rese nted
in R am elli's print w h e n it w a s redraw n. The shading-tone w a s likely co n stru e d by the
artisan as re p rese nting te xtu re s. If th e shading-tone on the receding surfaces o f the
colum n p o sts is taken as th e 'te x tu re ' o f th e posts, it m akes sense fo r th e artisan no t to
shade th e m since in reality th e fro n t and side surfaces o f th e p o st appear to possess
th e sam e te xtu re . The inside surface o f th e w a te r, w e ll-sh ad ed by Ram elli, also appears
co n stru e d and s u b s titu te d as te xtu re , i.e. as several cou rses o f bricks. The b u cke t in
R a m elli's p rin t is m etal w ith tw o thin m etal hoops on th e to p and b o tto m . Y et the
Chinese artisan again replaced it w ith th e te x tu re of a C hinese bu cke t m ade o f three
equal strips o f curved w o o d (see the fig u re on page 84). W h e n the Chinese artisan
m e d ita te d on the dark area b e lo w th e w e ll en circle d by zigzag lines, he m ay have co n ­
stru e d it as a peculiarly te xtu re d surface, or a novel fo rm o f 'g ro u n d '. T herefore, th e co r­
poreal un de rsta nd ing o f th is in fo rm a tio n as su g g e ste d by his fa m ilia r m ed iu m of
rep rese ntatio n sw a yed him to re p re se n t th e cut-aw ay lines on the ground as m ystical
b illo w in g clouds - a 'te x tu re ' fo r th e 'n o ve l g ro u n d '. The w o o d carving m edia and th e ir
in te ractio ns w ith th e bodily sen ses co n fe rre d on th e C hinese artisan alternative fo rm s of
im agined reality. Thus th e corporeal act o f d ra w in g can be seen as critically grounding
th e C hinese a rtisa n 's im agining process.

85
Qi Zhu

Conclusion: redraw, redraw and redraw

If the cultural con texts o f design and the corporeal act o f draw ing form the foundations
fo r the im agination o f con stru ction , then the ungrounded passive gazing upon conven­
tionally exhibited draw ings proves inadequate to divulge this deeper im aginative
process. Since exhibited draw ings are norm ally taken as artw o rks or as end results in
them selves, they are often isolated from both the original flo w of their cultural con­
te xts and the corporeal act of making the draw ing. Ju st as the im agination of the moon
becom es obscured w h e n the supporting clouds are erased, the im agination o f con­
struction is invisible if isolated fro m its tw o critical underpinnings.
H ow ever, the act o f redraw ing can initiate a journey into the original archi­
tectural im agination. The aim o f redraw ing, or re-creation, although inevitably a process
o f re-interpretation, can also be to open the th o u g h ts and actions o f the observers
tow a rd a m utual dialogue w ith design con texts as w e ll as the corporeal dynam ism s
em bodied in the draw ings.
As analyzed above, the Chinese artisan corporeally replaced Ram elli's im ag­
ined reality o f the seve ntee nth-ce ntury European culture and technology w ith the
eigh te en th -centu ry Chinese correspondences, leading to dram atically d iffe re n t form s
o f im agined con stru ction . If w e discard the notion o f right or w ro n g interpretation, the
Chinese artisan's act o f redraw ing has m erit in the sense th a t it is not a visual m im e tic
copy of Ram elli's print, rather it o ffe rs the artisan the tool to im agine the 'novel appar­
atu s' through his ow n bodily experience o f each stroke presented in the original. The
act of redraw ing opens the dialogue of the observer's im agination w ith that of the ori­
ginal author. W hen the critical observer takes up a pencil to decode the exhibited
draw ing, the draw ing becom es vastly enriched for exploration. Through the action of
redraw ing, the critical observer w ill open a sensory inquiry into a b o un tifu l sphere of
im agination to discover and experience. As Carlo Scarpa stated:

If I w a n t to see things, I do not tru s t anything else. I put the m in fro n t of

me, here on paper, to be able to see th e m . I w a n t to see, and fo r this I
draw . I can see an image only w h en I draw it.15

Notes

1 The tw o ways of drawing the moon were articulated by the Chinese philosopher
Feng, YiuLan (/'/.'£ -- ) in arguing 'the defiance to direct definition' in traditional
Chinese aesthetics and thinking. Gao, Chen-yang [ A & ff t ) , Zhong Guo Chuan Tong Si
W ei Fang Shi Yan Jiu {'/ ’/xtS's .0 .r(W£T), Jinan, Shandong Da Xue Chu Ban She,
1994, p. 59.
2 Allen, S., Practice: Architecture, Technique and Representation, G+B Arts Inter­
national, 2000, p. 32.
3 Plato, Plato's Republic. Indianapolis, Hackett Publishing Company, 1974, pp. 240-241.
4 Kearney, R., The Wake o f Imagination: Ideas o f Creativity in Western Culture,
London, Hutchinson, 1988, pp. 91-92, 101-102.

86
 The cultural context of design

5 Ibid., pp. 6-8.

6 Xun, J., Xie Gei Da Jia de Zhong Guo M e i Shu Shi, Beijing, San Lian Chu Ban She,
1993, p. 103. Fusheng Handing out the Classical Canon by Wang,
Wei
7 Chung, A., Drawing Boundaries: Architectural Images in Qing China, Honolulu,
University of Hawaii Press, 2004, p. 10.
8 Quoted from Chung, A., translation, ibid., p. 10.
9 Quoted from Chung, A., translation, ibid., p. 11.
10 This technique is still in practice in Japan. See Brown, S.A., The Genius o f Japanese
Carpentry: the Secrets o f a Craft, Kodansha International, 1995, p. 94.
11 Edgerton, S.Y.J., The Heritage o f G iotto's Geometry, Ithaca, Cornell University Press,
1993, p. 272.
12 This image was also described in Edgerton, S.Y.J., The Heritage o f G iotto's
Geometry, Ithaca, Cornell University Press. 1993, p. 273.
13 This image was also described in ibid., p. 280.
14 Chia, L., Printing for Profit: the Commercial Publisher o f Jianyang, Fujian
(eleventh-seventeenth century), Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 2002, pp.
30-31.
15 Frascari, Marco, Architectural Synaesthesia: a Hypothesis on the Makeup o f Scarpa's
M odernist Architectural Drawings, 2003.

87
Architecture's twinned
body
Building and drawing

Federica G offi

Introduction

In today's practice of architecture, the problem of 'draw ing' is the problem of 'build­
ing', both are perceived as final ends. M istaking the tem poral nature of architectural
w ork as being 'eternally unchangeable', they have become fixed 'm odels' of their ow n
image, projecting onto each other an unchanging vision of reality. Prior to this
contem porary understanding, the building was a perpetually unfinished entity, capable
of being worked and reworked including through the media of drawing.
The proliferation of photo-realistic com puter-generated images - enhancing
'literal' representations - produces a typical dilem m a when looking at drawings, regard­
ing w h e th e r the image is computer-generated or a photograph.
Reality and imagination are treated as m irror images. Virtual pre-figurations
becom e 'contract-docum ents' to be thoroughly fulfilled; m eanwhile, the 'accidents' of
the making are removed from the design process. Temporally speaking, 'draw ings' no
longer project an image of process but a processed image portraying an 'eternally'
unchangeable vision of reality.
The unending 'process' of making, i.e. time, is evinced from architecture, pro­
ducing its disem bodim ent. The denial of the process of change implies that buildings/
drawings perpetuate a fixed image, facing the problem o f assuring continuity despite
and/or w ithin change.
The problem atic relation of drawing and building is paralleled in a mid-
thirteenth-century fiction about the ’king's tw o bodies'. This fiction, which survived
w ell into the Renaissance period, concerns the problem s of continuity of a divine
monarchy w ith the death of the human king or queen and it was meant to resolve
problem s of continuity and identity concerning the 'state'.
Abducting the 'king's tw o bodies' w ith in architecture lays the foundations
for a theory of architecture as a form of imagination in 'absentia'. During the trans­
form ation of the building, the drawing makes discernible the intangible presence of the
building's sem piternal body, acting as a 'substitu te '. Drawings are produced in an

88
 A rchitecture's tw in n e d body

'in -b e tw e e n ' co n d itio n , m aking 'v is ib le ' and a cco un ta ble fo r a tra n s fo rm a tio n th a t is
'in v is ib le ' w h e n looking in th e p re s e n t co n d itio n , at th e building.

The tw inned body of architecture

The 'natu ral b o d y' o f th e king, w h o s e life w a s bo un de d w ith in tim e , w a s tw in n e d w ith

th e 'p o litica l b o d y' o f s e m p ite rn a l e xiste n ce . W h e n th e king dies, th e 'p o litica l b o d y'
reigns in ab se n tia , and w ill soon re in co rp o ra te in th e natural body o f th e n e xt king. The
'c o n tin u ity ' o f th e C ro w n is a llo w e d by th e c o n tin u o u s e xis te n c e o f th e po litica l body.
The e ffig y p ro vid e s m aterial re p re se n ta tio n to th e in visib le 'p o litica l b o d y'
acting as 's u b s titu te '. The in visib le nature o f th e 'tw in n e d p e rso n a ' b e co m e s visible
during fu n e ra ry rite s w h e n th e de m ise d king (body natural) and th e e ffig y (sem p itern al
body) are displa yed to g e th e r.1 Carlo G inzburg underlies th e role o f e ffig ie s in co n tro llin g
th e tra u m a tic e v e n t o f death and the changes asso cia te d w ith it: 'O n th e one hand the
"re p re s e n ta tio n " stan ds in fo r th e rea lity th a t is re p re se n te d , and so e vo kes absence;
on th e oth e r, it m akes th a t reality visible, and th u s su g g e sts p re s e n c e .'2
A rc h ite c tu re is a tw o -b o d ie d e n tity . The 'b o d y na tural', i.e. the physical
building and its tw in , the 's e m p ite rn a l b o d y ', i.e. th e d ra w in g , stand in a re latio nship o f
sig n ifie r and sig n ifie d . The b u ild in g 's exte rn al appearance and e sse n ce are both
re p re se n te d in th e dra w in g , th e tw in persona o f th e building.
Leon B attista A lb e rti (1 4 0 4 -1 4 7 2 ) exp re sse s th a t n o t on ly th e appearance
of th e building bu t also its 'fo rm ', i.e. the e sse nce o f th e th in g sig n ifie d , are con veye d
th ro u g h d ra w in g .3 The d ra w in g has th e p o te n tia l to reveal no t ju s t likene ss b u t p re s­
ence, n o t ju s t body b u t soul in te rm s o f s im ilitu d e by m eans o f re p re se n ta tio n . V itru ­
vius co n n e c ts d ra w in g w ith th e w o rd 'id e a ', i.e. 'fo rm ' or 'e s s e n c e '.4 The 'fo r m ' o f a
th in g - d e fin e d by Plato as th e 'e s s e n c e ' (Greek eidos) or nature o f s o m e th in g 5 - p ro ­
vid e s c o n tin u ity d e sp ite th e changes th a t invariably happen to its physical appearance.

Tiberio Aifarano's 1571 ichnography of Saint Peter's as true

'fo rm ' and the tw o bodies of architecture

E vidence o f th e tw in n e d body o f a rc h ite c tu re can be fo u n d in a 1571 hand dra w in g

(1 1 7 ic m x 6 6 £cm ),6 by T iberio A lfa ra n o 7 re p re se n tin g th e Basilica o f Saint P e te r's in
th e Vatican during its Renaissance ren ova tion. The re n ova tion o f th e 'O ld ' te m p le , i.e.
th e 'natu ral b o d y', in itiate d by Pope G iulius II in 1506, leads ove r a period o f 120 years,
to a c o m p le te re n e w a l. Change is a tra u m a tic e v e n t c o n tro lle d th ro u g h th e m edia o f
dra w in g , in its role o f 'tw in n e d b o d y '. T iberio A ifa ra n o 's m a n u s c rip t ' D e B asilicae Vati-
canae a n tiq u is s im a e t nova s tru c tu ra ',8 c o m p le m e n ts th e d ra w in g and th e title o f
th e m a n u s c rip t sta te s th e c o n te n t and sig nifica nce o f th e w o rk . A lfarano portrays the
‘ F orm a S acrosanctae' or th e 'tru e fo rm ' o f Saint P e te r's B asilica,9 i.e. no t a literal
fig u ra tio n bu t rathe r an ep ip han y o f esse nce .

89
Federica Goffi

Tiberio A ifarano's
1571 hand-draw n
ichnographia of the
plan of th e Vatican
Tem ple.

At the tim e of Aifarano's drawing, the New and the Old Basilica coexisted,
joined by the 'M u ro D ivisorio' erected by Antonio da Sangallo in 1538. The renovation
w orks were far from com pletion. Despite that, this drawing escapes chronological
classifications claiming an 'a-tem poral' interpretation of the Basilica's substance.10
The adjective 'sacrosanct' refers not only to its being the m ost Holy but also to the
inviolability of the essence portrayed in the drawing. The draw ing's description reads:
‘ Haec est integra ichnographia antiquissim i Templi Sancti Petri Apostolorum Principis
Romae in Vaticano' - the Latin adjective 'integra' refers to the intactness of the
Temple, implying an idea of conservation and com pletion.
A 'literal' reading of the drawing suggests the presence of Old Saint
Peter's w ith in the New. A 'physical' fo o tp rin t of the Old tem ple made of truncated
colum ns and w alls is preserved under the N e w ." The physical superim position of the
New Basilica onto the vestiges of the Old is reflected in the making of the drawing
generated by 'layering'. Alfarano 'added' M ichelangelo's ichnographiam above that of
the Old Temple, overlapping and gluing on the outlined plan a cut-out of Etienne
Duperac's print reproducing M ichelangelo's plan.'2 The superim posed plans allow a

90
 Architecture's tw inned body

reading o f the physical and m etaphorical relationship be tw e e n th e m . The presence of

V eronica's veil in this draw ing, i.e. the true im age (vera icona) of Christ, a ttrib u te s to
the 'ichn og raph y' the value o f 'icon ic re p rese ntatio n', having the po tentia l to reveal
not ju s t likeness but presence. A lfarano reinforce s th a t he delineated only 'o n e '
dra w in g (unoque folio perstrinxP 3) tracing th e 'ichn og raph y' o f the te m p le , w h ich , like
the w o rd 's e tym o lo g y suggests, possesses iconic qualities. The analysis o f Veronica's
iconography and its place m ent w ith in this draw ing is the hinge to revealing the pres­
ence of the 'tw in n e d bo dy'. This Veronica re fle cts the double nature o f C hrist as both
'h u m a n ' and 'd ivin e '. The saviour is cro w n e d w ith tho rn s rep rese nting C hrist in his
hum an attribu tes. The Holy Face is surrounded by an 'evergreen garland' m ade by
in te rtw in e d leaves of laurel and oak. The w re a th is the Christian sym bol of im m o rta l­
ity .14 Laurel's evergreen foliage tradition ally sym bolizes ete rn ity. Oak w as not only the
tree fro m w h ich C h rist's cross w as made, but it also sym bolizes endurance and the
streng th o f faith and virtue . The Veronica is com p ose d by re-assem bled cu t-o u t prints
glued onto the paper.15 The surrounding evergreen garland is a separate xylographic
fra g m e n t added to circu m scribe the veil. This high lig hts A ifara no 's process o f 'in v e n ­
tio n '16 not relying specifically on iconographic tradition in assem bling the fragm e nts
fo rm in g Veronica's icon.
Evidence of the m ystical body, i.e. a corporation concept o f C hurch,17 can
be deduced by oth er iconographic elem ents. According to A ugustine, the ‘ corpus
Christi m y s tic u m ' - i.e. the Church - w as m ade by Christ as the 'head' and by the arch­
bishops, cardinals and all the clergy representing the 'm e m b e rs ' o f the C hurch's body.
The apostle Paul w ro te , 'He put all things in subjection under His fe e t and gave Him as
head over all things the church, w h ich is His body, the fullness of Him w h o fills all in
all' (Ephesians 1 :2 2 -2 3 ).18 The 'body natural' of C hrist w as referred to as ' corpus
verum ' or 'tru e body', w h ile the 'm ystical body' w as syno nym o usly indicated by the
notion o f 'corpu s fictu m ', 'corpus im a gin atum ' or ' corpus rep rese ntatum ' (represented
body).19 The 'tru e body' and the 'repre sen te d body' are joined in A ifarano's plan -
fo llo w in g A lb e rti's dictum - both 'fo rm a e t figura' of the building are present in the
draw ing. He delineates the Basilica as a corporeal and spiritual entity, i.e. a duality of
body and soul (corporalibus spatiis and spiritualis Ecclesia). Aifarano's representation of
the basilica's corporeal appearance ('be a ti P etri m aterialis Ecclesia') becom es the
'o u tw a rd ' sign of the 'in w a rd ' presence of the spiritual Church. The relationship
be tw ee n the tw o is one o f sim ilitude, not likeness.20
The gold-leaf pochee o f Old Saint P eter's w alls - rendered w ith a procedure
sim ilar to that used for illum inated books m in iatu re s21 - de m on stra te s the 'sem pite r-
nity' o f the old Basilica and indicates the presence o f the 'm ystical body', i.e. the
'sp irit'. The undercoating of 'A rm enian bole' marking the edges of the gold-leaf w alls
signifies the presence of the 'm ateria l body' of the church in its bloodily sacrifice. The
three -figu red deesis fo rm e d by Saint Peter and Saint Paul flanking V eronica's veil in the
top portion of the draw ing is essential in delineating the presence o f the 'represented
body'. This schem e is borrow ed from pictorial tradition going back to the firs t tw e n ty
years o f the sixtee nth cen tury.22

91
Federica Goffi

L e o n ard o B u falin i,
Plan o f R o m e , 1551.

Ugo da C a rpi's a lta rp ie ce fo r V e ro n ica 's chapel (c.1525) is like ly to have

been a d ire c t re fe re n t fo r A ifa ra n o 's th re e -fig u re d de esis. This c o m p o s itio n h o w e v e r
has an ea stern origin and a m u ch o ld e r tra d itio n th a t go es as far back in R om e as th e
th irte e n th ce n tu ry. Such is th e case w ith S aint P e te r's v o tiv e icon o f th e Serbian
Q ue en M o th e r H elen in R om e. Here a m ed allio n o f th e H oly Face s u rm o u n ts th e
do ub le p o rtra it o f P eter and Paul.23 A ifa ra n o 's use o f th e language o f icons in scribe s
his 'ic o n o g ra p h y ' w ith in a lo n g -sta n d in g tra d itio n acco rd in g to w h ic h o n ly th e s im u lta ­
neous p re se n ce o f bo th P ete r24 and Paul a llo w s fo r a re p re s e n ta tio n o f th e C hurch
o f R o m e .25 In a d d itio n , 'm a rk in g ' in th e plan th e to m b s and altars d e d ica te d to
chu rch 'm e m b e rs ' c o m p le te s th e re p re se n ta tio n by m aking visib le th e in visib le
'm y s tic a l b o d y '. The old c ro s s -fo rm e d plan w a s a burial place, lite ra lly re p re se n tin g
th e co rp o ra te body.
The insignia o f Pope G rego ry XIII and Cardinal A le ssa n d ro Farnese to th e
fa r le ft and fa r rig h t - i.e. th e V icar o f C h rist and th e A rc h p rie s t o f S aint P e te r's
re s p e c tiv e ly 26 - 'p o rtra y ' th e p re s e n t m o m e n t (1572) in C hurch h isto ry. V e ro n ica 's
icon stan ds in a re la tio n sh ip o f head to bo d y w ith th e B asilica 's fo o tp rin t. The Holy
Face c ro w n e d w ith th e im p e rish a b le w re a th is th e visib le 'h e a d ' o f th e C h u rch ;27 the
'b o d y ' b e c o m e s visib le th ro u g h th e fig u ra tio n o f th e b a silica 's fo o tp rin t co m b in in g old
v e s tig e s and n e w e le m e n ts . T he c o n te x tu a l re p re s e n ta tio n o f O ld and N e w te m p le
can be exp la ine d th ro u g h an u n d e rs ta n d in g o f V e ro n ic a 's veil and its s y m b o lic tra n s­
parency. The tra n sp a re n cy o f th e veil a llo w s c o n te m p la tio n ' ad fa c ie m '. Gazing
'b e y o n d ' th e eye tra n sce n d s th e visib le p e n e tra tin g be yon d th e tw o -d im e n s io n a l
a ppearance o f th e o b je c t in to a m e ta p h ysica l d im e n sio n .
M e ta p h o ric tra n sp a re n cy a llo w s th e gazing o f O ld Saint P e te r's v e stig e s
concealed un de rnea th. Had th is 'p la n ' been u n d e rsto o d as 'h o rizo n ta l c u t', i.e. a literal

92
 A rchitecture's tw in n e d body

d e scrip tio n o f ab ove -grou nd level, th e re su lt w o u ld have been sim ila r to w h a t Leonardo
B ufalini re p re se n te d - tw e n ty years earlier - in his 1551 plan o f Rom e. B ufalini
d e m o n s tra te d th e 're s u lt' o f th e cut-an d-p aste process, i.e. tw o half plans jo in e d by the
shared M u ro D ivisorio. A ifa ra n o 's d ra w in g is a re p re se n ta tio n o f 'p ro c e s s '. The 'c o m ­
p o site b o d y' is th e re su lt o f a tra n s fo rm a tio n w h e re tw o bodies, natural and s e m p ite r­
nal, s im u lta n e o u s ly c o e x is t and in te rtw in e .
The re la tio n sh ip b e tw e e n th e O ld and N e w Basilica is sim ila r to th a t
b e tw e e n th e 'n a tu ra l' and the 's e m p ite rn a l' body. A 'fo o tp r in t' o f C o n s ta n tin e 's B asil­
ica - m ad e by tru n c a te d co lu m n s and w a lls - has been revealed by arch ae olo gical
e xca va tio n s du rin g th e 1940s. The w re a th su rro u n d in g V e ro n ica 's veil is th e sign
reve aling th e 's e m p ite rn a l' body: th e N e w 'c e n tra l' plan 'c irc u m s c rib in g ' O ld Saint
P e te r's rising above th e v e s tig e s o f th e old. T his ico nic d ra w in g th ro u g h its sy m b o lic
'tra n s p a re n c y ' u n m is ta k a b ly pro vid e s access to an in visib le w o rld 'b e y o n d '. The
d ra w in g co n c e iv e d as ico n ic re p re s e n ta tio n is th e in s tru m e n t reve aling th e hidden
pre se n ce o f O ld S aint P e te r's. In th is re la tio n sh ip o f a b o v e /b e lo w the c o n n e ctio n
b e tw e e n N e w and O ld basilicas can be exp la ine d in te rm s o f tw o bo dies, th e natural
and th e s e m p ite rn a l. The w id th o f th e m ain nave o f N e w Saint P e te r's c o rre s p o n d s to
th a t o f th e O ld, a llo w in g th e p re se rva tio n o f th e old m ain nave 7n ta c ta \ 28 The N e w
m ain piers fall o u ts id e th e o u te r p e rim e te r e n clo sin g th e old m ain nave and tra n s e p t.
The tw o w e s t piers are lo cated above the sh o u ld e rs o f th e cross, o u ts id e O ld Saint
P e te r's body.
The old 'ich n o g ra p h y ' reveals, p re d icts and ge n e ra te s th e n e w . V ero nica's
icon is a re m in d e r o f th is 'm u lti-te m p o ra l' value o f th e d ra w in g . The d ra w in g 's gaze is
d ire cte d in tw o d ire c tio n s : looking to w a rd s th e pa st re fe rs to m e m o ry w h ile having
s im u lta n e o u s pre -fig u ra tio n o f w h a t has y e t to com e . V e ro n ica 's clo th is n o t ju s t the
m e m o ry o f C h rist's face b u t also th e epiphanic reve la tion o f his 'fu tu re p re s e n c e '.29
The re tro s p e c tiv e and p ro sp e ctive cha racter o f th e design pro cess can be e xp erience d
th ro u g h the in te rm e d ia c y o f the d ra w in g .
Sim ilar to w h a t happens during fu n e ra ry rites w h e re th e bo d y natural and
th e s e m p ite rn a l body are displayed to g e th e r, fu n e ra ry m o n u m e n ts p o rtra y th e natural
body and th e s e m p ite rn a l one to g e th e r. The to m b o f In n o ce n t VIII (1 4 8 4 -1 4 9 2 ),
e x e c u te d b e tw e e n 1 4 9 2 -1 4 9 3 and 1 4 9 7 -1 4 9 8 by A n to n io Pollaiolo (c.1 4 3 2 -1 4 9 8 ),
po rtra ys th e e ffig y o f th e dead pope sup in e and life le ss on a sarco ph agu s under the
s e m p ite rn a l body, re p re se n te d in corporeal liveline ss above. T his is th e on ly fu n e ra ry
m o n u m e n t 'tra n s la te d ' fro m th e O ld in to th e N e w basilica.30 Six years b e fo re the 1626
c o m p le tio n o f th e Basilica, th e p o sitio n o f th e tw o bo dies w a s in v e rte d .31 The 's e m ­
piternal b o d y' w a s n o w above th e 'natu ral b o d y '. This in versio n is sy m b o lic o f th e rela­
tio n s h ip b e tw e e n O ld and N e w basilica; th e v e s tig e s o f O ld Saint P e te r's lie n o w
b e lo w th e N e w te m p le 's re su rre cte d body.

93
Federica Goffi

T o m b of In nocent
V III executed
b e tw e e n 1 4 9 2 -3 and
1 4 9 7 -8 - A ntonio
Pollaiolo
(1 4 3 2 -1 4 9 8 ).

Vasari's fresco in the Sala dei Cento Giorni, Rome, 1546:

the role of drawings in the process of change

The tw o bodies o f architecture becom e visible in Giorgio Vasari's (1511-1574) fresco

Paul III in spe cting the rebuilding o f Saint P ete r's in the Sala dei Cento Giorni, Palazzo
della Cancelleria executed in 1546 (see figure below). Pope Paul III (1534-1549) on the
le ft is being presented the ichnography o f the N ew Tem ple by the personifications of
Lady A rchite cture, Painting. Sculpture and G eom etry. Vasari represents Saint Peter as
'b o d y' as w e ll as 'd ra w in g ' and 'build ing '. The reclining figure to the lo w e r right sur­
rounded by pu tti has been identified as a representation o f the Vatican Hill and the six
hills o f R om e.32 The reclined figure though can be interpreted as a representation of
Saint Peter as Vicar of Christ. This figure holds w ith the right hand a Papal Umbrella
w h ile w ith the le ft arm em braces a Papal Tiara, sym bolizing the papacy. The three
crow ns on the Triregnum represent the triple po w e r of the Pope as fa th e r o f kings,
governor o f the w o rld and Vicar of Christ. The Papal Um brella is the sign of dignity
usually carried by the Pope's 's u b s titu te ' during the transition period b e tw e e n the
death o f a Pope and the election of a successor. This seem s to allude to this

94
 Architecture's tw inned body

G io rg io V asa ri, 1546.

P au l III Inspectin g
th e R eb uild ing o f
S a in t P eter's. Sala
dei C en to G iorni,
Palazzo della
C an celleria, R om e.

'tra n sitio n ' phase involving the sub stitution o f the old tem ple w ith the new . Six pu tti
m end the head o f Saint Peter w h ile at the sam e tim e crow nin g him w ith laurel w reath
sym bolizing ete rn ity. The m ending o f the head alludes to renovation w o rk started in
the apsidal area. The reclined figure can be interpreted as a personification o f Saint
P eter's basilica sym bolizing transfo rm a tion and renovation into sem p itern ity.
The 'd ra w in g ' is identified as the m edium w h ere the analogy be tw ee n
'b o d y' and 'build ing ' takes place. The gesturing o f the key figu res underlines that.
There is no direct com parison o f the 'b u ild in g ' w ith the 'b o d y' of Peter. Such com pari­
son happens through the d ra w in g's interm ediacy. Lady A rchite cture points w ith her
right hand at the personification o f Peter, w h ile holding a com pass pointing do w n w ard
and an L-square alluding to the 'physical' m ea sure m ents o f the body and to a transla­
tion o f its presence into the building/draw ing. The 'g e m in a te ' body of architecture
becom es visible in the gestures of the Pope sim ultaneously pointing at the draw ing
and at the building under renovation.
During the transfo rm a tion process, the dem ised building and the draw ing-
e ffig y are displayed tog ether. The 'd ra w in g ' - i.e. the second body - acts as a su b sti­
tu te envisioning the fu tu re by dem on stra ting the Basilica's body as 'w h o le '. The
draw ing is the m edium projecting the im agination into the dim ension of sem piternal
tim e and allow ing a vision of the absent resurrected body.

Conclusions: architecture never dies

A rchite ctural draw ings no longer in stru ct on ho w to con stru ct, but have becom e pre­
scriptive. Image form ing is conceived as the visualization of a final product. This kind of
representation is a pre-figuration o f literal appearance but not an epiphany, i.e. m o n ­
strance of 'prese nce '. Iconographic draw ing is not a final draw ing or a literal one pro­
viding a photographic image but, rather, a program o f intentions to be revealed - in
tim e - through m aking. A rchite cture is a tw o-b od ied entity. The 'bod y natural', i.e. the
physical building and its tw in , the 'sem pite rna l body', i.e. the draw ing, stand in a rela­
tionship o f signifier and signified. The building's external appearance and essence are
both represented in the draw ing, the tw in persona o f the building.

95
Federica Goffi

A dra w in g so conceived allow s the im agination to g ro w and develop rather

than be fixed. The process o f building - w h e th e r draw ing or building - is not ju st
im posing an idea on m aterial but g ro w in g throu gh it so that m aterial influences the
resu lt rather than m erely receiving it. The re trosp ective and prospective character of
th e design process can be experienced throu gh the in te rm ed iacy o f the draw ing. The
draw ing should articulate the dialogue be tw e e n th e pre -existe nt and the fu tu re
design; som e th in g that does not happen in to d a y's practice w h e re 'as-bu ilts' - in the
form o f m easured draw ings - and design dra w in gs are kept separate. 'R ejoin in g'
the se tw o tem po ral con ditions throu gh 'm e ta p h o ric transp are ncy' allow s fo r a real
'tra n s-fo rm a tio n ' of the building entailing co n tin u ity o f id en tity. 'True fo rm ' - in Renais­
sance draw ings - is not literal figuration of on e's appearance. D raw ing is epiphanic
d e m on stra tion , providing a m o m e n t o f sudden revelation and insight into the essence
of a building. The role o f draw ings is central in the ritual shaping o f the 'm e m o ry of
th e fu tu re '.

Notes

1 Royal effigies w ere displayed during funeral rites for the first tim e in England in 1327
(Kantorowicz, 1981).
2 Ginzburg, 2001.
3 It is the function and duty of lineaments, then, to prescribe an appropriate
place, exact numbers, a proper scale, and a graceful order for whole buildings
and for each of their constituents parts, so that the whole form and appear­
ance of the building may depend on the lineaments alone.
(Alberti, 1997, I, 1r 4-4v)

4 Vitruvio, De Architectura, Book I, 2, 2 (1997).

5 Plato, Republic, 1998.
6 The drawing, currently preserved in the AFSP in the Vatican, located w ithin Veron­
ica's pier, is mounted on a w ood board. The drawing was restored by Mario Tiburzi, a
master restorer from the BAV, in 1992-1993 (Notiziario Mensile della Basilica di San
Pietro Anno VI, Gennaio 1994, N.1, p. 2).
7 Tiberio Alfarano, born in Gerace, was Beneficiary Clerk of Saint Peter's Basilica from
1567 until 1596 when he died. Very little is known of his life before arriving at Saint
Peter's. By 1544, Alfarano was in Rome and by 1556 he lived in a house w ithin the
Basilica's precincts (Cerrati, 1914).
8 The manuscript was donated in 1582 to Pope Gregorius XIII (BAV, Vatic. Lat. 9904).
9 Alfarano provides three summaries of the original manuscript, entitled: Forma sacro-
sanctae Basilicae Beati Petri Principis Apostolorum a Tiberio Alpharano descripta cum
catalogo rerum celebrium ut facile quisque per elementa alphabetica e t numeros
omnia dignoscere posit (BAV, Barberini lat. 2362; Cerrati, 1914).
10 Michelangelo's dome was completed in 1590. In 1607, Carlo Maderno won the
com petition for the addition of the eastern arm. New Saint Peter's was consecrated
in 1626.
11 Apollonj Ghetti e t a!., 1951.
12 Alfarano used the roman Palm (22.3422 cm) as unit measure. The plan is at the scale
of 1:385 (Silvan, 1992).
13 Alfarano, 1582, 1914.

96
 Architecture's tw inned body

14 Saint Paul I Corinthians 9:24-25.

15 Barbara latta, Director of the Gabinetto delle Stampe (BAV), identified Veronica's veil
as a 'bulino' (February 2006).
16 Monsignor Vittorio Lanzani, Delegato della Fabbrica di San Pietro, explained that the
reference to Veronica's icon is purely symbolic and that it does not belong to the rig­
orous iconographic tradition (February, 2006).
17 Kantorowitcz, 1957, Ch. V, I, pp. 194-206.
18 The 'Church' as 'corpus Christi' was represented through organological metaphors
denoting the unity of the head and members into one body. This metaphor goes
back to Saint Paul and was incorporated into Augustine's theory of the Church
(Grabowski, 1957).
19 The Doctrine of transubstantiation expressed in the Dogma of transubstantiation
(1215) officially designates the Eucharistic body as 'corpus verum'.
20 Just like w ith the Eucharist, the visible signs are bread and wine, the inward invisible
reality is the presence of Christ. The problem of representation is resolved by means
of similitude, not likeness.
21 Notiziario Mensile della Basilica di San Pietro, Anno VI - Gennaio 1994 - N.1.
22 Morello, 1993; Belting, 1984.
23 Belting, 1994.
24 The visible head of the mystical body of Christ was the Roman Pontiff.
25 Morello, 1993, p. 156.
26 He was the head of the Congregation of Cardinals overseeing the renovation
(Robertson, 1992).
27 The Crown and the 'mystical body' w ere comparable entities (Kantorowicz, 1959).
28 From the Latin intactus, from in - 'not' + tactus, past participle of tangere 'touch'.
29 M em ory thus had a retrospective and, curious as it sounds a prospective char­
acter. Its object was not only what had happened but what was promised.
Outside of religion, this kind of consciousness of tim e has become remote
to us.
(Belting, H. 1994)

30 Pinelli, 2000.
31 Readon, 2004.
32 Robertson, 1992.

Bibliography

Leon Battista Alberti, On the A rt o f Building in Ten Books, translated by Joseph Rykwert,
Neil Leach and Robert Tavemor, MIT Press, 1997 [1452].
Tiberii Alpharani, De Basilicae Vaticanae antiquissima e t nova structura, introduction by
Michele Cerrati, Tipografia Poliglotta Vaticana, 1914 [1582].
B.M. Apollonj Ghetti, A. Ferrua, E. Josi and E. Kirschbaum, Esplorazioni sotto la Confessione
di San Pietro in Vaticano eseguite negli anni 1940-1949, Tipografia Poliglotta Vati­
cana, 1951.
Hans Belting, Likeness and Presence: a History o f the Image Before the Era o f Art, Univer­
sity of Chicago Press, 1994.
Sible de Blaauw, Cultus e t decor. Liturgia e architettura nella Roma tardoantica e medievale:
Basilica Salvatoris, Sanctae Mariae, Sancti Petri, 2 vols, Citta' del Vaticano, 1994.
Pavel Florensky, Iconostasis, St Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1997.
Stanislaus Grabowski, The Church: an Introduction to the Theology o f St. Augustine, St.
Louis and London, 1957.

97
Federica Goffi

Carlo Ginzburg, Wooden Eyes: Nine Reflections on Distance, Columbia University Press,
2001 [1998].
Anthony Harvey and Richard Mortim er. The Funeral Effigies o f W estm inster Abbey, Boydell
& Brewer, 2003.
Ernst Kantorowitcz, The King's Two Bodies: a Study in Medieval Political Theology, Prince­
ton University Press, 1981 [1957].
Giovanni Morello, Vatican Treasures: 2000 Years o f A rt and Culture in the Vatican and Italy,
Electa, 1993.
Antonio Pinelli, The Basilica o f St. Peter in the Vatican, Edizioni Panini, 2000.
Plato, Republic, Oxford University Press, 1998.
W endy Readon, The Deaths o f the Popes, McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2004.
Clare Robertson, II Gran Cardinale Alessandro Farnese Patron o f the Arts, Yale University
Press, 1992.
Vitruvius. The Ten Books on Architecture, Dover Publications, 1960.

98
 Translucent and fluid
Piranesi's im possible plan

Teresa Stopparli

Introduction

In the m id-eighteenth century, Giovanni Battista Piranesi's oeuvre produced a fierce

visual attack th a t unsettled, once and fo r all, the stability o f the classical language of
architecture. N either theoretical treatise as intellectual m an ifesto (Alberti), nor self-
prom otional catalogue of innovative architectural designs (Palladio), the strength of
Piranesi's w o rk resides in its being a graphic visual m anifesto: his re-conception of
architecture operates through a series of p o w e rfu l im ages, w h ich still remain active
and resonate today in contem porary architectural discourse and practices.
R econsidered as a variegated and non-contradictory w h ole , Piranesi's w o rk
proposes a ne w idea o f space. Reading and reactivating the urban space in a critical
dim ension, it explores the spatial and tem po ral com p le xity o f the 'd iffic u lt com plica­
tions, alternations, and sup erp ositio ns' (Deleuze and Guattari) of the d iffe re n t forces at
w o rk in the space of the city.
B etw e en 1741 and 1743, Giovanni Battista Nolli prepared his fam ous
Topografia di Roma. The Nolli plan is all about clear distinctions, lines th a t divide, coded
representation of scaled and m easurable elem ents. Its lines are perem ptory, solid
black ink conceals the articulation o f private spaces. In the sam e years, Piranesi's
w o rks proposed a city m ade of fragm e nts th a t becom e available m aterials, can be dis­
located, m anipulated, cloned and endlessly m utated. They are used to inhabit - rather
than form , define or control - the experim ental space of an im possible Rome, in w hich
the historical city is alm ost entirely dissolved and replaced by the extraordinary conges­
tion of fragm ents. Both spatial and tem poral relations are con stantly renegotiated on
an uncontrollable fluid ground th a t defies any Cartesian m easurem ents and opens up
possible d e finitions of surface as space.

99
Teresa Stopparli

Translucent and fluid

'Translucent and flu id ' is an allusive title. It intends to place this chapter in relation to
both its object (or plurality o f objects) and to its w ays o f approaching it. The object is - in
a m ediated and indirect w ay - the idea o f the city and the tre a tm e n t of the city (Rome)
in Giovanni Battista Piranesi's etchings. The approach intends to situate itself not in the
am bit o f the urban studies or in the history of the representation o f the city, but in the
con text of those critical w o rks in the theory of architecture that operate (in particular,
but not only) be tw ee n history (M anfredo Tafuri) and criticism (Jennifer Bloomer).
'Translucent' is used by Jen nife r B lo om e r1 in relation to Piranesi's plan of
the A m p io e M ag nifico Collegio (1750), w h ich she reads as a partly transparent hori­
zontal section th a t veils and at the sam e tim e suggests - screens - possible depths
and three-dim ensional expansions. Here the plan of the 'b uild ing ' is not a given and
non-negotiable solid starting ground, but a precarious sectioning surface, thin ne r than
the paper it is im pressed upon. 'Fluid' refers to M anfredo T afuri's analysis of the
spatiality of Piranesi's Campo M arzio dell'A ntica Roma (1762).2 For Tafuri

the 'triu m p h of the fra g m e n t' . .. dom inates the form le ss tangle o f the spu­
rious organism s of the Cam po Marzio. ... [the Campo Marzio] takes on the
appearance of a hom ogeneous m agnetic field jam m ed w ith objects having
nothing to do w ith each other. ... [this produces] a kind of typological negation,
an 'architectural banquet of nausea', a sem antic void created by an excess of
visual noise.3

Here w ith 'tra n slu ce n t' and 'flu id ' I do not refer to the Collegio or the Campo Marzio,
but to oth er w o rks that preceded the Cam po M arzio anticipating, outside the defined
fo rm a t o f the plan (of a building or a city), the dissolution of space th a t characterizes
the Cam po M arzio. Tafuri em phasizes the chronological progression o f the dissolution
o f form in Piranesi's w o rk, form the architectural ob je ct and its representation in the
Carceri (firs t state c.1750, second state c. 1761) and in the Collegio, to the city in the
congested and ye t fluid urban field that is the Campo Marzio. Here I focus instead on
the transitional phase o f Piranesi's w o rk on Rome, contem porary to the firs t state of
the Carceri and to the Collegio.
Piranesi's Rome, beyond the representation o f the pre sen t and the recon­
struction of the past, is a site of exp erim entation fo r the production of a n e w idea of
space. This project is m odern: w h ile it uses both broken and (re)invented elem e nts of
classical Rome, it does not speak its language, con stru cting instead a chaotic prolifera­
tion o f fragm e nts, partial overlaps and broken axes as a tool o f urban design. And w h ile
it breaks from the rules o f the classical order o f the city, this project is also far
rem oved from - and far ahead o f - the statically ordered (functional zoning) and dynam ­
ically infrastructured (transportation) city of the M odern m ove m en t. It is this crucial dif­
ference th a t the young Le C orbusier does not understand, or refuses to see, rem aining
critically dism issive of this 'o th e r' possibility fo r the m odern city, w h ich threatens the
making o f his ow n 'radian t' city 'o f to m o rro w '.4

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All the reconstructions of Piranesi, the Rome plan, and the tight-rope co m ­
positions that have so dreadfully served the Ecole des Beaux A rts are
nothing but porticoes, colonnades and obelisques! It's crazy. It's ghastly,
ugly, im becilic. It is not grand, m ake no m istake about th a t.5

Le Corbusier sees only objects in Piranesi, and fails to consider the fluid space in
w h ich they float, an inconvenient open question fo r both classicism (including its
Beaux A rts epigones) and fo r Le C orbusier's 'to m o rro w '.

Re-reading Piranesi

Suspended, unresolved, con ven ien tly ignored by the M odern, in stru m en ta lly and
reductively appropriated by architectural po stm o de rnism , the questions opened by
Piranesi's past still (and again) o ffe r grounds fo r investigation to critical architectural
thinking. In particular, a contem porary re-exam ination of Piranesi's critique o f the clas­
sical language of architecture and o f urban space m ay suggest a reading that, going
beyond the crisis o f languages, m arks the curre nt sh ift in architecture from the d e fin i­
tion of form to the ongoing w o rking s of its m ateriality. A re-reading of Piranesi's w o rk
allow s the id en tification in the crisis o f the classical, the possibilities already at w o rk of
an architecture of becom ing: an architecture beyond form , w h ich w o rks w ith change
and m ateriality.
Relegated by historical circum stances to operate m ostly on paper, m ainly
through the m edium o f copper engravure, Piranesi's w o rk produced through its im ages
a graphic denunciation of the status of architecture at the tim e . Free to exp erim e nt on
paper, Piranesi explored the lim its o f the classical language o f architecture, taking it to
its extrem e s w ith the production of paroxystic and im possible spaces th a t defied and
contradicted the w ell-established notions of type, com position, proportion th a t regu­
lated the canons of architecture. Piranesi uses that language, applies the rules of the
architectural orders and breaks them to e m p ty the m o f th e ir m eaning and sym bolic
value. He applies the rules of representation to go beyond representation: the spaces
he represents are at tim es im possible; the m edium o f representation and its conven­
tions are challenged; the space o f representation, detached from that of m aterial pro­
duction, becom es the space fo r the production (construction) o f ideas. Perspective, in
particular, is used to represent im possible 'in te rio rs', be they building interiors or urban
interiors; the idea of section - including the plan as horizontal section - is challenged
and redefined. If the w o rk is confined to operate w ith in the lim its of architectural
representation, its e ffe cts go w e ll beyond representation. Piranesi's im ages represent,
and in representing they con stru ct, a ne w notion of space - open, infinite, changing,
sm ooth, dynam ic - th a t still occupies the e ffo rts and a tten tion o f contem porary archi­
tectural and, m ore in general, spatial practices.
Piranesi's w o rk opens arch itecture 's space to the possibility o f constant
redefinition. His challenges to the classical language produce critical e ffe cts that

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qu e stio n n o t on ly th e p o ssib ilitie s o f language as such, b u t address th e very m aking of

space in a rc h ite c tu re . The q u e s tio n s raised by Piranesi o ve r tw o-a nd -a-ha lf ce n tu rie s
ago rem ain u n a n sw e re d , and are still at w o rk in c o n te m p o ra ry critica l a rch ite ctu ra l
pra ctices th a t a tte m p t to red efin e th e n o tion o f a rch ite ctu ra l space in d yn am ic te rm s .
For th is reason, P iranesi's w o rk has been re p e a te d ly a d dre ssed by d iffe re n t discou rses
beyond tra d itio n a l art and a rc h ite c tu re histo rio g ra p h y, and has been used e ve ry tim e to
challenge e sta b lish e d canons, c e rta in tie s or d isciplin ary divisio ns. From film th e o ry
(E isenstein), to lite ra ry c riticism (Yourcenar), fro m a rch ite ctu ra l critica l h is to ry (Tafuri),
to a rch ite ctu ra l design (Allen, Eisenm an), to - m ore re ce n tly - critica l th e o ry opera ting
b e tw e e n lite ra tu re and a rc h ite c tu re (B lo om e r),6 d iffe re n t fo rm s o f d iscou rse have
addressed P iranesi's w o rk as an on go ing co n s tru c tio n o f relational space rathe r than a
d e fin e d o b je ct o f in ve stig a tio n . P ro b le m a tic and un reso lved , th e issu es at play in
Piranesi's disru p tio n and critiq u e o f space rem ain still active , and o f special relevance
w ith in a c o n te m p o ra ry d yn am ic reading space.

Forms and forces (and the city)

In th e ir th e o riza tio n o f the s m o o th and th e stria te d in A Thousand P lateaus,7 D eleuze

and G uattari d e scrib e th e sea as th e s m o o th space par exce lle nce : space o f tra je c t­
ories rathe r than po in ts, space o f lines o f m o v e m e n ts th a t co n n e ct ra th e r than divide,
d ire ctio n a l space rathe r than m e tric or d im e n sio n a l. Filled by e ve n ts m o re tha n by
fo rm e d th in g s, th e sea is in te n sive space, s p a tiu m rathe r than exte nsio . The city is,
instead, th e space o f th e s tria te d : m ea sure d, co n tro lle d , sub divide d and kn o w n . B ut of
cou rse th e d iffe re n c e is n e ve r so clearly d istin g u ish e d , no space is all sm o o th n e s s , no
space is all s tria tio n . A nd w h ile th e sea u n de rgoe s stria tio n s, th e c ity is indeed the
space o f c o m p le x ity and co-p rese nce o f th e s m o o th and th e stria te d . W h a t d e fin e s
and d e te rm in e s th e s tria tio n o f th e city, w h a t d iffe re n tia te s it fro m th e space o f the
sea, is m a in ly th e nature and tre a tm e n t o f its surface. It is in th e nature and in th e
d e fin itio n o f th e surface th a t p ro b le m s begin and c o m p le x itie s un fold . It is th e surface
o f th e city th a t is s tria te d : a space in w h ic h 'o n e clo ses o ff a surface and "a llo c a te s "
it according to d e te rm in a te intervals, assign ed b re aks', w h ile in th e s m o o th 'one
"d is trib u te s " o n e s e lf in an open space, acco rding to fre q u e n c ie s and in th e course of
o n e 's cro ssin g s ' .8
It is on th e g ro un ds o f th is d is tin c tio n , and o f th e a m b ig u itie s and co n ta m i­
na tion s th a t it im p lie s, th a t it is po ssib le to pro po se a re-e xam in atio n o f th e m aking of
th e space o f th e c ity in P iranesi's oeuvre, his e tch in g s o f a surve yed , m ea sure d, bu t
also re in te rp re te d and re in ve n te d Rom e. Deleuze and G u a tta ri's un d e rsta n d in g of
s m o o th space and stria te d space and th e ir idea o f s m o o th voyage a llo w th e re-opening
o f P iranesi's critiq u e o f th e classical language o f a rc h ite c tu re and o f urban space in a
d ire ctio n th a t is still active today. Deleuze and G uattari re p e a te d ly m aintain th a t a clear
d is tin c tio n o f s m o o th and stria te d spaces is po ssib le on ly in th e o ry, w h ile th e y are
alw a ys m a n ife s te d in a m ix tu re o f bo th. O rigina te d fro m an initial stria tio n , th e c ity is in

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fa c t such a m ixtu re , co m b in in g in its ord ers a lw a ys both kinds o f spaces. The 'R o m a n '
w o rk s o f Piranesi all b u t reveal th is in trin sic nature o f th e urban space. P iranesi's Rom e
and its su rro u n d in g s, a m u ltip le c ity m ade o f pa st and p re se n t, ne ver e x is t as a
resolved, flat, sta tic plane, b u t a lw a ys 'b e c o m e ': dyn am ic, layered, fra g m e n te d , th e y
w o rk on a surface th a t is an a m b ig u o u s space o f te n sio n , ne ver p o ssib ly reso lve d by a
d ividing line (the black fig u re on th e w h ite gro un d o f th e N olli plan). It is fo r its tre a t­
m e n t (or m aking) o f space th a t P iranesi's w o rk rem a ins sig n ific a n tly placed in a rc h ite c ­
ture, d a ng erou sly and p ro vo ca tive ly su sp en de d b e tw e e n th e classical language and its
rup tu re, b e tw e e n an e n clo sed urban space and th e p ro life ra tio n o f th e fo rm le s s - no t
on ly on an o u tsid e d e fin e d and e xclu d e d by w a lls, b u t also w ith in , inside, un de rnea th
th e actual and visible stru c tu re d ord e r o f th e city. It is th e re fo re po ssib le to re-engage
th e m o d e rn ity (in th e sense o f a to p ica l and co n te m p o ra ry critica lity) o f P iranesi's w o rk,
fo r its reading and rea ctivatio n o f urban space in a critica l dim e n sio n . Piranesi can
th e re fo re be reco n sid e re d no t on ly as a critic o f th e classical ord e r o f a rch ite ctu re ,
b u t as an in te rp re te r o f th e c o n flic ts already e m b e d d e d in th e o rd e r o f th e historical
city, b e fore its co n te m p o ra ry exp lo sion . O ve r tw o-a nd -a-ha lf c e n tu rie s ago, Piranesi
w a s already e xp lo ring th e spatial and te m p o ra l c o m p le x ity o f th e 'd iffic u lt c o m p lic a ­
tio n s, a lte rna tions, and s u p e rp o s itio n s '9 o f th e d iffe re n t fo rc e s at w o rk in th e space o f
th e city.

The sm oothing voyage

To th in k is to voyage. . . . W h a t d istin g u ish e s [sm o o th and s tria te d ] voyages

is n e ith e r a m ea sura ble q u a n tity o f m o v e m e n t, nor s o m e th in g th a t w o u ld
be on ly in th e m in d, b u t th e m o d e o f spatialization, th e m a n n e r o f being in
space. . .. V oyaging s m o o th ly is a b e co m in g , and a d iffic u lt, uncertain
b e co m in g a t th a t.10

Beyond th e sp e c ific s o f th e occasion, the typ e o f th e building, th e scale and th e kind o f

re p re se n ta tio n - v ie w o f the city or c ity plan, plan or p e rsp e ctive o f an in te rio r space -
P iranesi's w o rk s a lw a ys in tro d u ce a te n sio n in th e sy s te m o f classical space, be it th a t
o f th e city or o f th e bu ild in g. U n se ttlin g classical orders, p re se n tin g a rch ite ctu ra l in te ri­
ors th a t are a lw a ys in c o m p le te and ne ver qu ite d e fin e d in th e ir lim its, in ve n tin g s tru c ­
tu re s o f ce n trip e ta l and po ssib ly in fin ite expansion, re p re se n tin g a city o f p ro life ra tin g
fra g m e n ts , Piranesi in tro d u ce s th e notion o f 'm o v e m e n t' as c o m m o n d e n o m in a to r o f
his oeuvre. A rc h ite c tu re w ill ne ver be still again. A nd th e m o v e m e n ts stag ed in it are of
d iffe re n t orders.
In th e ir d e fin itio n s o f s m o o th and s tria te d spaces, D eleuze and G uattari
o ffe r a po ssib le reading o f space in te rm s o f m o v e m e n t. Space is n o t d e fin e d by the
fig u re s th a t it pro du ces or by th e o b je cts th a t o ccu p y it, bu t by th e fo rc e s th a t are at
play in it. Space is th u s characterized by th e m o v e m e n t th a t occu rs in it, by 'vo ya g e '
rather than stasis. S m o o th and stria te d natures do no t o ccu r in d iffe re n t places, are no t

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m u tu a lly e xclusive , do no t take shape; th e y c o e xist, no t in th e fo rm th a t th e space

takes, b u t in th e kind o f m o v e m e n ts th a t occu r in it: in th e voyage. The co m p lica tio n s
and m ixtu re s o f sm o o th and striated spaces a lw a ys bring in to play 'd is s y m m e tric a l
m o v e m e n ts ', 'd iffe re n tia ls o f speed, delays and a cce le ration s, changes in orie n ta tio n ,
c o n tin u o u s v a ria tio n s '.11 The s m o o th n e s s o f a space does n o t reside in its o b je cts or in
its resolved c o m p o s itio n , b u t in th e m o v e m e n ts th a t read, inhabit, in cur in it.
In P iranesi's case, th e o b je c ts and th e language he e m p lo ys rem ain appar­
e n tly classical, e le m e n ts o f an esta b lish e d tra d itio n o f a re d isco ve re d a n tiq u ity. B ut
th e ir c o m p o s itio n , rather tha n rep ea ting given paradigm s, p ro d u ce s un reso lved te n ­
sions and trig g e rs an exp lo sion o f fra g m e n ts th a t qu e stio n the va lid ity o f any e sta b ­
lished order. It is th ro u g h s m o o th m o v e m e n t, by in tro d u cin g 'n o m a d ic tra n s it in
s m o o th spa ce' in to th e stria te d space o f th e e xp lo re d classical c ity and its a rch ite ctu re ,
th a t Piranesi u n s e ttle s th e ir a u th o rity and th e le g itim a cy o f th e ir origin, s e ttin g uneasy
g ro un ds fo r an a rch ite ctu re th a t o p era te s as (self-)critical disciplin e.
To do so, Piranesi uses th e to o ls o f his w o rk , th e u n b u ilt a rc h ite c tu re o f the
d ra w in g and the etch ing , th e plan and th e v ie w : lines, cross-h atching, in fill, shading,
chiaro scuro are used to d e fin e the c o n s titu e n t e le m e n ts o f his spaces and to charac­
terize th e in ha bitan ts o f th e se spaces. The nature o f a space is th u s d e te rm in e d by the
m o v e m e n ts th a t op era te in it, and th e se o ccu r on tw o levels in P iranesi's im a ge s. On
th e one hand, his use o f th e te ch n iq u e s o f re p re se n ta tio n - th e s tru c tu re o f th e im age,
th e p e rsp e ctiva l c o n s tru c tio n , th e d ra w in g and e tch in g te ch n iq u e s - c o n s tru c ts spaces
th a t upon care fu l e xa m in ation o fte n reveal th e m s e lv e s to be in c o m p le te , im p o ssib le or
d is to rte d ; and th e y are re p re se n te d by a line th a t m o ve s - d ra w s, scratche s, etch es,
in cises - at d iffe re n t spe ed s, w ith d iffe re n t levels o f pre cisio n or in te n tio n a l blur. On
th e o th e r hand, o fte n unusual or inexp lica ble p re se n ce s po pu late his im ages: ob je cts,
props, m ach in es, hum an be in gs and in de finab le cre a tu re s are, m o re than 'a cce s­
so rie s', c o m p le m e n ts to th e a rc h ite c tu re and in te gra l parts o f th e s tru c tu re o f the
space re p re se n te d in th e im age. M o v e m e n t, in o th e r w o rd s , is no t lite rally re p re se n ­
ted, b u t it is th o u g h t, su g g e ste d by th e c o n s tru c tio n o f th e lines and by th e in ha bitatio n
o f space - by in an im ate o b je cts, m ach in es or living creatures.

No figure no ground (the Nolli plan)

B e tw e e n 1741 and 1743, G iovanni B attista N olli prepared his fa m o u s Topografía di

Roma, pu blishe d in 1748. In th e se years Piranesi collab ora te d w ith N olli to prepare a
reduced version o f the plan (the so-called S m a ll Nolli) acco m pa nie d by v ie w s o f Rom an
m o n u m e n ts and m o n u m e n ta l site s. The sm all plan, c o n ta in in g an alph abe tically
ord ere d table o f c o n te n ts , is in te n d e d to bo th acco m p a n y th e Large N o lli a n d/or be an
in d e p e n d e n t - and cheaper, and th e re fo re c o m m e rc ia lly m ore viable - publication.
The N olli plan is th e fu n d a m e n ta l d o c u m e n ta ry re p re se n ta tio n o f Rom e,
based on first-han d surve ys bu t also in co rp o ra tin g th e w e a lth o f m apping e ffo rts and
p ro d u ctio n s th a t had p re vio u sly re p re se n te d and co d ifie d th e city. For its cla rity and

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accuracy, the Nolli plan becom es 'th e ' plan of Rome, to w h ich w e still turn today for an
understanding of the historical city. And yet this plan is not only a representation, but
also a clear editing project of exclusions, om issions and rectifications.
Beyond its object - Rom e - the Nolli plan is also a fundam ental elem e nt of
reference and definition in urban cartography. R epresentation, in it, is alw ays not only
the result of the gathering, preparation and presentation o f inform ation, but also an
e xp licit decision (de-cidere, in the sense of division). N olli's plan results from a scie n t­
ific survey, it unifies and system atizes the existing, it produces an order, a taxonom y.
Space is divided and divisible, m easured fo r archaeological, com m ercial, political and
land-revenue purposes. It defines a w h o le - closed and finished - and its parts - finite
and com m ensurable. It is a project of striation. It reconciles the sem i-lost and broken
a ntiquity (in darker shade) w ith the present baroque edifice (lighter) in one tem porarily
established frozen fo rm . The Nolli plan operates at a (relatively) fixed level to cut its
horizontal sections. W ith equal precision - pe rem p to ry m ore than accurate - the lines
in the Nolli plan divide and conceal. The plan represents public space, w h ile it o b lite r­
ates or hides the private. Urban interiors, stairs, courtyards o f palaces are assigned to
the public, and the re fore represented in w h ite . But the fu rth e r articulation o f the
com plex urban space th a t Rom e is, is reduced to a series of pe rem ptory thresholds.
There is no room here fo r grey areas.
In his analysis o f the articulation of spaces in Piranesi's Campo Marzio,
Peter Eisenm an points o u t that

the Nolli plan has today becom e the icon o f an architectural fundam entalism
w h ich calls itse lf N ew Urbanism . It represents an idea of original truth, of a
m o m e n t in tim e th a t uses this m o m e n t in the eighteenth century as a
badge o f a u then ticity to authorize w o rk in the present. The Nolli map w as a
literal projection o f Rome as it w as in the eighteenth century. On the other
hand, the Campo M arzio has little to do w ith representing a literal place or
an actual tim e . The Campo M arzio is a fabric of traces, a w eaving of fact
and fic tio n .12

Here I w a n t to suggest th a t in his contribution to the Sm all N o lli plan, Piranesi antici­
pates the 'flu id ity o f sp a ce '13 of the Campo Marzio. In the small plan, Nolli is respons­
ible fo r the reduced version of his ow n cartography, w h ile Piranesi is to surround it
w ith a series o f vie w s o f Rome. Piranesi's perspectival renderings, arranged around
N olli's plan, anticipate a breaking o f the urban space and a reconstructed fictional con­
tin u ity that does not find any correspondence in N olli's w o rk, but produce an 'o th e r'
space. Nolli m easures (scale plan), orientates (com pass rose), perim eters (city walls),
distinguishes - at the territorial scale b e tw ee n bu ilt and unbuilt, urbs and ager, at city
scale, be tw ee n public and private as ground and figure, flatten s, reducing everything to
the plane of a the oretica l horizontal section at ground level. On the m argins of the
Sm all N o lli plan, Piranesi reassem bles an im possible Rom e of Baroque and antique
m on um ents, w h o se reinvented pro xim ity is made possible by the disto rtion and co m ­
position of m ultiple perspectives. The given order of the city here is destroyed, in

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fa vo u r o f a sy n o p tic and partial v ie w th a t clashes and ja m s to g e th e r d iffe re n t tim e s,

scales, spe ed s o f m o v e m e n t. T heir n e w c o m p o s itio n , d e fia n tly ju xta p o se d to N o lli's
'c o rre c t' b u t o b lite ra te d plan, se e m s to challenge th e d is tin c tio n o f public and private:
c o n ve rg in g p e rsp e ctive s c o n s tru c t in tim a te spaces instead o f illu stra tin g linear axes,
angled v ie w s le t in te rio r private spaces s h o w th ro u g h . The e le m e n ts o f th e Classical
and th e Baroque R om e are here glued to g e th e r in a s o ft m u d d y gro un d o ffe re d by th e
broken a n tiq u itie s: collapsed stru c tu re s and abandoned fra g m e n ts , half-sunk rem ains
o f a n cie n t bu ild in gs, th e m ud th a t s w a llo w s th e m , th e m in u scu le quasi-hum an crea­
tu re s th a t po p u la te lig h tly (floating, surfacing ) th is s o ft gro un d. P iranesi's lines - thin,
broken, rapid, m u ltip le - c o n fu se , un ite, c o m b in e e le m e n ts in a s o ft and changing
space th a t a n ticip a te s th e 'flu id ity o f fo rm s ' (Eisenstein) o f th e Carceri. The v ie w s by
Piranesi a cco m p a n y th e N olli plan, bu t th e y an ticip ate, w ith th e ir m u ltip le and fra g ­
m e n te d p e rsp e ctive s, w h a t Piranesi w ill do a fe w years later, w ith his plan o f a fa n ta s­
tic R om e in th e Cam po M a rzio d e ll'a n tica Roma.
On th e m arg ins o f N o lli's fig u re /g ro u n d p ro je ctio n , Piranesi in sinu ates
a n o th e r w a y o f con ceiving , th in kin g , reco rdin g th e city. It is w h a t E isenm an calls, in the
C am po M a rzio , th e 'fig u re /fig u re u rb a n ism ', w h ic h 'd o e s n o t give prim a cy to the
gro un d as an original instance or d a tu m . Rather, th e gro un d b e co m e s and in te rs titia l
trace b e tw e e n o b je cts, w h ic h are also tra ce s in bo th tim e and s p a c e .'14
The Nolli plan p re se n ts a series o f d e lib era te and strong choices, exp resse d
w ith equally strong gra ph ics. The re p re se n ta tio n o f th e city, lim ite d to th e plan, is
d e fin e d by s tro n g o p p o s itio n s : solid and void, private and public, black and w h ite .

C u ria T/inocc/i z
cara Jhtte rovi/te tfetù’^infiteatr'c G io v a n n i B attista
P ira n es i, A n tic h ità
Srati/io Tauro •
R o m a n e , V o l. I. Ta v
X III Fig. I. C olo nn a
A n to n in a . D eta il.

106
 Translucent and fluid

There is no room here for any indecision, fo r the interstitial, fo r w h a t Piranesi

represents as a m uddy and never pe rfe ctly fla t ground, fo r the space of overlaps,
adm ixtures and con tinu ities that, beyond architectural M od ern ity, anticipates the
con tem po rary city.

Notes

1 Bloomer, 1993. See, in particular, 'Construction Two: La Pianta di Ampio Magnifico

Collegio', pp. 87-107.
2 Tafuri, 1987 (1980).
3 Ibid., p. 35.
4 Both 'radiant' and 'o f tom orrow ' refer to the titles of tw o key works on urbanism by
Le Corbusier: Urbanisme, Paris: Editions G. Crès & Cie 1924 (translated in English as
The City o f To-morrow and its Planning, New York: Payson & Clarke, 1929) and La
ville radieuse, Paris: Vincent Freal, 1933 (translated in English as The Radiant City,
London: Faber, 1967).
5 Le Corbusier, Fondation Le Corbusier, Boite B.N., c.1919. Quoted in Manfredo Tafuri,
'"M a ch in e et M ém oire": the City in the W ork of Le Corbusier', part 1 in Casabella,
48, 502, May 1984; part 2 in Casabella, 48, 503, June 1984. Also in H. Allen Brooks
(ed.), 1987, pp. 203-218.
6 In film theory: Sergei M. Eisenstein's 'Piranesi, or the Fluidity of Forms', translated
into English first in Oppositions 11, 1978; now in Tafuri, The Sphere and the
Labyrinth, pp. 65-90. In literary criticism: Marguerite Yourcenar, 'The Dark Brain of
Piranesi’, in The Dark Brain o f Piranesi and O ther Essays, Henley-on-Thames: Aidan
Ellis, 1985, pp. 88-128. In architectural critical history: Manfredo Tafuri, ' "The W icked
A rchitect": G.B. Piranesi, Heterotopia, and the Voyage' and 'The Historicity of the
Avant-Garde: Piranesi and Eisenstein', in Manfredo Tafuri, The Sphere and the
Labyrinth, pp. 25-64. In architectural design: Stan Allen, 'Piranesi's Campo Marzio: an
Experimental Design', Assemblage 10, 1989, pp. 70-109. In critical theory, working
between literature and architecture, in Jennifer Bloomer, Architecture and the Text.
7 Deleuze and Guattari, 1988 (M ille Plateaux, 1980). In particular '1440: the Smooth and
the Striated', pp. 474-500.
8 Ibid., p. 481; my emphasis.
9 Ibid., p. 481.
10 Ibid., p. 482.
11 Ibid., p. 482.
12 Eisenman, 2006, p. 40.
13 To paraphrase Eisenstein's 'Piranesi, or the Fluidity of Forms'.
14 Eisenman, 2006, p. 40.

Bibliography

Stan Allen, 'Piranesi's Campo Marzio: an Experimental Design', Assemblage 10, 1989, pp.
70-109.
Jennifer Bloomer, Architecture and the Text: the (S)crypts o f Joyce and Piranesi, New
Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1993.
G. Deleuze and F. Guattari, A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism & Schizophrenia, London: the
Athlone Press, 1988, p. 482.

107
Teresa Stopparli

Peter Eisenman, Feints (Silvio Cassar£, ed.), Milan: Skira 2006.

Sergei M. Eisenstein, 'Piranesi, or the Fluidity of Forms', Oppositions 11, 1978. Republished
in Tafuri, The Sphere and the Labyrinth, pp. 65-90.
Luigi Ficacci, Piranesi: the Complete Etchings, Cologne: Taschen 2000.
Teresa Stoppani, 'Voyaging in Piranesi's Space: a Contemporary Re-reading of the Begin­
nings of M odernity', Haecceity Papers, Vol. 1/issue 2, Spring 2006, "W hat Now Archi­
tecture?", pp. 32-54. Online, available At: haecceityinc.com (accessed: 1 October
2006).
Manfredo Tafuri, The Sphere and the Labyrinth: Avant-Gardes and Architecture from
Piranesi to the 1970s, London and Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1987 (1980).
Manfredo Tafuri, ' "M achine et M em oire": the City in the W ork of Le Corbusier', in H. Allen
Brooks (ed.), Le Corbusier: the Garland Essays, New York and London: Garland, 1987,
pp. 203-218.
John Wilton-Ely, Piranesi: the Complete Etchings, Cologne: Alan W ofsy Fine Arts, 1992.
Marguerite Yourcenar, 'The Dark Brain of Piranesi', The Dark Brain o f Piranesi and O ther
Essays, Henley-on-Thames: Aidan Ellis, 1985, pp. 88-128.

108
Contemplating the
unfinished
Nicholas Tem ple and Soum yen Bandyopadhyay

Introduction

This chapter considers the unfinished as a cultural and historical idea, in the light of the
con tem po rary pre-occupation w ith the finished state as the only viable m ode of
representation. In our age that gives ove rw h e lm in g priority to the m anipulative te ch ­
niques in im age production - w ith the ir affectatio ns of unalterable com pletion - it is
e xtrem e ly d iffic u lt to find situations w h ere the processes o f em e rg e n t form can be
'm easu red ', experientially, through m om e ntary encounter or con tem plative obser­
vance. W ith o u t the am biguity that the unfinished furnishes in human experience, as
w e w itn e ss fo r exam ple in a building under con stru ction or the perform ance o f an
incom plete sym phony, the receptiveness to ne w possibilities is prem aturely circu m ­
vented fo r the sake o f efficie ncy and constancy.
The enquiry raises questions about w h e th e r certain exam ples of the past
can give us a be tte r understanding of ho w to envisage change in the contem porary
city, beyond the precipitous con stru cts o f virtual reality and th e ir surplus of prom otional
im ages. The exam ples chosen fo r discussion, tha t include a study of the ruin in early-
sixtee nth-ce ntury Rom e and the 'fa brica ted' ruin in Le C orbusier's India, may at firs t
seem arbitrary. W h ilst taken from very d iffe re n t historical periods and geographical
locations, w e believe these exam ples reveal som ething critical about the role o f the
unfinished in the architectural im agination. This concerns a com m o n underlying them e:
the notion o f the unfinished as a 're d e m p tive ' m etaphor th a t invokes a fu tu re w o rld of
potential reconciliation.
A t the heart of this study is our belief that the dem ise in the creative role of
the unfinished in con tem po rary arch itecture and in culture is sym p to m a tic o f a more
general im p o ve rish m e n t of historical understanding o f urban life. In our desire to
'e m bra ce' the com p le te d artefact, or at least its sem blance, architectural production
closes avenues fo r potential dialogue w ith its historical setting.

109
N. Tem p le and S. Bandyopadhyay

Flux versus stasis

In M ic h e l J e a n n e re t's book. P e rp e tu a l M o tio n , the a u thor cla im s th a t o rd e r in the

R enaissance w a s gu id ed by a p e rp e tu a l state o f b e co m in g , by w h ic h n o tio n s o f the
u n fin ish e d c o n s titu te d a cultu ral co n d itio n fo r re in ve n tio n and re d is c o v e ry .1 He high­
lig h ts h o w lite rary and a rtis tic ideas w e re in a co n tin u a l sta te o f flux, w h e re b y e m e r­
g e n t fo rm re sists a p re m a tu re sta te o f c o m p le tio n o r fixity.
W h ils t Je a n n e re t's a sse rtion reveals a crucial a sp e ct o f R enaissance th in k ­
ing, it only pa rtly explains th e m o tiv a tin g fo rce s th a t in flu e n ce d a rtistic cre a tivity. A
surve y o f the d ra w in g s o f Leonardo da V inci in dica tes a m ore c o m p le x situ a tio n . On
th e one hand, Leonardo re p re se n ts, in his stu d ie s o f landscapes and anim als, the
tu rm o il o f divine crea tion . T hese co n ve y th e u n fin ish e d sta te as a rich re se rvo ir of
e m b ryo n ic fo rm s th a t are co n d u cive to c ro ss-fe rtilisa tio n and translatio n, th e basis of
m im e tic and analogical th in kin g . A t th e sam e tim e , h o w e v e r, Leonardo also so u g h t to
c o d ify th e natural order, as exp re sse d in his stu d ie s o f p ic to g ra p h s .2 The relation
b e tw e e n both m o d e s o f co n ce ivin g the divine o rd e r could be con sid ered in relation to
th e te rm s natura na turan s ('creatin g n a tu re ') and na tura na turata ('cre a te d na ture'). For
th e fo rm e r, nature is co n s tru e d as an active a g e n t - o r im p u ls e - th a t g o vern s all life. In
th e case o f th e la tte r, h o w e ve r, nature has reached its fina l p u rpo se (te lo s ) and th e re ­
fo re b e co m e s m e re e ffe c t.3
W h a t w e see in th e tw o asp ects o f Le o n a rd o 's w o rk is a desire to pre serve
n a tu re 's abundance th ro u g h th e s tru c tu re s o f re p re se n ta tio n . This capacity to 'c o d ify '
th e d ivine ord e r fin d s e xp re ssio n in Le o n a rd o 's p re lim in a ry d ra w in g fo r th e A do ratio n.
H ere, th e gridded p a v e m e n t take s on th e fu n c tio n o f a calibra tion - or 'c a g in g ' - of
space, above w h ic h flo a t g e stu rin g fig u re s unan cho re d to th e terrain th a t lies beneath.
The te n sio n b e tw e e n both reveals s o m e th in g s ig n ific a n t ab ou t R enaissance v ie w s of
order; th e desire to cap ture n a tu re 's m o v e m e n t - its crea tive anim a - in th e n e t o f pic­
torial space. W e are given here a sense o f L e o n ardo 's search fo r m a th e m a tica l or g e o ­
m e tric exa ctn e ss in th e face o f n a tu re 's p e rpe tu al tra n s fo rm a tio n .
This p ro g re ssio n 'to w a rd s ' a c o n c re te w o rld u n de rlie s th e exp e rie n ce o f th e
u n fin ish e d in the R enaissance th a t a ssu m e s cu ltu re its e lf as a 'w o rk -in -p ro g re s s '. A t
th e heart o f th is principle is th e e xp e cta tio n o f a G olden A ge w h e n th e 'fu lln e s s of
tim e ' w ill redeem th e d e s tru c tiv e fo rc e s o f te m p o ra l e xiste n ce . E xpressed in th e w r it­
ings o f h u m a n ists, th is e xp e cta tio n w a s te m p e re d by p e ssim ism ab ou t th e prevailing
c o n d itio n s o f hum an e xiste n ce . W h ils t c o n d e m n in g papal R om e as an e q u iva le n t to
B abylon, Giles o f V iterb o, ch ie f spo kesm a n to Ju liu s II, also sa w th e city re -e m erging
as th e seco nd Je ru s a le m .4 G iles and his Pope be lie ve d th a t th e s h a d o w o f Babylon
could be erased by in stig a tin g C hurch re fo rm th ro u g h th e re n e w a l - o r re n o va tio - of
th e C lassical/B iblical past.
The search fo r w a ys o f m ea surin g th e p ro gre ss o f th is a m b itio u s e n te rp rise
w a s e v id e n t in building w o rk. A t a tim e w h e n th e rem a ins o f Classical a n tiq u ity w e re
being re d isco ve re d and surve yed , th e un de rsta nd ing o f th e ruin as a m e ta p h o r of
fu tu re p o s s ib ilitie s gave im p e tu s to the q u e s t fo r a G olden A ge. T his m eaning w as

110
 Contem plating the unfinished

largely m irrored in the guarded op tim ism o f Giles that the Catholic Church could rise
above the in iquities o f the present.
The redem ptive im plications of the ruin acquired unparalleled sym bolic
im portance during the con stru ction o f the new St P ete r’s Basilica, begun under Julius
II (1503-1513). The building site becam e the subject o f a num ber o f detailed draw ings
by M aerten van H eem skerck. In these, as C hristof Thoenes suggests, the very idea of
sin takes on tangible sig nifica nce .5 In reference to H e em ske rck's draw ing of St P eter's
from the north, Thoenes observes:

The gigantic building seem s quite frail here, as if collapsed, already ancient;
the w e athe red walls, partly covered, partly bare, are stre w n w ith holes for
scaffolding and are raked w ith fu rro w s and grooves. . .. If M artin Luther and
others com pared Rome w ith Babel, then the association w ith the great
to w e r and its collapse m u st have been unavoidable, a "c o m m o n proverbial
exam ple of Superbia rebelling against G o d ."6

O nly by com pleting the project can the taint o f sin be m itigated and ulti­
m ately redeem ed. This idea form s the underlying them e in the Disputa fresco by
Raphael in the Stanza della Segnatura. W e w itn e ss here, in the form of tiers of hem icy-
cles, the assem bly o f angels, prophets, saints and Church fathers centred on Christ
enthroned. O riented tow ards St Peter's Basilica, the fre sco 's com position alludes to a
large apse, evoking the form o f the actual Basilica. This is underlined by the presence of
a large plinth w a ll in the fresco, located on the right-hand side o f the altar. It is conceiv­
able that this w all w as intended to represent part of the w e ste rn apse of the new St
Peter's Basilica, as it w as being constructed during Raphael's execution of the fresco.
Hence, the Disputa could be interpreted at one level as a building site in w hich the ju x­
taposition of gesturing figures and building w o rk serves as a m easure of the progres­
sion tow ards salvation. At the same tim e, the m onolithic w all also evokes the Holy
Tabernacle - the Old Testam ent precursor to the Christian ecclesia - since the concor­
dance b e tw ee n Old and New T estam ents pervades the fre sco 's iconography.7
There is another con stru ction , on the left-hand side o f the altar and located
in the background, as if to balance this architectural feature. Partly surrounded by scaf­
folding, the scene incorporates the con stru ction of a curved ram p (right side), w hose
ascending passage is abruptly term in ated . To understand the possible sym bolic
meaning o f this scene, it is necessary to exam ine the standing figu res positioned
im m ediately in the foreground. Heinrich P feiffer claim s th a t the figure, on the extrem e
left, leaning over a rail w ith back turned to the altar and left hand gesturing tow a rds an
open book, is Donato B ram ante.8 His a tten tion to the book seem s to be m om e ntarily
interrupted by a yo u th fu l standing figure to his right w h o is pointing to the m onstrance
on the altar th a t form s the focus of the fresco. P fe iffe r claim s that this scene refers to
a daring proposal put fo rw a rd by Bram ante to Julius II; to reorient the ne w St P eter's
Basilica on the n o rth -so u th axis so that it w o uld align w ith an ancient obelisk (visible in
the H eem skerck drawing), that originally form ed part o f the earlier Circus of Caligula.
According to popular belief, the orb at the apex of the obelisk contained the ashes of

111
N. Tem ple and S. Bandyopadhyay

D isp uta (D isputatio n

o ver th e Blessed
S acram en t). R aphael
(1 4 8 3 -1 5 2 0 ). V atic an ,
S tan za della
S eg n atu ra .

Julius Caesar.9 A lig n m e n t be tw ee n Basilica and O belisk w as probably inspired by

B ram ante's desire to pro m ote Julius II as the '2nd C aesar'.10 In turning his back to the
altar, Bram ante is de m onstrating his rejection o f w h a t Giles of Viterbo preached: 'M an
m u st be changed by religion not religion by m a n .'11
This arg um e nt leads one to construe the possibility th a t the unfinished
structure in the background w as intended as the sym bolic antitype to the m on olithic
w all on the right-hand side. Given the allusion to Rome as sim ultaneously Jerusalem
and Babylon, in the w ritin g s of Giles o f V iterbo (one of the hum anists incidentally w h o
is credited w ith conceiving the iconography o f this fresco), could w e not construe that
the scene represents the con stru ction of the T ow e r o f Babel - or at least a stage in its
erection le ft in lim bo in a ckn o w le d g e m e n t o f B ram ante's ow n conversio through his
reorientation to the altar? In so doing, the vanity underlying B ram ante's audacious pro­
posal is measured against the vanity o f hum anity generally, as it is co n stitu te d in the
T ow e r of Babel.
From w h a t has been presented so far in the chapter, it seem s clear th a t the
unfinished in Renaissance culture served as a crucial sym bolic device for invoking
h u m an ity's search fo r redem ption through renew al. In this initiative the ruin w as not
seen as a nostalgic relic of som e bygone age, but rather as a m echanism fo r facilitating
fu tu re possibilities.

112
 C on tem platin g th e unfinished

Evocative fragm ents and the 'obsolete in reverse'

J e a n n e re t's e n q u iry in to th e u n fin ish e d as a cu ltu ra l p h e n o m e n o n has im p o rta n t

im p lica tio n s far e xce e d in g th e p a rticular w o rld v ie w o f th e R enaissance, as a reading o f
Le C o rb u sie r's M ill O w n e r's A sso cia tio n (M O A ) b u ild in g in A hm e da ba d, India, w ill n o w
argue. C o rb u sie r's s k e tch e s du rin g his Indian v is its w e re c o m p le x fra g m e n ts recording
h ith e rto u n -e n co u n te re d e xp e rie n ce s, y e t th e ir in c o m p le te n e s s w a s rep le te w ith the
p o s s ib ilitie s o f c o n n e ctio n s. The e x tre m e fra g m e n te d nature o f his te x t en tries, w ith
s u g g e stive co n n e c tio n s co d ifie d in sy m b o ls (e.g. '+ ', '= ') and th e occasional u n d e r­
lined em p ha sis on phrases and w o rd s crea te d a m ulti-pla na r c u b ist te x t, s im u lta n ­
e o u sly fin ite and prosaic, y e t e vo cative and po etic, libera ting space fro m th e co n fin e s
o f s ta g n a n t w o rd s ,12 m aking it d iffic u lt n o t to m isread th e m o s t prosaic o f e n trie s as
p o e tic te x t.13 O f particular in te re s t is th e m a n n e r in w h ic h Le C o rb u sie r s tro ve assid u ­
ou sly to reco ncile th e q u asi-m yth ical w ith th e m a th e m a tic a lly charged fra g m e n ts to
arrive at a unique en co m p a ssin g p o e tics, as if the la tte r w a s th e re s u lta n t o f a m y s te ri­
ous a lch e m ic tra n s fo rm a tio n .14
Equally engaging w a s his tre a tm e n t o f th e a rch ite ctu ra l 'im a g e ' ap pro pria te
fo r th e n e w ly in d e p e n d e n t cou ntry, w h e re he so u g h t to e m b o d y th e a m b itio n o f the
fu tu re in th e 'in c o m p le te '. W h ile arguably such a c o n ce p tio n e m e rg e d o u t o f an e n d u r­
ing p re sen ce in his m in d o f th e A cro p o lis and th e Indian ruins, a crucial d is tin c tio n lay in
his tre a tm e n t o f th e fu tu re , a ffirm in g V la dim ir N a b o ko v's v ie w th a t 'th e fu tu re is bu t
th e o b so le te in re v e rs e '.15 T o g e th e r w ith th e co n scio u s e m p lo y m e n t o f fra g m e n ts , his
A hm e d a b a d p ro je cts m ade use o f th e c o n ce p tio n o f the ruin as a p o w e rfu l exp ression
o f a n e w fu tu re , crea te d by collapsing and fu s in g th e past and the fu tu re in to a single
space o f a se e m in g ly e n tro p y-d e fyin g p re s e n t.16 By d isru p tin g o u r longing fo r c o m ­
ple te n e ss, th e in c o m p le te holds w ith in its e lf both an enhanced indication o f w h a t it
could be co m e , a re su lt o f o u r m in d 's p ro je ctive cast in to th e fu tu re , as w e ll as a sense
th a t it has a lw ays been.

Ruin

The A hm e da ba d p ro je cts exp ress diverse n o tio n s o f th e ruin. The b rise s o le il appears
to have its early m a n ife sta tio n - so it has been s u g g e ste d - in th e u n fu lfille d Carthage
p ro je c t o f 1 9 2 8 .17 Paradoxically, it is in his o b se rva tio n o f life o f th e Indian poor th a t w e
d e te c t its o th e r origin, in an a rte fa c t o f eve ryda y use nearing o b so le sce n ce : th e ta t­
te re d curtain. It provided th e basis fo r th e e ig h t vib ra n t p e rfo ra te d ta p e s trie s o f th e
High C o urt in C handigarh, as w e ll as th e b rise s o le il in A hm e da ba d. The c o n n e c tio n -
a t least in Le C o rb u sie r's m in d - b e tw e e n th e brise s o le il and th e fragile piece o f fabric
o ffe rin g 'an Indian (brand of) H e raclite c o m fo r t'18 p o in ts to th e esse n tia lly 'extra-
a rc h ite c tu ra l' na ture o f th e scree n and parallels th e origin o f Indian a rc h ite c tu re itse lf, in
th e rock-cu t caves o f w e s te rn India - in w h ic h L u tyens failed to fin d any a rch itectura l
m e rit, at all.

113
N. Tem p le and S. Bandyopadhyay

M O A and Sodhan H ouse are o v e rt e m b o d im e n ts o f th is idea o f th e brise

s o le il as ruin, bo th exp lo ring fu rth e r h o w th is co n d itio n w e a ve s into, expands or even
in te rru p ts th e day-to-day in ha bitatio n o f th e se bu ild in gs. A t M O A th e facade breaks
d o w n to crea te a ru stica te d cave rno us zone o f tra n sitio n , m ade even m o re rugged
th ro u g h the stro n g A hm e da ba d sun, recalling th e dark h o llo w beaconing o f th e Karle
cave en tra nce . A t Karle, nature and th e esse n tia lly in c o m p le te cha racter o f hum an
in te rv e n tio n overlap, fu se d fu rth e r by th e play o f light, a q u ality th e early R om antic
e tch in g s so a p p ro p ria te ly cap tured . Equally R o m an tic is Le C o rb u sie r's M O A , fo r no t
only does his screen an ticip ate a gradual reclam atio n by na ture (through th e ve g e ta tio n
w ith in th e brise soleifj, b u t it its e lf displays the paradoxical qu a litie s o f fra g ility, bu t also
d e p th and de nsity.
Beyond, a ve rtica l c o n cre te plane d e lib e ra te ly o b s tru c ts d ire c t v ie w by rising
th ro u g h th e d o u b le -h e ig h t en tra nce space, w ith a re ctilin e a r ap e rtu re p o sitio n e d along
th e ce n tre line o f th e ram p th a t leads up to th e en tra nce , fo rc in g vis ito rs to re-o rien tate
th e m s e lv e s to access th e ce n tra l space. The orth o g o n a l g e o m e try s e t up by th e facade
e xte n d s in w a rd s flan kin g th is space, w h ic h ove rlo oks th e rive r fro m an elevation.
A n o th e r screen - a m uch s h a llo w e r and d e lica te one - fra m e s th e v ie w o f River Sabar-
m ati. T o g e th e r w ith w h a t F ram pton called th e up pe r level 'm in s tre ls g a lle ry ',19 the
space recalls Kailasha, cave XVI in Ellora, a re p re se n ta tio n o f th e celestia l abode of
Lord Shiva. In being lifte d up th e ram p and d ra w n into th e cen tra l space, one is tra n s­
fo rm e d in to an o b je ct o f ritual o ffe rin g to th e river, a holy rite pra ctised on th e banks of
Indian rivers. To u n de rsta nd h o w p re cise ly th e re d e m p tive space fu n c tio n s , one has to
look into th e role played by th e ram p and th e ve rtica l plane, w h ic h , w e w o u ld argue,
plays a key role in a to p o g ra p h ic fa b rica tio n th a t a tte m p ts to reco ncile th e op p o sitio n
b e tw e e n the natural and th e sy n th e tic .

Fragments

The tre a tm e n t o f th is th e m e o f th e 'in h a b ite d ruin' e xte n d s in w a rd s th ro u g h th e spatial

org an isatio n. The cen tra l space is o rch e stra te d around a series o f fra g m e n ts o r s itu ­
ated m o m e n ts , a rticu la te d by the p re sen ce o f a m o n o lith ic lift core and the po sitio n in g
o f th re e cu rvilin e a r e le m e n ts : th e re ce p tio n desk, the table in th e w a itin g area and the
in te rlo ckin g curve d w a lls - a delicate, perhaps pre cario us e m b ry o n ic adhe sion to the
vo lu p tu o u s fe m a le body o f th e co n fe re n ce hall - holding b e tw e e n th e m th e m ale and
fe m a le to ile ts . W h ile th e tab les d e sig n e d in th e m an ne r o f th e ro o f cu t-o u ts are indeed
m ic ro c o s m ic re p re se n ta tio n s, th e m a le -fe m a le union se e m s to be in d ica tive o f tw o
crucial m y th o -re lig io u s th e m e s : th e creation m y th s relating to th e chu rning (m a n th a n a )
o f th e ete rn al sea th a t b ro u g h t fo rth th e ne ctar using the m yth ica l se rp e n ts as the
chu rning cho rd, and the p e n e tra tive union o f th e linga (phallus) and th e jy o n i (vagina)
im p lic it in th e phallic re p re se n ta tio n o f Shiva.20 T hat th e 'ch u rn in g rod' w a s a co n scio us
c o n ce p tio n is clear fro m its pro je ctio n above th e ro o f plane; th is axis m u n d i appears to
be held in place by the gro un d (w h ich also includes th e gro un d floo r, b e lo w th e main

114
 C on tem platin g th e unfinished

space, in visib le and su b o rd in a te d th ro u g h its 's e rv a n t' pro gra m m e ). A t ro o f level, a

cu rio u s ju x ta p o s itio n o f th e e xte n d e d co lu m n and the p ro je cte d incline o f the c o n fe r­
ence hall ro o f lends its e lf to y e t a n o th e r reading o f th is ce n tra l co lu m n : th a t o f the
s h a ft o f a g ian t m ach in e - perhaps a w a te r m ill - p o sitio n e d ca re fu lly in p ro x im ity to
th e rive r.21 This device, given his fa scin a tio n w ith th e rivers o f India and n o tio n s o f
p u rity and sa n c tity ,22 w a s perhaps e m p lo ye d w ith a p u rific a to ry in te n t, in th e m anner
th a t Lord Shiva - neelakantha, th e on e w ith a blue th ro a t - drank th e ve n o m to p u rify
th e nectar. W e are dealing w ith both a prosaic icon o f p ro d u c tiv ity th a t lay at th e heart
of th e c ity 's w e a lth crea tion and a p ro fo u n d crea tive allusion, and th e resu lts (or p ro d ­
ucts) o f such actio ns. The cusp ed to ile ts , th e re fo re , cou ld be seen to be th e key
e m b ryo n ic im p la n ta tio n in stig a tin g th e reversal o f o b so le sce n ce , c o n trib u tin g to the
Indian pro je ct o f renovatio.

! IZZX ! . r il 1
•
1 V ffl {t
r f -
o

rI Vdi/n7 i!l' eJ *
L\
i 1!. ___ 0
am , —----- —

\ \ \ \ \ S l [••I:WSJ
T h e M ill O w n e rs '
A s s o c ia tio n ,
A h m e d a b a d , In dia.
b
Le C o rb u s ie r (1954).
Plans. E n tra n c e level
I 1 1 1 1 i J 1 ■ » ■ O «r

(a): 1. R am p ,
2. E n tra n c e hall,
3. R e c e p tio n ,
4. P re s id e n t's o ffice,
5. V ic e P re s id e n t,
6. W a itin g are a ,
7. S u b -c o m m itte e
ro o m , 8. C o m m itte e
ro o m , 9. M a n a g in g
c o m m itte e ro o m ,
10. O ffice, 11. T o ile ts . a • ■ a u i ■. ^ ,m ■

U p p e r lev el (b):
1. M e e tin g ro o m ,
W W W 1 l w \
2. C lo a k, 3. T o ile ts ,
1
4. Lo b b y. D ra w n by
au th o rs a fte r G lo b a l
A r c h it e c t u r e (G A ) 37. 111

115
N. Tem p le and S. Bandyopadhyay

Reconciliation

The m e d ia tin g role o f th e ve rtica l plane p o sitio n e d at th e e n tra nce is articu la te d

th ro u g h the ap e rtu re w ith its p ro je cte d ledge fo cu sin g d o w n th e ram p. T hrough this
in ge nio us device, th e ritual passage tu rn s back on its e lf to re o rie n ta te a w a y fro m the
rive r to w a rd s th e city. The re d e m p tiv e role o f th e ce n tra l space w ith its m yth o -
re lig io u sly charged fra g m e n ts is c o m p le te d by th e im p lie d issuing fo rth o f the nectar
th ro u g h th is 's p o u t', e m b e d d e d w ith in w h ic h is th e reco nciled d u ality o f p u rity and
im p u rity (of w a te r). O nly n o w can one co m p re h e n d th e pivotal role o f his re co rd in g s of
th e 'w a te r m ill' o f A m rits a r or th e aerial v ie w o f th e slo pin g track fo r d ra w in g w a te r.23 It
has been argued h o w th e in te rio r o f th e building, w ith its sto n e -fa ce d w a lls, stan ds in

T h e M ill O w n e rs '
A s s o c ia tio n ,
A h m e d a b a d , In d ia.
Le C orbu sier.
E n tra n c e fa cad e.

T h e M ill O w n e rs '
A s s o c ia tio n ,
A h m e d a b a d , In d ia.
Le C o rb u sier. R ear
fa c a d e fa cin g R iver
S a b a rm a ti.

116
 C on tem platin g th e unfinished

T h e M ill O w n e rs '
A s s o c ia tio n ,
A h m e d a b a d , In dia.
Le C o rb u sier.
E n tra n c e fo y e r.

c o n tra s t to the bold rug g e d n e ss o f th e e x te rio r c o n c re te .24 The hand -finish ed paving
slabs on th e ram p, as w e ll as th e paving on th e gro un d beyond, pick up th e ord e r o f
th e in te rio r sto n e facing and appear to bring it d o w n in one u n in te rru p te d flu id flo w , a
th e m e th a t also fe a tu re s in his tre a tm e n t o f the w a te r channel in Sodhan H ouse, w h ic h
runs d o w n fro m th e ro o f in co n ju n ctio n w ith a staircase, e ch oing th e re latio nship
b e tw e e n th e se tw o e le m e n ts at M O A . The M O A 's ob so le sce n ce is p e rp e tu a te d by a
q u e stio n in g - perhaps even su b ve rsive - e m p lo y m e n t o f M o d e rn is t p ro g ra m m e , w h ic h
expands its m o n u m e n ta lity . The p ro m in e n t po sitio n in g o f th e to ile ts cusp ed b e tw e e n
th e e ro tic cu rva tu re s w ith in th e m ain space in te rro g a te s th e spatial hierarchy o f served
and se rva n t spaces. To an e x te n t, th e m o ve ren de rs th e su rro u n d in g p ro g ra m m e
ob so le te , flu sh e d out, as it w e re , w ith th e flo w .

Contemporary condition

In the high ly s o p h istica te d w o rld o f c o m p u te r graphics, th e re is a g ro w in g a ssu m p tio n

th a t th e m o d e s o f a rch ite ctu ra l re p re se n ta tio n and the reality o f b u ilt fo rm can be
m erg ed as a c o n tin u u m ; th a t th e w a y a rc h ite c tu re is co n ce ive d as a p o ssib ility can
be d ire ctly tra n scrib e d as a reality th ro u g h the m ech an ical pro cesse s o f digita l g ra ph­
ics. This ap p a re n tly sea m le ss re la tio n sh ip is far re m o ve d fro m Robin Evans' a sse rtion
th a t in th e tra d itio n a l p ro ce sse s o f a rc h ite c tu re th e re e x is ts a gap b e tw e e n dra w in g
and bu ild in g th a t req uire s th e 's u s p e n s io n o f critica l d is b e lie f' in ord e r fo r a rc h ite c ts to
su c c e s s fu lly u n de rta ke a p ro je c t.25 H ence, th e im p o s s ib ility o f p ro vid ing in advance a
c o m p le te d e te rm in a tio n o f th e final w o rk is w h a t gives, acco rding to Evans, th e archi­
te ctu ra l d ra w in g its d istin g u ish in g quality. Like th e d ra w in g s o f Leonardo da Vinci, th is
gap p ro vid e s a space in w h ic h crea tive ideas e m e rg e th ro u g h an e m b ry o n ic process
th a t does not assu m e clearly d e fin e d p ro ced ures or p re dicta ble o u tc o m e s .
As perhaps th e last re m n a n t o f an exp licit e xp ression o f m aking in our
citie s, th e bu ild in g site could also be con sid ered as th e principal ve h icle fo r 're ­
a c tiv a tin g ' th e notion o f th e u n fin ish e d as both a crea tive idea and as an a rch ite ctu ra l

117
N. Tem ple and S. Bandyopadhyay

possibility. Indeed, if there still rem ains a w ay of experientially m easuring change in

our cities, then it is the building site that w e need to exam ine. Reflecting upon the
historical exam ples presented earlier, it is evident th a t the building site reveals deeply
em bedded redem ptive m eanings o f urban renew al that extend beyond the specifics of
con stru ction . W e allude here to the D isputa in w h ich the act o f construction
always carries w ith it tw o potentially con flictin g m otivations; the desire to begin again
at the expense o f a prevailing tradition and the need to draw upon a background tradi­
tion. These m eanings could be said to co n stitu te a bridge b e tw e e n the past and an
anticipatory future.
The op po rtu nitie s o f the unfinished m anifested the m se lve s in Chandigarh,
evidenced in the m o st explicit m anner w ith in the grounds and periphery of the Capitol
C om plex. Here, urban design assum es th a t the city is in perpetual m aking, delivered
through the continual experience and habitation of an em bryonic urbanising in te r­
vention. In his m any preparatory sketches of the Capitol, Le C orbusier aspired for
reconciliation be tw e e n the city and the surrounding Shivalik hills as a legitim ising and
redeem ing gesture. This w as achieved physically by thrustin g the Capitol beyond the
lim its o f the city and thus forcing a dialogue to take place. Equally engaging is the w ay
in w h ich the city eventually 'c o m p le te s ' itself by allow ing fo r a surre ptitio us incursion
o f Nek Chand's Rock Garden - a m icro cosm ic city o f anthropom orphic and bestiary
d w ellers perched on the edge o f the Capitol and contravening every rule set forth in
the Chandigarh edict.
The enquiry has sought the re fore to highlight the continually redefining rela­
tionship be tw ee n the unfinished, or apparently obsolete, state o f an architectural w ork,
and its po tency to generate ne w horizons o f creative intervention. It is apparent in our
age that the search fo r generality, and the big picture, has con tribu te d to the em ascula­
tion of the particular. This issue is all the m ore acute in the design process w h ere
translation from draw ing to building has shifte d em phasis from the legibility of d iffe re n t
fo rm s o f architectural representation (from thum bnail sketch to general w o rking
drawing) to a hom ogeneous schem a o f CAD lines and superim posed photographic ren­
derings. Here, w e are given the false im pression of the m anifold and often m essy
processes of design as a procedural m atter, in w h ich any signs o f the unfinished are
all-but-erased by the priority given to the u n ifo rm ity o f digital (and ultim ately architec­
tural) production. In the search fo r seam less con tinu ity in architectural representation
w e are le ft w ith o u t those signposts of am biguity that once guided architectural
th o u g h t to the defining m om e nts o f discovery.

Notes

1 Jeanneret, 2001, pp. 1-7, 29-49.

2 Popham, 1972, III. 115.
3 Biolostocki, 1963, pp. 19-30.
4 O'Malley, 1968, p. 103.
5 Thoenes, 2006, pp. 25-39.

118
 Contem plating the unfinished

6 Ibid., pp. 31-32.

7 See Pfeiffer, 1975. Pfeiffer equates Bramante w ith 'heretics' and Padovan Aris­
totelians.
8 Pfeiffer, 1974, p. 89.
9 See Nichols, 1889, pp. 71-72.
10 Temple, 2006, pp. 110-127.
11 Martin, 1992, p. 285.
12 Le Corbusier, 1981-1982, sketchbook F27, p. 895.
13 Ibid., a programme brief in F25, p. 806.
14 Ibid., F24, p. 700; also E23, p. 694 and F24, p. 756.
15 Flam, 1996, p. 11.
16 Ibid., pp. 10-23 and 301-309.
17 Frampton, 1975, 2-5.
18 Corbusier, E18, p. 359.
19 Frampton, p. 4.
20 An indication of his awareness, in Corbusier, J36, p. 298.
21 Ibid., F24, p. 756.
22 Ibid., E23 p. 26; J35, p. 222; J37, pp. 366 and 368.
23 Ibid., H30, p. 1056 and E18, p. 346.
24 Frampton, p. 4.
25 Evans, 1997, p. 154.

Bibliography

Jan Biolostocki, 'The Renaissance Concept of Nature and Antiquity', in The Renaissance and
Mannerism: Studies in Western Art, Vol. 2, Princeton: Princeton University Press,
1963.
Robin Evans, Translations from Drawing to Building and O ther Essays, Cambridge, MA: MIT
Press, 1997.
Jack Flam (ed.), Robert Smithson: the Collected Writings, Berkeley: University of California
Press, 1996.
Kenneth Frampton, 'Le Corbusier and the Dialectical Imagination', Global Architecture, 37
(1975).
Michel Jeanneret, Perpetual M otion: Transforming Shapes in the Renaissance from da Vinci
to Montaigne, Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 2001.
Le Corbusier, Le Corbusier Sketchbooks, London: Thames & Hudson, 1981-1982.
Francis X. Martin, Friar, Reformer, and Renaissance Scholar, Villanova: Augustinian Press,
1992.
Francis Morgan Nichols, MIRABILIA VRBIS ROMAE: the Marvels o f Rome, London: Ellis &
Elvey, 1889.
John O'Malley, Giles o f Viterbo: On Church and Reform, Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1968.
Heinrich Pfeiffer, 'Raffaels Disputa und di platonische Theologie von Egidio da Viterbo',
A ntiquity and Authority: Journal o f the History o f Ideas, Vol. 27 (1974).
Heinrich Pfeiffer, Zur Iconographie von Raffaels Disputa, Rome: Università Gregoriana
Editrice, 1975.
A.E. Popham, The Drawings o f Leonardo da Vinci, London: Jonathan Cape, 1972.
Nicholas Temple, 'Julius II as Second Caesar', in Maria W yke (ed.), Julius Caesar in Western
Culture, Oxford: Blackwells Publishing, 2006.
Christof Thoenes, 'St Peter's in Ruins', in Michael W . Cole (ed.), Sixteenth-Century Italian
Art, Oxford: Blackwells Publishing, 2006.

119
Le Corbusier's spirals
Figural planning and technique in architectural design

A n to n y M oulis

Le C orbusier's use o f the spiral figure in his architectural plans raises issues of
m eaning in relation to architectural draw ing as a m edium fo r design. Scholarship sug­
gests th a t Le C orbusier's use of the spiral as a plan form is fun dam e ntally an issue of
sym bo lic currency - an expression of an ideal organicism fo r a rch itecture .1 Yet the
spiral, draw n as a plan form , has obvious uses and e ffe cts beyond this purely sym bolic
m eaning. These uses and e ffe cts, described by Le Corbusier through his co m m e n ­
taries, concern possibilities for experience through architecture, the efficie ncy of
circulation spaces and con stru ction techniques, and the efficacious extension o f pro­
gram m e through properties o f form . The fact th a t the character of a specific graphical
figure, spiral or other, can be m atched by an architect to particular program m atic
dem ands in this w ay is hardly surprising; it is a fundam ental technique of the architec­
tural design process, one th a t is im p licit in the arch itect's act of draw ing. H ow ever, the
w o rking s of this technique can easily be overlooked, as atten tion is given to general
properties o f figuration, beyond a clear and direct consideration of the fig u re 's explicit
usefulness to the arch itect as part o f a design process.

M u seu m of
U n lim ite d G ro w th :
diag ram s and
sketches.

120
 Le Corbusier's spirals

In Le C o rb u s ie r's w o rk , th e p ro ce ss o f a ttrib u tin g a rc h ite c tu ra l e ffe c ts to

th e spiral fig u re as a plan can be seen as a s o p h is tic a te d te c h n iq u e in its o w n rig h t, a
b u ild in g up o f k n o w le d g e o ve r tim e leading to n e w d is c o v e rie s a b o u t th e im p lic a ­
tio n s o f its use. T h e se d is c o v e rie s are based on th e act o f d ra w in g and re d ra w in g
th e spiral th ro u g h an e x te n d e d se q u e n ce o f 21 p ro je c ts th a t leads fro m th e Villa La
R oche o f 1923 th ro u g h va rio u s ite ra tio n s o f th e Spiral M u s e u m ty p e to th e V enice
H o sp ita l o f 19 6 4 .2 As su rp ris in g as th e m yria d uses o f th e spiral fig u re is th e re g u la r­
ity o f its use o v e r th e ca re e r o f th e a rc h ite c t. From 1923 o n w a rd s , and e x c lu d in g th e
pe rio d o f th e w a r, th e re is no m o re tha n a th re e -y e a r gap to th e s ta rt o f a n o th e r
p ro je c t in v o lv in g a spiral plan. T his re m a rka b le c o n s is te n c y s u g g e s ts th a t th e spiral
plan w a s an on -g o in g p ro je c t o f th e s tu d io , w h ic h reads in re tro s p e c t like a sin gle
line o f in q u iry, a ty p e o f d e sig n rese arch th ro u g h th e m ed ia o f d ra w in g in to th e
p o s s ib ilitie s o f a rc h ite c tu ra l fig u ra tio n .
The pro je ct c o m m o n ly id e n tifie d as the initial ve rsio n o f the spiral ty p e is
th e M u n d a n e u m m u se u m o f 1928, w ith its d is tin c tiv e zig gu rat form based on a three -
d im e n sio n a l spiral. H o w e ve r, th e spiral is trie d m uch earlier, in th e design d e v e lo p m e n t
o f th re e 1920s villas - Villa La R o che -Jean ne ret (1923), Villa M e y e r (1925) and the Villa
Savoye (1929). Signalled in each o f th e s e sch e m e s is Le C o rb u sie r's pre occu patio n
w ith the spiral as an e le m e n t th a t organises circu la tio n or m o v e m e n t.
In th e p re lim in a ry de sig n d ra w in g s fo r th e Villa La R o che -Jean ne ret, th e re is
a sch e m e fo r th e pro je ct in w h ic h an e llip tical plan fo rm is s e t w ith in a re ctilin e a r e n try
hall vo lu m e . In th e s ke tch v ie w s th a t acco m p a n y th e plan d ra w in g , it is sh o w n th a t th e
e llip tical fo rm indicates a ram p ed circu la tio n rou te , jo in in g th e firs t tw o levels o f the
building th ro u g h th e d o u b le -h e ig h t vo lu m e . In th e initial s ch e m e fo r th e Villa M e ye r,
th e re is also e vide nce o f a spiral a rra n g e m e n t being tried out. The plan d ra w in g s s h o w
an unbro ken ellip se p o sitio n e d at th e ce n tre o f each level, w h ic h co n n e c ts roo m s s itu ­
ate d around it. The ellip se indicates a spiral ram p tra ve llin g th ro u g h all th e levels o f the
plan to th e ro o f garden. In th is initial sch e m e , the spiral is m ore d o m in a n t o ve r the
overall a rra n g e m e n t than w a s th e case in the La R o che -Jean ne ret pro je ct, th o u g h it
does n o t y e t b e co m e th e w h o le o f th e plan.
In an early ske tch d ra w in g fo r th e Villa Savoye, a spiral stair is p o sitio n e d at
th e ce n tre o f th e plan in an ellip se-sh ape d e n clo su re . The use o f th e spiral does no t
d o m in a te th e plan in th is version o f th e p ro je ct, b u t its use do e s in dica te a type o f cir­
culatio n a rra n g e m e n t th a t is p u rsue d and d e ve lo p e d th ro u g h to the fina l version . In the
fina l version o f th e sch e m e , th e spiral appears tw ic e , in an a cce ss sta ir - and m ore
fa m o u s ly - in th e fo rm o f th e villa 's cen tra l ram p leading fro m th e gro un d to th e ro o f
garden. Le C o rbu sier h im s e lf p o rtra ys th e ram p as crea ting a spiral ro u te passage
th ro u g h th e b u ild in g in his c o m m e n ta ry on th e villa in th e P recision s le c tu re s .3
It is clear th a t th e a rc h ite c t d e ploys th e spiral graphic to fo rm circu latio n
rou te s. The typ e o f circu la tio n or m o v e m e n t crea te d co in cid e s w ith th e a rc h ite c t's
p ro m e n a d e co n c e p t - the idea th a t a rc h ite c tu re is e xp e rie n ce d as an u n fo ld in g e ve n t
ge n e ra te d by a body th a t tu rn s as it m o ve s th ro u g h space. In sho rt, th e spiral can be
u n d e rsto o d as a g e n e ra to r o f th e pro m en ade .

121
Antony Moulis

In the M undaneum m useum project, the spiral figure as circulation (and as

prom enade) em erges m ore strongly, becom ing the entire arrangem ent of architectural
space. This m useum is essentially a three-dim ensional spiralling ramp enclosing a
hidden interior volum e - an arrangem ent that can be seen as a direct de velopm e nt of
the ramp idea used in the Villa Savoye, w h ich w as being designed concurrently w ith
the M undaneum , but here distilled and expanded to m on um e ntal effe ct.
Le Corbusier's interest in the spiral form as a generator of circulation and,
m ore particularly, of bodily m ovem ent, is clearly described in the plan draw ings of the
project published in the C om plete W o rks* These draw ings feature incidental lines (dia­
grams of circulation) that describe the direction of m ove m en t through the arm s of the
spiral plan. In a part-plan, even m ore serpentine m ove m en t is show n, as the w ide
ram ping space is broken up by freely arranged partitions. Again, this project reveals
itself as an intriguing variant of key conceptual elem ents that produced the Villa Savoye.
In the villa, the prom enade space o f the ramp is clearly separated from peripheral fun c­
tional spaces, w h ich are orchestrated in accordance w ith the concept of the free plan. In
the m useum the free-plan arrangem ent is utilised w ith in the prom enade space of the
ramp and not distinctly o f it, creating a labyrinth-like e ffe c t by inverting their relationship.
In 1931, Le Corbusier proposed a schem e fo r a M use um o f C ontem porary
A rt fo r Paris. The core of the arch itect's proposal w as the creation of a building that
had the ability to be easily extended over tim e. The plan, a square spiral, w as the key
factor in facilitating continuous extension or gro w th , allow ing the possibility o f con­
structing the arm s of the m useum in stages as funding from donors becam e available.
In te rm s o f its overall form , the 1931 m useum is based upon the earlier schem e for
the M undaneum . The m ajor difference be tw ee n them is that, in the 1931 schem e, the
spiral figure is deployed in the one horizontal plane rather than as a three-dim ensional
form - as if the enclosed spiralling ramp of the W orld M use um w as collapsed d o w n ­
w ard and had form ed its e lf into one layer of space.
The next iteration of the spiral plan com es in 1939 w ith the project fo r a
M use um of U nlim ited G row th. W ith this project the arch itect identifies, in retrospect,
the traje cto ry o f his research o f the spiral plan, w ritin g th a t this project is continuous
w ith 'a series o f studies over a period o f ten ye a rs'.5 Here, there is a fu rth e r obser­
vance of the spiral/prom e na de as the organising principle. H ow ever, there is another
type of plan figuration bro ug ht into the arrangem ent, a series of fo u r axes organised as
a p inw h ee l and overlaid on the spiral that the architect calls a sw astika. The pinw h ee l
figure em erges from a series o f prior graphical and planim etric studies begun in 1935,
ye t it is not until the 1939 plan tha t the particular arrangem ent of figures (spiral and pin­
w heel) crystallises.
The specific role o f the pinw h ee l figure as secondary circulation route is
alluded to in Le C orbusier's com m e ntary w h e re he describes the p inw h ee l axes as
producing the overall unity o f the plan, necessary to 'co rre ct' the labyrinthine ten den­
cies generated by the principal spiral figured circulation.6 Here the arch itect sho w s his
in te rest in possibilities fo r experience through architecture, recognising w h a t the spiral
as plan w o u ld produce as experience.

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 Le Corbusier's spirals

r i

M u seu m of
U n lim ite d G ro w th :
I I
d iagram of plan
L J
figures.

W hile there are three built w o rks th a t reproduce the figu red plan of the
M use um of U nlim ited G row th m ore or less intact, a m o st intriguing d e velopm e nt of
the spiral/pinw heel plan figuration com es w ith Venice H ospital project of 1963. Here
the plan image o f the M use um of U nlim ited G row th is m ultiplied, dissected and col-
laged to form the basis o f a new serial structure. Further to this, the spiral-form ed sec­
tions of the m u se u m 's plan are the m se lve s c u t out, replaced by orthogonal layout of
w ards, o ffice s and patient room s.
In m aking a case fo r the sym bolic m eaning o f Le C orbusier's spirals, m uch
critical atten tion has been draw n to the graphical analogy Le C orbusier m akes be tw ee n
the form of the 1939 m useum and spiral fo rm s in nature and m athem atics, ye t these
analogies seem like ju stificatio ns of the plan rather than a broader ackn o w le d g e m e n t
of its generating devices. M o s t often , the spirals th a t appear in Le C orbusier's dra w ­
ings are made as studies of circulation patterns and plans w ith freehand lines draw n
over them to te s t m o ve m e n t paths, ye t this fact has not received sim ilar ackn ow led ge­
m en t to the sym bolic attribu tes later given to it by the arch itect and his critics.
M uch o f Le C orbusier's play w ith the spiral is through a technique that
begins w ith the conversion of the graphic figure to an architectural plan w ith o u t co m ­
prom ising its graphical quality. O nce entered into the graphical space o f architectural
draw ing, the figure reveals its 'in h e re n t' properties as it is interrogated fo r its arch itec­
tural uses. W e m ig h t vie w this process today as a type of diagram m ing - the repetition
of a specific figuration th a t is m anipulated or extended into an architectural form in
such a w ay that it provides an arm ature fo r specific program m atic dem ands. This te ch ­
nique is not ju st about an ae sthetic preference fo r a certain shape or outline, it is about
attaching architectural uses to a figure such tha t the figure m ig ht usefully serve archi­
tectural purposes.
In the case of Le C orbusier's w o rk, w h a t em erges is a rem arkable 40 years
o f research into the broader architectural im plications o f the spiral, a gradual discovery
of the possibilities in m atching the figu re to program m atic dem ands and architectural
uses. This technique of figural planning m ig h t begin w ith the straig htforw a rd graphic

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Antony Moulis

Pavilion des Te m p s
N ou veau: plan and
sketches.

act o f fo rm in g a spiral, yet, like the axis in a nine te en th -centu ry Beaux-Arts drawing,
the spiral later becom es pre-conceptualised in term s o f its architectural uses as its
possibilities com e to be understood as 'g iv e n s '.7 Em ploying the spiral as a plan, tim e
and again, w e can im agine Le Corbusier applying this technique to produce m odern
concepts - concerns fo r fun ction, circulation, construction, experience and the p ro m e ­
nade - in m uch the sam e w ay as a nine te en th -centu ry architect used the axis fo r the
purpose of conceptualising distribution, disposition, com p osition and m arche .8 In both
cases, the relations b e tw ee n the graphical figure, architectural concerns and the act of
the fig u re 's re-drawing provides a means to visualise and m anipulate a com plex se t of
architectural dem ands. In the end, Le C orbusier's choice of the spiral is m ore than a
purely sym bolic or aesthetic choice - it is one that recognises the im p licit usefulness
of graphical figures w ith in the m edium of architectural draw ing, a technique that
rem ains fundam ental to contem porary practice.

Notes

1 The organic symbolism of the spiral figure in Le Corbusier's w ork is proposed by

various scholars, including Stanislaus Von Moos, Le Corbusier: Elements o f a
Synthesis, W illiam Curtis, Le Corbusier: Ideas and Forms and Kenneth Frampton, Le
Corbusier.
2 Villa La Roche-Jeanneret (1923), Villa Meyer (1925), Mundaneum (1928), M useum of

124
 Le Corbusier's spirals

Contemporary Art (1931), Bata Boutique (1935), University Campus, Rio de Janerio
(1936), Centre of Contemporary Aesthetics (1936), Pavilion des Temps Nouveau
(1936), Museum of Unlimited Growth (1939), Exposition Habitat 45 (1945), Urban
Development, Saint-Die (1946), Exposition Synthèse Des Arts, Port M aillot (1949),
Cultural Centre of Ahmedabad (1951), Tokyo Museum (1955), Etude d'urbanisation,
Meaux (1957), M useum at Chandigarh (1957), Cultural Centre, Chad (1960), Museum
of the Twentieth Century, Eirenbach (1963), Museum of the Twentieth Century,
Nanterre (1965), Musee de lotissem ent (undated).
3 Le Corbusier, 1991: 136.
4 Le Corbusier, 1968a: 235.
5 Le Corbusier, 1968a: 238.
6 Le Corbusier, 1968a: 238.
7 As David Leatherbarrow notes in The Roots o f Architectural Invention, axes in Beaux-
Arts design practice were simultaneously recognised as instruments of projection
(the means to describe built form) and instrum ents of composition (the means to
orchestrate architectural effects).
8 Distribution described the apportionm ent of space according to programmatic
requirements; disposition described the principal ordering of spaces; composition
denoted the geometrical and spatial unity of the work; and marche referred to the
organisation of building premised on the spectator's experience of an architectural
and spatial sequence. See Mead, 1991, p. 110.

Bibliography

H. Allen Brooks (ed.), The Le Corbusier Archive Vol. 1-32. New York: Garland, 1982.
William Curtis, Le Corbusier: Ideas and Forms. Oxford: Phaidon, 1986.
David Leatherbarrow, The Roots o f Architectural Invention: Site, Enclosure, Materials. Cam­
bridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.
Le Corbusier, Precisions: on the Present State o f Architecture and Town Planning. Cam­
bridge, MA: MIT Press, 1991.
Le Corbusier, Complete Works 1910-1965, London: Thames & Hudson, 1968a.
Le Corbusier, Complete Works 1929-1934, London: Thames & Hudson, 1968b.
Le Corbusier, Complete Works 1938-1946, London: Thames & Hudson, 1968c.
Le Corbusier, Complete Works 1965-1969, Zurich: Artemis, 1970.
Christopher Mead, Charles Garnier's Paris Opera: Architectural Empathy and the Renais­
sance o f French Classicism, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1991, p. 110.
Stanislaus von Moos, Le Corbusier: Elements o f a Synthesis. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press,
1980.

125
T h is P a ge i n t e n t i o n a l l y left b la n k
Emergent realities

Introduction

In a recent book en titled The Hand by the physician and philosopher Raymond Tallis,1 a
claim is m ade fo r the origin o f human consciousness in the opposability of the thu m b
and forefinger. The daw ning aw areness of agency brought about by the gradual instru-
m entalising o f the human body is seen as the spark that ignited the subsequent devel­
op m e n t o f fabricated tools and ultim ately the 'big bang' of cultural evolution. If
ontoge ny does indeed recapitulate phylogeny in the d e velopm e nt of hum an self-
aw areness, perhaps even the conception and healthy d e velopm e nt of a building m ight
still require a sig nifica nt degree o f input from the actions of the 'th inking hand'. As
M alcolm M cC ullough has w ritte n in the book A bstra cting Craft,2 perhaps w e are also
on the verge o f discovering ne w interfaces to the digital realm - ones th a t do not try to
make the body 'disappear' into the screen but instead m ake full use o f the intuitive
grasp of space and m ateriality th a t is em bedded into the very fabric of the body's per­
ceptual and m o to r apparatus.
The second part o f the book brings to g e th e r chapters that are variously con­
cerned w ith the possibilities and lim its o f the digital and m oving im age. By situating
the se various techniques in relation to historical debates on the nature o f the 'real' and
the 'ideal', each of the con tribu to rs addresses the problem of representing a three-
dim ensional w o rld through a tw o-d im en sio na l surface. O pening this section, Richard
Coyne exam ines the phenom enon of m im icry in nature by considering the in stinct
tow a rds cam ouflage and its often excessively w a ste fu l consum ption of energy. H istori­
cally, nature has been presented as the ultim ate refere nt for art and architecture, no
less so than in the revival of organicism that has accom panied recent innovations in
digital architecture and the digital image. Coyne argues fo r a re-assessm ent o f the role
o f representation from the point of vie w of Roger C aillois' biological insights into
w astage, m im icry and darkness. Like several oth e r contributors, Donald Kunze
addresses the role o f the body in the perception of architectural draw ings. He does
this through a com plex and m ulti-layered investigation of the m etaphorical p o w e r of

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Emergent realities

the representational 'surface ' in both cinem a and narrative fiction . D raw ing on the
w o rk of dram atists as diverse as H om er and Hitchcock, he illustrates the subtle rhetori­
cal devices o f con cea lm en t and delay by w h ich 'm eanings are created in advance of
the ir arrival on the screen'.
In a m ore em pirical investigation o f contem porary film technologies, M ath-
anraj Ratinam sets ou t to te s t the lim its o f digital representation and the w a y it
engages specifically w ith architectural practice. The chapter looks forw a rd at the w ays
in w h ich digital media are be com ing capable of representing the m ore tem poral
aspects o f architectural experience w h ils t also looking back to consider historical prac­
tices o f architectural draw ing. The chapter also links to the discussions in the firs t part
o f this volum e on the nature of perspective representation and the various fraught rela­
tionships be tw ee n tw o-d im en sio na l im ages and three-dim ensional form s. David
Gissen uses the de velopm e nt o f an 'air m ap' by the US D epartm ent of Hom eland
S ecurity as a m eans to uncover a bio-political visual culture o f ventilation and air m ove­
m e n t in the representation o f the city. By considering contem porary m etho ds of
'draw in g air' in relation to a broader analysis o f 'vectore d space', he em phasises the
political eco no m y th a t drives the w a y w e understand architecture and urbanism .
Christina M alathouni's chapter exam ines the potential of new co m p u te r graphics
technology to represent novel configurations o f form and space that cannot be realised
in m atter. By situating these developm e nts w ith in a historical perspective, the chapter
also relates the m to philosophical speculations on the status o f the non-m aterial realm.
W ith specific reference to the ea rly-tw en tieth-ce ntury w ritin g s o f the Am erican archi­
te c t and stage designer Claude Bragdon, th e current debate on the im plications o f ne w
digital im aging techniques is seen as a sym ptom of the long-standing tension be tw ee n
idealist and m aterialist v ie w s of 'reality'.

Notes

1 Raymond Tallis, The Hand: a Philosophical Enquiry into Human Being, Edinburgh:
Edinburgh University Press, 2003.
2 Malcolm McCullough, Abstracting Craft: the Practiced Digital Hand, Cambridge, MA:
MIT Press, 1996.

128
Forms in the dark
Nature, w a ste and digital im itation

Richard Coyne

Introduction

A rt im ita te s nature, according to Stoic philosophy (m ore precisely 'every art is no

m ore than an im ita tion o f the n a tural')1 and som e architectural p o le m icists.2 Natural
syste m s have long held artists and designers in thrall. Neo-organicism is rife w ith in
the putative field of digital arch itecture w h e re digital m edia provide the m eans of real­
izing organic fo rm s and processes m odelled on evo lu tion and g e n e tics.3 C onjectured
a rchitectural e n viro n m e n ts respond, learn, adapt and g ro w as if colonies o f m icro ­
organism s, corals and inter-breeding co m m u n itie s. In this chapter, I consider the
d iverg ent insights o f Roger Caillois, in w h ich this 'n a tu re ' as em braced in co n te m p o r­
ary digital arch itecture is scarcely recognizable. Caillois' the orie s draw insights from
unlikely natural phenom ena, and co u n te r the usual organicist claim s th a t digital
processes return us to the benign un ity o f nature, re-establish coherence be tw e e n
person and e n viro nm en t, provide m odels o f e m e rg e n t crea tivity, and m odels for
seam less en viro n m e n ts. Caillois is in the com pany o f tho se descendants of Surreal­
ism (Georges Bataille, W a lte r Benjam in, Paul de Man) w h o dra w fro m nature the
lessons o f w astage, m im icry and darkness, each of w h ich im p ing es on concepts of
digital representation and th e image.
Roger Caillois' article M im ic ry and Legendary Psychasthenia directs a tte n ­
tion to the adaptive characteristics o f insect species.4 A nth ony Vidler has applied Cail­
lois' insights to Etienne-Louis B oullee's creation of 'dark spa ce'5 and Elizabeth Grosz to
the porosity o f spatial boundaries, and the problem atic relationships suggested by
architecture, philosophy, gender and v irtu a lly .6 I have deployed Caillois' insights in a
study o f the uncanny in spatial rep rese ntatio n.7 Here I consider the application of
Caillois' conjectures to the issue o f com p uter im agery in detail, draw ing on Claudine
Frank's rece nt com m e ntary and com pilation o f C aillois' papers.8 W ritin g in the 1930s,
Caillois' paper on m im icry and legendary psychasthenia, along w ith his paper on
the praying m an tis,9 w as an acknow ledged influence on subsequent interpretations
of Freud.

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Richard Coyne

For Caillois, m im icry is a propensity found in all of nature, but m o st peculiarly

in insect species that im itate aspects of the ir en vironm ent (other insects, plants, birds
and rocks) ostensibly to w ard o ff or escape predators, but apparently w ith e ffe ct in
excess o f im m ediate need. A lthough the ploy seem s to be in effective in som e adapta­
tions, it seem s th a t nature's evolutionary, adaptive processes w o rk tow a rds m im icry, as
if fo r the sake of m im icry itself, opposed to oth er strategies fo r survival.
Any stu d e n t of con tem po rary genetics w o u ld have little d iffic u lty explaining
the apparent profligacy and extravagant m im e tic displays in nature to w h ich Caillois
refers. Arguably, C aillois' understanding o f biology fits m ore com forta bly w ith the
obsolete theories of Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, w h o conjectured th a t organism s inherit
traits acquired som atically by the ir forebears, than w ith Charles D a rw in 's the ory of
fitne ss, survival and natural selection. But w h a te ve r the account o f the m echanism ,
the phenom enon o f m im e sis in nature presents to our sensibilities as 'rem arkable',
its e lf evidence th a t psychology and biology are co-im plicated in cultural production in
w ays yet to be exhausted.
Caillois sees the ability of certain species to m im ic th e ir enviro nm en ts as
indicative of a disturbance in the perception of space fo r these species, and fo r us as
w e con tem plate our o w n unavoidable c o m m itm e n t to m im icry. The creature that
m im ics a leaf is dislocated. It is at the m ercy o f its en viro nm en t, rather than an agent
of choice, and w ith o u t the privileged position of an independent subject. This condition
is also apparently m anifested in hum an beings in the case o f legendary psychasthenia:
a psychological disorder characterized by phobias, obsessions, com p ulsion s or exces­
sive anxiety. It is ultim ately a disturbance b e tw ee n personality and space. People w ith
this condition apparently say the y kno w w h e re they are located but do not feel as
though, or sense that, they are at th a t location. For Caillois, legendary psychasthenia
exaggerates a condition intrinsic to all o f us.
By this reading, the qu est fo r representational realism , exhibited in various
traditions of art, science and co m p u te r im agery, is already an indication of an aberrant
condition, a strange relationship w ith our en viro nm en t. W e cannot avoid copying and
m im icking other thin gs (our en viro nm en t, spaces, anim als, m achines, each other). Con­
trary to im plying m astery and control, this ten den cy to w a rd s m im icry indicates their
converse, a lack o f control, a subjugation to the dictates o f our en viro nm en t. The
propensity to m im ic has the upper hand over in dependent agency and subjectivity, and
is suggestive o f disorientation. In this, Caillois tackles po sitivist scie nce 's all-em bracing
representational schem as, and, by projection, the idea o f the com p le te digital m odel,
and the chim era of the fully integrated CAD system by w h ich every aspect of the
design and con stru ction o f architecture is able to be represented and controlled. Under
this critique, fo llo w in g Freud and Piaget, the pre sum p tion o f control is consigned to the
realm s of infantile fu tility.
Clearly, the propensity tow a rds photorealism in co m p u te r graphics is of a
d iffe re n t order of technical and refle ctive sophistication than the cognitively bland
in stinct am ong insect species to look like tw ig s and leaves. But the biological m echan­
ism is equally profound, and the strong im plication of Caillois' polem ic is th a t the

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 Form s in th e dark

e ve r-p re se n t im p u lse to visual m im ic ry is in e xce ss o f th e n e e d to rep rod uce

th e visual, sonic, ta ctile or stru ctu ra l p ro p e rtie s o f o u r e n v iro n m e n t. I w ill surve y
C aillois' th re e m ain th e m e s as th e y relate to digital re p re se n ta tio n : w a sta g e , m im ic ry
and darkness.

Representation devours reality

E volution favo urs th e d e v e lo p m e n t o f spe cie s traits, such as colou ring s, a d o rn m e n ts

and co u rts h ip rituals th a t have e fflo re s c e d to a de gre e th a t se e m s to jeopardize o th e r
survival tra its, fo r e xa m ple by m aking o rg a n ism s m ore visib le to pre da to rs. Caillois is
in te re s te d in th e s e lf-d e s tru c tiv e cap acity o f such d e ve lo p m e n ts , a te n d e n c y to w a rd s
'd a n g e ro u s lu x u ry '.10 N ature is w a s te fu l. A p p a re n tly Phyllia are so s u cce ssfu l in co n ­
cealing th e ir id e n tity as in se cts th a t th e y m ista ke each o th e r's w in g s fo r leaves and are
k n o w n to m ista ke n ly d e vo u r one an othe r. In so fa r as th e re is a c o n tin u ity b e tw e e n the
life o f in se cts and cultu ral p ro d u ctio n , th e re are reso na nces here w ith F re u d 's co n c e p t
o f th e 'dea th d riv e '.11 The p ro flig a cy o f cultu ral p ro d u ctio n is w e ll-p re s e n te d in
T h o rste in V e b le n 's a cco u n t o f th e b o urg eois te n d e n c y to d e m o n s tra te p o w e r and
w e a lth by s h o w in g h o w w a s te fu l one can be (through co n sp icu o u s co n su m p tio n ),
even w h e n th e w e a lth is not th e re ,12 and M a rce l M a u s s ’ a n th ro p o lo g y o f th e po tlatch,
a d e m o n s tra tio n o f p o w e r to an ally by th e w ilfu l se lf-d e s tru c tio n o f o n e 's o w n
reso urce s (boats, houses, slaves), in lieu o f a g ift.13 I expand on th e se th e m e s in rela­
tio n to digita l m edia e ls e w h e re .14 By so m e readings, th e p ro p e n sity to w a s ta g e in
a rch ite ctu ra l re p re se n ta tio n is m a n ife s te d in o rn a m e n ta tio n as a m eans o f d e m o n s tra t­
ing e xce ss cap acity in building, and decadence as a co n d itio n o f s e lf-in d u lg e n t excess
and de clin e on th e path to se lf-d e s tru c tio n .
A p p lyin g C a illois' reading to film , th e te n d e n c y to e xce ss is m a n ife s te d in
th e m e d iu m o f digital re p re se n ta tio n . The e n to m o lo g ic a l co u n te n a n ce o f film involves
exa gg eratio n, an over-abundance o f e ffe c ts to th e p o in t o f u n re a lity to m ake th e re p re ­
se n ta tio n s see m even m o re real than if hum an acto rs and physical sets, locations,
p yro te ch n ics, v e h icle s and m a ch in e s w e re involved. The m e d iu m d e ve lo p s as if on its
o w n tra je c to ry o f im p ro v e m e n t, to retain its cap ab ility to sho ck and o ve r-e xcite the
sen ses and to exce ed w h a t has gone be fore. N e ed less to say, th is unbridle d appeal
to spe ctacle is o fte n fo r the portrayal o f c o n flic t and d e s tru c tio n . T his is spe ctacular
film , bu t re p re se n ta tio n s cop y across m e d ia .15 Film and c o m p u te r ga m es fee d
ex p e c ta tio n s o f o th e r m edia, such as th e m o re prosaic d e p ic tio n s o f a rc h ite c tu re using
c o m p u te r an im a tio n . The n o w cliched use o f th e ub iq u ito u s 'fly -th ro u g h ' is one m a n i­
fe s ta tio n o f th is p ro p e n s ity to w a rd s unreal and e xce ssive e ffe c t, as is th e 'se n so ry-
ove rlo a d ' p re se n te d th ro u g h m ass-m edia displays, d yn am ic signage and a d vertising in
urban spaces.
It is c o m m o n ly sup p o se d th a t th e danger o f c o m p u te r im a gin g is th a t w e
are fo o le d in to be lie vin g th a t w h a t w e see is real, th a t c o n s u m p tio n b ring s fu lfilm e n t,
childre n are te m p te d to believe dino saurs exist, or w re s tle w ith gian t gorillas, th a t

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Richard Coyne

buildings can float in mid-air, all colliding objects explode on im pact, and that human
lives can be dispatched w ith o u t consequence. The cou nter-view is th a t the trajectory
to excess of co m p u te r im agery m oves us even fu rth e r aw ay from w h a t w e m ight
regard as reality. As Jean Baudrillard points out, there is less danger th a t w e develop
false expectations o f w h a t reality o ffe rs than th a t such representations present to us
as so blatantly false that w e thin k this the only or quintessential presentation of false­
ho o d .16 W e becom e inured to the unreality of day-to-day existence. Such spectacle
leaves in its w ake a strong conviction that w h a t is not on the screen is in fa ct as real as
anything can be. The digital representation m asks the fa ct th a t w h a t is being represen­
ted is already a representation, and is perm eated w ith unreality, no less so w h en w e
con tem plate th a t m any o f the criteria w e apply to digital falsities apply w ith greater
consequence to life outside CGI (com puter-generated im agery): going to w a r to assert
dem ocracy, fig h tin g terror, torturin g prisoners and presum ing that in this media-
saturated age it is feasible to keep secrets. The equivalent unreality o f architecture
includes the pre sum p tion th a t buildings last forever, econom ics 'ta in ts ' the essence of
design, form fo llo w s fun ction, architecture portrays fo rm s in light, and the panoply of
cultural aphorism s and 'm y th s ' advanced in Roland Barthes' analysis of oth erw ise
unquestioned cultural assu m ptio ns.17
The im plications of Caillois' ento-thesis is that co m p u te r im agery is caught
in a prim al ten den cy to w a rd s excesses in representation that are inevitably m anifested
in destructive w ays. This identification is not to counsel a retreat to 'a u th e n tic' m odes
of representation, but to advocate strategies th a t take untruth, sub terfuge and play as
endem ic to cultural production. But digital m edia no longer find th e ir m o st obvious real­
ization in spectacular screen im ages. There is a cou nter-e nto-ten de ncy w ith in digital
m edia tow a rds inconspicuous behaviour calculated to blend and render invisible.

Machines mimic their environment

D igital m edia are m im e tic in several respects. The co m p u te r is deployed to create

im ages, bu t is also itse lf presented as an image to be form ed and re-configured. Com ­
m ercially available laptops, m obile phones, cam eras, navigation devices and countless
do m estic and office appliances a tte st to the plastic nature of the digital m ed iu m , that
at tim es presents as a m eans o f com m unication, organisation, en tertain m en t, play or
random creation. S oftw a re is a highly m alleable m edium , now abetted by various con­
figurations of hardware, and the capability to hook com p on ents tog ether. Designers
and artists, even w h e n inexpert in electronics, can fashion devices and environm ents
to take on presentations as if w o rking w ith m alleable media, as evident in digital-
installation designs that em ploy sound and m o ve m e n t sensors, projection and net­
w o rke d interconnections. The co m p u te r here participates in the full play o f m etaphor,
the co m p u te r as typ e w rite r, gam e board, theatre and canvas, a process assisted by
the steadily dim inishing visibility of the once-essential processor functioning. W ith
m iniaturisation, redundancy, and w ire le ss con ne ctivity, the industry is at a stage w h ere

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 Form s in th e dark

m icro p ro ce sso rs can be sca tte re d like d u s t ('sp e cks') across th e e n v iro n m e n t.18 C o m ­
pu ters can be m ade to look and behave like a lm o s t an yth in g w e w a n t, and th e y can
also be rende red invisible.
Here th e c o m p u te r a ssu m e s so m e th in g o f th e cha racter a ttrib u te d to in sect
spe cie s in C aillois' acco u n t. U b iqu ity, se a m le ss in te g ra tio n and e m b o d im e n t have
a ssu m e d th e s ta tu s o f c o m m o n cu rre n cy in digita l-m ed ia lite ra tu re and research. Paul
D ourish, fo r exam ple, a d voca te s 'ta n g ib le c o m p u tin g ' w h e re th e re are 's m o o th e r and
m ore natural fo rm s o f in te ra ctio n and e x p re s s io n ' th a t 'u n ify co m p u ta tio n a l exp erience
and ph ysical e xp e rie n ce ', and th a t 'u n ify the physical and e le c tro n ic w o rld s to create a
blend w h ic h is m o re clo se ly m a tch e d to our daily e xp erience and a b ilitie s '.19 The laud­
able aim o f th is blending signals a do u b le e ffe c t. If o u r m ach in es are to m e rg e se a m ­
le ssly w ith o u r e xp e cta tio n s, and w ith us, th e n in th e p ro cess w e are bound to assu m e
ch a ra cte ristics th a t blur o u r d is tin c tiv e n e s s fro m the m ach in e e n v iro n m e n t. This is the
th ru s t o f Donna H a ra w a y's co n tro ve rsia l m a c h in e -o rg a n ic is m and th e w e ll-p u b licize d
p h e n o m e n o n o f th e h u m a n -m a c h in e hybrid k n o w n as th e cy b o rg .20 Insect-like, w e
blend in to o u r m ach in e e n viro n m e n ts.
S om e P hyllia's leaf d isg u ise is so con vin cing th a t th e ir siblings co n su m e
th e m , w ith no ap pa rent d e trim e n t to th e ge ne pool and th e p ro life ra tio n o f th e species.
C aillois' e n to -m e ta p h o r recalls M a rx 's tro p e o f th e m ach in e, in w h ic h , un de r cap italism ,
h u m an kind is red uce d 'by su b d ivisio n s o f labour, w h ic h tra n s fo rm s the w o rk e r's o p era­
tio n s m o re and m ore in to m ech an ical o p e ra tio n s, so tha t, at a certain point, the
m ech an ism can s te p in to his p la c e '.21 The play here is w ith co n su m e rism as c o n s u m p ­
tion, and u ltim a te ly c o n s u m p tio n o f the con su m e r-la b o u re r by th e m ach in e. Id e n tifyin g
th is danger need no t endo rse a re tre a t to so m e co n d itio n o u tsid e in du strial pro d u ctio n
and c o n s u m e r cu ltu re , bu t aw a y fro m idealised u n d e rsta n d in g s o f re p re se n ta tio n , and
to w a rd s a re co g n itio n th a t th e in evita ble im p ulse fo r m im ic ry is da ngerous, and can be
a p pro pria te d, enjo yed and c o n fig u re d , takin g such ch a ra cte ristics in to a cco un t. The
p u ta tive a rch ite ctu re s o f in te llig e n t bu ild in gs, resp on sive e n viro n m e n ts , in visib le c o m ­
pu ting , u b iq u ito u s co m m u n ic a tio n s , w e a ra b le de vice s, are no t only benign, b u t ho p e ­
fu lly p re s e n t a series o f dang erou s and radical tra n s fo rm a tio n s on so cie ty and
e n v iro n m e n t, w ith a challenge no t least to the pra ctices o f th e e n da ng ered spe cie s o f
a rch ite cts, en ginee rs, planners and geog raph ers.

Dark sounds

The c o m p u te r im age is o ste n s ib ly a m e d iu m o f lig h t and o f vision, in so far as w e

require p ro je ctio n to see its re p re se n ta tio n s. C u ltu re s o f sound carry d iffe re n t c o n n o ta ­
tio n s. M cL u h a n argued fo r an un de rsta nd ing o f sound as th e m o re prim al m e d iu m ,
m arshalling an e n g a g e m e n t b e tw e e n person and e n v iro n m e n t.22 It is w ith th e sense o f
s ig h t th a t w e s ta rt to d isc rim in a te , divide th e w o rld , a rticu la te and esta blish dista nce .
C ontrary to th e language o f vision, sound d e sig n e rs talk o f sou nd in te rm s o f e n ve lo p ­
ing, c o n su m in g and d ra w in g us in.23 (M o th s are d ra w n to th e light, a lth ou gh on ly by

133
Richard Coyne

accide nt, as th e lig h t o f th e m oo n is m e a n t to p re se n t a stable v e cto r fo r navigation. If

th e lig h t sou rce is to o clo se the n the in s e c t's tra je c to ry in e vita b ly take s th e fo rm o f a
lethal spiral. A cco rd in g to C onnor, th e spiral is a son ic fo rm .24) Caillois does no t address
sou nd in his e n to -m yth , b u t deals w ith darkness. He o b se rve s th a t m a te ria l o b je cts
re m o ve lig h t fro m o u r co n sid e ra tio n , i.e. w e b e co m e m o re aw are o f th e m a te ria l th a t
re fle c ts light than th e im m a te ria l lig h t its e lf. C o ntrary to space in fu sed w ith light, 'd a rk­
ness is " fille d " , it to u c h e s th e individual directly, e n ve lo p s him , p e n e tra te s him , and
even passes th ro u g h h im '. Q u o tin g M in k o w s k i, he no tes: 'D ark space e n ve lo p s m e on
all sides and pe n e tra te s m e m u ch d e e p e r than lig h t s p a c e '.25 Here darkness, the
a bsence o f light, bears th e ch a ra cte r o f sound.
Invisible and u b iq u ito u s c o m p u tin g also bear sim ila r tra its to sou nd and
darkness. In so far as u b iq u ito u s co m p u tin g in voke s co n c e p ts o f e m b o d im e n t, e n ga ge­
m e n t, and in d iscrim in a te fu sio n , it p re se n ts as part o f an im m e rs iv e field, clo se r to th e
e xp erience o f sou nd and th e dark.
It need no t a lw a ys be th e case, but, unlike sound (and silence), darkness
carries th e c o n n o ta tio n s o f a d e fic ie n c y in sen sory apparatus, dark p ra ctices, suspicion,
risk, an absence o f life. Caillois h ig h lig h ts th e p u ta tive bleakness o f th e se e n viro n ­
m e n ta l spaces, as ap pro pria te d by th e org an ism under th e spell o f m im icry. Spaces are
dark, and p e n e tra te and pass th ro u g h us. Dark space e n ve lo p s and p e n e tra te s de ep er
than lig h t space. T here is also a p ro p e n sity to w a rd s red uce d e xiste n ce , th e an im a te
appears as th e in an im ate. Caillois relates th is reduced e xp erience to m agic, w h ic h
recalls F reud 's a rg u m e n t a b o u t certain e ve n ts exo rcizin g in fa ntile be lie fs, and invokes
th o u g h ts o f th e co ve rt, and o f n ig h t.26 By th is reading, m im ic ry is a dark practice,
be yon d th e pale o f ratio na lity, su b je ct to th e exe rcise o f susp icio n. D igital re p re se n ta ­
tio n s p a rticip a te in th is shady art o f m im icry. W e can reca st th e issues o f darkness by
co n sid e rin g its equivale nce in th e son ic field. D arkness does no t eq ua te to silence, bu t
th e w h o le son ic fie ld . A rc h ite c tu re 's dark corn ers speak loudly o f p o ssib ility.

Conclusion

If a rc h ite c tu re is to im ita te nature, th e n w h ic h nature? A rc h ite c tu re is already rig htly

co n ce rn e d a b o u t th e w a s ta g e o f un sustaina ble building p ra ctices, and tu rn s its back on
co n c e p ts o f nature as p ro flig a te and w a s te fu l. The resp on se to th e w a s te d im age
req uire s g re a te r nuance. C o nce pts o f e m e rg e n ce , organic fo rm s , p a tte rn s o f g ro w th
and c o m p le x d yn a m ic e co lo g ie s are s u g g e stive o f cre a tio n , bu t are prone to d rift into
th e te rrito ry o f ro m a n tic o rg an icism , leaving aside n a tu re 's 'd a rk e r' a sp ects. As a
design d isciplin e, a rc h ite c tu re is w e ll placed to e x p lo it m e ta p h o rs o f w a s te , m im ic ry
and darkness, pa rticularly as it c o n te m p la te s its d e p lo y m e n t o f th e digital im age.

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 Forms in the dark

Acknowledgements

This w o rk is supported by the Arts and H um anities Research Council. I am grateful to

Bruce Currey fo r draw ing m y a tten tion to Caillois' paper.

Notes

1 Marcus Aurelius, 1964.

2 Jencks, 1995.
3 Castle, 2004: 5; W ise, 2004: 54-63.
4 Caillois, 1984: 17-32.
5 Vidler, 1995.
6 Grosz, 2001.
7 Coyne, 2005a.
8 Frank, 2003.
9 Caillois, 1934: 23-26; Caillois, 2003.
10 Caillois, 1984, p. 25.
11 Freud, 1990a.
12 Veblen, 1998.
13 Mauss, 1990.
14 Coyne, 2005a.
15 Bolter and Grusin, 1999.
16 Baudrillard, 2001.
17 Barthes, 1973.
18 Arvind and W ong, 2004.
19 Dourish, 2001.
20 Haraway, 1991.
21 Marx, 1977.
22 McLuhan, 1962.
23 Kahn, 2001.
24 Connor, 2005.
25 Caillois, 1984, p. 30.
26 Freud, 1990b.

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D.K. Arvind and K.J. Wong, 'Speckled computing: disruptive technology for networked
information appliances', in Proceedings o f the IEEE International Symposium on Con­
sum er Electronics (ISCE'04) (UK), September 2004.
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, trans. M. Staniforth. London: Penguin, 1964, Manuscript from
the second century ad.

Roland Barthes, Mythologies, trans. A. Lavers. London: Paladin, 1973.

Jean Baudrillard, 'Simulacra and Simulations', in M. Poster (ed.), Selected Writings, Cam­
bridge: Polity, 2001.
J. David Bolter and Richard A. Grusin, Remediation: Understanding N e w Media, Cambridge,
MA: MIT Press, 1999.
Roger Caillois, 'La mante religieuse'. Minotaure, 5, 1934.

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------ 'M im icry and legendary psychasthenia'. October, 31 {winter 1984), 17-32, first
published in M inotaure in 1935.
------ 'The praying mantis: from biology to psychoanalysis', in C. Frank (ed.), The Edge o f Sur­
realism, Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2003, pp. 69-81.
Helen Castle, editorial to special edition on Emergence: Morphological Design Strategies
(guest edited by Michael Hensel, Achim Menges and Michael Weinstock), Architec­
tural Design, 74, 3 (2004), 5.
Steven Connor, Edison's Teeth: Touching Hearing. Online, available from: ww w .bbk.ac.uk/
english/skc/edsteeth. 2001 (accessed 15 August 2005).
Richard Coyne, Cornucopia Lim ited: Design and Dissent on the Internet, Cambridge, MA:
MIT Press, 2005a.
------ 'The digital uncanny: repetition, suspicion and the space of interpretation', in P. Turner
and E. Davenport (eds), Spatiality, Spaces and Technology, Dordrecht: Kluwer, RAE
2007, pp. 5-18.
P. Dourish, Where the Action Is: the Foundations o f Embodied Interaction, Cambridge, MA:
MIT Press, 2001.
Claudine Frank (ed.), The Edge o f Surrealism: a Roger Caillois Reader, trans. C. Frank and C.
Naish, Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2003.
Sigmund Freud, 'Beyond the pleasure principle', in A. Richards (ed.), The Penguin Freud
Library, Volume 11: On Metapsychology, Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin,
1990a, pp. 269-338, first published in German in 1920.
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Elizabeth Grosz, Architecture from the Outside: Essays on Virtual and Real Space, Cam­
bridge, MA: MIT Press, 2001.
Donna J. Haraway, Simians, Cyborgs, and W omen: the Reinvention o f Nature, London: FAb,
1991.
Charles Jencks, The Architecture o f the Jum ping Universe, A Polemic: H o w Complexity
Science is Changing Architecture and Culture, London: Academy Editions, 1995.
Douglas Kahn, Noise, Water, M eat: a History o f Sound in the Arts, Cambridge, MA: MIT
Press. 2001.
Marshall McLuhan, The Gutenberg Galaxy: the Making o f Typographic Man, Toronto: Univer­
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Chris Wise, 'Drunk in an orgy of technology', Architectural Design, 74, 3 (2004), 54-63.

136
Concealment, delay and
topology in the creation
of wondrous drawing
D onald Kunze

Introduction

The architectural draw ing uses surface e ffe cts to set up, in the im agination, a s ym m e ­
try be tw ee n spaces o f reception and locales of presentation. The draw ing could be
considered as a 'th inking m achine' w h ose surpluses and gaps create openings for
ingenium , m etaphoric con stru cts that involve not ju s t w itty ideas but structural duets
be tw e e n subjects and objects, heres and theres, now s and thens. This graphic prac­
tice am ounts to an 'ana m orp hic' m ode o f perception through concealm ent. To under­
stand the draw ing process, the study of cinem a can provoke n e w angles o f inquiry,
particularly in the case of directors w h o 'sto rybo ard' th e ir plots, fram ing scenes as
'e m b le m s'. In particular, Alfred H itchcock's film s provide am ple evidence o f dynam ic
anam orphosis on behalf of m eanings that are created in advance of their arrival on
screen. H itch cock's in tu itive and prescient use of the 'M a cG u ffin ' - a gratuitous detail,
w h ich u n de rw rites the audience's im aginative m o ve m e n t into the w o rk of art -
sum m arizes the w it of the architectural draw ing as a strategy o f concealm ent
and delay.

Mad paper

M o st projections eventually cease to be projections. This can be as sim ple a m a tte r as

intended, or unintended, de stru ction - holding a m atch to a map, or using a new spaper
to w rap fish. The m ore in te restin g case is w h e re this end is also the end, the lim it, of
the idea o f projection. There's the fun ny situation o f the country described by Jorge
Luis Borges, w h ere the rage fo r accurate m aps led to draw ing them at 1:1 scale.1 The
result w as that this p e rfe ct map covered the w h o le country and consequently becam e
useless. Borges may have sim p ly intended to lam poon the correspondence theory of
truth, but he raised an interesting question: w h a t exactly w o uld this 'end o f representa­
tio n ' be like?

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Donald Kunze

This q u e stio n has occu rre d to th o u g h tfu l a rtis ts o f o th e r ages. John Donne
fe lt th a t it w a s n e cessa ry to persuade th e paper he used to w rite his po e m s to p u t up
w ith th e m o re e x tre m e o f his authorial a m b itio n s. In his po em , T o M rs. M . H.',
he w ro te :

M ad paper stay, and gru dg e no t here to burne

W ith all th o s e sonnes w h o m m y braine did create,
A t le s t lye hid w ith m ee, till th o u return e
To rags againe, w h ic h is th y native s ta te .2

D o n n e 's paper is a p pa rently th re a te n in g to w a lk o ff th e job; but, w h e n in s tru m e n ts of

re p re se n ta tio n rebel against th e ir m a ste rs, a re n 't th e y s im p ly living up to re p re se n ta ­
tio n 's claim to im ita te life? If re p re se n ta tio n holds to its goal o f e xa ctitu d e , s h o u ld n 't it
a cce p t th e u n in te n d e d co n se q u e n ce s o f a n im a te d and e m p o w e re d a rtifa cts, w h ic h ,
o nce th e y gain a m ind o f th e ir o w n , have o th e r plans? D o e s n 't th e 'e n d o f re p re se n ta ­
tio n ', th e o re tic a lly and anecd otally, involve th e crea tion o f a G olem , a F ra n ke n ste in 's
m o n ste r? 'M a d pa pe r', w h e n it g e ts really m ad, rebels n o t ju s t a g a in st th e a u th o r b u t
a u th o rsh ip in general; no t ju s t ag ainst a pa rticular assign ed role, b u t ag ainst th e w h o le
idea o f in te n tio n a lity in re p re se n ta tio n .
The Russian a u th o r o f Black S no w , M ikh ail B ulgakov (1968), su g g e s ts th a t
th is radical failure o f in te n tio n a lity m ig h t be m o re e n te rta in in g than w h a t in te n tio n a lity
fir s t had in m in d. H aving c o m p le te d w h a t he fe e ls to be a bland novel, th e n o v e lis t-
narrator n o tice s th a t th e pages o f his book have tu rn e d into a 1930s version o f a
vid eo screen:

I began to fe e l th a t s o m e th in g colore d w as e m e rg in g fro m the w h ite pages.

A fte r starin g at it and s c re w in g up m y eyes I w a s co n vin ce d th a t it w a s a
pictu re - and a p ictu re th a t w a s no t fla t b u t th re e -d im e n sio n a l like a box.
T hrou gh th e lines on the paper I could see a light burning and inside th e box
th o se sam e cha racters in th e novel w e re m oving ab ou t. It w a s a d e lig h tfu l
gam e and m ore than once I re g re tte d th a t m y cat w a s dead and th e re
w a s no one to w h o m I could s h o w th e s e pe op le m o vin g a b o u t in th a t tin y
little ro o m .3

It is qu ite am azing th a t B ulgakov se e m s to have a n ticip a te d th e age o f th e w o rd

pro cesso r, w h e re th e scree n has taken o ve r th e jo b o f th e paper, s o m e tim e s as an
in te rm e d ia ry, s o m e tim e s as an o u trig h t usurper. M ad pixels, stay!

The inside gap

To m ake this clear, let m e try to d e fine th e fu n c tio n o f th is 'w o n d ro u s ' a rtifa ct residing
in side the rep rese ntatio n process, th e paper or pixels 'w ith an a ttitu d e '. An e x tre m e but
m o s t d e fin itiv e case w o u ld be th e con tro versial 'S hroud o f T urin', rep uted to be th e ori­
ginal cove r o f th e prone corpse o f C hrist. Its cloth retains a dire ct tra n sfe r o f w h a t

138
 C oncealm ent, delay and topology

see m s to be a body im age. This e cto p la sm ic tra n sfe r collapses th e sagittal d ista nce of
p ro je ction b e tw e e n rep rese ntatio n and the re p rese nted . W h e n th e sagittal collapses, its
related in te re sts fail, such as the co n ve n tio n o f au thorial con trivan ce. No distance, no
d isse m b lin g ; hence, a u th e n ticity. But, is it possible to sim u late th is collapse inside the
w o rk o f art, as a care fu lly laid trap? And, m ore im p o rta n tly, can th is 'end o f re p re se n ta ­
tio n ', th o u g h p u rp o se fu lly planned, still lead to an experience o f au then ticity?
In A lfre d H itc h c o c k 's w e ll-k n o w n film , V ertigo (1958), S cotty, a retired
p o lice m an reco verin g fro m a tra u m a tic e v e n t in volving falling , is doing a fa vo r fo r an
acq uaintance, Gavin E lster, w e ll-to -d o o w n e r o f a sh ip -co n stru ctio n com p an y. The
m ag na te asks S co tty to fo llo w his w ife , M a d e le in e , w h o , E lster fears, is in danger o f a
nervous b re a kd o w n . She se e m s ob sesse d w ith th e idea th a t she is th e reincarnation
o f a long-dead Latina, C arlotta Valdez. S c o tty agrees to take th e job. He fo llo w s
M a d e le in e around, spying on her as she sits in an art m u s e u m b e fore C a rlo tta 's p o r­
tra it, spe nd s tim e in th e boarding house th a t w a s C a rlo tta 's ho m e, and take s flo w e rs
to C a rlo tta 's grave. Finally, he in te rce d e s in her a tte m p te d suicide beneath th e San
F rancisco Bay B ridge. He is fa scin a te d by th e be a u tifu l M a d e le in e and be gins to half-
believe in her fan ta sy. N o w playing th e role o f th e tra g ic lover, M a d e le in e leads S co tty
to an old Spanish m o n a ste ry. Because o f his fea r o f he ig hts, he fails to p re ve n t her
fatal ju m p fro m th e bell to w e r. S c o tty is devastated .
W e e k s later, S co tty e n co u n te rs a w o m a n w h o bears a strikin g rese m bla nce
to M a d e le in e . He pu rsue s and fin a lly c o n fro n ts her. Jud y, a shop-girl living in a cheap
a p a rtm e n t, is a ta w d ry version o f M a d elein e. N o n e th e le ss, he is unable to relinquish
his ob session. Ju d y re lu c ta n tly a llo w s him to rem ake her in the im age o f th e dead
M a d e le in e . S co tty, h o w e v e r, discove rs a piece o f je w e lry th a t had actu ally belo nge d to
M a d e le in e - a ruby necklace ju s t like th e one in C a rlo tta 's p o rtra it in th e m u s e u m . He
realizes th a t th e shop-girl w a s hired to play th e part o f th e w ife , en a ctin g th e pre su m e d
de lu sio n by visitin g th e m u se u m and c e m e te ry and by a tte m p tin g suicide to c o ve r up
th e real m u rd e r o f the real w ife . Elster had esta b lish e d his in n o ce n ce w ith th e fake
b a ck-sto ry o f suicidal de lu sio n . S c o tty fo rc e s Jud y to return to th e m o n a s te ry to replay
th e m u rd e r scen e; th is tim e the fake ta ke s th e fall.
The e p is te m o lo g y o f V ertigo is q u ite co m p le x. A na lysis m u s t begin w ith the
re co g n itio n o f th e an a m o rp h ic fu n c tio n a lity o f th e 'J u d y -M a d e le in e ' device. This is an
'appearance m a ch in e ', w h ic h o p era te s fro m inside Vertigo, susta ining all o f its dra­
m a tic o rg a n ism s. Ju d y is th e a rtifa c t behind th e crea te d m ask o f M a d elein e. Be
care fu l, h o w e v e r. M a d e le in e is n o t a 'c o p y ' o f E lste r's w ife , b u t a cre a tio n m ade only
to engage S co tty. S he 's like o th e r H itch co ck crea tion s, such as th e spy, Kaplan, in
N o rth b y N o rth w e s t (1959), a fic tio n a l in ve n tio n o f th e CIA m a intained to d is tra c t KGB
spies. W h e n an a d ve rtisin g e xe cu tive , W a lte r Thornhill, is m ista ke n fo r Kaplan by th e
Russians, he c a n 't prove his in n o ce n ce because his do ub le d o e s n 't e xist. This
an am o rph is 'p u re ' - n o t th e d is to rtio n o f s o m e a u th e n tic original b u t th e crea tion
o f th e Real o u t o f a durable d iffe re n c e . It is th e d istille d e sse nce o f th e fa m o u s
H itch cockia n 'M a c G u ffin ' - a 'g ra tu ito u s ' in ve n tio n req uire d to ju s tify th e a u d ie n ce 's
in te re s t. In th e case o f Vertigo, the audience is S cotty.

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Donald Kunze

To use a m a th e m a tica l analogy, 'J u d y -M a d e le in e ' is an 'o p e ra to r' w ith the

sam e zero-degree sta tu s as Kaplan. In th e m ain plot, she - o r 'th e y '? {Is n 't it tim e for
Ja m e s J o y c e 's 'tw o n e '? ) - fa c ilita te s th e ruse o f enga gin g S c o tty to be th e cred ib le
w itn e s s o f M a d e le in e ’s 's u ic id e '. E lster can s e t up th e death o f his w ife at th e to w e r of
th e m o n a ste ry because he kn o w s in advance th a t S co tty w ill be tra u m a tize d by th e
c lim b up th e to w e r stairs. Jud y can s te p in to th e s h a d o w s ju s t b e fo re th e real w ife is
pu she d out. The Janusian m o n s te r, J u d y -M a d e le in e , is a d ra m a tic device, bu t it's
im p o rta n t to recognize th e an a m o rp h ic fu n c tio n . Jud y is able to play M a d e le in e in the
m ain ruse, w h e re her s o p h is tic a tio n se e m s ge nu ine . W h e n Jud y is d isco ve re d later,
h o w e v e r, she c a n 't scrub o ff her shop-girl persona. H er spe ech is c o m m o n , her g e s­
tu re s rough. D e sp ite o u r kn o w le d g e th a t she is in fa c t th e original article, th e d if­
fe re n ce is th e an am o rphic insulation th a t keeps S c o tty fro m disco ve rin g th e tru th .
Paradoxically, th is failure e sta b lish e s so m e th in g like a 's u p e r-id e n tity ' - a durable ideal
o f th e self, based on a c o m p le te 'lack o f su b s ta n c e '!
The an a m o rp h ic fu n c tio n oscilla te s b e tw e e n e x tre m e 'o f f- o n ' se ttin g s. It
has no m e d ia tin g m id d le values, no c o m p ro m is e . It's e ith e r Jud y or M a d e le in e . This is
im p o rta n t, sin ce th e J u d y -M a d e le in e m ach in e keeps 'ru se p lo t' (S cotty in love
w ith M ad elein e) fro m cro ssin g th e 're s to ra tio n p lo t' (S cotty rem a king Jud y in
M a d e le in e 's im age). B oth p lo ts can survive in d e p e n d e n tly as long as the
J u d y -M a d e le in e m achine is a 'squa re w a v e ' th a t oscilla te s b e tw e e n tw o values
w ith o u t sto p p in g at in te rm e d ia te values.
The ruse p lo t (M ad ele in e's delusion) is basically a theatrical presentation
designed to en cha nt S cotty. As an ideal audience, S cotty en ters fu lly in to th e illusion of
M adeleine. He is the very m odel o f th e 'h o t d e te c tiv e ', th e one w h o loses p e rspe ctive by
fo reg oing d e ta ch m e n t fo r dire ct interaction w ith th e one he is paid to investigate. The
'B ig O th e r', to use a term from Lacan, in this ruse p lo t is the ho llo w ed ifice o f th e m urder
schem e. By coincidence, the architectural m odel fo r th is is the ho llo w square m on astery
to w e r w ith its in te rio r labyrinthine stair.4 S co tty's fear o f falling is paralleled by th e real
w ife 's real e xte rio r fall. W hen Jud y slips up by w e arin g th e sam e necklace she had used
as 'M a d e le in e ' in her visits to the m use um , S cotty realizes th a t th e basis o f the 'p lo t' is
ho llo w , th a t M adeleine 'doe s no t e x is t', th a t Judy is and w a s th e only M adeleine, con­
stru cte d to assure his te s tim o n y at the in qu est o f E lster's tru ly dead w ife .
The M a d e le in e -J u d y m achine w o rk s fro m th e inside o f th e se dra m atic
fo rm s , w o rk s an am o rphically, and is fu n d a m e n ta lly optical. T h ro u g h o u t th e film , S cotty
fin d s M a d e le in e and Jud y th ro u g h w in d o w s , m irrors, and in m u se u m p o rtra its. She is
co n s ta n tly disa p p e a rin g -a p p e a rin g , slipping out, popp ing up. The th e m e o f appearance
is m aterialized in th e je w e l, th e fake ruby necklace m ade up to re se m b le th e one in
C a rlo tta 's p o rtra it. It's a fake, b u t th is on ly u n d e rsco re s its m ore p o w e rfu l sta tu s as
'R ea l' w ith a capital 'R '! It's th e surp lu s o b je ct p a r exce lle nce , th e item 'o u t o f place'
th a t su tu re s to g e th e r both th e ruse p lo t and th e re sto ra tio n plot. The J u d y -M a d e le in e
m ach in e is th e link and key to th is sutu re .
The je w e l is a stand-in, an o b je ctifica tio n , o f Judy, the sho p-g irl w h o is the
h o p e le ss fake b u t in fa c t none o th e r than th e a u th e n tic 'w ife '. The te rm 'real fa ke ' is

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 C oncealm ent, delay and topology

b e s t approached w ith G illes D e leu ze's idea o f the dem ark, th e sign th a t stan ds out,
th a t does n o t fit in to th e natural order. O th e r H itch cockia n d e m a rks in clud e th e m on o-
g ra m m e d c ig a re tte lig h te r in S trangers on a Train, th e b e lt o f th e raincoat in Young an d
Inn ocen t, th e w in d m ill tu rn in g b a ckw a rd s in The La dy Vanishes, or th e d o w n w a rd -
g ro w in g zinnias in R ear W in d o w . O ne c o m m o n q u ality th a t hints at th e s e c re t o f th e
d e m a rk is w h a t M ich a e l R ifa tte rre called 'fic tio n a l tru th ' - a fa lse h o o d th a t, in th e rig h t
c o n te x t, b e c o m e s in sup erab ly a u th e n tic. W e 're re m in d e d o f th e co m b in a tio n o f denial
and tru th th a t fo rm e d th e a u th e n tic de tail fo r G iovanni M o re lli's th e o ry o f art a u th e n tic ­
ity - picked up by no less a fig u re than S ig m un d Freud in his fo rm u la tio n o f th e idea of
th e u n co n scio u s use o f th e discarded de tail as an in d ica to r o f psychic tru th .

Just another nobody

The M a d e le in e -J u d y m achine w o rk s as a 'ze ro -d e g re e ' device. It crea te s an internal,

an a m o rp h ic 'fa c e ' th a t esta b lish e s a u th e n tic id e n tity {'w h o d u n it') by u n d e rm in in g the
w h o le q u e stio n o f id e n tity in a radical w a y. T here is no M a d e le in e ju s t as th e re is no
Judy, b u t to g e th e r th e y are, as ch a m p io n s o f n o n -e xiste n ce , ladies o f th e n igh t w h e re ,
as H egel w o u ld have p u t it, 'all c o w s are b lack'. The m a ch in e is a hinge b e tw e e n un i­
versal (the paragon o f beauty, M a d elein e) and th e particular, Jud y, th e 'a ctu a l' flesh -
and-blood a ctre ss hired to play M a d e le in e . The co u p lin g o f such a m o n s tro u s fo rm in a
single person is a fo rm o f an tono m asia , th e rh e to rica l fig u re o f th e nam e de rive d fro m
a q u ality or a p a rticular person. H itch co ck p ro vid es e xa m p le s o f each. In The 3 9 S teps
(1935), an o th e rw is e n a m eless p e rfo rm e r is called 'M r. M e m o ry '. In the reverse d ire c­
tion , particular-to-un ive rsa l, H itc h c o c k 's fa m o u s device, b o rro w e d fro m A ng us M cP hail,
is th e 'M a c G u ffin '. The fig u re o f an to n o m a sia s h o w s th e role o f th e nam e in m e d ia tin g
th e un ive rsal and particular, th e m aterial and th e ideal.
The issues o f id e n tity, nam e and a n tono m asia are no t ab stra ct. T hey arise
in lite ra tu re as q u e stio n s o f th e non-person, th e nobody, th e stranger, th e lim inal being;
in th e s h a d o w y backgro und o f m yth and fo lk lo re are th e tra d itio n s o f th e period
'b e tw e e n th e tw o d e a th s ' - jo u rn e y b e tw e e n th e death o f th e body and th e fina l re st
o f th e soul. T hese sou rces su g g e s t th a t, fo r th is crucial interval, blind ne ss tru m p s
vision; silence tru m p s spe ech ; p ro je ctio n is collap sed and to u c h take s its place. This is
w h e re T ruth its e lf speaks, b u t how ?
S te re o g n o sis, 'k n o w le d g e o f th e w o rld th ro u g h to u c h ', can be re p re se n te d
on ly in te rm s o f to p o g ra p h y. An a p p ro p ria te ly radical p o sitio n w o u ld be to in sist th a t
th is to p o g ra p h y be fo rc e d to retain its e xp e rie n tia l and te m p o ra l basis: a seq ue nce
o f e n co u n te rs en cod ed by to p o g ra p h ica l qu a litie s o f 'c o n tin g e n c y ', 'h a n d e d n e ss'
(le ft-rig h t relations), and m irro r-s y m m e try re la tio n sh ip s (the face; th e 'id io tic s y m m e ­
try ' o f s e lf-re fe re n ce and recursion). S te re o g n o sis m ig h t w e ll be th e officia l tech nica l
te rm fo r th e fa ilure o f p ro je ctive re p re se n ta tio n , and its o ffic ia l e m b le m m ig h t w e ll be
th e Cretan la byrin th, th e m e a n d e r w h o s e on ly variable is fo rw a rd -b a c k w a rd - a re d u c­
tio n o f space to th e u ltim a te d e te rm in a tio n o f facing.

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Donald Kunze

S tere ogn osis, as w e m ig h t e xp e ct, ca n n o t be s a tis fa c to rily explained in p ro ­

je c tiv e te rm s . A na lo gie s and e xa m p le s fall sh o rt because th e y rely on w h a t s te re o g n o ­
sis p re cise ly p ro h ib its. A rt tea ches us, h o w e ve r, th a t s te re o g n o sis can be e x p e rie n c e d
in e n co u n te rs th a t are s tru c tu re d by its logic. This m ea ns th a t th e c ritic -th e o re tic ia n
m u s t o ccu p y th e role o f th e audience and co n sid e r th e co n d itio n o f the a u dience as a
c o n s titu tiv e in g re d ie n t fo r all th e o re tic a l c o n s tru c ts . This co n d itio n has been fo rm a lize d
th ro u g h th e syllo g ism k n o w n as th e 'e n th y m e m e '. In th e zone w h e re ph ilo so p h y and
rh e to ric m e e t, w e have th e rhe to rica l syllo g ism , th e 'If A is B and B is C th e n A is C'
a rra n g e m e n t o f p ro p o sitio n s th a t M e d ie va l logicians cla ssified in to nin e te e n fo rm s,
giving th e m such alluring nam es as 'B arba ra' and 'C a m e s tre s '. The rhe to rica l syllo­
gism , th e e n th y m e m e , tre a ts th e audience, like D o n n e 's paper, as both m in d and
body, universal and particular. First: th e audience is s ittin g in th e a u d ito riu m thin kin g,
'n o w w e are to w a tc h s o m e th in g o f so m e im p o rta n ce (or n o t)'. Second: the audience
is d ise m b o d ie d and placed w ith in th e w o rk - w h a t film th e o ris ts w h o had read Lacan
cam e to d e scrib e as 's u tu re ', or localization o f th e audience inside a scen e or cha racter
w ith in th e fictio n a l re p re se n ta tio n .
The s y llo g is m 's classic fo rm can be e xp re sse d using th e 'ca lc u lu s ' of
G eorge S pe nce r-B row n , w h o s e axiom s cou ld tra n sla te (and corre ct) Boolean logic into
the te rm s o f bo un da ry cro ssin g s and 'c a lls '.5 The c o m p le x so rite s o f L e w is Carroll can
be dispa tch ed q u ickly using S p e n c e r-B ro w n 's no ta tio n by id e n tify in g 's ile n t p a irin g s' (B
and B-cross in th e fig u re be lo w ). The ruse o f the in te rio r face, th e 'n o b o d y ', can be
visualized th ro u g h the fu n c tio n o f th e syllo g ism , w h e re th e m id d le te rm , B, stan ds fo r
th e a u d ie n ce 's relation to th e spe ake r and th e spe ech . B and B-cross are th e internal,
se lf-sile n cin g , s e lf-re fe re n tia l Janusian audience; th e 'a n to n o m a s ia ' th a t is s im u lta n ­
e o usly unive rsal and particular.
S p e n ce r-B ro w n 's calculus uses one sym bo l, th e angle, to re p re se n t both a
boundary and, curiously, a 'ca ll'. In art and lite rature , spatial divisions (en tra pm e nt,
lim inal crossings, te m p o ra l ob serva tions, etc.) are fre q u e n tly cou pled w ith th e m agical
or ironic use o f th e nam e. D oors open w ith a m agical w o rd ; an e n e m y is a d m itte d under
false pre te nce s. For exam ple, in th e sto ry o f N arcissus, a m irro r boundary u n de rm ine s a
case o f s e lf-id e n tity and is tie d to th e p u n is h m e n t o f Echo, w h o s e desire is re stricte d to
repeating th e last w o rd o f th e o th e r (anacoluthon). An even m ore co m p a ct fo rm u la tio n
can be fo u n d in th e H o m e ric story o f O d ysse u s's e n co u n te r w ith the Cyclops.
The H o m e ric trib e o f C yclopes w a s k n o w n fo r th e ir lack o f h o sp ita lity. T heir
nam e is th e a n th ro p o lo g ica l a d je ctive fo r so cie tie s w h o , living in isolation, tre a te d

T h e sy llo g is tic fo rm
all A are B ~Ä\ B o f th e e n th y m e m e ,
all B are C Bl C A lji/ w ith th e self-
______________ ________ ddle r e fe re n tia l 'm id d le
ter te r m ', s h o w n in th e
all A are C ^1 C
's ta n d a rd ' and
c o n d e n s e d calculus
1. standard . en er Br n s o f G e o rg e S p e n c e r-
al I s B ro w n .

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 C oncealm ent, delay and topology

s trang ers as e n e m ie s or foo d and fo llo w e d on ly th e seve re la w s o f th e ir go d s o f the

hearth. O d ysse u s w is h e d to find o u t if th e C yclops P o lyp h e m u s could be persuaded to
o ffe r th e G reeks th e tra d itio n a l h o s t's g ifts . P o lyp h e m u s re fu te d th is th e sis by im p ris ­
oning th e G reeks inside his la b yrin th in e cave so th a t he m ig h t d e vo u r the m at his
leisure. The episo de is s tru c tu re d by th e w itty tricks O d ysse u s e m p lo ye d to escape
th is cave prison . First, O d ysse u s b lind ed th e one-e yed g ian t - po ssib le on ly because
th e C yclops had on ly one eye. S econd, O d ysse u s p re scie n tly gave th e C yclops a fake
nam e, te llin g him n e ve r to fo rg e t th a t 'N o h b d y ' had blinded him . The lite ral-m ind ed
C yclops a cce p te d th is pro no un as a 'p a rtic u la r' pro pe r nam e (antonom asia), b u t his
later use o f it w o u ld be heard as a pro no un by his C yclopean ne ig hbo urs. This p u ts the
C yclops in th e p o sitio n o f th e audience, w h o s e alte rn a tio n b e tw e e n unive rsal (con­
s u m e r o f a rtw o rk ) and p a rticular (e le m e n t inside th e w o rk o f art) is e ffa ce d in th e su s­
pension o f d isb e lie f. W h e re a s th e audience vo lu n ta rily take s on th is ignorance on
b e ha lf o f th e po ssib le e xp e rie n ce o f art, th e C yclops is, in volu ntarily, ig no rant o f th e d if­
fe re n ce . The th ird tric k w a s a parody o f hypotaxis, or su b o rd in a tio n . The C yclops
c o u n te d his she ep by to u ch care fu lly as th e y w e re released each day to pa sture, bu t
th e G reeks hung bene ath th e sheep. The she ep -m en su b ve rte d th e 'tra n s itiv e o rd e r' of
th e cave by cre a tin g a 'm o n s tro u s ' do ub le th e C yclops could no t d e te c t.
'T o p o g ra p h y' here in volve s no t ju s t th e ca ve 's tra n s itiv e space in c o n tra s t to
an 'in tra n s itiv e ' escape, b u t the c o m m o n logic behind th e tricks th a t fo rm a tig h t
seq u e n ce , a ne cessa ry order. Is th e re a c o n n e c tio n linkin g th e se tric k s and th e ir
c o m m o n s tru c tu re to travel space? The key lies in th e 'in te rn a l m irro r e ffe c t' provided
by th e e n th y m e m e . The tricks w e re in itia te d w ith th e s h ift fro m a visual to a tactile
(ste re o g n o stic) basis, th e blinding o f th e C yclops. As a th o ro u g h g o in g lite ra list, the
C yclops had on ly one 'tra c k ' (= he arth or 'e ye '), ju s t as his cave had on ly one en tra nce
and channel. The C yclo p s' m o n o -lo g ic w a s vulne rable to th e so p h istica tio n o f hypotaxis
(subordination) in c o n tra s t to parataxis (one th in g a fte r an o th e r - th e line o f sheep). The
'm id d le te rm ' o f c o n ce a lm e n t, th e a n tono m asia o f 'N o h b d y ', fin ish e d th e gam e.
The m ea ning o f 'N o h b d y ' as a pro no un 'lay b e n e a th ' its use as a p ro pe r
nam e, and so th e an tono m asia w a s 's ile n t' to th e s in g le -m in d e d giant. The use o f th e
nam e - pa rticularly as an an aco luth on, w h e re th e last 'w o rd ' radically revises the
m eaning o f pre ced ing actio ns - and th e th e m e o f th e 'n o b o d y ' co m e s in a single
in fo rm a tiv e package. It is n o t fo r no thin g th a t th e C yclops has (precociously) th e fabled
single eye o f p e rsp e ctiva l re p re se n ta tio n . As th e e n th y m e m e o f th e audience p re dicts,
th e ce n tra l gap, the place o f th e nobody, is also crucially th e place o f th e nam e; and
th e nam e is the key to a critica l cro ssin g or escape.
O d ysse u s s h o w s th e w a y fo r th e audience, w h ic h is, like paper o r pixels,
a lw ays bo th its e lf and n o t itse lf, a 'N o h b d y '. The bo d y s ittin g in th e hard au d ito riu m
seat, co u gh ing or stayin g qu ie t, m u s t also be no-body, th e c o rre s p o n d e n t soul tra n s­
p o rte d in to th e fic tio n a l tru th o f th e w o rk o f art. This qu ick and d irty so lu tio n to the
fa m o u s 'm in d -b o d y p ro b le m ' is actu ally so m e th in g o f a ph ilo so p h ica l o d d ity, the
fo rm u la o f se lf-re fe re n ce , a circu lar m o tio n w h e re b y th e sig nifie r, like Z e n o 's A chille s
chasing th e to rto is e , ne ver qu ite ca tch e s up w ith th e sig n ifie d , n o t because it's no t

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Donald Kunze

fa s te r and m o re m ob ile , easy to fo ld like th e p e rfe c t re p re se n ta tio n , b u t because its

tim e is o f a d iffe re n t order, unable to synch up w ith th e tim e o f th e re p re se n te d , like a
so u n d tra ck th a t's a m illis e co n d s lo w e r or fa s te r than th e m o vin g lips o f th e characters
in a cin em a - an 'a rtifa c t' th a t re m in d s us th a t w e 're w a tc h in g s o m e th in g artificial,
im p e rfe c t, second-hand. For th e d ra w in g , th is m ea ns th a t d iale ctic and tim e , no t p ro ­
je c tiv e g e o m e try , are g e ne rative and fu n d a m e n ta l.

Topology and the logic of self-reference

S elf-re fe re n ce is easier to s w a llo w w h e n it's n o t an a ccid e n t o f p ro d u ctio n b u t s o m e ­

th in g p u rp o s e fu lly s e t to th e service o f rh e to ric. This is w h e n it b e co m e s th e basis o f a
joke, and hence th e w o n -o v e r a ffe c tio n o f th e audience, or th e su b je c t o f ridicule,
w h e n th e audience g e ts a go od laugh at th e exp en se o f th e speaker, accid e n ta lly or on
pu rpo se (c f. th e p o litica l rally in H itc h c o c k 's The 3 9 S teps o r th e auction scene in N o rth
b y N o rth w e s t).
The audience as e n th y m e m ic b o d y -s o u l is an au dience b e tw e e n tw o
deaths. The firs t death is separation o f th e soul fro m th e body in th e usual sen se; the
d is e m b o d im e n t in itia te d by im a g in a tio n . The seco nd is th e 'd e a th ' b ro u g h t ab o u t by
th e end o f th e a rtis tic illusion, w h e n cha racters e ith e r die or g e t m arried, if one fo llo w s
th e tra d itio n a l fo rm u la s o f tra g e d y and c o m e d y. 'B e tw e e n -th e -tw o -d e a th s ' is o f course
an a n th ro p o lo g ica l stand-by: th e interval o f m o u rn in g s e t equal to th e im a gin ed jo u rn e y
o f th e soul in th e u n d e rw o rld . D e ta che d fro m fu n e ra l practice, it is th e katabasis, the
jo u rn e y o f th e hero (originally m ea ning sim p ly 'a dead pe rso n ') in th e sam e u n d e rw o rld ,
fig u re d as a labyrinth, on a q u e s t o f retrie val (H e rcu le s' re co ve ry o f A lce stis, O rp h e u s'
rescue o f Eurydice). In th e eve ryda y w o rld , th e re is a sim p le r exp la natio n: th e escape
o f the su b je ct by m eans o f fa n ta sy p ro je ctio n . O v e rw h e lm e d by th e d e m a n d s o f the
'n e tw o rk s o f sy m b o lic re la tio n s h ip s ' - th e real m eaning o f 's y m b o lic ca s tra tio n ', no t a
s y m b o liza tio n o f castratio n bu t a castratio n b y s ym b o ls - th e su b je c t m u s t 'de-realize'
h im /h e rs e lf by e n te rin g in to th e a -sym b o lic realm o f th e Real.
How can fa n ta sy p ro je ctio n , n o th in g less tha n th e lo cus o f art, be
a-sym bolic? T here are various a n sw e rs to th is q u e stio n : th e 'd e m a rk ' o f D eleuze, the
M a cG u ffin and no bo die s o f H itch co ck, th e an to n o m a sia cs o f H o m e r and o th e r a n cie n t
a u thors. W h e n 'n o b o d y 's h o m e ', the puzzle, paradox and paranorm al take over. Every
roa d's a M o b iu s band, w e k n o w e v e ryth in g w ith o u t k n o w in g a n yth in g . W ith o u t a map,
to p o lo g y rules: w e k n o w th e w o rld th ro u g h th e le ft- rig h t to u ch o f th e body (ste re o g n o ­
sis) and w e k n o w th e body th ro u g h th e a-logic o f w h a t Slavoj Zizek w o u ld call 'organs
w ith o u t b o d ie s', or 'd e s ire ' libera ted fro m the co n se n su s o f th e co rp -ora tion.6

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 Concealment, delay and topology

Notes

1 Jorge L. Borges, 'On Exactitude in Science', in Collected Fictions, trans. A. Hurley,

London: Penguin Group, 1998, p. 325.
2 John Donne, c.1607.
3 Mikhail Bulgakov, Black Snow, 1936-9, trans. Michael Glenny, 1968, p. 54.
4 References to Lacan in this chapter are general. For the standard introduction, see
Jacques Lacan, Écrits, trans. Bruce Fink, New York: W .W . Norton & Company.
5 George Spencer-Brown, Laws o f Form, London: Allen & Unwin, 1969.
6 Slavoj Zizek, Organs W ithout Bodies: on Deleuze and Consequences, New York:
Routledge. 2004.

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A digital renaissance
Reconnecting architectural representation and
cinem atic visual effects

M athanraj Ratinarti

Introduction

How m ight em ergent techniques of digital visualisation and representation enhance

the w ay w e design architectural spaces? This chapter seeks to explore w h at architec­
ture can learn from technologies developed in other fields, specifically considering the
potential application of cinematic visual effects for proposing architectural schemes.
There was a period in history when the field of visual effects was not
dom inated by production houses in Hollywood, but sat clearly w ithin the domain of
architecture. This chapter investigates how contem porary architecture can reclaim a
relationship to visual effects by looking back to the Renaissance and the Baroque and
looking forw ard to the innovative techniques used by production studios. The practice-
based research of this chapter is concerned w ith how visual-effects techniques used in
film m ight introduce more appropriate models for com m unicating architectural ideas.
The thesis is three-fold: first claiming the disciplinary relevance of an ocular-centric
approach, then expediently noting the time-saving technical advantages and, lastly,
prom oting the phenom enological appropriateness of the moving image.
The research is particularly concerned w ith the area of visual effects that
focuses on ocular-centric techniques that begin, process and ou tput in perspective
w ith little or no empirical input. By moving away from empirically measured m ethods
and tow ards a privileging of the view, w e can use digital representation to critique
w ork in progress, indirectly enhancing the act of designing and the architectural
outcom e. The significance of this interdisciplinary exchange lies not in the techno­
logical opportunities alone, for it is in this shift from analytical visualisation to interpre­
tative representation that w e can capture, investigate and explore the dynamic and
ephemeral dim ensions of architectural space.
The relationships betw een film and architecture have been frequently
remarked upon, although much of this interest has focused on the literal depiction of
architecture w ithin film s. In these cases, architecture has often played a role in term s
of set design and scene backdrops, or as the subject in architectural documentaries.

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 A digital renaissance

U n in te re ste d in th e m e re ly literal co n n e c tio n s b e tw e e n th e tw o d isciplin es, w rite rs

such as Juh an i Pallasm aa1 and N orm an Klein2 have discu sse d th e a b ility o f various film -
m aking s tru c tu re s to co n ve y an u n de rsta nd ing o f space and o th e r e p h e m e ra l qualities
shared by a rch ite ctu re . Pallasmaa and Klein co n ce n tra te on th e p o e tics o f re p re se n ta ­
tio n and its cu ltu ra l sig n ifica n ce across disciplin es. T hey bo th locate m any o f th e ir
th o u g h ts no t on ly in th e overlap b e tw e e n a rc h ite c tu re and film b u t in th e m o m e n ts
w h e n qu a litie s fro m one d iscip lin e are able to tra n sce n d and even e n lig h te n th e oth er.
A id ed by digita l m eans, w e have m ore re ce n tly seen a m e rg in g o f th e d isci­
plines. A rc h ite c tu ra l p ra c titio n e rs such as G reg Lynn3 and Lars S p u yb ro e k4 have
e xp lo red and p ro m o te d te ch n iq u e s o f film and a n im a tion th a t ge ne rate a rch itectura l
fo rm s w h ic h have also been w id e ly exp lo red in academ ia. B u t w h a t a b o u t o th e r rela­
tio n s h ip s b e tw e e n film and a rch ite ctu re ? C ould a n im a tio n have a n o th e r role in th e w a y
it aids th e a rch ite ctu ra l process?
This research p ro je c t is fra m e d by th e broad q u e stio n o f critiq u in g and spe c­
ulating upon th e role o f re p re se n ta tio n in a rch ite ctu re . In th e sp e cific case stu d y
re co u n te d here, th e aim w a s to in ve stig a te c o n te m p o ra ry m o d e s and te ch n iq u e s o f
d igita l re p re se n ta tio n , w ith a p a rticular in te re s t in th o se being e m p lo ye d by th e visual-
e ffe c ts in d u stry in cin em a . The am b itio n w a s to re-appropriate th e s e te ch n iq u e s to
help to c o m m u n ic a te a rch ite ctu ra l ideas w h ils t en qu irin g o f th e ir link to h isto rica l prac­
tic e s o f a rch ite ctu ra l re p re se n ta tio n . M o s t im p o rta n tly, th e aim w a s to co n sid e r h o w a
n e w approach could be used to critiq u e a piece o f a rc h ite c tu re as th e design develops,
rathe r than c o m m u n ic a te th e o u tc o m e or, as fo rm e rly m e n tio n e d , be used to ge nerate
a rch ite ctu ra l fo rm .

Digital panoramas and photogram m etry

To begin, tw o o f th e se visual e ffe c ts te ch n iq u e s need to be unpacked and explained

be fore c o n sid e rin g th e ir in v o lv e m e n t in th e p ro je c t and th e ir relevance to a rch itectura l
re p re se n ta tio n . T here are tw o te c h n iq u e s th a t I have been in ve stig a tin g .
First, th e m o s t c o m m o n ly u n d e rsto o d and e xp e rie n ce d are digital panora­
m as. These panoram as are m ade by digita lly s titc h in g to g e th e r a series o f p h o to ­
graphic im a ge s o f a scene th a t can be v ie w e d th ro u g h fre e ly available s o ftw a re kn o w n
as 'p la y e rs '. W ith in th e player th e re are a n u m b e r o f m ap ping m e th o d s used to pro je ct
th e panoram a on w h a t cou ld be de scrib e d as a room in te rio r in w h ic h th e v ie w e r is
located, and w ith in w h ic h th e v ie w e r is able to rotate. The m apping, fo r the sake o f the
analogy, could be th o u g h t o f as h o w th e pa no ram ic im a ge w o u ld be w a llp a p e re d to th e
surface o f th e roo m . The p ro je ctio n m e th o d (and th e shape o f th e room ) can be sp h e ri­
cal, cubical or cylindrical. H o w e ve r, th e re are no distin g u ish a b le d iffe re n c e s w h e n
v ie w in g a sph erical o r a cubical p ro je ctio n as th e ir d iffe re n c e s lie m ore in th e p ro d u c­
tio n o f th e panoram as, as w ill be later explained.
The second te ch n iq u e , p h o to g ra m m e try , has e xiste d sin ce 1851 as a te c h ­
nique fo r m ea surin g o b je cts fro m p h o to g ra p h s .5 The use o f p h o to g ra m m e try fo r

147
M athanraj Ratinam

architecture dates back to 1858 w h en the arch itect A lb rech t M eydenbauer developed
techniques to d o cum e nt buildings fo r preservation and rebuilding.6 In sim ple term s,
this can be th o u g h t of as reverse-engineering the technique used to generate a per­
spective vie w from a m easured orthogonal draw ing. As the photograph is a perspec­
tive w ith a central vanishing point, w ith basic inform ation on the lens used to capture
the image, m ea sure m ents can be extracted through calculus. Digital advances have
m eant th a t ph o to g ra m m e try has developed sig nifica ntly w h ere by, using the same
photographs, it is no w possible fo r objects to be rem odelled in a three-dim ensional
en viro nm en t and textured. This m ethod begins by collecting m ultiple im ages of the
sam e ob je ct taken from d iffe re n t points o f vie w . By locating com m o n points in each of
the photographs, such as the corner o f a building or the edge of a w in d o w , one can
position the photographs in space relative to the w ay they w e re taken. O nce m easure­
m en ts are calibrated, a digital 3D m odel can be derived from the photographs and then
the original photographs can be projected onto the 3D m odel to render its texture and
describe its m aterials.

Visual-effects techniques and perspective

There is a strong connection b e tw ee n the visual-effect techniques of ph otog ram m etry

and panoram as - as w e ll as Image Based R endering7 and 3D cam era trackin g8 - and
Renaissance investigations o f perspective. W hat all the afo re m en tion ed techniques
have in com m o n, as w ith m o st techniques in visual e ffe cts, is th a t they are all ocular-
centric techniques - as th e y begin w ith , develop through and o u tp u t via perspective.
M ovie-m aking w o rks entirely in perspective, as all im ages are captured through the
lens, and fo r this reason alm ost all the technologies th a t have been developed for
visual e ffe cts are based around the principles of perspective.
These contem porary techniques are arguably sim ilar, and even derivative
of, the investigations and debates around perspective th a t occurred through the
Renaissance. The m athe m atics at the root o f these techniques, in principle, is based
on the sam e calculus. Digital m etho ds em ployed in the visual-effects area in cinem a, I
w o u ld argue, are the con tem po rary digital perspective m achines th a t Leonardo da
Vinci, B runelleschi and others w e re experim enting w ith in th e ir tim e . In proposing this,
I also take the position that such artists and architects w e re at that tim e also creating
visual e ffe cts. One exam ple o f this is the vault o f the nave decorated by Andrea Pozzo
in Sant'lgnazio, Rome.
To help paint the vault, Pozzo developed and used his ow n quadratura te ch ­
nique w h e re b y a candle w o u ld be placed in the space at eye level and above it, tow a rd
the ceiling, a grid con stru cted o f string. The light from the candle w o u ld cast shadow s
from the string onto the ceiling, w h ich w o u ld act as a guide to d isto rt and transfe r the
fresco image to the surface o f the architecture. W hen the eye of the v ie w e r is located
at the privileged position of the candle flam e, regardless o f the g e om e try that made up
the ceiling, the im age w o uld fall into alignm ent. The ceiling w o uld cease to be a

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 A digital renaissance

Ceiling of
S a n t'lg n a z io , R om e,
decorated by A ndrea
Pozzo (1 6 8 4 -1 6 8 5 ).

painted image and w o uld becom e an extension of the physical architecture, appearing
to dissolve the ceiling and allow ing the architecture to continue tow a rd the sky.
The quadratura m ethod used in S ant'lgnazio suggests tw o things. First, that
the position o f the flam e and eye is sig nifica nt to the technique and has a fixed posi­
tion, and second, as the grid m esh w as parallel to the flo o r and the image had a central
vanishing point, the fixed position w o uld need to be in the centre of the room in order
to convincingly extend the ge om e tries of the physical architecture into the painting.
The quadratura m ethod has a relation to both the vie w e r and the architecture that the
vie w e r is w ith in , as its repeated aim had been to extend the architecture beyond its
physicality.9 M ore specifically, in the case of the Sant'lgnazio, it appears to extend the
ideology o f the church by m erging heaven and architecture through the fresco image.
This practice is still exercised heavily today, not so m uch in church and
architecture, but in cinem a and set design. The camera lens supplants the position of
the eye, allow ing the physically built set in the im m ediate foreground to extend to the
painted and digital backdrops. This practice raises an im p ortan t issue. Before
the m edium of film , visual e ffe cts used to sit clearly in the dom ain o f architecture.
This research is interested in ho w architecture can reclaim som e o f the techniques
used in con tem po rary visual e ffe cts to be tte r com m u nica te architectural ideas. By re-
appropriating contem porary techniques in visual e ffe cts, this research m ay also begin
to te s t the lim its o f digital representation.

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M athanraj Ratinam

Digital model-making

The quadratura technique can help shed light on h o w con tem po rary representational
practices in architecture can be im proved. C urrently, the technique used to create 3D
rendered vie w s of architecture and interiors fo llo w s a traditional and em pirical process
(see figure below ). Beginning w ith a tw o-d im en sio na l plan, one extrudes and con­
structs three dim ensional form s. Textures are then scaled and applied to the surfaces.
Thereafter, a cam era is placed w ith in the scene to render a perspective vie w . This
approach to digital m odelling com es from the legacy o f physical m odel-m aking w h ere
the sam e process is used w ith cardboard and w o od . Yet the ends o f a physical m odel
and a digital m odel, exce pt in the case of digital prototyping, are very d iffe re n t. A phys­
ical m odel has the qualities of tangibility, m assing, understanding the play o f light and
ho w m aterials react w ith each other, som e o f w h ich are even m easurable. But a ren­
dering provides physically fla t 3D view s, often disto rte d beyond ho w w e m ig ht really
see the form and w ith o u t influence of gravity.
This approach creates tw o problem s. First, transferring the process o f a
physical m odel-m aking to digital m odelling suggests th a t the digital is a more
'advanced' m ethod fo r creating m odels w h en w e know their roles in architectural
representation to be distinctly d iffe re n t. And this leads to a larger crisis, as w e 'v e seen
today, of digital m odels replacing physical m odels in the practice o f architecture. The
second problem concerns the em pirical nature of producing digital m odels w h e n the
final o u tp u t w ill be physically fla t perspective vie w s printed or displayed on a screen. In
relying upon the technique used fo r creating physical m odels, the digital m odel is accu­
rately m easured during its con stru ction but its results are not m easurable. Both these
problem s suggest that, if the ou tcom es of a physical and digital m odel are very d iffe r­
ent, the process used to create a digital m odel should be reconsidered.
In the case of Sant'lgnazio the quadratura technique casts shadow s onto a
cylindrical vault w ith cuttin gs fo r the w in d o w s . But as the form o f the ceiling can vary
and still produce the sam e im pression w h en vie w ed from the intended position, w e
can reconsider ho w the quadratura grid can also be altered to produce the same
ou tcom e. W orking upon the sam e principal of shadow casting, rather than thinking of it
as a grid of strings w o rkin g as guides for the image, w e can rethink the im age as
having been painted onto a glass lantern w ith the candle in the m iddle w h ich w o uld

A co n ventional
process of d ig ita lly
m o d e llin g an
arch itec tu ral fo rm .

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 A digital renaissance

also cast s h a d o w s o n to th e su rro u n d in g w a lls. The pain ting on th e lantern is esse ntia lly
a p a no ram ic im age running se a m le ssly around th e lantern.

Constructing a panoramic image

To pra ctice such an approach today, w e d ig ita lly c o n s tru c t th e pano ram ic im age o f the
lantern by be ginning , in th is case, w ith a site. The C ity Square in M e lb o u rn e , A ustralia,
has go ne th ro u g h a n u m b e r o f de sig n changes. Because o f its h isto ry, it appeared to
be an a p pro pria te te s tin g gro un d fo r th is te c h n iq u e and a suita ble site fo r a n e w
de sig n. D igital p h o to g ra p h s w e re taken fro m a fixed p o sitio n th a t w o u ld tile to g e th e r
re su ltin g in a sph erical panoram a (see th e firs t and seco nd fig u re s be lo w ). V ie w e d
th ro u g h a player, one can pan, tilt and zoom in and o u t o f th e panoram a. In zoo m in g
o u t as far as th e player a llo w e d , one can d is to rt the im age to p re s e n t w h a t appears to
be a 2D -ele vatio n v ie w o f th e ne ig h b o u rin g ho te l (third fig u re be lo w ). This is, in fact, a
sin g le -p o in t p e rsp e ctive w ith th e van ish ing p o in t located at th e ce n tre o f th e im age.
H o w e ve r, as th e vertica l and horizontal lines are parallel, it begs th e q u e s tio n : if m e a s­
u re m e n ts cou ld be e x tra c te d fro m th is im age, could it be co n sid e re d a rendered
o rth o g o n a l dra w in g?

■■■■■■■■■
r— I v •
S o u rc e im a g e s used
fo r stitc h in g to g e th e r
a p a n o ra m a . HkÜI_____________ ' 1 ^

P re v ie w s titc h of
p a n o ra m a .

151
M athanraj Ratinarti

O n e -p o in t
p e rs p e c tiv e
e x tra c te d fro m
p a n o ra m a .

The sandy area in fro n t o f the hotel is th e C ity Square and, in o rd e r to co n ­

sid e r it as a site fo r a sp e cu la tive in te rv e n tio n , th e existin g de sig n needs to be cleared
o f th e eu calyptus tre e s in th e im age. In re m o vin g th e tre e s, th e areas o f ho te l the
tre e s occlud e need to be painted back in to th e im age. This can be done a ccu ra te ly by
co n ve rtin g the spherical panoram a to a cubical panoram a, a llo w in g th e c o n te n t o f the
im a ge th a t needs to be painted back in to align w ith th e grid o f pixels th a t m ake up the
im a ge (first fig u re be lo w ). This is pre cise ly fo r the p u rpo ses o f clo nin g o th e r areas of
th e im age, such as th e w in d o w s and brick pa tte rn s, ove r th e pixels o ccu pied by the
tre e s (second fig u re be lo w ). Even in th e cases w h e re th e ho te l w a s in p e rsp e ctive , th e
facade can be p e rsp e ctive -co rre cte d , re to u ch e d and d is to rte d back in to p e rsp e ctive
(third fig u re be lo w ). W h e n th e e d itin g is co m p le te , th e im a ge is ready to be c o n ve rte d
back to a spherical panoram a fo r im p o rtin g in to a 3 D -m o d e llin g and re n de ring program .
O nce im p o rte d , th e panoram a is m apped, o r w a llp a p e re d , o n to th e inside of
a sph ere and a cam era is placed p re cise ly at its ce n tre . E ssentially, th is pa no ram ic

C o n v e rtin g th e
s p h erica l p a n o ra m a
to a cubical
p a n o ra m a (b o th
u n w ra p p e d ).

D ig ita lly to u c h in g up
th e im a g e to re m o v e
th e v e g e ta tio n .
 A digital renaissance

P ersp e ctiv e
c o rre c tin g th e fa c a d e
in o rd e r to re m o v e
v e g e ta tio n , th e n
d is to rtin g it back
in to th e o rig in a l
v ie w .

sphere is a digita l recre atio n o f th e glass lantern and candle a rra n g e m e n t w ith th e
fla m e being replaced by th e cam era (first fig u re above). From th e v ie w o f the cam era,
th e im age is aligned but, m o re im p o rta n tly, th e lens d is to rtio n has also been rem o ved .
To co n sid e r h o w an a rch ite ctu ra l proposal m ig h t be v ie w e d w ith in th is e n v iro n m e n t, a
m o d e s t de sig n o f an un du latin g grass surface is crea te d and placed w ith in th e sphere
to act as th e in te rv e n tio n (second fig u re above). This de sig n is orth o g o n a l and m e a s­
ured, unlike th e panoram a w h ic h by its na ture as a sph erical im age is highly d is to rte d .
Due to th e rem oval o f th e lens d is to rtio n , th e panoram a and th e 3D -g e n e ra te d design
align in th re e -p o in t p e rsp e ctive (third fig u re above). This a rra n g e m e n t is sim ila r to both
S an t'lgna zio , th ro u g h th e sea m le ss m e rg in g o f the physical g e o m e try o f th e church in

R e c o n v e rte d back to
a sp herical
p a n o ra m a , it is
m a p p e d to th e in side
of a s p h ere w it h a
c a m e ra a t its c e n tre .

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M athanraj Ratinarti

T h e m e a s u re d
g e o m e tr y o f th e
grass fie ld an d th e
sp h e ric a lly m a p p e d
b a c k g ro u n d cleanly
alig n in th re e -p o in t
p e rs p e c tiv e .

th e fo re g ro u n d and tro m p e I'o e il on th e ceiling, as w e ll as se t d e sig n s fo r cin em a w ith

a p h ysica lly b u ilt s e t close to the cam era and th e painted backdrop be yon d it.
H o w e ve r, th is is on ly a digita l recre atio n o f w h a t appears in S an t'lgna zio . It
is no t a recre atio n o f th e e xp e rie n ce o f being w ith in th e church. In S an t'lgna zio , as one
stares up w a rd a t th e fre s c o painting w ith th e horizon no lo ng er w ith in th e peripheral
v ie w , one b e c o m e s partially unbalanced and th e exp e rie n ce b e c o m e s dizzying. This
dizziness, I w o u ld argue, is an e sse n tia l part o f th e in te ra ctio n w ith th e tro m p e I'oeil,
inducing the v ie w e r in to b e lie vin g th e p a in te d e xte n sio n o f th e in te rio r and th e fan ta sy
it d e p icts. Such an ep h e m e ra l q u a lity can never be recre ated digita lly. N o n e th e le ss, the
digital m o d e l p re s e n ts o p p o rtu n itie s o th e rw is e unavailable in the physical w o rld .

Allowing for m ovem ent

W ith e xa m ples such as S an t'lgna zio , the ad ve n tu re be gins w h e n a v ie w e r e n te rs the

space and sees th e fre s c o painting overhead and c o n tin u e s w a lk in g un til he o r she has
fo u n d th e p o sitio n it is in te n d e d to be v ie w e d fro m , w h e re th e im age and in te rio r are
aligned. From here, m o v e m e n t in any d ire ctio n on ly causes th e e ffe c t to collapse, bu t
w h a t if one could m o ve in to and o ccu p y th e space o f th e im age? In th e physical
e n v iro n m e n t it w o u ld see m th a t th is o ccu p a tio n o f th e im age is im p o ssib le o th e r than

154
 A digital renaissance

th ro u g h th e im a g in a tio n . W h a t I w ill explain b e lo w is h o w , th ro u g h th e d e p lo y m e n t of

sp e cific te ch n iq u e s, this e ffe c t o f occu pying th e im age can be ach ie ved digita lly. Fur­
th e rm o re , th is te ch n iq u e has so fa r on ly re fe re n ce d a h isto ric and p h ysica lly practised
m e th o d o f re p re se n ta tio n , b u t fro m here on it be gins to branch o u t to crea te a re su lt
th a t w o u ld be physically im p ossib le .
By bu ild in g w h a t I w ill re fe r to as billboards in th e digital sph ere in place o f
b u ild in gs and g e o m e try fo u n d in th e pano ram ic im age, th e se billboards can receive the
sam e p ro je ctio n (or sh a d o w s fro m th e candle, as it w e re ) and w o u ld act as p ro xie s fo r
th e painted g e o m e try in th e im age. This, in e ffe c t, is cru d e ly m o d e llin g w ith in th e in te ­
rior space o f th e sphere w h a t e x is ts in th e im a ge m apped to th e surface o f th e sphere.
This a llo w s th e cam era to m ove aw a y fro m th e ce n tre o f th e sph ere by a llo w in g the
billboards to crea te th e necessary parallax to appear as if one w a s tra ve llin g th ro u g h
th e im age (see th e firs t tw o fig u re s on p. 156). In th e case o f th is pro je ct, billboards
w e re created fo r th e ho tel and fo r th e church su rro u n d in g C ity Square. The q u e stio n o f
th e n u m b e r o f billboards is d e p e n d e n t on th e level o f de tail and th e in te n d e d tra je c to ry
o f th e cam era. The fo re se e a b le lim it here is w h e n th e cam era reaches th e end o f a bill­
board and in te n d s to tu rn th e corn er; here it w o u ld be o b vio us th a t the ho tel or church
w e re n o t 3D m o d e ls b u t m e re ly painted backdrops. To w o rk around th is issue, m u ltip le
spherical panoram as cou ld be used and calibra ted, s e ttin g up th e o th e r facades o f the

B illb o ard s in serted

w ith in th e s p h e re to
re p re s e n t th e h o te l
an d church a re also
te x tu re d w it h th e
s a m e p a n o ra m a as
th e b a c k g ro u n d
s p h ere. Fro m th e
v ie w o f th e c a m era
a t th e c e n tre , th e
b illb o a rd s w ill
a p p e a r c a m o u fla g e d
a g a in s t th e
b a c k g ro u n d s p h ere
b ecau se th e y sh are
th e s a m e m a p p in g
c o o rd in a te s .

155
M athanraj Ratinam

F ram es fro m th e
a n im a tio n as th e
c a m e ra tra v e ls a w a y
fro m th e c e n tre of
th e sp h e re . T h e
b illb o a rd s o f th e
h o te l an d church
c re a te th e necessary
p a ra lla x , u n lik e th e
b a c k g ro u n d sp here
w h ic h w o u ld b o w
an d d is to rt.

bu ild in gs, to a llo w th e cam era to se a m le ssly travel th ro u g h o u t th is digita l tro m p e I'o e il
(see fig u re be lo w ). C reating th e billboards and m apping th e pro je ctio n o n to th e m sh ifts
th e te c h n iq u e in to th e area o f p h o to g ra m m e try , bu t ra th e r than using a planar pro je c­
tio n as is tra d itio n a lly th e case, th is te ch n iq u e uses sph erical p ro je ctio n . W h e n c o m ­
pared to th e q uadratura te ch n iq u e , bo th s h o w re la tio n sh ip s b e tw e e n im age and
g e o m e try . H o w e ve r, as th e quadratura te c h n iq u e w a s used to e xte n d th e physical
a rc h ite c tu re by w a y o f th e illusion crea te d by th e p a in te d a rch ite ctu re , the ph oto-
g ra m m e tric a l m e th o d I d e scrib e above a im s to (re)build th e space and g e o m e try w ith in
th e p h o to g ra p h ic im age itse lf. W h e re Pozzo's te c h n iq u e co n tin u e s the physical g e o m e ­
try in to th e im age, th is te c h n iq u e e xtra cts th e g e o m e try fro m th e im age.

mtwm

M u ltip le sp h eres can

be c o m p ile d
to g e th e r to c re a te a
b ig g e r scene fo r th e
c a m e ra to tra v e l
th ro u g h .

156
 A digital renaissance

Falling into the image

W hat has this achieved, and ho w has it im proved the w ay w e digitally m odel arch itec­
ture? Technically, the research has generated a m ethod of m odelling a site and co n te xt
w ith o u t using any m easurem ents as it w as all developed in perspective. W h ilst no
m easurem ents w e re used, it can nonetheless be scaled to con form to a m easured
design and provide a high level of accuracy. Any em pirical m easurem ents requiring cal­
culation are handled by the so ftw a re and not the operator, because the operator w o rks
e n tirely in perspective. Furtherm ore, this is a faster and m ore e ffic ie n t m etho d of m o d ­
elling, taking a seasoned digital m odeller a fe w days to com plete, rather than a couple
of w e e ks using the approach adopted from physical m odel-m aking.
For the discipline o f architecture, the research provides a m ore experiential
and im m ersive m ode o f com m unication, but at the sam e tim e an accurate digital site
m odel into w h ich to in sert m easured architectural propositions. In practice, this
approach has the potential to s h ift the m anner in w h ich arch itects design and
com m u nica te th e ir ideas in tw o w ays. First, as the w h o le process is developed
through perspective, it encourages m odelling and considering the design through the
vie w , rather than by m easurem ents. Second, it allow s fo r designs to be inserted into
the sphere in m uch the sam e w ay as a physical site m odel. This creates opportunities
fo r the design to be critiqued in relation to its co n te xt w h ils t the design develops,
rather than sim ply rendering out the design outcom e.
The digital technique I describe here begins to te s t the lim its o f digital
representation and the w ay it engages specifically w ith architectural practice. It looks
forw a rd to speculate ho w digital representation can be m ore suited to architecture
w h ils t looking back to consider its relation to historical practices o f architectural
representation. This, o f course, not only questions the lim its o f digital representation
but helps to debate the topic o f perspective and the relationship be tw ee n tw o -
dim ensional im ages and three-dim ensional form s.
Finally, this m ethod does not privilege any architectural fo rm . Far too often,
anything described as digital is th o u g h t o f as being party to a particular type of arch itec­
ture, nam ely blobs and oth er generative form s. This technique is not about generating
architecture through representation or m erely providing a m eans of representing the
final design. Its aim is to help to critique the arch itecture in its co n te xt as it develops.
In returning to Pallasmaa and Klein and the transcendence of qualities from one discip­
line to another, this research is not ju st an appropriation o f visual-effects techniques for
architecture, but a reclaim ing o f representational ideas and processes that had, histori­
cally, transcended fro m architecture to film .

Notes

1 Juhani Pallasmaa, The Architecture o f the Image: Existential Space in Cinema,

Helsinki: Rakennustieto Oy, 2001, pp. 7-10.

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M athanraj Ratinam

2 Norman M. Klein, The Vatican to Vegas: a History o f Special Effects, New York: The
New Press, 2004, pp. 10-12.
3 Greg Lynn, 'Animate Form', w w w .glform .com (accessed 15 January 2006).
4 Lars Spuybroek, 'NOX: Machining Architecture’, ww w.noxarch.com (accessed
15 January 2006).
5 Michael Doneus, 'Introduction to Photogrammetry' www.univie.ac.at/Luftbildarchiv/
wgv/intro.htm (accessed 10 June 2005).
6 Ibid.
7 Isaac V. Kerlow, The A rt o f 3D Computer Animation and Effects, New Jersey: John
W iley & Sons, 2004, pp. 167-170.
8 Ibid., p. 377.
9 Alberto P6rez-Gömez and Louise Pelletier, Architectural Representation and the
Perspective Hinge, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1997, pp. 58, 203-204.

158
Drawing air
The visual culture of bio-political im aging

D avid Gissen

W ith the rise of the m odern state in the late eighteenth century, architects, engineers
and urban planners developed an array of visual tools to im age the m o ve m e n t of
natural flo w s through space and the ir potential e ffe c t on the bodies o f the citizenry.
This bio-political visual culture extends from depictions o f vast hydraulic landscapes to
draw ings th a t m o n ito r the m o ve m e n ts of 'm ia sm ic' air in urban neighborhoods. O f the
variety of bio-political im aging tools, the visual d e velopm e nt of the ventilation sciences
in architectural and urban th o u g h t presents a particularly rich and ongoing subject of
analysis. Using the d e velopm e nt of an 'air m ap' by the US D e pa rtm e nt o f Hom eland
Security as a principal case study, this chapter exam ines the visual culture of ventila­
tion and the relationship o f contem porary m etho ds of draw ing air in the city to a larger
ongoing analysis of 'vectore d space'. Throughout the analysis, the chapter em phasizes
the political eco no m y th a t drives the w ay w e understand architecture and urbanism to
interact w ith this aspect of urban nature.
In 2002, the US D e pa rtm e nt of H om eland Security (USDHS) w o rked w ith
the N e w York City M unicipal G overnm ent and the com puter-science division of the
State U niversity o f N e w York, Stony Brook, to develop air m aps o f the Tim es Square
D istrict (TSD) o f M an ha ttan .1 The maps chart the vulnerabilities o f this precinct to a bio-
te rro rist attack, part of a larger e ffo rt to arm or the TSD from all potential te rro rist
threats. The choice o f the TSD fo r this stud y refle cts the sensitive role the precinct
occupies in con tem po rary N ew York City. Re-developed and 'clea nse d' of its sex
trades and inform al drug econom y from the early 1980s to the m id-1990s, the neigh­
borhood curre ntly brings tog ether prestige office de velopm e nt, retail, en te rta in m e n t
and media giants into one of the m o st populated to u rist zones and highest grossing
real-estate zones o f any W estern city. The air map (see the figure below ) depicts the
m o ve m e n t o f a potentially harm ful aspect o f nature - air - m oving through the TSD, an
area of som e 90 blocks and 850 buildings th a t also contains R ockefeller Center. The
m ap's green vecto r stream s represent the possible flo w s of air in and around the site
and the potential m o ve m e n t of bio-agents through the area. In addition to the air map,
the USDHS provided additional funds for scie ntists to study ho w the buildings in the

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David Gissen

area and buildings th ro u g h o u t N ew York City could be pro te cted from potentially
harm ful air. The air map and the attending m aterials developed by the USDHS provide
som e te m p tin g entries into exam ining the w ay air has been visualized in N ew York
City. The m apping o f air in the TSD is sim p ly the latest e ffo rt to understand the tra je ct­
ories of aerial danger in the city and the larger urban dangers o f the contem porary
global city. The federally financed air m ap and the attending m aterials developed by the
USDHS also illustrate h o w this historical bio-political project in te rsects w ith co n te m p o r­
ary e ffo rts to restructure urban space. In the air map w e see h o w a variety o f urban
agents im agine the interaction of the 'global' corporate city w ith an in d iffe re n t but
potentially threatening form of urban nature.
The analysis of air in N e w York City begins w ith the esta blishm en t o f the
city in the sixtee nth century. Dutch colonists w e re draw n to the site for its w a te r
access, but also due to w h a t th e y described as the 's w e e tn e s s ' of its air. As the
colony gre w into a substantial to w n o f 1,000 people, colonists struggled to m aintain
w h a t they had im agined to be a 'natural' cleanliness and health in the air of the pre­
m odern city. In approaching these problem s, the directors of the gro w in g se ttle m e n t
engaged in a discourse th a t w as partially info rm ed by Dutch fo lk know ledge and the
ancient classical know ledge surrounding urban planning.2 The em ployees o f the Dutch

U rb an S ecu rity
P roject, 'S tre a m lin e s
in Tim es Square
A rea'.

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 Drawing air

W e st India Com pany, w h o form ed the firs t European colony on M anhattan island, dealt
w ith the problem o f air quality by exploring the inter-relationships of m anufacturing,
housing, drainage and refuse sites. As the island se ttle m e n t gre w and w as transferred
to British rule, ne w conceptions o f air and w a te r w e re projected onto the island. In the
eigh te en th century, the British, N ew York-based engineer John M o n tre so r engaged in
a ne w approach to hydraulic and aerial issues in N e w York th a t em erged out o f the
European im perial project. M o n tre so r developed the firs t representation of M anhattan
illustrating the flo w o f w a te r and air in and around the island's rivers w ith small arrow s,
o ften called 've cto rs' (1766).3 The map o f M anhattan w as used fo r the laying out of
ports on the city 's eastern side (it sho w e d w h ich w ay the trash flow ed) and the har­
nessing of the river's hydraulic potential fo r the driving of m achinery. M on tre sor based
this map o f N e w York, w h ich w as developed fo r engineering and m ilitary purposes, on
the ideas o f e igh te en th -centu ry British, French and Dutch engineers - the w e ll-kn ow n
w o rk of Vauban, Delibor and M usschenbroek. These engineers developed pow e rfu l
ne w im agery of w a te r and air, and the form atio n of productive landscapes in colonial
cities and m etrop oles.4 Their treatise s im aged vast territories pierced by a com bination
of aerial and hydraulic vecto r forces. In these early 'vectore d treatise s', sovereign-
sponsored p o w e rs represented the harnessing of the flo w o f forces w ith in precincts
and territories fo r the purposes of m anufacture, em pire building or, in the case of
Vauban, w arfare. A lthough developed w ith in the co n te xt of im perial sovereignty, these
early treatise s establish the visual language fo r a type of space w e very m uch still
occupy.
Beginning in the late nineteenth century, scie ntists and engineers in N ew
York City em ployed the European techniques of ve cto r analysis to solely analyse air at
the urban scale. George Soper, the N e w York City m unicipal engineer, developed an
entire vectored representation of the air w ith in the N e w York City subw ay system (see
figure be lo w ).5 W hen the subw ay w as com pleted, m iddle- and upper-class residents of
the city feared that the presum ably stagnant air in the subw ay w o uld provide a site for
the transm ission o f disease. N um erous N e w York residents refused to use the ne w
transit system as it w o u ld require entering these underground spaces. The m unicipality
hired Soper to de m on stra te the m otion o f the underground air now sw irlin g in the ne t­
w o rked city, and the w id e publication of Soper's m aps allayed fears o f the subw ay
tunnels. Soper's m aps de pict the m o ve m e n t o f air, but they also illustrate the increas­
ing analysis o f subject/nature interactions in the scie ntifically managed city. Analysts
such as Soper used th e ir skills to penetrate into the de epest zones o f the city as an
aspect o f urban health-m anagem ent schem es. The type of vectored analysis con­
ducted by Soper o f N ew York C ity's spaces extended into the core o f the tw e n tie th
century and included de pictions o f the pollution from autom obiles in the city 's road­
w a ys and urban spaces; nuclear fall-out; the 'urban heat island e ffe c t'; and the po ten­
tially deadly w e a th e r th a t in fre qu ently enters the city.
The air m aps of the contem porary TSD extend from this scie ntific
representation of air and cities, but they also relate to recent sociological analyses of
this particular area and to the recent changes in the architectural and 'natu ral' character

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David Gissen

'A ir C u rre n ts S e t Up
by an E xpress T rain
Passing T h ro u g h th e
S im p le s t Fo rm of
S ta tio n in th e N e w
Y o rk S u b w a y '.

o f the area. In th e p o s t-w a r period, th e m unicipal g o v e rn m e n t co n tra cte d analyses of

th e social, cultural and financial tra n s fo rm a tio n s w ro u g h t in th e TSD - th e heart o f the
Central B usiness D istrict (CBD) o f M anhattan. The city g o v e rn m e n t w a s alarm ed at the
m ig ration o f real-estate capital a w a y fro m th e TSD and in to th e peripheries o f th e CBD.
In th e 1960s, several n e w buildings w e re co m p le te d w ith in th e neighbo rin g R ockefeller
C e nter and a m assive in flux o f corp ora te building appeared in a ring surro un din g the
TSD. H o w e ve r, th e TSD exp erience d an o u t-flo w o f real-estate capital, due in part to
sh iftin g tastes in e n te rta in m e n t and th e suburbanization o f citie s. The area qu ickly
becam e kn o w n as the 'fo u l co re ' o f the city, w h e re cheap real-estate a ttra cte d porn
shops, m assage parlors and bu rle sque th e a te rs. In th e late 1960s, th e Lindsay A d m in is ­
tra tio n hired urban analysts w h o im aged the TSD as a neig hbo rho od under decay th a t
required m assive re -stru ctu rin g in ord er to serve th e needs o f th e larger CBD and the
larger c ity .6
The M id to w n vice m ap, pu b lish e d in 1973, w a s th e firs t city-fin a n ce d m oral
g e og raph y o f th e area in th e p o s t-w a r period. The m ap d o c u m e n te d porn shops, porn
th e a te rs and m o s t n e fario us 'm a ssa g e pa rlo rs', w h ic h th e c ity argued con tain ed
u n lice nse d m asse use s w h o w e re m e re ly p ro s titu te s .7 The m ap and th e fea r o f crim e,
vice and disease th a t it re p re se n te d fu e le d initial e ffo rts to re-m ake th e area. B e tw e e n
1975 and 1985, n u m e ro u s city o fficia ls argued th a t a 'n e w ' TSD, w ith an in flu x o f o ffic e
to w e rs , m e rch a n d ise m a rts and ho tels, w o u ld p u t in place 'g o o d w h ite collar p ro fe s ­
sional uses . . . flo o d lin g ] th e place w ith th o u sa n d s o f m iddle -cla ss p e d e s tria n s '.8 M o s t
o f th e initial e ffo rts to re -stru ctu re the TSD failed, as th e d e velope rs o f o ffic e buildings
favo re d o ffic e space in m o re sanitized lo catio ns in th e pe rip hera l CBD. H o w e ve r, in the
early 1990s, w ith m ayors David D inkins and Rudolph G iulian i's in voca tion o f a 'fa m ily -
o rie n te d c ity ' and th e bro kerin g o f a deal w ith th e D isney C orpo ra tion to rebuild an

162
 D raw ing air

e n tire o n e-b lock area o f 42 nd S tre e t in th e he art o f th e TSD, th e p re c in c t did indeed

begin to s h ift d e m og raph ica lly. From 1993 to 1998, th e a te rs th ro u g h o u t th e d is tric t
w e re ren ova te d, m a jo r c o rp o ra tio n s m o ve d in to th e area and m assive o ffic e buildings
and h o te ls w e re built. Increasing police patrols o f th e area and th e officia l h a ra ssm e n t
o f th e sex trade s dro ve th e se b u sin esses o u t and tu rn e d th e TSD in to one o f th e m o s t
heavily su rve illed areas in th e city. A m ap p ro du ced o f th e surve illan ce cam eras
lo om in g o u t o f th e area's ho tels, o ffic e buildings and retail s to re s (produced by the
a c tiv is t 'S u rve illa n ce Cam era Players' group) d e m o n s tra te s th e pro n o u n ce d s h ift o f the
n e w T im e s Square in to a zone th a t is s tric tly m o n ito re d fo r crim e in an e ffo rt to retain
its c u rre n t e c o n o m ic p ro s p e rity .9
W ith th e area cleared o f th e sex trade s by th e late 1990s, de velope rs and
a rch ite cts turne d th e ir a tte n tio n to re-m aking th e relatio nships b e tw e e n buildings,
o u td o o r spaces and actual e le m e n ts o f nature - greenery, light and air - in th e TSD, an
area o f urban re -stru ctu rin g th a t o fte n goes un no ticed in the re ce n t lite rature . In addition
to proposals in 1998 to rem ake th e literal park-scapes in and around th e p re cin ct frien dly
to th e to u ris ts in th e ne ig hbo rho od , de velope rs, a rch ite cts and en ginee rs em p lo ye d
green enginee rin g co n ce p ts to the sites and bu ild in gs in the area. The Conde Nast
B uilding and R e uter's B uilding began this trend by invoking so m e idea o f a nature-
frie n d ly green a rch ite ctu re th a t w o u ld turn w h a t w a s once a m ajor sex vice c e n te r o f
th e city into one o f th e m o s t ironically 'g re e n ' business zones in th e U nited States.
T hese buildings th a t m ade up th e n e w green T im es Square p ro m ise d som e o f the
h e a lth ie st indoor air qu ality in a portion o f th e c ity th a t exp erience d and c o n tin u e s to
e xp erience so m e o f th e h ig h e st vo lu m e s o f a u to m o b ile tra ffic in the c ity .10 A dditionally,
th e se buildings e xte n d e d th e m oral geography o f earlier e ffo rts . In the m o s t rece nt
green skyscraper fo r the area, desig ned by Bob Fox A rc h ite c t, th e design team p ro m ­
ised to crea te an o ffic e building th a t w o u ld exhaust cleaner air than th a t going in to the
building. Thus, th e 'gree n skyscrap ers' e m e rg in g in T im es Square po sitio n o ffic e b u ild­
ings as a cleanser o f th is particular precinct, th e re b y e xte n d in g the earlier discourse.
The d e v e lo p m e n t o f green skyscrap ers in T im es Square b ro u g h t scie n tis ts
in to urban spaces to analyze air m o v e m e n ts fo r lo w -e n e rg y air-co n d itio n in g e q u ip m e n t
and fo r th e e n h a n c e m e n t o f a e rod ynam ically shaped pa ssive ly ve n tila te d stru ctu re s.
W ith th e e ve n ts o f S e p te m b e r 1 1th and th e D e c e m b e r 2001 anthrax attacks, th e analy­
sis and re -w o rkin g o f nature th a t w a s already in place in th e TSD to o k on a m ore
m ilita n t tone. In 2002, w h e n th e air m ap w a s co m m is s io n e d , th e s c ie n tis ts behind it
w e re sim p ly e x te n d in g th e scope o f th e air analyses in th e p re cin ct already u n d e rw a y
in th e nam e o f green urb an ism . W ith th e in voca tion o f paranoia behind th e se n e w
im ages, th e y w e re also e xte n d in g a larger u n d e rsta n d in g o f th e T S D 's h isto rica lly
c o n s tru c te d vu ln e ra b ility.
The air m ap w a s part o f a th re e -sta g e pro je ct fu n d e d by th e US D e p a rtm e n t
o f H o m ela nd S ecu rity; sep ara te te a m s o f s c ie n tis ts e re cte d c o m p u te rize d air-sam pling
e q u ip m e n t in to th e TSD to u n de rsta nd w h a t m ig h t happen in th e area in th e e v e n t o f a
bio -te rro r attack. The re su ltin g data fro m th e air-sam pling e q u ip m e n t enabled the se
s c ie n tis ts to d e p ict h o w air m o ve s th ro u g h th e site and h o w th is air m ig h t carry som e

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David Gissen

form o f bio-agent (see figure below ). The map tested the ability of com p uters to repre­
sent the com p le xity o f air m oving in the city, as w e ll as the ability to predict the m ove­
m e n t of bio-agents in urban space and into surrounding buildings. W hile the precise
analytical results of the study are secret, the US D e pa rtm e nt of Hom eland Security
developed a series o f guidelines w ith the US m ilitary, the Am erican Society of Heating,
Refrigeration and A ir-C onditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) and select firm s such as ARUP
fo r the fortificatio n of urban buildings from the potentially harm ful con tents o f urban
air. D iffering from en viro nm en ta list im ages o f buildings reaching ou t to th e ir surround­
ings, these im ages sho w the office building as a fortress-like structure ready fo r a
battle w aged in the urban atm osphere. The guidelines suggest arm oring HVAC equip­
m e n t w ith im p rom ptu sheds and locating ventilation e q uipm en t in upper floors out of
'h a rm 's w a y'. In the existing literature, the m ilitary reco m m en ds a series of preventive
eq uipm en t including irradiation m achines, filte rs and devices th a t pressurize glass­
skinned buildings th a t activate w ith bio-agent-detection sen sors.11
The air map represents the latest analysis of urban air and its e ffe cts on the
subjects of the city and the larger fears th a t are endem ic to the TSD. But, in this analy­
sis of the air map, w e should explore one last feature of its visual culture. The air map
also represents the latest ep istem e o f governm entally produced links b e tw ee n urban

U rb an S ecu rity
P roject, 'P lum e in
T im es S qu are A re a'.

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 D raw ing air

nature and th e urban body. All ve c to re d im ages con tain w ith in th e ir m o vin g stre a m s
illu stra tio n s o f re la tio n sh ip s b e tw e e n bo dies and 'p ro d u ce d na tu re ', a variant o f the
p h e n o m e n o n labeled 'b io -p o w e r' by M ic h e l F oucault in th e co n clu sio n o f his H is to ry o f
S e xu a lity.12 B io -p o w e r de m an ds th e sta te -m a in te n a n ce o f the c itize n ry as a fo rm o f
biological life. It e xte n d s fro m th e m a n a g e m e n t o f our birth s, deaths, e th n ic and racial
se lf-u n d e rsta n d in g . M a n ife s ta tio n s o f b io -p o w e r m ove th ro u g h th e e a rlie st ve cto re d
im ages, illu stra tin g links b e tw e e n s u b je c t/n a tu re re la tio n sh ip s un de r sove reign, b o u r­
ge ois and local sta te s. W e see th is in th e im ages o f v e c to re d te rrito rie s in the e ig h t­
ee nth cen tury, v e c to re d in s titu tio n a l b u ild in gs in th e n in e te e n th ce n tu ry and the
v e c to re d urban n e tw o rk s o f th e n in e te e n th ce n tu ry. Each im a ge pro du ced w ith in each
v e c to re d e p is te m e articu la te s a space in w h ic h a fo rm o f p o w e r m o ve s b e tw e e n an
im a gin ed su b je ct, na ture and g o ve rn m e n ta l syste m .
W ith in th is c o n te x t o f bio-p ow e r, th e air m ap provides a vivid illustratio n o f
th o se e m e rg in g body/na tu re relations th a t are enacted in th e spaces o f co n te m p o ra ry
urban re-structuring sch e m e s. The rebuilding o f urban cores in to 'Class A ' o ffic e space
and fa m ily-frie n d ly zones is one o f th e m yriad w a ys m un icip alities have e ffe c te d d e m o ­
graphic tra n sfo rm a tio n s in th e heart o f p o st-ind ustrial cities. The in voca tions o f business
needs, the m oral and physical health o f th e to u ris t fa m ily and th e 'p e d e s tria n ' are all
used to ju s tify the cleansing o f urban ne ig hbo rho od s. W e see this at T im es Square. Pic­
cadilly C ircus o r Les Hailes. B ut as m unicipal and fed eral g o ve rn m e n ts encourage big
businesses to locate in se le ct n e ig hbo rho od s o f citie s, th e y also look to th e se very bu si­
nesses to participate in th e m ainten ance o f th e body. The re -structure d zones o f th e city
articu la te a n e w fo rm o f global bodily m ainten ance th a t is focu sed on th e privatized sani­
ta tio n o f space; the m ainten ance o f th e e m p lo y e e 's physical body by corp ora te e n titie s;
and th e m ainten ance o f the to u ris t body th a t e n te rs th e se p ro te c te d zones.
The US D e p a rtm e n t o f H o m ela nd S e c u rity 's cho ice to stu d y air in this
p re cin ct, th e w a y air is stu d ie d in th is p re c in c t and th e a rm o ring o f bu ild in gs su g g e ste d
by th e USDHS in th e p re cin ct illu stra te h o w th is n e w g e o -p o litica l rea lity is re fle c te d in
th e analysis o f urban space. The TSD is not th e m o s t d e nse or vulne rable n e ig h b o r­
hood in th e city; h o w e v e r both th e sta te and m un icip al g o v e rn m e n ts have argued th a t
it is a sy m b o lic ta rg e t due to its c o n c e n tra tio n s o f bu sin ess and m ed ia . Y e t th e c o n tin ­
ued s c ie n tific stu d y o f th e vu ln e ra b ilitie s o f th e site and th e ir s u g g e ste d re m e d ia tio n
have on ly increased the e c o n o m ic d e sira b ility o f th e site to th e se ve ry sam e high-
p ro file bu sin esses. M o re literal m ech an ics o f th e m ap su p p o rt th is in te rp re ta tive
co n ce p t. For exam ple, w ith its c o n ce n tra tio n on air fro m s id e w a lk level to th re e sto rie s
above th e sid e w a lk, th e air m ap su g g e sts a co n ce rn w ith th e literal th re e -s to ry 'to u ris t
e p ic e n tre ' o f th e retail c ity and th e p e de strian w in d o w -s h o p p e rs w h o are th e life-blood
o f T im es S qu are 's e co n o m ic fu tu re . S im u lta n e o u sly, w ith its analyses o f HVAC a rm o r­
ing and so p h istica te d d e fe n se s, th e m aterials p ro d u ce d by th e D e p a rtm e n t o f H o m e ­
land S ecu rity su g g e s t th a t th e o ffic e bu ild in g is th e last line o f national d e fe n se in the
w a r on terror. In an a lm o s t D arw inian in te rp re ta tio n o f urban fo rm , th is fu rth e r su g ­
g e sts th a t no n-high-tech b u ild in g s ca n n o t a d e q u a te ly c o n fro n t th e g e o-p olitical realities
th a t spaces such as th e n e w T im es Square pro vid e to im a gin ed c o m b a ta n ts. Thus, the

165
David Gissen

im agined subject/nature/space relations encouraged at Tim es Square tautologically

entrench those urban processes th a t are rem aking this and oth er city centers. As was
done in the past, the local and national state sponsors the visualization o f an urban
nature, licensing territorial fantasies and desires.
W ith our discursive understanding of the m apping of air, our historical
understanding of the goals o f city officials to remake the TSD, and the geo-political
realities th a t bring these aspects to g e th e r in contem porary w o rk, w e realize th a t the air
map presents us w ith an im age o f potentially hostile flo w s of air th a t only the con­
tinuation of urban processes already underw ay m ay con fro nt. O nly the curre nt e ffo rt to
re-build the TSD can adequately co n fro n t the in d iffe re n t air stream s that m ove through
the contem porary city. The air map represents the latest e ffo rt to map air and the city,
but it also de m on stra te s ho w the rebuilding o f the city, and the im agined inhabitants
o f this ne w city, require th e ir ow n con tinu ou sly reconsidered and custom ized relation
to nature.

Notes

1 See 'Urban Security Project' and 'Urban Dispersion Project.' Online, available at:
www.cs.sunysb.edu/~vislab/projects/urbansecurity/UrbanSecurity.htm l and urbandis-
persion.pnl.gov (accessed January 20, 2006).
2 See Duffy, 2005 and Kisacky, 2000.
3 See Cohen and T. Augustyn, 1997: 70-71.
4 See the numerous vectored images and descriptions in vanMusschenbroek, 1751;
De Delibor, 1737; and Le Prestre de Vauban, 1748.
5 Soper, 1908: 66.
6 Information on the decline of Times Square from Sagalyn, 2001: 40-67.
7 Sagalyn, 2001: 44.
8 Sagalyn, 2001: 81.
9 Surveillance Camera Players, 'Times Square Map.'
10For a discussion of these buildings, see Gissen, 2002: 22-25.
11 See Barstow, 2001: 16; ARUP, 2004; NIOSH, 2002; and US Arm y Corps of Engi­
neers, 2001.
12 Foucault, 1990: 135-159.

Bibliography

ARUP, 'Risk and Security for New York City Buildings: Report on a Roundtable Discussion,'
September 21, 2004.
David Barstow, 'Envisioning an Expensive Future in the Brave New W orld of Fortress New
Y ork/ N ew York Times, September 16, 2001, p. 16.
Paul E. Cohen and Robert T. Augustyn, Manhattan in Maps, 1527-1995, New York: Rizzoli,
1997.
B.F. De Delibor, Architecture Hydraulique, 1737.
John Duffy, A History o f Public Health in N ew York City, 1625-1866, New York: John
Russell Sage Foundation, 2005
Michel Foucault, The History o f Sexuality, New York: Vintage, 1990.

166
 Drawing air

David Gissen, Big and Green: Towards Sustainable Architecture in the 21st Century, New
York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2002.
Jean Kisacky, An Architecture o f Light and Air: Theories o f Hygiene and the Building o f the
N e w York Hospital, 1771-1932. PhD Dissertation, Cornell University, 2000.
Petrus van Musschenbroek, Essai de physique avec une description de nouvelles sortes de
machines pneumatiques, e t un recueil d'expériences, Leyden: Chez S. Luchtmans,
1751.
NIOSH, 'Guidance for Protecting Building Environments from Airborne Chemical, Biological,
or Radiological Attacks,' May 2002.
Sebastien Le Prestre de Vauban, The N e w M ethod o f Fortification (le Nouveaux M éthode de
Fortification), London: S. and E. Ballard, C. Hitch, and J. Wood, 1748.
Lynn Sagalyn, Times Square Roulette: Remaking the City Icon, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press,
2001.
George Soper, The A ir and Ventilation o f Subways, New York: J. W iley and Sons, 1908.
Surveillance Camera Players, 'Times Square Map,' Online, available from: ww w .notbored.org/
timessquare-map.jpg (last accessed September 9, 2006).
Urban Dispersion Project, urbandispersion.pnl.gov (last accessed September 3, 2005).
Urban Security Project, www.cs.sunysb.edu/~vislab/projects/urbansecurity/UrbanSecurity.html
(last accessed January 20, 2006).
US Arm y Corps of Engineers, 'Protecting Buildings and their Occupants from Airborne
Hazards,' Washington, DC, 2001.

167
'Higher' being and
'higher' drawing
Claude Bragdon's 'fo u rth dim e nsion ' and the use of
co m p u te r te chnology in design

Christina M a lathouni

Introduction

The 'lin k b e tw e e n the em b od ied act of d ra w in g and the perceptual experience of

space', as sug ge ste d in ‘ The Real and the Virtual' strand o f the AH R A con feren ce
call, pre sup pose s and refers to a certain m od el of the hum an in w h ich the w o rd s
'e m b o d ie d ' and 'p e rc e p tu a l' are not only crucial but also im p lic itly de m arca te d as
lim ite d to 'th e hand and the eye '. Yet, w h a t happens if one accepts a lte rna tive con­
ce p tio n s o f 'R e a lity', such as Idealist v ie w s th a t see th e m aterial w o rld as a lim ite d
version o f reality, or an illusion, and the role o f our bodily senses as re stricte d and
co m p ro m isin g ? H o w w o u ld th is a ffe c t our vie w o f the 's e lf' and th e balance
be tw e e n the tw o c o n s titu e n ts o f the assum ed b o d y -m in d dualism ? In such a case -
and con sid erin g the h ig h e st p o te n tia l of c o m p u te r te ch nolog ies, n o t m ere ly CAD
applications th a t fo llo w the princip le s of tradition al m anual 'd ra w in g ' - w o u ld no t the
'acqu ie scen ce and in ta n g ib ility of digital data and scre e n s' be com e a co n firm a tio n of
our pro gre ssion to w a rd s a 'h ig h e r' po tentia l, a se lf surpassing its bodily lim ita tio n s
and our m aterial w orld?
M oving along the axis o f the w o rk o f the A m erican a rch ite ct Claude
Fayette Bragdon (18 66 -194 6) and m ainly his in te re st in the con cep t o f a spatial
'fo u rth dim e n sio n ' and its associations to a 'h ig h e r' reality, this chapter w ill discuss
the broader con no ta tion s of c o m p u te r tech nolog y by reference to its potential to rep­
rese nt fo rm s th a t cannot be realised in m atter. Seen prim arily through a historical per­
spective, such qu estio ns about the non-m aterial, and the search fo r 'fo rm s ' and
'space s' th a t m ay e xist beyond the visible and tangible part o f reality, w ill be appreci­
ated as ageless and long-standing inquiries of m ankind and not an exclusively
con tem po rary phenom enon arising from the latest tech nolog ical developm e nts.
Specific references to B ragdon's w ritin g s and recent exp erim e ntatio n in Virtual
Reality w ill fu rth e r sup po rt the m ain line of a rg um e nt by illustrating th a t such associ­
ations b e tw e e n technological progress and m etaphysical considerations are no m ere
speculation on the a u th o r's part.

168
 'Higher' being and 'higher' drawing

Claude Fayette Bragdon and the 'fourth dimension'

Claude Bragdon lived and w o rked in N e w York State b e tw ee n 1866 and 1946. Based
m ainly in Rochester, NY, he practised architecture until 1923, w h e n he m oved to N ew
York City and changed his career to theatrical design. A m ultifa ceted and very ener­
ge tic personality, Bragdon w as involved in m any oth er - artistic or oth e rw ise - activ­
ities, such as theosophy, publishing, teaching, colour-m usic, and the so-called 'Song
and Light Festivals'. A t the sam e tim e, he w as a prolific w rite r and lecturer on all these
subjects - and ye t m ore diverse m atters - in his num erous books, articles and
public talks.
In architecture, Bragdon never studied in an architectural school but instead
w as trained in a series of apprenticeships from an early age. He w as initially influenced
by the eclectic trends of his tim e, but soon becam e an enthusiastic adm irer of Louis
Sullivan's teachings. He shared Sullivan's vie w of orn am e nt as a key feature o f all
architectural design and, at the sam e tim e, incorporated into his w o rk fu n ctio n a list prin­
ciples alongside som e very strong m etaphysical foundations. H ow ever, Bragdon did
d iffe r from Sullivan in his use o f g e o m e try as the basis o f the n e w ornam ental m ode,
instead o f the nature-based m o tifs used by Sullivan. In fact, it is the specific type of
ge o m e try th a t Bragdon em ployed fo r his ne w ornam ental m ode that m akes his w o rk
particularly interesting, i.e. his use of fourth-dim ensional geom etry.

C lau de F. Bragdon at
his d ra w in g board.
P h o tog raph dated
Ju ne 1896

169
Christina M alathouni

It w as B ragdon's be lie f in m athem atical laws governing the underlying

order o f the universe and his vie w of 'space' and 'tim e ' as the 'tw o m odes of con­
scio u sn e ss'1 th a t firs t attracted his atten tion to fourth-dim ensional g e om e try; one
subdivision of the ’ N ew G e o m e trie s',2 non-Euclidean and n-dim ensional, the ground­
breaking em ergence o f w h ich, in the nineteenth century, supported the possibility of
n e w types of 'space'. His strong theosophical beliefs fu rth e r reinforced this turn to a
spatial 'fo u rth d im en sion ' as theosophy had appropriated the concept in order to
denote a higher level of hum an developm ent. So, despite its geom etrical origins,
B ragdon's in te re st in the 'fo u rth dim en sion ' was, in e ffe ct, based on a m uch broader
foundation: as w ith oth er artists and architects o f the period,3 this type of ge om e try
appears to have offere d Bragdon an 'um bre lla ' concept that recapitulated m etaphysical
considerations to g e th e r w ith his quest fo r a system atic approach to the new design
required fo r a new era.

[Representation in] form and [higher] reality

Bragdon em ployed projections o f four-dim ensional figures as the 'w o rd s ' o f his ne w
ornam ent, and the re fore nam ed this 'P rojective O rnam e nt'.4 Such projections of fou r­
dim ensional figures co n stitu te representations o f fo rm s that appear to be possible to
be conceived by the hum an m ind but cannot be realised in m a tte r nor perceived in
th e ir e n tire ty by our bodily senses. Seen through this perspective, the use of such
figures in design m ay o ffe r the possibility o f expressing such m etaphysical concepts as
a 'hig he r' existence. In m ore general term s, the em phasis that Bragdon a ttribu ted to
the concepts of 'space', 'd im e n sio n ' and 'fo rm ' in his quest fo r 'R ea lity' becom es
clearer if one looks at B ragdon's vie w o f 'd im e n sio n s' as a m ethod fabricated by the
hum an m ind to com e to te rm s w ith a concept as abstract and in finite as 'space'. In
1916, Bragdon w ro te :

Space is not m easurable: w e attribute dim ensionality to space because

such is the m etho d of the m ind. ... The so-called dim ensions of space are to
space itself as the steps that a clim ber cuts in the face of a cliff are to the
c liff itself: they are not necessary to the cliff, they are necessary only to
the clim ber.5

The significance o f the concept o f 'fo rm ', on the oth e r hand, appears to be related to
Carl Du Prel's 1885 P hilosophy o f M ysticism . In a key quotation included in Bragdon's
1913 P rim er o f H ighe r Space, Du Prel appears to relate the possibility of 'representa­
tion [in fo rm ]' w ith the distinction b e tw e e n 'th e transcendental part of the w o rld ' and
'reality', or else, the 'perceived part' of the w o rld .6 And Du Prel continues:

To the grub, w o rking its w a y up to the surface of the earth, that surface is
transcendental; to the caterpillar, the earth is real, and the free air transce n­
dental; w h ile to the b u tte rfly, m aster of this added dim ension, the threshold
has again receded. ...

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 'Higher' being and 'higher' drawing

Arguing by analogy, everything w h ich is to us transcendental exists

nevertheless in som e space. It is the re fore possible th a t by an intention of
consciousness w e m ay be able firs t to apprehend, then to perceive as real,
th a t w h ich is now considered transce nd en ta l.7

Bragdon appears to sum m arise this association of 'fo rm ' and 'd im e n sio n s' w ith the
distinctio n be tw ee n the 'real' and the 'tra nsce nde ntal' by arguing th a t w ith in the
'H igher Space H ypothesis', 'th e diffe re nce be tw ee n physics and m etaphysics w ould
becom e a diffe re nce of degree not o f kin d '.8

Depicting higher dimensions

Bragdon directly related his use of projections o f four-dim ensional figures into design,
as outlined in his 'P rojective O rnam e nt', w ith the 'tra nsce nde ntal'. In his ow n w ords:
'P rojective O rnam ent, derived as it is from Projective G eom etry, is a ne w utterance of
the transcendental tru th of th in g s '.9 In fact, Bragdon also connected the m ethod of
'p ro je ctio n s' to m etaphysical ideas, borrow ed in this case from Eastern philosophies
such as: 'th e idea, old as philosophy itself, that all fo rm s are projections on the lighted
screen of a m aterial universe o f archetypal ideas: that all of anim ate creation is one
vast m oving picture o f the play o f the Cosm ic M in d '.10 H ow ever, this application of
'p ro je ctio n ' in order to produce depictions of four-dim ensional figures on the plane of
draw ing is not m erely a w ay of associating such figures to 'hig he r' ideas; on the con­
trary, it is an in he rent lim itation o f higher-dim ensional figures.
The d iffic u lty in visualising, or building in m atter, higher-dim ensional figures
has alw ays m eant that all m ajor proponents of the 'fo u rth d im en sion ' have had to find
roundabout w a ys of representing these figu res w ith in three-dim ensional space.
Usually such representations w o u ld be based on the use of sections or the m etho d of
folding do w n an r?-dimensional figure into its (n - 7)-dimensional com p on ents (or
faces). Colour has also often been used to indicate d iffe re n t phases in a single o b je ct's
representation. As becom es apparent from the se alternative options, it has been
necessary to associate the additional dim ension w ith other visually recognisable fea­
tures th a t exceed the strict definition o f the con cep t of 'fo rm ' (that is, 'relations w hich
[could] be expressed in term s o f length, breadth and thickness'). In oth er instances,
'tim e ' - or exam ples o f 'change' w h ich involve a tem poral elem e nt and the re fore
'm ig h t be regarded as significant of higher dim ensionality', such as 'life, gro w th ,
organic being, the transition from sim p licity to com plexity, the shrinkage or expansion
of solids' - have been associated w ith the existence o f a higher spatial dim ension; that
is, 'tim e ' is seen as 'an im p e rfe ct sense o f sp a ce '.11

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Christina M alathouni

Higher dimensions and the use of computer technology

Bearing in m ind all these inherent lim itations o f traditional 'd ra w in g ' tech niq ue s and
m edia regarding the depiction of four-dim ensional figures, the ne w op po rtu nitie s
offere d by co m p u te r applications becom e evident. N ot only do com puters produce tra­
ditional depictions of such com plex and innovative fo rm s m ore effective ly, they also
o ffe r the possibility of m aking 'd ra w in g ' - in its broadest sense - three-dim ensional,
anim ated and interactive.
Already since 1967 A. M ichael Noll has generated visual displays of three-
dim ensional projections o f rotating four-dim ensional hypersolids (polytopes] by means
o f co m p u te r an im a tion.12 N ot only w e re these displays produced m ore e ffic ie n tly than
m anually executed draw ings, but also offere d the possibility of incorporating in such
representations 'm o tio n ' or changing colours. Still, these early a tte m p ts did not go any
fu rth e r in relation to the theoretical principles underlying these techniques.
Virtual Reality (VR) has provided the op po rtu nity fo r m ore advanced
approaches to this question o f representing higher-dim ensional space. Joey Julien
m en tion s research undertaken at the Electronic Visualisation Laboratory (EVL), a jo int
program m e be tw ee n the D epartm ent o f A rt and Design and the D epartm ent of Com ­
puter Science at the U niversity o f Illinois at C hicago.13 As a specific exam ple of the
ne w objectives o f such projects, one o f the 'sub-cultural' goals in 'G e ttin g Physical in
Four D im ension s' (1994) w as the provision o f 'a m ore intuitive understanding of hyper­
space (that] enabled users to physically interact w ith objects in fo u r d im e n s io n s '.14 In
his ow n thesis, Julien adopts a sim ilar position and aim s at a d e velopm e nt that w ould
allow us to 'tru ly experience a visual sensation o f a hypercube in [Henri] Poincare's
te rm s'. Julien 's series of experim ents exam ine the possibility o f interacting w ith
higher-dim ensional solids in an intuitive, coh ere nt and reproducible m anner based on
Poincare's theories advocating th a t 'our visual, m o to r and tactile experiences are

V ie w e r/U s e r in
Ju lieta A g u ilera's
'U n fo ld in g S pace'
thesis ex h ib itio n at
th e EVL. P ho tog raph
da ted 10th M arch
20 06, ta ken by Daria
Tsou piko va.

172
 'Higher' being and 'higher' drawing

generated through associations b e tw e e n sensations and conditioned by personal

experience and he red ity'. Julien concludes that 'th e next step is to investigate w h e th e r
a user could actually learn the ability to navigate in fou r dim ensions co h e re n tly'.15
In a m ore recent project at the EVL, Julieta A guilera16 a tte m p te d to
'aug m en t reality in te rm s o f structure and the relationship am ong its parts' by introduc­
ing the three-dim ensional 'sh a d o w ' o f a four-dim ensional grid w ith w h ich users/
v ie w e rs w o uld be able to interact. In e ffe ct, Aguilera a tte m p ts to enhance our sensual
perception by fo llo w in g a path closely rem inisce nt o f Julien's appropriation of Poin­
care's theories. By integrating 'th e dynam ic abilities of the hum an body', Aguilera
expands the notion o f her main tool o f the 'g rid ' to that of a 'dynam ic grid'. As a con­
sequence, she also extends our perception - as traditionally based on our five physical
senses - to a m ore com plex system by adding the param eter of our body m otion. It
fo llo w s th a t she sees 'gestu re as d im e n s io n '17 and, 'ultim a te ly, the space becom es an
adaptive structure tied to the structure o f the body w h ich allow s us to inhabit higher
dim ensions in co m p u te r graphics'. Having already interw eaved the concepts of 'fo rm '
and 'space', by m eans of the 'grid ', w h ich she suggests represents 'space', and having
defined graphic design as 'based on the creation of visual paths that w alk you through
a given con cep t', she takes her argum ents even furthe r. She suggests that 'th e m otion
o f the person becom es the graphic e le m e n t' and the re fore m akes it apparent how
such ne w technological advancem ents 'challenge our assum ptions about design and
a rch itecture altogether, opening up a w o rld related both to language and space, w hich
only exists w ith body actions'.
The potential of the new media as highlighted in A guilera's project is even
fu rth e r expanded if one takes into account oth er VR experim entation that focuses on
the use of senses oth er than vision. In addition, the possibility of the enlargem ent of
the con cep t of 'd ra w in g ' - as an em bodied experience inside the co m p u te r space, as
suggested by A guilera's 'U nfolding Space' - becom es even strong er w h en vie w ed in
conjunction w ith M arcos N ovak's discussion of 'E v e rs io n ':18 Novak proposes that w e
'im p o rt into ordinary space w h a t w e m ine from the virtua l' in order to escape the bar­
riers o f co m p u te r screens and m ake 'space itse lf . . . a screen upon w h ich anything can
be projected, not as a hologram but as a variation in density and m aterial p re se n ce '.19

'Higher' drawing

As if directly associated w ith this debate about Virtual Reality offerin g the possibility to
develop an intuitive understanding o f higher-dim ensional spaces, Bragdon related
technological progress, and the availability o f n e w representational media, w ith the
ability of hu m an ity's perception to evolve. As early as July 1910, in an entry to a note­
book, Bragdon w ro te about photography and 'm ovin g p ictu res' as being the ne w
media offering us the m eans to gain fam iliarity w ith the 'expansability and contractabil-
ity of spa ce'.20 This is not the only reference in his w ritin g s that support our hypothesis
th a t Bragdon w o uld have approved of the use of com p uter technology in design. On

173
Christina M alath ou ni

th e contrary, Bragdon held te ch n o lo g ica l p ro gre ss in very high e s te e m and o fte n asso­
cia te d the d e v e lo p m e n ts o f his tim e w ith h u m a n ity 's e vo lu tio n and 'c o n q u e s t of
sp a c e '.21 In his au tobiog ra ph y, Bragdon referre d to such ph e n o m e n a in th e sam e w a y
as th e y w e re p e rceived by th e no n-sp ecia list, i.e. as 'm a g ic a l' or 'm ira c u lo u s ', and
w ro te - com p arin g his m e ta p h ysica l co n sid e ra tio n s w ith th e in ve n tio n o f th e te le ­
phone, cinem a, and sound reco rdin gs:

I am dealing . .. w ith m arve ls and m yste rie s, b u t are th e y a fte r all any m ore
am azing than th e fa m ilia r m iracle o f hearing in N e w York w o rd s spoken in
London; o f seeing re-enacted on a lu m in o u s screen s o m e e v e n t w h ic h hap­
pe ne d e ls e w h e re and perhaps long ago; or o f liste n in g to th e living voice of
a dead m an?22

In N o v e m b e r 1911, Philip H enry W yn n e , a m a th e m a ticia n and one o f B ra g d o n 's close

frie n d s and collab ora to rs on th e 'fo u rth -d im e n s io n ' su b je ct, also talke d ab ou t 'm a rv e ls '
and associated th e s e to a 'h ig h e r scie n c e '. He w ro te : 'th e real m arve ls . . . appear to
th e se e ke r in th e g re a t d o m ain w h e re th e law s o f th o u g h t and th e la w s o f th in g s rush
to g e th e r - in th e h ig h e r scie nce w h e re physics, m a th e m a tics, and psych o lo g y b e com e
o n e .'23 This 'h ig h e r s c ie n c e ' re visits th e idea o f a b o d y -m in d du alism by in e ffe c t re­
phrasing th e th e o rie s o f Du Prel and Bragdon regarding 're p re s e n ta tio n in fo r m ' and
th e tra n sce n d e n ta l and physics and m e ta p h ysics re sp e ctive ly. This is also e v id e n t in
th e VR p ro je cts already referre d to, and th e re fo re th e se are seen as s u g g e stin g an
expanded n o tio n o f 'd ra w in g '. In A g u ile ra 's 'U n fo ld in g S pace' and N o vak's 'E ve rsio n ',
advanced c o m p u te r te c h n o lo g ie s enhance our 'p e rc e p tu a l e xp e rie n ce o f spa ce' by re­
in tro d u cin g th e hum an body in the pro cess o f 'd ra w in g ' w h ic h is n o w expanded into
th e lived space, beyond any in te rm e d ia te m edia, such as paper or c o m p u te r screens.
A lso, as Julien explains in his the sis, 's in c e th e c o m p u te r has no c o n ce p tio n o f the
na ture o f space, it is bound by th e spatial m e ta p h o rs and co d ifie d rule s yste m s
con tain ed w ith in its p ro g ra m m in g ';24 or, as N ovak w rite s ab o u t cybe rspa ce, this
can actu ally achieve th e 'lite ra l p la c e m e n t o f th e body in spaces in ve n te d e n tire ly by
th e m in d '.25
Bragdon relates th e d e v e lo p m e n t o f o u r space pe rce p tio n to th e p o ssib ility
o f our escape fro m th e lim its o f m aterial reality, to w a rd s an Ideal Reality. He p o in ts
out: 'In th e fa c t o f th e lim ite d na ture o f o u r space p e rce p tio n s is fo u n d a c o n n e ctin g
link b e tw e e n m a terialism and id e a lism '. He s u b s e q u e n tly adds (also m aking co n n e c­
tio n s to religion, w h ic h w ill be o m itte d here): 'T h in kin g in te rm s o f th e h igh er w e issue
fro m th e to m b o f m a te ria lism in to th e su n lig h t o f . .. idealism . . . \ 26 A s advanced c o m ­
p u te r te c h n o lo g ie s , such as VR, o ffe r us p o ssib ilitie s o f no t m e re ly 'th in k in g ' b u t also
in te ra ctin g 'in te rm s o f th e hig h e r', it m ay be argued th a t th is n e w typ e o f 'd ra w in g '
o ffe rs us th e p o s s ib ility o f y e t a n o th e r 're m o va l o f th e boundary b e tw e e n re p re se n ta ­
tio n and reality at th e c o s t o f th e tra n sce n d e n ta l part o f th e w o rld , and in fa vo u r o f the
pe rceived p a rt'.27 Like n e w bu ild in g m aterials and te ch n iq u e s, w h ic h enable th e realisa­
tio n o f n e w a rch ite ctu ra l fo rm s in m a tte r, advanced c o m p u te r te c h n o lo g y m ay be co n ­
sid ere d as th e d e v e lo p m e n t th a t can enable the 're a lis a tio n ' o f n e w , 'im m a te ria l'

174
 'Higher' being and 'higher' drawing

form s, unconstrained by geom etrical system s applicable to our im m e dia te physical

w o rld. In Bragdon's idealist w orld, such an 'acquiescence and intangibility of digital
data and screens' w o uld not have been a draw back from the 'ta ng ibility and resistance
of traditional m edia' but instead a positive de velopm e nt, leading us to the achievem ent
o f our 'h ig he r' potential, and the re fore also possibly named: 'H ig he r' Drawing.

Acknowledgements

This chapter is closely related to m y doctoral research w h ich has been generously
funded by a full scholarship from the Greek State Scholarships Foundation and travel
grants from the Society of A rchite ctural Historians o f Great Britain (Ramsden Bur­
saries) and the U niversity College London Graduate School (Research Projects Fund).

Notes

1 Bragdon, 1910, p. 10.

2 The term 'N ew Geometries' used herein is introduced in Henderson, 1983, p. xx,
n. 3.
3 On this subject see primarily Henderson, 1983.
4 Bragdon, 1972, pp. 61-62.
5 Bragdon, 1923, p. 22.
6 Carl Du Prel (The Philosophy o f M ysticism, translated by C.C. Massey (2 vols),
London: George Redway, (1885) 1889), as quoted in Bragdon, 1939, pp. 22-23.
7 Ibid., pp. 22-23.
8 Bragdon, 1923, p. 36.
9 Bragdon, 1972, p. 77.
10 Ibid.
11 Bragdon, 1939, pp. 24-26.
12 Noll, 1967.
13 See Julien, 1999, p. 50.
14 The 1994 project 'Getting Physical in Four Dimensions' was developed by Daniel J.
Sandin, Milana Huang, Lou Kauffman, Joanna Mason and George Francis (see
Sandin, 1994).
15 See Julien, 1999, pp. 30, 50. For references to Henri Poincaré's La Science et l ’Hy­
pothèse (Paris: Ernest Flammarion, 1902), see p. 27.
16 Aguilera, 14 April 2006. See also Aguilera, January 2006.
17 See Aguilera, 14 April 2006.
18 See Novak, 2002, pp. 309-323. Novak is a key figure in such adiscussion given that
he is considered to be the 'cyberspace' architect w ho has realised the dreams of
those early-twentieth-century artists who first attem pted to incorporate the 'fourth
dimension' into their work (see particularly a comparison to the work of Kasimir Male­
vich in Clarke and Henderson, 2002, pp. 12-13). Furthermore, Novak's 'Eversion' is of
significance in relation to Bragdon's 'Higher' Reality as Novak also makes associ­
ations to metaphysical considerations and 'invisible apparitions' such as 'spirits and
ghosts, avatars and aliens, phantasms and specters' (Novak, 2002, p. 318).
19 Ibid., p. 323.
20 See entry dated 9 July 1910 in 'Manuscripts notes for Philos, of Architecture. 1909'

175
Christina M alathouni

(notes dated 1909-1911), 36:5, Bragdon Family Papers A.B81, Department of Rare
Books, Special Collections and Preservation, Rush Rhees Library, University of
Rochester, NY (BFP).
21 Bragdon, 1923, pp. 126-128.
22 Bragdon, 1938, pp. 341-342.
23 Philip Henry W ynne to Claude F. Bragdon, 15 November 1911, 1:11, BFP A.B81.
24 Julien, 1999, p. 18.
25 Novak, 1991, p. 227.
26 Bragdon, 1923, pp. 154-155.
27 Du Prel, as quoted in Bragdon, 1939, pp. 22-23.

Bibliography

Julieta C. Aguilera, 'Virtual Reality and the Unfolding of Higher Dimensions', Proceedings o f
the IS&T/SPIE's Electronic Imaging 2006, San Jose, CA, January 2006. Online, avail­
able at: evlweb.eecs.uic.edu/core.php?m od=4&type=3&indi=287 (accessed 14 Sep­
tem ber 2006).
Julieta C. Aguilera, 'Unfolding Space', Thesis Project Documentation, Electronic Visualization
Laboratory, University of Illinois at Chicago (unpublished), 14 April 2006. Online, avail­
able at: evlweb.eecs.uic.edu/core.php?m od=4&type=3&indi=298 (accessed 14 Sep­
tem ber 2006).
Claude F. Bragdon, The Beautiful Necessity: Seven Essays on Theosophy and Architecture,
Rochester, NY: Manas Press, 1910.
Claude F. Bragdon, A Primer o f Higher Space, The Fourth Dimension (to which is added
Man the Square, A Higher Space Parable), London: Andrew Dakers Limited, 1939
(1913).
Claude F. Bragdon, Projective Ornament, Brighton, Seattle: Unicorn Bookshop, 1972 (1915).
Claude F. Bragdon, Four-Dimensional Vistas, 2nd edn, London: G. Routledge & Sons, 1923
(1916).
Claude F. Bragdon, The Secret Springs: an Autobiography, London: Andrew Dakers, 1938.
Bragdon Family Papers (A.B81; D.87; D.255), Department of Rare Books. Special Collections
and Preservation, Rush Rhees Library, University of Rochester, NY, (BFP).
Eugenia Victoria Ellis, 'Ceci Tuera Cela: Education of the Architect in Hyperspace', Journal o f
Architectural Education, 51, 1, September 1997, pp. 37-45.
Bruce Clarke and Linda Dalrymple Henderson (eds), 'Introduction', From Energy to Informa­
tion: Representation in Science and Technology, Art, and Literature, Stanford, CA:
Stanford University Press, 2002, pp. 1-15.
Linda Dalrymple Henderson, The Fourth Dimension and Non-Euclidean Geometry in Modern
Art, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1983.
Joey Julien, 'A cube is a cube is a cube is a cube ... or is it? An Investigation into the
Feasibility of Interacting w ith a Four-Dimensional Hypercube in Immersive Virtual
Reality', MSc Thesis Virtual Environments, University College London (unpublished),
1999.
Jonathan Rider Massey, Architecture and Involution: Claude Bragdon's Projective Ornament,
PhD Dissertation, University of Princeton, 2001.
A. Michael Noll, 'A Computer Technique for Displaying /7-Dimensional Hyperobjects', Com­
munications o f the ACM, 10, 8, August 1967, pp. 469-473.
Marcos Novak, 'Liquid Architectures in Cyberspace’, in Michael Benedikt (ed.), Cyberspace:
First Steps, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1991, pp. 225-254.
Marcos Novak, 'Eversion: Brushing Against Avatars, Aliens, and Angels', in Bruce Clarke and

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 'Higher' being and 'higher' drawing

Linda Dalrymple Henderson (eds), From Energy to Information: Representation in

Science and Technology, Art, and Literature, Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press,
2002, pp. 309-323.
Daniel J. Sandin et al., 'Getting Physical in Four Dimensions' (EVL, UIC 1994). Online, avail­
able at: evlweb.eecs.uic.edu/core.php?mod=4&type=1&indi=104 (accessed 14 Sep­
tember 2006).

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T h is P a ge i n t e n t i o n a l l y left b la n k
Critical dimensions

Introduction

One o f the in te ntio ns of the M odels and D raw ings conference w as to com pare the
role o f the m odel w ith th a t of the draw ing. In settin g the conference the m e , M arco
Frascari interpreted the w o rd 'm o d e l' in a specific way, using it to critique m odes of
representation w h e re the im agination becom es stifled. The 'm odel-gaze' proceeds no
fu rth e r once it has settle d on the object o f enquiry (w hich m ig ht be an architectural
draw ing, m odel or text). In contrast, the proper architectural 'd ra w in g ' teaches the
gaze 'to proceed beyond the visible into an infinity, w h e re b y som e th in g ne w of the
invisible in e n c o u n te re d '.1 In this w ay, it opens up the im agination to possibilities
beyond the im m e dia te ly given.
C ontem porary m odels o f tho u g h t are rather suspicious of invisible things
because they are supported by a m aterialist m etaphysics, w h ich only believes in w h a t
it can see. Higher dim ensions of the m aterial w o rld are thus rendered invisible to its
gaze. H ow ever, in The Visible and the Invisible,2 M erleau-Ponty acknow ledges the phe­
nom enological presence of an invisibility w h ich w ill forever prohibit the visible -m aterial
w o rld from believing itse lf to be the only account o f the w o rld. In the heart o f m atter
he starts to discern a second visibility: one th a t does not reinforce the im m anence of
m atter, but one th a t creates a rupture b e tw ee n subjective and objective w o rlds. This
second visibility is the invisible dim ension th a t shapes form le ss m a tte r and m akes it
into 'a som ething as opposed to a n o th in g ’ : a glorified and particular living body as
opposed to an in distin ct and anonym ous Being-in general.3 This invisibility im plies that
the co n te n t of m a tte r is higher that that of m ere im m anence and it prevents the
model-gaze from settlin g upon its surface.
The intention o f the con tribu tions in this section w as to develop som e of
the th e m e s raised at the firs t AHRA International conference, Critical A rchite cture, held
at the B artlett School o f A rchite cture in N ovem ber 2003. In challenging the idle co d ifi­
cation and canonisation associated w ith conventional m odel-type draw ings, the chap­
ters in this section address w ays in w h ich m odes o f representation can be critically

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Critical dimensions

discussed and/or used as critical design tools. The firs t fou r chapters discuss aspects
related to draw ing; the next tw o chapters discuss design projects and raise questions
about the im agination of con stru ction ; the fo llo w in g tw o chapters discuss the role of
language and te x t in the representation o f architecture; and the last tw o chapters
discuss aspects related to the perceptual experience o f architecture. Collectively,
the se con tribu tions expose ne w insights about the w ay m odes of representation are
used and discussed in architecture and thus, albeit in a d iffe re n t w ay, they critically
expand or open up som ething ne w of the invisible.
W ith reference to a perm anent installation by the a rtist Janet Hodgson
w ith in the Land S ecurities' W hitefria rs D e velo pm e nt in Canterbury, Jane Rendell, in
her chapter 'Seeing tim e /w ritin g place', considers diffe re nce s in ho w architects and
archaeologists draw space and tim e according to their particular disciplinary perspec­
tives and procedures. The discussion com pares archaeological draw ings, w hich
a tte m p t to see tim e, w ith a num ber o f contem porary architectural draw ings, w hich
a tte m p t to spatialise tim e. Rendell describes H odgson's w o rk as a critical spatial prac­
tice w h e re an 'indexical representation o f a location is inscribed back into th a t site, in
order to raise questions about ho w the decisions w e make in the here-and-now influ­
ence the con stru ction o f architectural spaces', and she associates this practice w ith
Freud's M ystic W ritin g Pad. The chapter raises questions about how w e make
decisions about w h a t to rem e m be r and w h a t to fo rg e t about the past, and how w e
assign value to m atter.
Judith M o ttra m , in her chapter 'M arks in space: thinking about draw ing',
questions w h y sig nifica nt value is assigned to hand-m ade or craft-based draw ing
processes com pared to digital-im aging technologies. C orresponding to the s h ift aw ay
from draw ing as a core pedagogical co m p o n e n t in art courses, there has been an
increasing valorisation of draw ing. W ith reference to the visual the ory o f J.J. G ibson's
'ecological op tics', she speculates about the enduring attraction o f draw ings.
In 'D raw ing lines of confrontation', Catherine Hamel discusses architectural
drawing through the them e of 'confrontation'. Accepting that the space of architectural
translation is never unobstructed or neutral, but instead subject to interpretation, selec­
tion, preference and judgem ent, Hamel discusses the productive potential of drawing
lines of confrontation. Through the them e of exile and w ith reference to geographical and
political lines of confrontation, she reveals contrasting aspects of confrontation. W ithin
these conditions, Hamel argues that the drawing acts as a site of ongoing negotiation
and she encourages receptivity tow ards the process of em ergence and unfolding, that
the draw ing allows.
Jonathan H ill's chapter 'W e a th e r architecture, w e a th e r d ra w in g' starts by
discussing various m eanings of the w o rd 'design ', tracing it back to the fifte e n th
century and exploring the subsequent transfo rm a tion of m eaning during the eighteenth
century. It addresses the im plications fo r the w ay architects dra w and design, and it
considers the lim itations associated w ith each understanding. W ith reference to
eigh te en th -centu ry garden design, and influenced by John Locke's theory that ideas
are dependent upon experience, Jonathan Hill explores the relationship be tw ee n

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 Critical dimensions

architecture and w eather. M oreover, he suggests th a t if architects are to respond to

the changeability that the perception of w e a th e r-a rch ite ctu re im plies, they w ill have to
transform the w ay they draw and thus the w ay they design.
Picking up on this them e, in his chapter 'D raw ing on light', Sam Ridgw ay
addresses ho w the m aterial presence o f architecture is conceived 'in ' and 'o f' light.
Influenced by the w ritin g and teaching o f M arco Frascari, Ridgway advocates a poetical
and ontological understanding o f construction. He discusses ho w this understanding
has influenced his teaching in architectural con stru ction and in the design o f his private
house in Adelaide.
Bradley S tarkey's chapter, 'Post-secular architecture: m aterial, intellectual,
spiritual m od els', inverts the conference th e m e and turns from 'd ra w in g s' back to
'm o d e ls'. It questions w h y architectural m odels are under-theorised in architectural dis­
course com pared to draw ings, and it advocates the process of design-by-m aking as a
w ay of draw ing fo rth ideas. The discussion refers to Bradley S tarkey's design project.
C om prising a m aterial levitating m odel, this design critiques the secular basis of
con tem po rary m odels of th o u g h t by exam ining the division and dissociation be tw ee n
m aterial and spiritual dim ensions.
W hereas the firs t four chapters in this section exam ine drawing, the next
tw o discuss te x t and language as the subject of critical investigation. W hile draw ing is
accorded considerable value as a m edium o f architectural representation, the specifica­
tion is considered to be a m ere supplem ent to drawing, indeed the specification is not
considered to be a representation at all. In her chapter 'Specifying m aterials: language,
m atter and the conspiracy o f m uten ess' Katie Lloyd Thom as argues th a t the con­
sequence of this is that the m ateriality of architecture 'disappears as the invisible
m edium of representation' since it is not included as an object of representation in the
draw ing. By exam ining the role of language in describing m ateriality, Katie Lloyd
Thom as gives critical attention to the architectural specification. She com pares the lan­
guage of the specification w ith the proém e's o f French poet Francis Ponge, discussing
both in te rm s o f how they represent, reflect and/or transform the m aterials to w hich
they refer. In doing so she expands the conceptual possibilities of the architectural
specification.
D raw ing upon the w o rk of Benjam in, Bachelard and Lacan, in her chapter
'A rchitectu re as im age-space-text' B etty Nigianni discusses the role o f visuality in
spatial experience beyond conventional optics. C ounter to the divisions resulting from
Cartesian perspectivalism , B etty Nigianni suggests a m ore discursive relation be tw ee n
subject and object. W ith reference to the poem 'Tale of a Tub', w ritte n by Sylvia Plath,
she discusses the im plications of a m ore textual rather than visual representation and
suggests diverging possibilities fo r architectural representation, w h e re the priority of
'surface ' is replaced by the m etap ho r o f the 'in te rfa ce .'
In her chapter 'A cts o f im agination and reflection in architectural design',
Peg Rawes discusses the role of the im agination in refle ctive thinking and spatial
experience. Rawes explains the distinctio n b e tw ee n Kant's notion o f 're fle ctive ju dg e­
m e n t' and cognitive reasoning, w h e re the fo rm e r is a special kind of em bodied thinking

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Critical dimensions

th a t involves the im agination. She argues th a t Kant's the ory is interesting fo r architects
because it reinforces the im portance o f the de sig ner's ability to think 're fle ctive ly' in
the production o f ae sthetic and technical ju dg em en ts. Through a discussion of ge om e­
try, Rawes reveals the operation of em bodied reflection in the process of draw ing, and
she argues th a t g e om e tric thinking and ge om e tric relationships are inherently con­
nected to the de sig ner's reflective and ae sthetic po w e rs. Furtherm ore, w ith reference
to a discussion of an experience o f The W eather P roject by O lafur Eliasson at the Tate
M odern, she argues th a t the im agination intrinsically underpins the designer's personal
experience of architectural and urban space.
In the last chapter o f this section, the discussion of spatial perception is
expanded. Katja Grillner discusses the role of distraction in the perceptual experience
o f architecture. W ith reference to the au thor's tw o recent w ritin g and spatial installa­
tion projects and draw ing on the w o rk o f W a lte r Benjam in, she discusses the critical
and political fun ction o f distraction. C ounter to no rm ative review s of contem porary
architecture, w h ich avoid notions of distracted use, her installations advance the idea
o f the 'distracted critic', w h o de tects w h a t is happening in the corner of perception.
G rillner believes th a t it is necessary to address distraction if w e are to produce an
architectural criticism o f relevance to contem porary conditions.

Notes

1 Conference Call for Papers, Marco Frascari, Models & Drawings: the Invisible Nature
o f Architecture, University of Nottingham, 2003.
2 Maurice Merleau-Ponty, The Visible and the Invisible, Alphonso Lingis (trans.),
Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 1964.
3 See Philip Blond (ed.), Post-Secular Philosophy: Between Philosophy and Theology,
London: Routledge, 1997, for an expanded discussion.

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Seeing time/writing
place 1
Jane R endell

Introduction

This chapter is an essay co m m issio n e d by art co n su lta n t Sam antha W ilkinson to

accom pany the publication o f T h e Pits' (2005), a pe rm an ent installation by artist
Jan et Hodgson, w ith in the Land S ecu ritie s' W h ite fria rs D e velo pm e nt, C anterbury. It
started life as a conversation th a t took place b e tw e e n Jan et and m yse lf as w e w alked
throu gh her w o rk - the em bedding o f an archaeological draw ing o f a site into the
ston e paving o f th a t s ite 's ne w public square - th e focal po in t o f an a lm ost-to -be -com ­
pleted shopping centre. At the sta rt o f her project, the site w as an archaeological dig.
and archaeological dra w in gs becam e the key influence fo r the m aking o f 'The Pits'. In
this chapter, in order to con sid er h o w dra w in gs rep rese nt space and tim e d iffe re n tly,
according to th e ir particular disciplinary p e rspe ctives and procedures, I explore the
a rtw o rk from an interdisciplinary perspective, discussing how the w o rk operates
across art, archaeology and a rch itecture . In the firs t part I discuss ho w archaeological
dra w in gs are a tte m p ts to 'see tim e ' and to create, from the m aterial fra g m e n ts exca­
vated in a site, an understanding o f the chronology and sequence associated w ith the
history o f a place. I com pare th is to the w a y in w h ich certain co n tem po rary arch itec­
tural dra w in gs spatialise tim e , creating n e w w a ys of dra w in g narrative and event. In
the second part, I argue that, by focu sing on the archaeological process o f retrieval,
'The Pits' asks us to consider the relative value o f m aterial item s, from those w e
treasure to tho se w e th ro w aw ay. The w o rk uses its title to draw a tte n tio n to its
position at the heart of a new shopping centre; here the re-m aking o f a draw ing
raises questions of its site in te rm s o f cultural co n te xt and architectural production
and reproduction.

As Janet H odgson and I w alked through her n e w w o rk in the centre of

Canterbury, w e shared a de lig ht in the precise w a y the lines of the draw ings m e t
across paving junctions, and at ho w the w o rd s beneath our fe e t seem ed at tim e s to be
so m e h o w out o f place:

183
Jane Rendell

Ja n et H odgson,
'Th e P its' (2005)
C an terb u ry.

A n im a l b u rro w
A rea n o t e.c. fu rth e r as w ith in 3 m o f edge o f site/pile
Truncated by
Pile cap cannot dig beneath obviously

V ery q u ickly it becam e clear th a t H odgson w as entra nce d by archaeological d ra w ­

ings. She describ ed the scene o f the site to me as a w o rk in g dig, divide d by a grid
o f ropes, each a rch a e o lo g ist excavating th e ir o w n sm all square plot, revealing
o b je cts and spaces th ro u g h the rem o val o f e a rth .2 To her, an a rtist, th is inversion of
th e tra d itio n a l sculptura l act se e m e d strang e, and fo r m e, w ith m y a rch ite ctu ra l
train in g, th is process reversed th e o th e r a c tiv itie s of a building site, w h e re a rc h ite c ­
tu re is produced th ro u g h the a ccu m u la tio n o f m aterial co m p o n e n ts, rathe r than
th e ir rem oval.
H odgson's fascination w as not so m uch w ith the archaeological practice of
rem oval, since this is not so d iffe re n t from the w o rk of a conceptual artist like M ichael
A sher w h o rem oved architectural elem e nts o f the gallery, or a m ore contem porary
a rtist such as Rachel W hiteread w h o se practice has becom e one o f m aking absence
present, but w ith how archaeologists draw tim e .3 Hodgson described another scene to
m e, this one in the archaeologists' office, w h e re the sm all draw ings produced by indi­
viduals on site w e re placed next to one another in order to establish chronological
sequence.
The patterning o f the draw ings inscribed in H odgson's m em ory, w h ich she

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the n d e scrib ed to m e, I in tu rn discu sse d w ith som e a rch ae olo gists. T hey resp on ded :
'A h ! Yes! T hat sou nd s like a stra tig ra p h ic m a trix .' A m atrixial stratigra ph , I im m e d ia te ly
m is -re m e m b e re d th e phrase. To a non-a rchae ologist, b u t so m e o n e in te re s te d in
im a ge s and m arks th a t are both spatial and te m p o ra l, th is w a s m agic; cau gh t up w ith
e x c ite m e n t, I sta rte d to research, to d iscove r th a t th e in ve n to r o f th e m atrix, Edw ard
Harris, d e scrib e s it in te rm s o f 'se e in g tim e ':

In th e s im p le s t o f te rm s , b u t de aling w ith th a t m o s t co m p lica te d o f ideas,

nam ely, tim e, the M a trix is a n e w typ e o f calendar, w h ic h a llo w e d arch ae ol­
o g ists fo r the firs t tim e , to see th e s tra tig ra p h ic se q u e n ce s o f c o m p le x
site s. C alendars and clo ck faces are tw o o f th e fe w w a ys in w h ic h w e can
's e e ' ab so lu te tim e , fo r since it has no physical reality, bu t is in h e re n t in
m o s t th in g s, it m u s t be tra n sla te d to a d ia g ra m m a tic fo rm to be u n d e rsto o d
as a sch e d u le or seq ue nce . . . 4

For arch a e o lo g ists, th e pu rpo se o f stra tig ra p h y is to esta blish tim e .5 In th e Harris
M a trix, each layer is d ra w n as a box, the boxes are th e n p o sitio n e d n e x t to each o th e r
to co rre sp o n d w ith th e 's u p e rp o s itio n a l re la tio n sh ip o f th e ir d e p o s itio n '; th is a llo w s a
te m p o ra l re la tio n sh ip to be m ade b e tw e e n all th e strata in a site (see th e fig u re be lo w ).
This pro cess is n o t un co n tro ve rsia l in archaeological practice, it appears; as M ich ae l
Shanks explains, th e Harris M a trix q u e stio n s th e logic o f u n d e rsta n d in g a site th ro u g h
g e ological layers, and instead su g g e sts a fo rm o f diagram th a t m aps th e in te rfa ce
b e tw e e n d e p o sits:

There are d iffe re n t w a ys to m ap th e archaeological site. T here is the

o b vio us planned survey. B u t also th e stra tig ra p h ic m atrix, a type o f diagram
in ve n te d by E dw ard Harris, and in its m o d ific a tio n s a co rn e rsto n e o f B ritish
field exca vatio n. This form o f diagram does no t re p re s e n t the layers o f
d e p o sits o f a site b u t deals w ith th e ir v o lu m e s by re d u ctio n to th e co n c e p t
o f in te rfa ce - th e d ividing line b e tw e e n d e p o sits, or co n ve rse ly th e ir su r­
face s. The task o f exca vatio n is one o f esta b lish in g th e s e in te rfa c e s .6

The c o n v e n tio n s o f th e a rch ite ctu ra l d ra w in g in p ro fe ssio n a l pra ctice -

plans, ele va tio n s and se c tio n s - ten d to s h o w space as a horizontal or ve rtica l slice in
one m o m e n t in tim e . T h re e -dim e nsion al d ra w in g s, such as th e a x o n o m e tric and iso­
m e tric, pro du ce an artificial v ie w o f a building, fro m a s ta n d p o in t im p o ssib le to achieve
in 're a l' life, w h ile th e p e rsp e ctive m ay be d ra w n fro m one, or perhaps tw o , fixe d p o si­
tio n s. As part o f th e a rch ite ctu ra l sp e cifica tio n package, d ra w in g s are m ade w ith the
in te n tio n o f a llo w in g th e co m p e tin g c o n tra cto rs to c o s t a p ro je c t and later provide th e
in s tru c tio n s fo r w h a t needs to be bu ilt. T hese d ra w in g s are re p re s e n ta tio n s o f space
rathe r than tim e , b u t th e re are o f cou rse m o re co n ce p tu a l a rch ite ctu ra l d ra w in g s
roo te d in a m o re critica l tra d itio n , w h ic h a tte m p t to d ra w tim e , such as 'e v e n t' in th e
w o rk o f Bernard T sch u m i, or sto ry-te llin g and narrative in th e p ro je cts o f cj lim .7 R ecent
e x p lo ra tio n s o f th e diagram in a rc h ite c tu re argue fo r visual pra ctices th a t are te m p o ra l
as w e ll as spatial, and a n u m b e r o f p ra c titio n e rs have in ve stig a te d th ro u g h im ages and

185
Jane Rendell

A m a trix d ra w in g ,
courtesy of
C an terbu ry
A rchaeolo gical Trust.

w o rd s the gradual changes to space over tim e through the design process and pos­
sible fu tu re occupations o f a building.8
Despite the fa ct that, in the architectural o ffice , draw ings are produced by
m ore than one person and altered over tim e, they tend to be presented as the w o rk of
a single architect, w ith careful a tten tion paid to the rem oval o f all but the final layer of
lines. (Preceding the advent of com p uter, the roughened patches on pieces o f tracing
paper provided m aterial evidence o f the rew orking of a draw ing over tim e.) The archae­
ological draw ing process sounded to me rather m ore collaborative, part o f a collective
investigation into a site, rather than in stru ction s fo r the production o f a com plex arte­
fact. It is interesting to note, then, that w h ile archaeology is curre ntly excited about the
creative potential of its ow n m odes of investigation, w ith fie ld w o rk described as a 'm is
en scene' exam ined in te rm s of perform ance and theatre, architecture is investigating
h o w the draw ing can be a site of theoretical exploration as w e ll as a codification fo r the
production of space.9
Hodgson chose to inscribe the archaeologists' draw ings into the york stone
slabs set as a landscaped elem e nt in the new shopping com plex designed by
Chapman Taylor and built by Land Securities in W hitefria rs, Canterbury. Since each
draw ing is com posed of lines that travel across several slabs, to produce such an
inscription dem anded an amazing degree of precision, and careful collaboration
b e tw ee n the a rtist and the sub-contractor, MSS of Leeds. This kind of slo w and
painstaking task does not necessarily sit com forta bly w ith the prioritisation of speed on
m any fast-track building sites. It is im portant, therefore, to acknow ledge the key role
th a t the invisible w e b o f conversations plays in producing the relationships o f tru st and
m utual respect required to make a w o rk o f such finesse.

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 Seeing tim e /w ritin g place

H odgson has an o n go ing in te re s t in tim e and h isto ry. Her 1999 in sta lla tion
'H is to ry L e sso n ' fo r th e B lu eco at G allery, Liverpool, in volve d s im u lta n e o u s p ro je ctio n s
in d iffe re n t parts o f the space o f 17 hours o f vid eo reco rdin g th e fic tio n a l re -e n a ctm e n t
o f th e eve ryda y life o f th e bu ild in g in its p re vio u s incarnation as a V ictorian scho ol. The
w o rk does n o t a tte m p t to re-stage h is to ry 'as it really w a s ', b u t rathe r exp lo re s h isto r­
ical kn o w le d g e as an on g o in g re co n s tru c tio n in th e p re se n t, located s o m e w h e re
b e tw e e n fa ct and fic tio n . The life-size video re co rd in g s o f th e bu ild in g being d e cora te d
to look like a typica l V ictorian scho ol are p ro je cte d back in to th e ir original p o sitio n at the
sam e scale. A t each site o f p ro je ctio n you see th e tim e it to o k to c o n s tru c t a n o th e r
tim e - th e past - one po ssib le version o f h isto ry. It is no t physically po ssib le to v ie w all
th e s e tim e s to g e th e r, and even if you could see all th e im a ge s, th e re su lt w o u ld no t
sim p ly be sim u lta n e o u s - a m o m e n t in tim e - o r se q u e n tia l - tim e passing. As charac­
te rs in V ictorian c o s tu m e m o ve fro m one scene to an othe r, in te rm in g lin g w ith d e co ra ­
to rs and painters, th e tim e d e p icte d is c o m p le x and layered, w h a t you see slips in and
o u t o f m aking sense, m o re like m e m o ry.
A m o re re ce n t w o rk , T im e M a c h in e ', has, th ro u g h several incarn ation s in
d iffe re n t sites, co n tin u e d to d e velop H o d g so n 's in te re s t in tim e and space, deep en ing
and c o m p le x ify in g her u n d e rsta n d in g o f th e ir in te rc o n n e c tio n s in relation to a n u m b e r
o f site s. In 2002, 'T im e M a c h in e ' w a s sh o w n in a n u m b e r o f locations in C anterbury.
The w o rk s w e re co m p o s e d o f vid e o p ro je ctio n s on th e inside an d/or o u tsid e o f various
shop w in d o w s and a c o n s tru c tio n based on th e tim e m ach in e in G eorge Pal's 1960
film version o f H.G. W e lls ' Tim e M a ch in e (1895) w a s fa b rica te d fro m cardboard boxes
w h ic h once con tain ed digita l c o m m o d itie s . The vid e o p ro je ctio n m ake s te m p o ra l play
of th e fashion seq ue nce fro m th e film s lo w in g d o w n and sp e ed ing up th e seq u e n ce in
w h ic h a m annequin is dre ssed in o u tfits fro m d iffe re n t eras.
W h e n th e T im e M a c h in e ' tra ve lle d to th e O akville G alleries in O ntario in
2004, it tra n s fo rm e d in to a n e w w o rk, 'H e re and T here, Then and N o w ', a response, in
part, to H o d g so n 's fascin atio n w ith the a rc h ite c tu re o f th e gallery. She d isco ve re d th a t
O akville G alleries, c o n s tru c te d in 1922, w a s a cop y o f a n o th e r building in T o ro n to and
th a t bo th th e se a rch ite ctu ra l s tru c tu re s w e re in flu e n ce d by th e w o rk o f B ritish a rc h ite c t
C.F.A. V oysey, in p a rticular Spade H ouse in Kent, England, d e sig ned as a c o m m is s io n
fo r H.G. W e lls . V o y s e y 's de sig n w o rk cou ld be de scrib e d as 'A rts and C ra fts', and his
a rc h ite c tu re co n n e cte d to W illia m M o rris ' aspiration fo r a n e w so cie ty paradoxically
in flu e n ce d by looking ba ckw a rds to a ro m a n tic v ie w o f m ed ie val England. 'H e re and
T here, Then and N o w ' co n siste d o f in sta lla tio n s in th re e roo m s, in clud in g th e tim e
m achine and tw o n e w vid eo co m p o s itio n s . In one room , w e see th ro u g h the w in d o w a
m an dressed in an upper-class E dw ardian c o s tu m e w a n d e rin g at leisure th ro u g h an
idyllic garden se ttin g , and in a n o th e r roo m , im ages o f a rch ite ctu ra l s e ttin g s fro m th e se
o th e r sites are p ro je cte d back in to th e ga lle ry a t th e sam e scale. A t firs t, th e v ie w fro m
th e w in d o w se e m s to su g g e s t a ro m a n tic escape, b u t fin a lly th e ch a ra cte r v ie w e d 'o u t
th e re ' in th e garden appears 'in he re', on o u r side o f th e w in d o w , in fro n t o f us in the
sam e room . A s in 'H is to ry L e sso n s', w e are asked to c o n sid e r a sp e cts o f th e d is ta n t
in th e near, b u t w h e re the earlier w o rk m ade us c o n scio u s o f th e past in th e pre sen t,

187
Jane Rendell

in this m ore recent w ork, the em phasis is less on tim e and m ore on space. H odgson's
exploration o f tim e in te rm s of history has evolved into an in vestigation o f relationships
that are as m uch about location and dislocation as they are about w h a t was. w h a t is
and w h a t m ig h t be. W e lls' utopian visions are historically sited and brought into rela­
tion w ith the Arts and C rafts' ten den cy to project the past into the future , but at the
sam e tim e , w e are asked to thin k about locations that are absent, but w h ich form the
m odel fo r those th a t are physically present.
The archaeological processes at w o rk in W hitefria rs seem to coincide w ith
H odgson's desire to see m any tim e s at once, perhaps in fo rm ing her decision to
inscribe the site w ith draw ings of the holes the excavations revealed, bringing the past
into the present, as an ongoing creative construction, alongside the on-site production
o f fu tu re architectures. The specifics of process as w e ll as disciplinary attitud e are key
here. Follow ing m y understanding o f the Harris M atrix, it is the very act o f draw ing -
the representation o f spatial relationships - that allow s one to see tim e. For the
archaeologists at w o rk in W hitefria rs. this draw ing involves first recording parts of the
site and then repositioning the se draw ings spatially in order to respond to a question
particular to archaeology: 'h o w is tim e spatially ordered in this particular place?'
Hodgson draw s tim e, in line w ith her approach to m aking an art that is critical as w e ll
as site-specific, som e th in g I have described elsew h ere as a critical spatial practice, in
this case (as in the w o rks involving video projections described earlier) an indexical
representation of a location is inscribed back into th a t site, in order to raise questions
about ho w the decisions w e m ake in the here-and-now influence the con stru ction of
architectural spaces.10

Writing place

The M ystic Pad is a slab o f dark brow n resin or w ax w ith a paper edging;
over the slab is laid a thin transparent sheet, the top end of w h ich is firm ly
secured to the slab w h ile its bo tto m end rests on it w ith o u t being fixed to
it. This transparent sheet ... consists o f tw o layers, w h ich can be detached
from each oth e r except at th e ir tw o ends. The upper layer is a transparent
piece of celluloid; the lo w e r layer is made of thin translucent w axed
paper. ... To m ake use of the M ystic Pad, one w rite s upon the celluloid
portion o f the covering-sheet w h ich rests on the w ax slab. ... a pointed
stilus scratches the surface, the depressions upon w h ich co n stitu te the
'w ritin g '. . . . If one w ishes to destroy w h a t has been w ritte n , all th a t is
necessary is to raise the double covering-sheet from the w ax slab by a light
pull . .. The close contact b e tw ee n the w axed paper and the w ax slab at the
places w h ich have been scratched (upon w h ich the visibility o f the w ritin g
depended) is thus bro ug ht to an end and it does not recur w h en the tw o
surfaces com e to g e th e r once m ore. . .. The surface o f the M ystic Pad is
clear o f w ritin g and once m ore capable of receiving im pressions. But it is

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 Seeing tim e /w ritin g place

easy to disco ve r th a t th e p e rm a n e n t trace o f w h a t w a s w ritte n is retained

upon th e w a x slab its e lf and is legible in suita ble lig h ts. T hus th e Pad p ro ­
vid es no t on ly a re ce p tive surface th a t can be used ove r and ove r again, like
a slate, b u t also p e rm a n e n t traces o f w h a t has been w ritte n , like an ord in ary
paper pad: it solves th e p ro blem o f co m b in in g tw o fu n c tio n s b y d ividing
th e m b e tw e e n tw o sep ara te b u t in te rre la te d c o m p o n e n t p a rts o r syste m s.
B ut th is is p re cise ly th e w a y in w h ic h . . . our m en ta l apparatus p e rfo rm s its
p e rce p tu a l fu n c tio n .11

H o w do site s g e t m arked th ro u g h tim e ? If w e w e re to m ake an analogy b e tw e e n a site

and a su b je ct, th e n w e m ig h t im agine a place to hold traces in a w a y sim ila r to the

M y s tic W ritin g Pad. W e w o u ld e xp e ct, the n, to be able to see and to u ch th e rem ains
o f on ly s o m e pa st actio ns. H o w do a rch ae olo gists de cid e w h a t to re m e m b e r and w h a t
to fo rg e t? H o w do th e y k n o w w h a t to look for, w h a t to keep and w h a t to reject?
A rch a e o lo g ists are tra in e d to seek o u t w h a t passes as in visib le to th e re s t o f us, to
k n o w th e d iffe re n c e , fo r exa m ple, b e tw e e n se e m in g ly identical clu m p s o f earth, to
discern th o se th a t have been d is tu rb e d by hum an action and th o se th a t have not. It is
not necessa rily a m a tte r o f age or o f m aterial w o rth in to d a y 's te rm s th a t m akes an
a rch a e o lo g ist value one o b je ct, no tice one process, rathe r than an othe r, bu t im p o r­
tan ce is placed on w h e th e r th is o b je c t or th a t pro cess a llo w s so m e th in g n e w to be
k n o w n a b o u t h o w w e u n de rsta nd the past.
As I d isco ve re d at a re c e n t c o n fe re n c e on a rch a e o lo g y and a rc h ite c tu re ,
d e b a te s are o n g o in g co n ce rn in g th e ite m s th a t are fo u n d in p its and w h a t th e y m ig h t
te ll us a b o u t hum an h a b ita tio n .12 A re p its places w h e re pre cio u s ite m s are sto re d ,
perhaps o ve r tim e in no m a d ic pe rio ds, or lo ca tio n s w h e re re je cte d th in g s w e re

th ro w n - po ts and flin ts as w e ll as organic refuse? The use o f p its fo r rub bish or

w a s te c e rta in ly does n o t appear to be co n s ta n t, bu t, rather, d e p e n d s on h isto rica l
period. T here s e e m s to be s o m e a g re e m e n t th a t in th e M id d le A g e s th e p its in back
ga rde ns w e re used fo r u n w a n te d o b je cts, b u t in tim e s fu rth e r aw ay, in th e N e o lith ic
pe rio d fo r e xa m p le , in te rp re ta tio n s are less ce rta in . S om e research has s h o w n th a t
fra g m e n ts o f th e sam e p o t m ay be fo u n d in several p its, in d ica tin g a ty p e o f action
th a t in to d a y 's te rm s is no t easy to explain. A n th ro p o lo g is t M a ry D o u g la s' m uch -
q u o te d phrase 'd irt is m a tte r o u t o f place ' c o m e s to m in d here, as I realise th a t th e
d e cisio n s m ad e a b o u t w h a t to tre a su re and w h a t to discard d e pe nd on h isto rica l
pe rio d b u t also lo catio n.
A b rie f b ro w s e in th e w in d o w s o f th e n e w sho ps in th e W h ite fria rs re d e ve l­
o p m e n t reveals a g litte rin g array o f c lo th in g , je w e lle ry and shoes. The life span o f
th e s e ite m s - fro m purchase th ro u g h use and on to th e la nd fill site - w ill be sta g g e r­
ingly b rief. W h a t w o u ld a N e o lith ic person m ake o f an archaeological dig th a t revealed
th e d e p th s o f a landfill site o r even a fra g m e n t o f H o d g so n 's w o rk? O f all th e d ra w in g s
th e a rch ae olo gists m ade in and o f th is place, including th o se o f a rare and a n cie n t
stre e t, here in th is n e w pleasure house o f c o m m o d ity c o n s u m p tio n , H o dg son cho se to
inscribe on ly th e d ra w in g s o f th e rubbish p its back in to th e site.

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Jane Rendell

W h a t does th is say as a cu ltu ra l c o m m e n t? A t th is p o in t it is w o rth re fe rrin g

to a n o th e r a rtw o rk th a t has used th e in se rtio n o f te x t in to site as a w a y to critiq u e past
a ctio ns, p re s e n t p ro ce sse s and fu tu re o ccu p a tio n s. For th e re d e v e lo p m e n t o f F edera­
tio n Square in M e lb o u rn e , a rtis t Paul C arter w a s c o m m is s io n e d to m ake a w o rk fo r the
m ain plaza. 'N e a ra m n e w ' (2001) is a te xt-b a se d piece de ve lo p e d in collab ora tion w ith
Lab a rch ite ctu re stud io. A m e rica n po litica l s c ie n tis t M o rto n G rodzin's co m p a riso n of
th e org an isatio n o f fed eral s y s te m s o f g o v e rn m e n t w ith th e layers o f m arble cake pro­
vid ed th e starting p o in t fo r th e w o rk . The p ro je c t c o n sists o f th re e e le m e n ts : a w h o rl
pa tte rn m a n ife s t th ro u g h o u t th e plaza, e ig h t surface fig u re s located along th e fo rce
lines o f th e s w irl and e ig h t fed eral te x ts engra ved in to th e surface fig u re s. C arter likens
th e se to th e th re e layers o f fed eral g o v e rn m e n t - global, regional and local.
The w o rd 'n e a ra m n e w ' is de rive d fro m a local w o rd , 'n a rr-m ' in pidgin,
m ea ning 'th e place w h e re M e lb o u rn e n o w sta n d s'. Pidgin is a language th a t has been
de scrib ed as a 'c o n ta c t zon e', th e kind o f place th a t w o u ld op era te as an un -fixed site
in Jam e s C liffo rd 's te rm s and, fo r H o m i Bhabha, as a c o n te s te d hybrid space. C a rte r's
in te re s ts lie in th e w ritin g o f place, b e tw e e n s ite -id e n tific a tio n and s e lf-id e n tific a tio n ,
and b e tw e e n place-nam ing and nam e-placing. His aim fo r the p ro je c t w a s 'to renam e,
and th e re b y to bring in to being, a n e w p la c e '.13
This renam ing occu rs no t by sim p ly p o sitio nin g a w o rd in a site, bu t also
th ro u g h the various w a ys in w h ic h each reader pro du ces a space th ro u g h th e ir o w n
em b o d ie d reading o f th e place. T hrough th e use o f various fo n ts , scales and spacings,
d iffe re n ce s are c o n stru cte d , fo r exam ple, b e tw e e n th e fed eral te x t w ritte n in a cram ped
'g en eric bureau g ro te sq u e fo n t' and the 'u r-le tte rs ' o f th e larger-scale surface fig u re s
th a t appear m ore like im a g e s.14 A t each o f th e th re e scales, th e reader is o ffe re d a d if­
fe re n t reading exp erience and alte rna tive un de rsta nd ing o f the site, raising qu estio ns
concerning th e o w n e rs h ip o f land in th e political histo ry o f Australian g o v e rn m e n t.15
Hodgson chose to title her w o rk 'The Pits', so m arking W h ite fria rs w ith
in fo rm atio n th e site already contained concerning its o w n lost past and buried top ogra­
phy. N um erical figu res indicate th e de pths and dates o f historical layers, lines gesture to
th e holes beneath th e surface, and the re are also th e asides, th e notes th e archaeolo­
gists m ade perhaps only to th e m se lve s, th a t are n o w w r it large upon the site. This
renam ing o f a place operates to bring th e hidden in de ntatio ns o f the site, Freud's m arks
on the resin o f the M y s tic W ritin g Pad, in to visibility. W h ile one can easily pass through
th e w o rk and experience it as visual pleasure, it is possible to look m ore closely, to read
it as an im age and, at closer quarters, as a text. Such fo rm s o f em b od ied reading allow
d iffe re n t ne go tiatio ns w ith th e past o f W h ite fria rs and th e selection o f rubbish as a histo r­
ical act. H odgson's decision to nam e the w o rk 'The Pits' dra w s atte n tio n to in sign ifica nt
past actions and asks us to re m e m b e r th e o b je cts th a t th o se w h o cam e before chose to
th ro w aw ay: actions and ob je cts no t usually recognised as th e s tu ff o f history.
It is po ssib le fo r w o rd s and d ra w in g s in se rte d in to a site to c o n s tru c t
m ea ning in a n u m b e r o f w a ys. T hey m ay p o in t to w h a t is no lo ng er th e re , b u t also
qu e stio n w h a t is here, using the a m b ig u ity of language to c o n tra d ic t as w e ll as
o ve re m p h a sise . O ne reading o f 'The P its', then, take s th e te rm to d e scrib e d ire ctly

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 Seeing tim e /w ritin g place

w h a t w as pre sen t but is no w hidden beneath the surface - the pits o f the past
revealed by the archaeological dig. A no ther reading, taking 'The Pits' as a colloquialism ,
suggests th a t this is rubbish. H ow ever, it is also possible that 'The Pits' is referring to
its context; com pared to the rubble that w e know exists under the paving slabs, the
brand new item s fo r sale in the shops surrounding the w o rk are clearly n o t rubbish, but
on the oth er hand com m o ditie s do get treated as if they are rubbish. It is not clear, nor
is it m eant to be, w h ich o f these interpretations Hodgson intends; rather, she is asking
us to thin k about the w a ys in w h ich w e assign value to m atter.
C onnections have been m ade by m any be tw ee n the dream w o rk o f psycho­
analysis, the role o f the Freud's talking cure in the excavation of the unconscious,
and the processes o f archaeology, a discipline involved in a physical as w e ll as concep­
tual and analytic uncovering o f the past. So it w as interesting fo r me to find the archae­
o log ist M ichael Shanks using the term 'traum w e rk ' (translated into English as
'drea m -w o rk') as 'som eth ing of a (tongue-in-cheek) reference to Freud’s notion of
dre am -w o rk - H o w disparate (and often fragm entary) com p on ents ge t linked in the
cultural im aginary'.16
By inscribing archaeological draw ings into the paving, Hodgson reinscribes
the past back into W hitefria rs - 'The Pits' provides a w a y of 'seeing tim e '. Akin to the
dream -w ork that also excavates aspects of history th a t have lain repressed, H odgson's
actions visibly trace an unw anted m em o ry of the site - 'The P its' provides a w ay of
'w ritin g place'.

Notes

1 This chapter was first published as Jane Rendell, 'Seeing Time/W riting Place', in
Janet Hodgson, The Pits (a work commissioned by Land Securities in partnership
w ith Canterbury City Council), SWPA Publishing, 2006, pp. 28-37. It is republished
here w ith the kind permission of Samantha Wilkinson and Janet Hodgson. The book,
which includes essays by the com missioner and archaeologists and full documenta­
tion of the making of the artwork, can be purchased from Insite Arts by contacting
publishing@insitearts.com.
2 The dig at W hitefriars in Canterbury is referred to as 'The Big Dig' on the website.
See ww w.canterburytrust.co.uk/archive/bigdig01.htm l (accessed May 2005).
3 For Michael Asher see, for example, 'September 13-October 8, 1973, Galleria Toselli,
Milan, Italy' and 'March 20—April 10, 1976, The Clock Tower, Institute for Art
and Urban Resources, Inc., New York', in Asher, 1983, pp. 125 and 88. For Rachel
Whiteread see, for example, 'W ater Tower', New York (1998) and 'Holocaust M em or­
ial', Judenplatz, Vienna (1995). See Neri, 2000 and Rachel Whiteread, 1997, p. 31.
4 See www.harrism atrix.com /history.htm (accessed May 2005).
5 Renfrew and Bahn, 2005, pp. 244-5.
6 Michael Shanks. See traumwerk.stanford.edu/~mshanks/traumwerk/index.php/strati-
graphic%20matrix (accessed May 2005).
7 See, for example, Tschumi, 1996 and w w w .cjlim -studio8.com (accessed May 2005).
8 See muf, 2001 and Till and W igglesworth, 2001.
9 See Shanks, 2002 and traumwerk.stanford.edu/~m shanks/writing/indexPDF.htm l
(accessed May 2005). See also Hill, 2003.

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Jane Rendell

10 For a discussion of the term 'critical spatial practice' in relation to works of art and
architecture, see Rendell, 2006.
11 Freud, 2001, pp. 229-30.
12 Beadsmoore, Garrow and Knight, 2005.
13 See Carter, 2001, p. 138.
14 See Carter, 2001, p. 144.
15 See Carter, 2001, p. 137.
16 See traumwerk.stanford.edu/~mshanks/traumwerk/index.php (accessed May 2005).

Bibliography

Michael Asher, W ritings 1973-1983 on Work 1969-1979, w ritten in collaboration w ith Ben­
jamin H.D. Buchloh, Halifax: Press of Nova Scotia College of Art and Design and the
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, 1983, pp. 125 and 88.
Emma Beadsmoore, Duncan Garrow and Mark Knight, 'Neolithic Spaces and the Material
Temporality of Occupation', paper at Connected Space, McDonald Institute, Cam­
bridge, 14-15 May 2005.
Paul Carter, 'Arcadian W riting: Two Text into Landscape Proposals', Studies in the History o f
Gardens and Designed Landscapes, 21, 2 (April-June 2001): 137-47.
Sigmund Freud, 'A Note Upon the "M ystic W riting -P ad "' [1925], The Standard Edition o f the
Complete Psychological Works o f Sigmund Freud, v. XIX (1923-1925), translated
from the German under the General Editorship of James Strachey, in collaboration
w ith Anna Freud, London: Vintage, 2001, pp. 227-32.
Jonathan Hill, Actions o f Architecture: Architects and Creative Users, London: Routledge,
2003.
muf, This is What We Do: a m u f Manual, London: Ellipsis, 2001.
Louise Neri (ed.), Looking Up: Rachel Whiteread's W ater Tower, New York: Public A rt Fund,
2000.
Jane Rendell, A rt and Architecture: a Place Between, London: I.B. Tauris, 2006.
Colin Renfrew and Paul Bahn (eds), Archaeology: The Key Concepts, London: Routledge,
2005.
Michael Shanks, 'Towards an Archaeology of Performance', 2002. Online, available at:
traumwerk.stanford.edu/~mshanks/writing/indexPDF.html (accessed May 2005).
Jeremy Till and Sarah W igglesworth, 9/10 Stock Orchard Street: a Guidebook, London:
2001.
Bernard Tschumi, Architecture and Disjunction, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1996.
Rachel Whiteread, British Pavilion, XLVII Venice Bienalle (1997), Venice, 1997.

Websites

www.canterburytrust.co.uk/archive/bigdig01.htm l (accessed May 2005).

w w w .cjlim -studio8.com (accessed May 2005).
www.harrism atrix.com /history.htm (accessed May 2005).
traumwerk.stanford.edu/~mshanks/traumwerk/index.php/stratigraphic% 20matrix (accessed
May 2005).

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Marks in space
Thinking about draw ing

Judith M o tt ram

Introduction

There is som e th in g about everyone's in te rest in draw ing that both appeals and irri­
tates. Is it the directness of draw ing th a t is valorised, in its ability to provide a pure
trace o f the hand o f the artist? If so, how are w e m ea nt to engage w ith draw ings that
are m erely a tool fo r com m u nica ting instruction? It could be suggested th a t the value
a ttribu ted to the 'hand o f the a rtist' is so m e tim e s overblow n, w ith inconsequential
doodles receiving excessive com m endation fo r m inim al com m unication. This chapter
discusses draw ing practices from a range of disciplines and explores the values a ttrib ­
uted to the act of m aking marks and its ou tcom es. W ith reference to the 'ecological
o p tics' of J.J. Gibson, theories about the enduring attraction of draw ing are discussed.
The con tem po rary co n te xt fo r draw ing is one in w h ich digital tools have rem oved the
im perative to develop accurate representations w ith in art and design training. Despite
this, audiences continue to be interested in looking at draw ings.
This con tribu tion w as conceived as a catalogue te x t fo r the exhibition M arks
in Space that presented a broad range of approaches to draw ing by sculptors and other
draw ers w h o se practice occupied tw o - and three-dim ensional spaces, in an a tte m p t to
provide a co n te xt fo r questioning som e o f these issues. In conclusion, it is suggested
th a t the learning em bodied in cra ft skills, w h ich developed over m any hundreds of
years, and w h ich is enshrined in m any of the heuristics of art and design training, are
now in danger of being je ttis o n e d as digital tools becom e the norm . A sig nifica nt chal­
lenge ahead w ill be the d e velopm e nt of m echanism s fo r re-thinking the skills w e need
to develop to represent and im agine fu tu re scenarios.

The context of drawing

D raw ing is an activity th a t has various uses in con tem po rary life. It is a tool usually
associated w ith artists and designers, particularly in respect of their initial 'w o rkin g out'

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Ju dith M o ttra m

of an idea fo r an a rtw o rk or th e design fo r a m o re utilitaria n o b je ct, or w h e n a tte m p tin g

to grasp h o w parts c o m b in e to fo rm a w h o le . D ra w in g s are m ade fo r build in gs, bo th as
initial ske tch e s and th e m o re d e velope d im age fo r use in c o n s tru c tio n . D ra w in g s are
also m ade by th o s e pe op le involved in a va rie ty o f o th e r p ro fe ssio n s, such as th o se
m ade by th e surg eo n, th e rugby coach or th e fo re n s ic p sych o lo g ist. All o f th e se typ e s
o f d ra w in g are clear in th e ir o b je ctive o f m ap ping o u t or e xp lo rin g th e re latio nships
b e tw e e n e n titie s , w h e th e r using p ro je ctio n s y s te m s or m o re d ia g ra m m a tic m e th o d s.
D ra w in g s also b e co m e o b je cts o f a tte n tio n in th e ir o w n right, such as in e xh ib itio n s.
The m ea ns by w h ic h d ra w in g s m ay be m ade, and co n se n su s on ju s t w h a t
m ig h t be c o u n te d as a d ra w in g , has been e xte n d in g to in clud e th o se m ade in th re e
d im e n sio n s, im ages ge n e ra te d th ro u g h co m p u te rs , and o th e rs th a t do no t re su lt fro m
co n scio u s hum an a ctivity. It has been su g g e ste d th a t th e a b ility to ge n e ra te d ra w in g s
th ro u g h a d va n ce m e n ts in c o m p u te r te c h n o lo g y is part o f th e reason w h y th e re has
been increased in te re s t in th is a c tiv ity ove r th e pa st ten years. Eam es pro po ses th a t
'w e re w e n o t faced w ith a s o m e w h a t m yo p ic a ttitu d e to w a rd s th e visual arts and c o m ­
p u ting th e re w o u ld n o t be th e in tu itiv e and re n e w e d in te re s t in th e pra ctice of
d ra w in g '.1 W h a te v e r th e reasons fo r th e ap p a re n t increase o f in te re s t in dra w in g,
te ch n o lo g ica l advances as applied to o th e r rea lm s o f hum an e n q u iry have enabled
sig n ific a n t progress to be m ade in un d e rsta n d in g various asp ects o f hum an a ctivity. It
m ay be th a t th e tu rn to d ra w in g is a turn to th e k n o w n in the face o f th e inexplicable.
D ra w in g w a s p re vio u sly th e be dro ck o f tra in in g in u n iv e rs ity and art-school
cou rses in fin e art (including painting, scu lp tu re , p rin tm a kin g and, m o re re ce n tly, in sta l­
lation and n e w -m e d ia practices). In th e UK, th e s e cou rses ge ne rally g re w o u t o f the
d ip lo m a s in art and design th a t orig in a te d in th e V ictorian art and design scho ols. The
cen tra l fo cu s on d ra w in g had b u ilt upon th e c o n c e p tio n s o f th e p ro pe r train in g o f a rtists
th a t orig in a te d w ith th e a te lie r and aca de m y s y s te m s . H o w e ve r, a s h ift in th e c o n te n t
o f th e curricula d e live re d w ith in fin e -a rt cou rses has take n place since th e ad ven t of
digital to o ls in th e m id -198 0s. D ra w in g , along w ith o th e r 'hand skills', has lo st its
cen tra l p o sitio n as a core skill. The increasing use o f digita l im aging, and in particular
th e increased access to m o vin g -im a g e pro gra m s, has seen s tu d e n ts m o ve aw a y fro m
th e use o f sim p le and d ire c t m ea ns o f m ark or im a ge -m a kin g. The diagram is ab o u t as
good as it ge ts, as a to o l fo r s p e cifyin g fo r fa b rica tio n . T hese s h ifts, aw a y fro m the
m an ip ula tion o f s tu ff, a w a y fro m m anual d e x te rity , m irro r th e in crea sing ly diverse
a ctio n s and a c tiv itie s th a t m ay n o w be p re se n te d as a rt ob je cts, and the increasing
em p ha sis on being (like an artist), rathe r than doing (like an artist).
A t th e sam e tim e as th is m ove aw a y fro m d ra w in g as a cen tra l course
c o m p o n e n t, th e re has been a ste a d y stre a m o f e ve n ts th a t explore, valorise or ce le ­
brate d ra w in g . There has been th e d e v e lo p m e n t o f a d iscre te fie ld o f aca de m ic en qu iry
th ro u g h co n fe re n ce s such as D ra w in g acro ss bo un da ries2 and th e online journal,
Tracey.3 T here has also been a clear sense o f an e m e rg in g strand o f in te re s t am o ng
curators. For the pu blicly fu n d e d e x h ib itio n p ro vid ers like th e H ayw ard G allery, p u ttin g
to g e th e r e xh ib itio n s o f d ra w in g s by m a jo r a rtists fro m th e 1600s to th e p re s e n t day,
d ra w in g largely fro m co lle ctio n s such as th a t o f th e B ritish M u s e u m , has been an

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 Marks in space

e ffe ctive m eans o f providing historical exhibitions.4 The Je rw o o d D ra w in g Prize5 has

becom e an established ele m e n t o f the annual com p etitio n and exhibition cycle, and
even the Royal A cadem y had a special focus on draw ing in its 2004 su m m e r exhibi­
tio n .6 Despite the decline of en ga ge m e nt w ith draw ing w ith in the art schools, dra w ­
ings do appear to have an enduring in te re st for gallery and m useum audiences.
The exhibition M arks in Space7 sought to explore the d iffe re n t w ays in
w h ich draw ing operates in relation to contem porary sculptural form . W ith an em phasis
on linearity, it presented sculptural objects the m se lve s as spatial draw ings, alongside
draw ings w ith in three dim ensions that generate sculptural space. Relationships
be tw ee n sculptural and architectural objects w ith th e ir installation instructions and
plans w e re exposed, and the inform ation specifications im p licit in the linking of 3D
co m p u te r im aging and rapid prototyping w e re made explicit. W e intentionally pre­
sented som e draw ings con stru cted as functional diagram s fo r the con stru ction of art
w o rks, dow nplaying them as objects in th e ir ow n right - these parallel the notion of
architectural representations as 'm o d e ls' fo r im itation. Installation plans and w o rking
draw ings by Dan Graham, Tony Goddard, Susan Hiller and Richard Long exem plified
this approach. W e w a nted to rem ind the audience th a t these m odels or functional rep­
resentations often get re-codified after initial use. These typologies w e re presented
alongside m ore established notions, o f draw ing as a process to develop or explore
sculptural form , or to envisage objects in space, such as in the w o rk by Ed A llington.
W e included exam ples of how ne w technologies w e re enabling the seeing of the pre­
viously unseen, through Eugenia Fratzeskou's anim ated draw ings exploring the appli­
cation of Boolean algebra to renderings of g e om e tric form , and Stephan Gee's
anim ation o f the A po llo-S oyu z Test project. As a background to the exhibition, the
fo llo w in g discussion w as developed to consider som e m ore generic issues about
draw ing and to a tte m p t to explain w h y draw ing is still intriguing.

The directness of drawing

W hat is m eant by saying that the value o f draw ing m ig h t be in its directness? The
an sw e r could be th a t draw ing provides a very sim ple m eans o f presenting the
ou tcom e o f perceptual or cognitive e ffo rt that generates a record that can be appre­
hended by vision. The con stru ction or m aking o f the draw ing m ig h t take tim e, but
there is no tem po ral delay in experiencing the outcom e. The draw ing m ay be com plex,
and som e elem e nts may not be im m e dia te ly discernible, but it can be apprehended in
one go. W e have not ye t th o u g h t of the im plications o f w h a t is being draw n. It is
im p ortan t to distinguish fo r a m o m e n t be tw ee n draw ing som ething from observation,
and draw ing som e th in g from im agination, or from a set of instructions, or in response
to a set o f oth er stim uli. Do w e know w h a t happens w h en an artist, or fo r that m atter a
non-artist, is in the process o f drawing? And w h a te ve r is happening during that
process, is there any d iffe re nce if visual stim u li are present, or if verbal or num erical
stim u li are used, or if the stim ulus is solely w ith in the resources of the drawer?

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Ju dith M o ttra m

The trace of the artist's hand

The idea o f dra w in g being a trace o f th e hand o f th e a rtis t (for n o w , take 'a rtis t' as
w h o e v e r is m aking th e d ra w in g ) se e m s to co m e atta ch e d to a n o tion th a t th is trace,
th is e xp re ssio n by th e in dividual m aking th e m ark, has so m e in trin sic value. W h y m ig h t
th is be so? Is th e re som e m agic attach ed to m arks m ade by hum ans, or to th o se m ade
by anim als, or th e w a y w a te r 'd ra w s ' lines across sand, or th e strata laid d o w n by g e o ­
logical forces? T here ce rtainly is th e p o te n tia l fo r d e lig h t, or a e s th e tic resp on ses, to all
o f th e s e th in g s, y e t perhaps th e y are no t o f th e sam e class. L e t's pick up on th a t p e r­
c e p tu a l or co g n itive e ffo rt o f th e a rtist, as d is tin c t fro m th e ob serve r, in th a t th e y are
both m aking and seeing th e re su lts o f th a t m aking . W e can d istin g u ish b e tw e e n the
tw o so rts o f e ffo rt to so m e e x te n t by th in kin g a b o u t visual p e rce p tio n as pa rticularly
a sso cia te d w ith th e act o f rece ivin g stim u lu s , and the co g n itive as m ore k n o w in g or
u n d e rsta nd able ap pre hen sio n. It m ay be su g g e ste d th a t th e c o g n itiv e is called upon
m o re in relation to d ra w in g fro m non-visual s tim u li (verbal, n u m e ric or im aginary) th a t
require p ro cessing in to visual o u tc o m e s . H o w e v e r, it m u s t be re m e m b e re d th a t both
p e rcep tu al and co g n itive e ffo rt are actu ally very in te rre la te d , and th a t in th e pro cess of
m aking th e dra w in g , as in th e pro cess o f see in g th e d ra w in g , th e y act in tan dem ,
in fo rm in g each o th e r to build up th e c o m p re h e n sio n o f w h a t is being seen, or dra w n .
So w h y is th e trace o f th e hand o f th e a rtis t such a p o w e rfu l co n c e p t in rela­
tio n to d ra w in g? It is w o rth e xte n d in g th e idea to include con sid e ra tio n o f th e value
th a t is attach ed to th e hand-m ade in o th e r areas o f hum an a c tiv ity as w e ll, pa rticularly
th o se w h e re the m edia e m p lo ye d retains m arks, im p re ssio n s or o th e r visual evide nce
o f th e ap plicatio n o f too ls to m aterials. O ne exp la natio n m ig h t be th a t w e k n o w som e
ta le n te d pe rson has m ade th e m arks th a t w e are v ie w in g - w e are a ttrib u tin g value by
a sso cia tion. T hat p re su m e s th a t th e re is fo re k n o w le d g e th a t th e o b je ct o f a tte n tio n has
been su b je c t to physical m a n ip u la tio n by a person o f e ste e m w ith in th e fie ld in q u e s­
tio n . T his exp la natio n does not, h o w e v e r, deal w ith th o se in sta nce s w h e re value is
a ttrib u te d fo r th e firs t tim e .

Empathy and tenderness

A m o re plausible exp la natio n, and one th a t co m e s th ro u g h in David H o ckn e y's sho rt

essay on th e R e m bran dt ske tch o f a fa m ily te a ch in g a child to w a lk ,8 is th a t w e can
e m p a th ise w ith th e e ffo rt m ade by th e a rtis t in m aking th e m arks. I w o u ld su g g e st, in
fa ct, th a t it is m o re like a m im e tic im p ulse , w h e re the v ie w e r m e n ta lly m im ic s th e
looking and m ark-m a king carried o u t by the a rtist. M ayb e w e can reco gn ise im p lic itly
th e m e n ta l a c tiv ity th a t occu rre d w h e n R e m b ra n d t w a s looking at th e m ilk m a id 's arm
carrying th e fu ll pail (or re m e m b e rin g it), and the tra n sa ctio n th a t occu rred b e tw e e n his
eyes, brain and hand to m ake th e m arks w ith ink and brush. H o ckne y said; 'I'm looking
at the m arks and I can fe e l his a rm .' He w e n t on to say th a t 'W h e n I look at th e se
m arks, I k n o w a C hinese m a ste r o f th e s e v e n te e n th c e n tu ry w o u ld reco gn ise in sta n tly

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 M arks in space

th a t th is d ra w in g w a s the w o rk o f a m a s te r.' B ut d e sp ite th e se clues, H o ckn e y appears

to stre ss m ore th a t th e im p o rta n ce o f d ra w in g is in its cap acity fo r te n d e rn e ss, and
th a t th e 'tra ce o f R e m b ra n d t's hand is still a live '. It is as if he fe e ls th e need to use
e m o tio n to explain th e p o w e r o f th is p a rticular earlier d ra w in g , and to a cco u n t fo r the
en d u rin g in te re s t in d ra w in g as such a sim p le to o l fo r co m m u n ic a tio n .

Visual thinking

W e can take th e idea o f the m im e tic im p u lse fu rth e r, to a cco u n t fo r both th e apprecia­
tio n o f th e v ie w e r fo r th e ha ndm ade, and fo r th e p o w e r o f d ra w in g as a to o l fo r 'visual
th in k in g ' fo r th e a rtis t or de sig ner. For th e v ie w e r, th e resonance, or even re co g n itio n ,
o f m arks th a t th e y th e m s e lv e s m ig h t have m ade, in resp on se to p a rticular stim u li,
cou ld be giving rise to th e resp on se o f re co g n itio n . The in s tin c t to m atch shapes or
m arks, w h e th e r actual w ith actual, or actual w ith im agined, could be seen as one o f
th o se 'h a rd -w ire d ' asp ects o f th e hum an p e rce p tu a l s yste m fro m th e p e rsp e ctive o f
e vo lu tio n a ry biolo gy. So, even if art or c ra ft a c tiv itie s are n o t learnt, th e re w ill be
residues o f u n d e rsta n d in g th e im p re ssio n s or m arks th a t can be m ade in clay, by char­
coal, or by th e use o f hand-held to o ls. This is a fairly s im p lis tic a cco u n t fo r th e value
given to th e hand-m ade, bu t if w e look fu rth e r at th e 'visual th in k in g ' idea in relation to
w h a t is u n d e rsto o d a b o u t h o w w e see, fu rth e r reasons fo r th e im p o rta n ce o f dra w in g
be co m e s e vid e n t.
The idea th a t d ra w in g is an act o f visual th in kin g fo r th e a rtist and d e sig n e r
is fa irly w id e s p re a d . A llen Jon es, in th e d iscu ssio n o f the reasons behind th e de cisio n
to fo c u s on d ra w in g in th e 20 04 Royal A ca d e m y S u m m e r E xh ib itio n ,9 said th a t 'W e
look at d ra w in g as visual th in kin g and w e w a n t th e w o rk w e 're s h o w in g to g e t as close
as po ssib le to th a t crea tive act, to th a t p o in t w h e re th e eye, hand and heart m e e t.' This
s ta te m e n t raises tw o q u e stio n s: w h a t is happening du rin g visual th in kin g , and w h a t is
actu ally happening du rin g th e crea tive act o f d ra w in g? A c c o u n ts o f vision d e velope d
ove r th e past fifty years su g g e st so m e p re tty pe rsua sive m o d e ls th a t seem to a cco u n t
both fo r d ra w in g fro m o b se rva tio n and fo r d ra w in g fro m o th e r resources.
The particular ideas on vision th a t appear to provide a plausible explanation
fo r the p o w e r o f d ra w in g as a to o l fo r m aking sense o f th e w o rld include the pro pe nsity
w ith in various visual s yste m s fo r d iscrim in a tin g edges or boundaries, the orie s ab ou t
'in va ria n ts' and 'a ffo rd a n ce s', and th e id e n tifica tio n o f 'p ictu re p rim itiv e s '. A very d ire ct
link appears to e xist b e tw e e n e le m e n ts c o m m o n ly fo u n d in d ra w in g s - line, ton ality,
d e piction o f p ro po rtiona l relationships, and boundary re p re se n ta tio n s - and th e se basic
c o m p o n e n ts o f visual pe rcep tion. It could be argued th a t d ra w in g s e ffe c tiv e ly provide
us w ith a fairly concise arena in w h ich w e are able to perceive visual in fo rm atio n.
T hrough d ra w in g , th e d ra w e r is able to tra n sla te th e seen, o r m ake visible
th e im agined, th ro u g h eco n o m ica l m ea ns th a t re fle c t th e fu n d a m e n ta l bu ild in g blocks
of vision. W e ten d to re co g n ise a line, or a d isce rn ib le c o n tra s t b e tw e e n on e to n e and
a n o th e r,10 as sho rth an d fo r d istin g u ish in g b e tw e e n tw o areas. B oundary re co g n itio n

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Ju dith M o ttra m

the n enables th e d iscrim in a tio n o f shapes, w h ic h m ay or m ay no t co n fo rm to th o se

th a t are fam iliar. An un d e rsta n d in g o f th o s e 'in v a ria n t'11 asp e cts o f the visib le w o rld
a llo w s us to a cco u n t fo r u n fa m ilia r re p re se n ta tio n s, to w h ic h fu rth e r un de rsta nd ing is
pro vid ed by th e m ea nings, or 'a ffo rd a n c e s ', th a t th e pe rceived fo rm s or e n viro n m e n ts
have fo r th e v ie w e r. This approach to u n d e rsta n d in g vision d ra w s upon th e 'e colog ical
o p tic s ' o f J.J. G ib so n ,12 w h ic h could provide th e basis fo r explaining th e en d u rin g u tility
o f d ra w in g as an active to o l fo r th in kin g , and as an e ffe c tiv e sou rce o f in fo rm a tio n .
R am achandran su g g e sts th a t th e e ffe c tiv e n e s s o f o u tlin e d ra w in g s and sk e tc h e s is
explained by a c o m b in a tio n of th e 'peak s h ift p rin cip le ' - w h e re 's u p e rn o rm a l' stim u li,
or a cce n tu a tio n o f ch a ra cte ristic fe a tu re s, lead to m o re vig o ro u s re sp o n se s - w ith the
te n d e n c y to gro up pe rceived fe a tu re s to g e th e r un til th e y are 're a d a b le '.13 He re fe rs to
Z e ki's proposal th a t the a rtis t's a b ility to 'a b stra ct th e 'e s s e n tia l fe a tu re s ' o f an im age
and discard re d u n d a n t in fo rm a tio n is e ffe c tiv e ly m irro rin g 'w h a t th e visual areas th e m ­
selves have evo lve d to d o '. A lth o u g h his 'e ig h t la w s o f a e s th e tic e xp e rie n c e ' re st on
such su p p o sitio n s th a t 'fe a tu re b in d in g ' leads to the sen satio n o f 're w a rd ' o r a e s th e tic
pleasure, his a rg u m e n t has in te rna l logic, e vo lu tio n a ry rationale, and a p pa rently fits
cu rre n t u n d e rsta n d in g o f n e u ro p h ysio lo g y. In te rm s o f tryin g to u n de rsta nd th e d ire c t­
ness o f th e appeal o f d ra w in g s, th e se ideas see m to provide a rather m ore fru itfu l
s ta rtin g p o in t fo r o u r n o tio n s o f th e 'a u ra ' o f th e a rtis t being tra n s m itte d th ro u g h the
m arks th e y m ade.

The creative act of drawing

As to w h a t is happening during the crea tive act o f d ra w in g , th e above d iscu ssio n has
given us so m e clu es ab o u t th e id e n tific a tio n o f salien t fe a tu re s. T hese m ig h t be taken
fro m an o b serve d visual w o rld or visual fie ld ,14 and w e could a ssu m e th a t w h a t
happens th e n is th a t th e y are reduced, or ab stra cted, to fo rm the p ictu re p rim itiv e s of
th e d ra w in g . That th is pro cess parallels w h a t th e visual s yste m has evo lve d to do gives
su p p o rt fo r c u rre n t v ie w s th a t c re a tiv ity its e lf is a norm al hum an a ctivity. Instead o f th e
idea o f the a rtis t as a person p o ssessing a special g ift, it has been s u g g e ste d th a t
no table crea tive c o n trib u tio n s are m ade no t by th e spe cia lly g ifte d , b u t by th o se
w h o have been able to o p era te in th e o p tim u m co n d itio n s to s tim u la te th a t innate cre ­
a tivity. K no w le d g e , p e rso n a lity type , learning style , m o tiva tio n , de lib e ra te p ra ctice and
e n v iro n m e n t can all play a pa rt in s e ttin g up th e se o p tim u m c o n d itio n s .15 A nd th e sho rt
a n s w e r fo r w h a t is happening during th e crea tive act is th a t pro b le m s m ig h t be solved,
such as h o w to co n ve y th e w e ig h t o f th a t pail and th e strain on th e m ilk m a id 's arm , or
n e w p ro b le m s m ay be d iscove red. W h a t I'm no t sure o f is th e e x te n t to w h ic h th e
heart has a role to play in this.

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 Marks in space

Learning to draw again

R ecent scie ntific enquiry in psychology and neuroscience appears to indicate that
these disciplines are starting to provide fairly convincing reasoning to explain the back­
ground to certain heuristics of art and design training. H ow ever, this ne w thinking is
not part of the disciplinary know ledge o f art and design, and m uch of the legacy of the
guild, academ y and industrial revolution training m odels have already been abandoned.
It could be suggested th a t know ledge acquired by hum anity over the course o f evolu­
tion, through activities like m aking art, is being fo rg o tte n w ith in its base discipline ju st
as w e are starting to understand how and w h y w e are able to be creative in this way.
N ew explanations for vision, fo r creativity, and probably fo r oth er hum an fun ctions, are
starting to refle ct behaviours th a t w e re once co m m o n ly know n and understood as
central to training artisans. Deliberate practice had been a cornerstone o f artistic train­
ing, from the ateliers o f the Renaissance until the latter part of the tw e n tie th century.
Cognitive science no w sees deliberate practice as one of the conditions fo r creative
activity. H ow ever, over the past th irty years, em phasis on task repetition has declined
in the art schools and it is now not so com m o n for those trained in the visual arts to be
able to execute a coh ere nt drawn representation. The ability to engage in te llige ntly
w ith m aterials, to process the m from natural form through to another state, is also
being lost. The expertise of the artisan has been subsum ed by a professionalising that
is severing tactile en ga ge m e nt w ith the m aterials of the disciplines, in favour of the
ability to pro m ote the representation of the individual as a sim ulation o f the artist as a
cultural c o m m e n ta to r rather than representer. It may be argued that the skill of accur­
ate rendition by draw ing is no longer required, as digital representations can be cap­
tured w ith ease. But w h a t w e can do is to fo llo w up tho se clues o f in te re st or
valorisation, to find out m ore about w h y w e respond so positively to the ou tcom es of
certain practices, and then thin k again about h o w the se can be re-incorporated w ith in
disciplinary practices to e ffe c t new op po rtu nitie s fo r creative action, instruction,
representation or com m entary.

Notes

1 Eames, 2000.
2 M ottram and Whale, 2000.
3 Sawdon et ai, n.d.
4 For example, Martin, 1995; Petherbridge, 1991.
5 The Jerw ood Drawing Prize, London. W imbledon College of Art.
6 Royal Academy Illustrated 2004: a selection from the 236th Sum m er Exhibition,
London: Royal Academy of Arts, 2004.
7 M ottram and Ayers, 2004. The exhibition included works by: Edward Allington, Atkin­
son Design Associates and Goddard Manton Architects, Alain Ayers, Andrew Bannis­
ter, Judith Cowan, Cathy de Monchaux, Richard Deacon, Eugenia Fratzeskou, Anya
Gallacio, Stephan Gee, Liam Gillick, Dan Graham in collaboration w ith Haworth
Tomkins Architects, Graham Gussin, Susan Hiller, Simon le Ruez, Richard Long,

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Judith M ottram

Cornelia Parker, Keir Smith, Pak Keung Wan, Jenny W est, Annie W hiles, Alison
W ilding, Richard W ilson and Daphne W right.
8 Hockney, 2004: 54.
9 Jones, 2004, quoted in Greenberg, 2004: 48-51.
10 Hubei and W iesel discovered that the visual cortex of cats and monkeys contains
specific cells that are responsive to lines and edges and it has been suggested that
this implies that 'perception of certain basic features of the world is unlearned', or
'wired into' the nervous system. See Gordon, 1997: 224.
11 'Invariants' have been described as 'higher-order properties of patterns of stimulation
which remain constant during changes', w hether those changes are m ovem ent by
the observer, changes in the environment around the observer, or a combination of
these. See Gordon, 1997: 190.
12 Gibson, 1979.
13 Ramachandran and Hirstien, 1999: 15-51.
14 For a discussion of the differences between the visual world and the visual field, see
W illats, 1997: 172-173.
15 Sternberg and Lubert, 1999: 11.

Bibliography

Angela Eames, 'From Drawing to Computing and Back Again', in Judith M ottram and
George Whale (eds), Drawing Across Boundaries, Loughborough: Loughborough Uni­
versity School of Art and Design, 2000 (CD-ROM).
J.J. Gibson, The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1979.
Ian E. Gordon, Theories o f Visual Perception, Chichester: Wiley, 1997.
Sarah Greenberg, 'Kitchen Confidential', The Royal Academ y o f Arts Magazine, 83, summer
2004.
David Hockney, 'Life Drawing', The Royal Academ y o f Arts Magazine, 83, sum m er 2004.
The Jerw ood Drawing Prize, London. W imbledon College of Art. Online, available at:
w w w .w im bledon.ac.uk/jerw ood (accessed 8 September 2006).
Michael Craig Martin, Drawing the Line, London: The South Bank Centre, 1995.
Judith M ottram and Alain Ayers, Marks in Space: Drawing and Sculptural Form, 13 July to
24 October 2004, The Usher Gallery, Lincoln.
Judith M ottram and George Whale (eds), Drawing Across Boundaries, Loughborough:
Loughborough University School of Art and Design, 2000 (CD-ROM).
Deanna Petherbridge, The Primacy o f Drawing, London: The South Bank Centre, 1991.
V.S. Ramachandran and W illiam Hirstien, 'The Science of A rt’, Journal o f Consciousness
Studies, 6, 6-7, 1999.
Royal Academ y Illustrated 2004: a Selection from the 236th Sum m er Exhibition, London:
Royal Academy of Arts, 2004.
P.J. Sawdon e t al. (eds), Tracey, Loughborough: Loughborough University School of Art and
Design. Online, available at: www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/ac/tracey/index.html
(accessed 8 September 2006).
Robert J. Sternberg and Todd I. Lubert, 'The Concept of Creativity: Prospects and Para­
digms', in Robert J. Sternberg (ed.), Handbook o f Creativity, Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1999.
John Willats, A rt and Representation, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1997.

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Drawing lines of
confrontation
Catherine H am el

Introduction

In architectural production, the draw ing of lines is generally aim ed at clarifying ideas of
space, a graphic progression to w a rd s resolution in fo rm . In this context, to dra w is
o ften reduced to an act o f neutral transm ission. Building on Robin Evans' assertion that
in translating architectural ideas from draw ing to building there is no neutral space
through w h ich ideas travel unobstructed, this chapter explores the productive aspect
o f this disto rtion in d ra w in g's role to confound and question as opposed to resolve.
The space of translation is a landscape to be invented on w h ich th o u g h t
traces paths. One such path marks lines o f con fro ntatio n. Lines of con fro ntatio n unite
w h a t they divide. They clarify. They distort. D raw ing lines o f con fro ntatio n is a se e m ­
ingly sim ple act of dem arcation, of geographic know ledge, of staging w h e re opposing
con texts, opposing ideologies m eet. In draw ing, there is con fro ntatio n. To co n fro n t is
not alw ays a hostile act. To co n fro n t is also an act of com parison, of consideration.
D raw ing lines o f con fro ntatio n in arch itecture is explored through the experience of
exile and translation. Experiences w h ere the act o f crossing borders can never be co m ­
plete. Though m om entary, the potential o f the ongoing negotiation rests in the aw are­
ness o f conditions th a t g e t overlooked; o f com forta ble assum ptions th a t becom e stale.

Drawing lines of confrontation

In a w o rld in w h ich very little is constant, fixed or perm anent, be com ing anchored by
trusting a system and savouring its m echanistic pleasure is a w e lco m e relief for many.
A system provides stab ility w ith predictable sequences, each part o f a carefully pat­
terned curve that fo rm s the neat traje cto ry o f beginnings, de velopm e nts and ends.
There is striking persistence to allow the priority of the system s form ed to precede
th e ir need and relevance. The principle of absolutes fears contam ination. It is a fear
th a t all distinction w ill be lost should one category com e into contact w ith another. But

201
C atherine Ham el

co n ta c t exists, even if it is pre cario us w h e n n o t ignored. If a p re cario us pause can no t

be coded, it does no t m ean th a t it does n o t e xist. In re fu sin g to be con tain ed , it su r­
passes th e d iscou rse th a t reg ulates it as a sy s te m . D iffe re n tia tio n in vite s c o n fro n ta tio n
in h ig h lig h tin g op p o sitio n . In d ra w in g d is tin c tio n , c o n flic t co n ce d e s to th e slig h te s t
overlap. It is a m o m e n t o f co m p a riso n th a t h ig h lig h ts th e link as op po sed to th e
rup tu re. C o n fro n ta tio n tap ers cho ice to w a rd s se le ctio n . It is an a cce ptan ce o f co n ­
strain ts, an a tte m p t at re so lu tio n , to w a rd s pre cisio n. B ut th e act o f c o n fro n ta tio n does
n o t n e cessa rily produce cla rity o r re so lu tio n . S o m e tim e s a m o m e n t is all th a t is
needed, a m o m e n t th a t 'a llo w s us to bask in th e luxury of d o ub t, th e e xp erience w h ic h
o ffe rs us th e p o te n tia l to see far beyond o u t sh o rt sig h te d c e rta in tie s '.1
A line o f c o n fro n ta tio n is a te rm used to d e n o te fro n tlin e s o f w a r. The
na ture o f w a r lies in the claim o f bo rde rs: physical, cultural, social, religious, eco n o m ic.
The o u tc o m e is a series o f de m a rca tio n lines th a t d e n o te te rrito ria l cla im s. S om e of
th e se lines c o n fro n te d are physical, o th e rs p sych ological, m any are carved on the lens
o f th e v ie w in g eye. A line o f c o n fro n ta tio n is no t a single co n ce p t. It is s o m e th in g p o lit­
ical, dyn am ic, c o n te s te d .2 It can be a site o f resista nce or a sym b o l o f d e fe a t. It can
also be a collab ora tive e ffo rt by sides to d e fin e space, s o m e th in g open fo r ne go tiatio n.
Lines o f c o n fro n ta tio n do no t a lw a ys fo rg e th e m s e lv e s th ro u g h space as a rigid line of
d e fe n ce or a ttack. T hese g e og raph ie s do n o t on ly fo rm th e to p o g ra p h y o f th e te rrito ry
o f w a r bu t o f hum an lives th a t cast th e ir s h a d o w s on th e landscapes. C o n sta n tly
changing, th e y fo rm sh iftin g boundaries, fo rcin g people to d ra w up co n tin u o u s ly s h ift­
ing m aps o f th e ir w o rld to fo rm th e ir m e n ta l ge og raph ie s.
In re p re se n tin g th e space o f w a r, lines o f c o n fro n ta tio n d e lin ea te a b u r­
de ne d space reduced to the th in n e ss o f a gra ph ic line. The B e iru t G reen Line e x e m p li­
fies b u t one o f m an y d e m arca tion lines th a t score the earth. It is a line th a t separated
th e c ity o f B e iru t fo r sixtee n years du rin g th e w a r in Lebanon (1 9 7 5 -1 9 9 1 ). A cco rd in g
to som e , th is 'g re e n line', as it w a s kn o w n , w a s a te rm b o rro w e d fro m m ilita ry
m ap ping vocabulary. A m ore p o p u list v ie w tra ce s th e nam e to th e re le n tle ss ve g e ta ­
tio n th a t to o k ove r th e asphalt and ruins:

The g ro w th o f th is w ild life th a t choked m any o f th e s tre e ts and buildings

w a s fu e lle d by years o f ru p tu re d w a te r pipes and o v e rflo w in g drains un til it
be cam e a dang erou s urban fo re s t p lan te d w ith m in e s and un exp lod ed
shells hidden in th e ro o ts and fo lia g e .3

In th e c o m p le x ity o f such a b stra ctio n and sim p lific a tio n , w h e re such a

space is co n de nse d to near e x tin c tio n in th e th in n e ss o f th e line th a t g e ts p o rtra yed on
a m ap, th e re is c o n fro n ta tio n in 'tra cin g a s h iftin g th re s h o ld '4 b e tw e e n th e lim ite d
kn o w le d g e given by re p re se n ta tio n and the rea litie s and im p a c t o f th e space. The
e x tre m e co n d itio n s o f th e fro n tlin e s o f w a r p o in t at th e lim ita tio n s o f a rch ite ctu ra l
re p re se n ta tio n . A s e e m in g ly sim p le fissu re b e tw e e n tw o sid es reveals a m uch m ore
c o m p le x tu g o f w a r w ith m an y su p p o rtin g roles. W h a t is o f in te re s t are th e tra its the
act o f d ra w in g share w ith lines o f c o n fro n ta tio n . In speaking o f d ra w in g lines o f co n ­
fro n ta tio n in a rch ite ctu re , th e c o n fro n ta tio n re fe rre d to is n o t one o f aggressive

202
 D raw ing lines of confrontation

o p p o sitio n . It is the co llision b e tw e e n m o d e s o f e xp re ssio n and e xp e rie n ce th a t can

never be p e rfe c tly m a tch e d . The re ve rb e ra tio n o f a collision is m o re in te re s tin g than
th e o b vio us exp lo sion . To c o n fro n t is no t a lw ays a ho stile act. To c o n fro n t is also an act
o f co m p a riso n , o f co n sid e ra tio n .

The c o n te x t w h e re a boun da ry b e c o m e s a path, w h e re a line exhales and

a p p ro p ria te s space, is Robin Evans' 'space o f tra n s la tio n ' in his essay, Translation,
F rom D ra w in g to B uildings. Evans a sse rts tha t, in tra n sla tin g a rch ite ctu ra l ideas fro m
d ra w in g to building, th e re is no neutral space th ro u g h w h ic h th o u g h t tra ve ls un o b ­
s tru c te d . A lth o u g h in princip le translatio n is an a tte m p t at tra n s fe rrin g in fo rm a tio n as
accu ra te ly as po ssib le, p re cisio n is no t achieved. A d iscrep ancy e x ists b e tw e e n th e o ri­
ginal version and its co u n te rp a rt. H o w m u ch o f a d iscre p a n cy de p e n d s on h o w o b s e r­
va n t one is, h o w m uch o f th e c o n n e ctive tis s u e one w is h e s to save or d e cid es to
sever. T ranslation, d e e m e d to be an e xe rcise in accuracy, is elusive. To tra n sla te only
w h a t is fixe d does n o t m ake fo r precision.
In translatio n, im p lica tio n s and nuances o f m eaning are ab undant. The
tra n s la to r is face d w ith in te rp re ta tio n and se le ctio n , p re fe re n c e s and ju d g e m e n ts .
C hoice is a c o n s ta n t co m p a n io n . Like a m usician plays a score, a tra n sla to r can play his
in te n t. N uances are h ig h lig h te d , s u b tle tie s ignored and th e o u tc o m e is altered. The
space o f translatio n is one o f d e via tio n . It is co n te s te d , dyn am ic, p o litic a l.5 This w o rld
o f p o te n tia l is a landscape to be co n tin u o u s ly in ve n te d . U nlike tra d itio n a l landscapes
w h e re a single v ie w p o in t is im p o se d , active landscapes rece ive th e d e n s ity and
c o n tin u ity o f th e w o rld . They are layered, ready to be c o n s tru c te d , ready to be
excavated. A lw a y s in th e m aking, th e y are o p en -end ed and u n tid y .6 T h e ir space is a

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C atherine Ham el

changing one w h e re co n tra d ic tio n s c o e x is t and c o n d itio n s o f tra n s fo rm a tio n appear as

a norm .
The d iffic u lty o f tra n s la tio n is e x e m p lifie d by th e e xile . T he e xile is d e fin e d
as such be ca u se o f a fo rc e d c ro s s in g o ve r a b o rd e r. A b o rd e r o fte n b e g in s as a line
o f c o n fro n ta tio n and s e ttle s in to a line o f d is tin c tio n th a t d iffe re n tia te s and s e g re ­
g a te s. It is no t so m u ch a m o v e m e n t acro ss th e b o rd e r as m u ch as a c ro s s in g in to
th e exp a n sive space th a t th e e x p e rie n c e e n ta ils. T hou gh th e c ro s s in g m ay see m
fin ite and d ire c tio n a l, th e passage is an a c t th a t is n e ve r c o m p le te . Julia K risteva
d e s c rib e s th e e x p e rie n c e o f living in a b o rd e r space as 'a s ta n d in g in v ita tio n to so m e
in a cce ssib le , irrita tin g jo u rn e y '.7 It is a c o m m o n e x p e rie n c e o f fo rc e d d is p la c e m e n t.
A n u n re s o lv e d e x is te n c e o sc illa tin g b e tw e e n th e d a n g e ro u s ly m a n ip u la tiv e m e m o ­
ries o f a lo s t place and th e d iffic u lty o f a d a p ta tio n to n e w c u ltu re s and th e ir a c c o m ­
p a nying spa ce. It is a rich e x is te n c e th a t d e fie s th e c o m fo rt o f stale m ea ning.
N o th in g is cle a rly u n d e rs to o d . Life re le n tle s s ly d e m a n d s to be re in te rp re te d fro m a
d iffe re n t p o in t o f v ie w , in a d iffe re n t language. It is also a s o lita ry e x is te n c e am o n g
th e g h o s ts o f all th a t is s ile n ce d by th e n a tu re o f tra n s la tio n . O ne can fle e th is irrita ­
tio n , 'n o t th ro u g h le ve llin g and fo rg e ttin g , b u t th ro u g h th e h a rm o n io u s re p e titio n o f
th e d iffe re n c e s it im p lie s '.8 The c o n fro n ta tio n can be lig h te n e d up by c o n s ta n tly
c o m in g to it, m o re and m o re s w iftly . It is n o t a q u e s tio n o f m a in ta in in g p e rp e tu a l
tra n s ie n c e . This in a c c e s s ib ility can take roo t, in te n s e ly , b u t te m p o ra rily . S o m e tim e s
ce rta in , it k n o w s n e v e rth e le s s th a t it is pa ssin g b y .9 T ra n sla tin g o n e s e lf acro ss a
b o rd e r is an o n g o in g and d e lica te balance b e tw e e n loss and d is c o v e ry . Past
e x p e rie n c e do e s n o t a lw a y s fin d its e lf heard, y e t n e w te x tu re s and v is io n s e m e rg e in
th e n e w c o n te x t, th ro u g h a n e w vo ca b u la ry. T he d iffic u lty o f tra n s la tio n and th e
a cc o m p a n y in g tra n s fo rm a tio n are also its b itte rs w e e t o ffe rin g ; a n e w w o rld to be
e xp lo re d , m o re s e c re ts to be d isco ve re d .

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 Drawing lines of confrontation

A rchite cture is predom inantly brought into existence through draw ing, w ith
the future of the idea lying 'in the hope o f being drawn, in the struggle to rew ork it and
to o ffe r it back through the structure o f the w o rk itself, a process w h ich finds its d e sti­
nation through draw ing, redraw ing, draw ing out, draw ing to w a rd s .'10 D raw ing is an act
th a t is d iffic u lt to define:

w h e th e r draw ing is approached as a general set of m aterial conditions

(such as unique w o rks on paper), or techniques (such as line or mark
making), or fun ctions (such as preparatory or investigative tactics) the prac­
tice of draw ing resists, or is in d iffe re n t to reductive d e fin itio n s.11

The em phasis on a concise definition of draw ing often falls on w h a t has been excluded.
The w o rd s persistently point at w h a t has been forgo tte n in w h a t has been said. In the
introduction to the exhibit J u s t M y Im agination, an exhibit w ith the intention to chal­
lenge and expand the idea o f drawing, David M e rritt states the he 'endeavours to make
a virtue of contingency, exchanging the im perative draw ing is ... fo r an open and provi­
sional draw ing as . . . ' 12 He adopts M ichel Serres' w o rds and settles on draw ing as 'a
barrier of braided links that leaks like a w icke r basket but can still function as a d a m '.13
Such a barrier does not m erely exist be tw ee n one condition and another. It
unites w h a t it divides. It clarifies, it disto rts. There is selection as to w h a t seeps
through and w h a t is dam m ed. Yet fluid, the exchange is not directional and is ongoing.
D raw ing, then, blurs and delineates, excludes and includes, con tests and accepts; in
expressing, it suppresses. It is not lim ited by m edium , technique or intent. R ecognis­
ing draw ing as a site of ongoing negotiation w ith in this ebb and flo w , it becom es an
act th a t challenges segregation and the parcelling o f tho ugh t. The act o f crossing
defined lim its can never be com p le te . One p e rsisten tly exists be tw e e n conditions,
oscillating, perpetually crossing, perpetually draw ing.
The persistence o f the drawn line is a deliberate act of constantly searching
the boundaries o f our w orld. To define som ething is to mark its boundaries, to outline its
edge.14 Differentiation and perception are strongly linked. To create order out of m ultiplic­
ity, to make distinction w ith in flo w , entities are separated in order to be seen: ’Separating
entities from their surrounding is w h a t allow s us to perceive them , to distinguish w h a t
w e attend to and w h a t w e ig no re.'15 W e draw lines of distinction in the construction of
our w orld: lines that are rigid, aggressive, im posing; Lines that can be subtle, delicate,
w ondering. Vulnerable lines turn drawing into a 'questioning process that challenges
one's assuredness, intentions and assu m ptio ns'.16 The paths w e draw through the space
of translation are lines o f confrontation, lines that can dispel the boundaries im posed. In
his essay 'E xactitude' in Six M e m o s For the N e xt M illennium , Italo Calvino states 'th at
the real w o rk consists not in the definitive form , but in the series of approxim ations
made to attain it'.17 Drawing as a leaking barrier is defective and fragm entary. In an
a tte m p t to trace the 'successive displacem ent of th o u g h t',18 drawing 'alw ays says som e­
thing less w ith respect to the sum of w h a t can be experienced'.19 The lines 'point at
som ething more. And w e are always searching for som ething hidden, or m erely poten­
tial, follow ing its traces w h e th e r they appear on the surface.'20

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C atherine Ham el

In a rch ite ctu ra l p ro d u ctio n , th e d ra w in g o f lines is g e ne rally a im ed at c la rify­

ing ideas o f space, a graphic p ro g re ssio n to w a rd s re so lu tio n in fo rm . This act is o fte n
red uce d to a ne utral tra n s m is s io n o f in fo rm a tio n b e tw e e n d iffe re n t s y s te m s . The
d e n sity o f the flu id w o rld o f spatial e xp e rie n ce is m u te d , ancho red and ja m m e d into
rigid lines and in e rt surface s. W ith o u t u n d e rm in in g th e im p o rta n ce o f pre cisio n - the
plan, th e sectio n, th e detail, all d ra w n w ith e xa ctitu d e - w ith o u t denying th a t at
th e later stages o f de sig n one is held acco un ta ble fo r eve ry line m ade, it is im p o rta n t to
learn to tru s t in th e u n fo ld in g o f th e idea, to be re ce p tive to the g ro w th o f th e im age,
to a llo w th e d ra w in g to lead, b u t a t th e sam e tim e be able to select, discard or
fu rth e r build upon u n cove red p o ssib ilitie s. To do so, one has to a llo w half-resolved
fo rm s , w h ic h in th e ir am b ig u o u s state m ay pro voke alte rn a te p o s s ib ilitie s .21 The
exp e rie n ce invoked m ig h t be one o f u n ce rta in ty com p ara ble to a sense o f organized
disorder. Paths m ig h t lead n o w h e re , su g g e stio n s not pu rsue d as strange co m b in a tio n s
and a sso cia tions o f ideas e m e rg e , h ints te a sin g ly d ro p p e d .22 Edw ard Hill likened
d ra w in g to c o u rtin g an idea. C o u rtin g is a c o n fro n ta tio n th a t in volve s com p ariso n,
co n sid e ra tio n , n e g o tia tio n .
In th e pro cess o f d ra w in g aw ay fro m e xp e rie n ce d reality, ab stra ction is th e
basis o f in te rp re ta tio n and e xp re ssio n in th e pro cess o f fo rm in g a rc h ite c tu re .23 To
a b stra ct is to select, to s e le c t is to m ake a cho ice , to cho ose one th in g is to disregard
oth e rs. In th e sim p le pro cess of selectio n, ideological p o s itio n s are revealed. H o w and
w h a t w e re p re s e n t be tra ys h o w w e see, w h a t w e value, w h a t w e con do ne . W hen
lines o f d is tin c tio n b e co m e lines o f c o n fro n ta tio n , even m o m e n ta rily , th e y cu t throu gh
iso late d o b je cts to search o u t th e evasive relatio ns b e tw e e n th in g s. Like a su cce ssfu l
ske tch , w h ic h is m o re than an in fle xib le o u tlin e th a t rig idly m a intains th e fu ll p e rip hery
o f an ob je ct, th e s e c re t lies in th e o p e n n e ss o f th e m alleable line th a t searches,
breaks, pauses. Its succe ss lies in co n ce d in g to its lim ita tio n s and em b ra cin g its ability
to evoke by su p plying s u ffic ie n t d e fin itio n w ith o u t p ro vid in g a c o m p le te d e piction.

206
 D raw ing lines of confrontation

D ra w in g lines o f c o n fro n ta tio n is to su rre n d e r to the m o m e n ts w h e n tra n sm issio n is

d isru p te d . To su rre n d e r is an active act to cho ose pa ssivity. A precarious pause th a t
gives up resista nce to d ra w in g 's role to c o n fo u n d and q u e stio n as op po sed to resolve.

Notes

All drawings by Catherine Hamel.

1 Valenzuela, 1991, p. 81.
2 Bender, 1993, p. 276.
3 Angus and M aluf, 1996, p. 8
4 M erritt, 2005, p. 11.
5 On the political pow er of translation as an act o f both intellectual ability and moral
w orth, refer to Paz, 1987, pp. 15-22.
6 The concept of active landscapes in based Barbara Bender's 'landscapes in m otion',
w here she states:

If w e understand landscape to be the w ay in w hich people understand and

engage w ith the material w orld around them , then landscapes are always in
process, potentially conflicted, and uneasy. They are never preordained
because our perceptions and reactions - though they are spatially and histori­
cally specific, are unpredictable, contradictory, full of small resistances, and
renegotiations. W hich bit o f ourselves w e bring to the encounter also depends
upon the context, as neither place, nor context nor self stay put, things are
always in m ovem ent.
(Bender and W iner, 1991, pp. 3-4)

7 Kristeva, p. 4.
8 Ibid., p. 3.
9 Ibid., p. 4.
10 W hitem an, 1990, p. 7.
11 M errit, 2005, p. 12.
12 Ibid., p. 11.
13 M ichel Serres, 1983. p. 75. The original image w as used in com paring living organ­
ism s and inform ation system s.
14 'Indeed, the w o rd define derives from the Latin w ord for boundary, w hich is finis'
(Zerubavel, 1991, p. 2).
15 Zerubavel, 1991, p. 1.
16 Basha, 1996, p. 10.
17 Calvino, 1988, p. 77.
18 M erritt, 2005, p. 11.
19 Calvino, 1988, p. 75.
20 Ibid., p. 77.
21 Hill, 1966, p. 37.
22 Hannoosh, 1992, p. 6.
23 Peter, 1985, p. 1.

207
Catherine Hamel

Bibliography

Gavin Angus and M. Ramez Maluf, Beirut Reborn: the Restoration and Developm ent o f the
Central District, New York: John W iley & Sons, 1996.
Regine Basha, Diary o f a Human Hand, Montreal: Gallery of the Saidye Bronfman Centre for
the Arts, 1996.
Barbara Bender, 'Stonehenge - Contested Landscapes (Medieval to Present Day)', in
Barbara Bender (ed.)f Landscape: Politics and Perspectives, Oxford: Berg, 1993.
Barbara Bender and Margot W iner (eds), Contested Landscapes: M ovement, Exile and
Place, New York: Berg, 1991.
Italo Calvino, Six M em os For the Next Millennium, Massachusetts: Harvard University
Press, 1988.
James Corner (ed.), Recovering Landscapes: Essays in Contemporary Landscape Architec­
ture, New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1999.
Robin Evans, Translations from Drawing to Building and O ther Essays, Cambridge: MIT
Press, 1997.
Maggie Helwig (ed.), Speaking in Tongues: PEN Canada, W riters in Exile, Banff: The Banff
Centre Press, 2005.
Michele Hannoosh, Baudelaire and Caricature: from the Comic to an A rt o f Modernity, Uni­
versity Park: Pennsylvania University Press, 1992.
Edward Hill, The Language o f Drawing, New Jersey: A Spectrum Book, 1966.
Julia Kristeva, Strangers to Ourselves, New York: Columbia University Press, 1991.
Philomena Mariani (ed.), Critical Fictions: the Politics o f Imaginative Writing, Seattle: Bay
Press, 1991.
Donald Meinig (ed.), The Interpretation o f Ordinary Landscapes: Geographical Essays, New
York: Oxford University Press, 1979.
David Merritt, 'Drawing as ... ,' in David M erritt and Kim Moodie, Just M y Imagination,
London: Ontario Council for the Arts, 2005.
David M erritt and Kim Moodie, Just M y Imagination, London: Ontario Council for the Arts,
2005.
Rievel Netz, 'Barbed W ire', London Review o f Books (20 July 2000).
Ben Nicholson, Appliance House, Cambridge: MIT Press, 1990.
Octavio Paz, Convergences: Essays on A rt and Literature, trans. Helen Lane, New York: Har-
court Brace Jovanovich, 1987.
Alberto Perez-Gomez and Steve Parcell (eds), Chora: Intervals in the Philosophy o f Architec­
ture, Volume 2, Montreal: McGill-Queens University Press, 1996.
Frank Peter, 'Architecture and Abstraction', Pratt Journal o f Architecture, 1 (Fall 1985).
W ellington Reiter, Vessels & Fields, New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1999.
Michel Serres, 'The Origin of Language', Hermes, Literature, Science, Philosophy, Balti­
more: John Hopkins University Press, 1983.
George Steiner, A fte r Babel: Aspects o f Language and Translation, Cambridge: Oxford Uni­
versity Press, 1975.
Luisa Valenzuela, 'The W riter, the Crisis, and a Form of Representation', in Philomena
Mariani (ed.), Critical Fictions: the Politics o f Imaginative Writing, Seattle: Bay Press,
1991.
John Whiteman, 'Drawing Towards Building', in Ben Nicholson (ed.), Appliance House, Cam­
bridge: MIT Press, 1990.
Eviatar Zerubavel, The Fine Line: Making Distinctions in Everyday Life, New York: The Free
Press, 1991.

208
W eather architecture,
w eather drawing
Jonathan Hill

Introduction

The conception o f design established in the Italian Renaissance has a num ber of fail­
ings. First, it suggests th a t creativity is a one-w ay stre e t and fails to recognise the cre­
ativity o f the user and others involved in the conception and production of architecture.
Second, it assum es that as ideas em anate from the arch itect to the user, so does the
critical. Third, it p ro m otes the superiority o f the in te lle ct and denigrates the manual,
material and experiential.
Design as it w as firs t conceived relies on a fiction , both interesting and
stim ulating, th a t a building can be like a draw ing. A ckno w ledg in g the un certainties of
w e a th e r and the sub je ctivity o f perception, e igh te en th -centu ry garden design recog­
nises, how ever, th a t they are often very d iffe re n t. The original m eaning o f design, as
the draw ing o f a line and the draw ing forth of an idea, rem ains valuable to architectural
practice and research as long as its lim itation s are acknow ledged and tem pe red by the
eigh te en th -centu ry understanding o f ideas as provisional and depe nd ent on experience
at conception and reception. W h e th e r a building is understood to be critical depends
on the user as m uch as the architect, and users' perceptions of architecture are not
necessarily co n siste n t because the conditions in w h ich w e experience architecture are
not con sisten t. In the firs t half o f this chapter I discuss w h a t draw ing m eans to the
practice of architecture. In the second half, focusing on the relations be tw ee n arch itec­
ture, perception and w eather, I discuss w h a t draw ing fails to com prehend.

Drawing the architect

Before the fifte e n th century, the status o f the arch itect w as lo w due to association
w ith manual labour and dispersed authorship. O f little im portance to building, the
draw ing w as understood to be no m ore than a flat surface and the shapes upon it
w e re but tokens o f three-dim ensional objects. The Italian Renaissance introduced a

209
Jo nathan Hill

fu n d a m e n ta l change in p e rce p tio n , esta b lish in g th e princip le th a t the d ra w in g tru th fu lly

d e p icts th e th re e -d im e n sio n a l w o rld , and is a w in d o w to th a t w o rld , w h ic h places the
v ie w e r o u tsid e and in c o m m a n d o f th e v ie w . For th e firs t tim e , th e d ra w in g becam e
e sse n tia l to a rch ite ctu ra l practice.
The co m m a n d o f d ra w in g un lo cked th e sta tu s o f th e a rch ite ct. In te rd e p e n ­
d e nt, th e y a ffirm th e sam e idea: a rch ite ctu re re su lts n o t fro m the a ccu m u la te d k n o w ­
ledge o f a tea m o f a n o n ym o u s cra ftsp e o p le w o rk in g to g e th e r on a c o n s tru c tio n site
b u t th e a rtis tic crea tion o f an individu al a rc h ite c t in c o m m a n d o f d ra w in g w h o de sig ns
a b u ild in g as a w h o le and at a rem o ve fro m c o n s tru c tio n . Thus, th e a rch ite ctu ra l
d ra w in g de p e n d s on tw o related bu t d is tin c t co n ce p ts. O ne indicates th a t d ra w in g is
an in te lle ctual, a rtis tic activity, d is ta n t fro m th e g ru b b y m a te ria lity o f building. The o th e r
cla im s th a t th e dra w in g is th e tru th fu l re p re se n ta tio n o f th e bu ild in g, in dica ting the
m a ste ry o f a rc h ite c ts ove r bu ild in g p ro d u ctio n .
The histo rie s o f th e a rch ite ct and the d ra w in g are in te rw o v e n w ith th a t of
design. The te rm 'd e s ig n ' c o m e s fro m th e Italian disegno, m eaning d ra w in g , su g g e s t­
ing both th e d ra w in g o f a line on paper and th e d ra w in g fo rth o f an idea. D e p e n d e n t on
th e a ssu m p tio n th a t ideas are s u p e rio r to m a tte r and, thu s, th a t in te lle ctu a l labour is
su p e rio r to m anual la b o u r,1 d iseg no enabled a rch ite ctu re , pain ting and scu lp tu re - the
th re e visual arts - to be reco gn ised as liberal arts co n ce rn e d w ith ideas, a p o sitio n th e y
had rarely been accorded previously.
The s ix te e n th -c e n tu ry pa in te r and a rc h ite c t G iorgio Vasari w a s crucial to th e
p ro m o tio n o f disegno. In The Lives o f the M o s t E m in e n t P ainters, S cu lp to rs a n d A rc h i­
te c ts (1550), he p re se n ts painters, scu lp to rs and a rch ite cts as heroic fig u re s, laying a
fo u n d a tio n fo r th e c u lt o f a rtis tic genius. Vasari also fo rm e d th e firs t co lle ctio n to value
d ra w in g s as original w o rk s o f art, th e Libro d e ' D isegni, and in 1563 fo u n d e d th e firs t
art academ y, th e A cca d e m ia d e l D ise g n o in F lorence. A m od el fo r later in s titu tio n s in
Italy and e ls e w h e re , it enabled painters, scu lp to rs and a rc h ite c ts to co n ve rse in d e p e n d ­
e n tly o f th e cra ft gu ild s and replaced w o rk s h o p in s tru c tio n w ith e d uca tion in su b je cts
such as d ra w in g and g e o m e try . D ise g n o is con cern ed w ith the idea o f a rch ite ctu re , not
th e m a tte r o f building. Leon B attista A lb e rti no tably sta te s: 'It is q u ite po ssib le to
pro je ct w h o le fo rm s in th e m ind w ith o u t reco urse to th e m a te ria l.'2
In the n e w d ivisio n o f labour th a t occu rred in th e fifte e n th and sixte e n th
ce n tu rie s, design w a s dista nce d fro m c o n s tru c tio n and th e c o n s tru c tio n site. A lo n g sid e
th e tra d itio n a l pra ctice o f building, a rc h ite c ts acquired n e w m ea ns to p ra ctise a rch ite c­
ture: d ra w in g and w ritin g . To a ffirm th e ir sta tu s as e xp o n e n ts o f in te lle ctu a l and a rtistic
labour, a rc h ite c ts began in crea sing ly to th e o rise a rch ite ctu re in d ra w in g s and books.
S ebastiano S erlio3 and A ndrea Palladio4 are notable early e x p o n e n ts o f th is tra d itio n , Le
C o rb u sie r5 and Rem Koolhaas6 m o re re c e n t ones.
O fte n a de sig n does n o t g e t built, and an a rc h ite c t m u s t be persuasive to
see th a t it does. S o m e tim e s a bu ild in g is no t th e b e s t w a y to exp lo re an a rch ite ctu ra l
idea. C o n se q u e n tly, a rch ite cts, esp ecially in flu e n tia l ones, te n d to talk, w rite and dra w
a lot as w e ll as build. The relatio ns b e tw e e n th e d ra w in g , te x t and bu ild in g are m u lti­
d irectio nal. For exa m ple, d ra w in g m ay lead to bu ild in g. B ut w ritin g m ay also lead to

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 W eather architecture, w eather drawing

draw ing, or building to w ritin g and draw ing. If everyone reading these w o rd s listed all
the architectural w o rks th a t influence them , som e w o u ld be draw ings, som e w o uld be
texts, and others w o uld be buildings eith er visited or described in draw ings and texts.
Studying the history of architecture since the Italian Renaissance, it is evident that
researching, te stin g and questioning the lim its o f architecture occurs through draw ing
and w ritin g as w e ll as building.

Ideas and appliances

The history o f design from the fifte e n th cen tury to the tw e n ty -firs t is not seam less,
how ever, and a significant departure occurred in the eighteenth century, w h en the
meaning o f both design and ideas changed som e w h at.
O pposed to utility, the classification of the fine arts - notably poetry, m usic,
painting, sculpture and architecture - is prim arily an invention of that century. A ssoci­
ated w ith utility, the design disciplines th a t proliferated due to industrialisation, such as
product design, are categorised as applied arts at best. In the Renaissance, a form was
synonym ous w ith an idea.7 But, especially since the n ine te en th -centu ry codification of
form al type, a form can be less about ideas and m ore about pro du ction.8 Painters and
sculptors discarded design once it becam e associated w ith collective authorship and
industrial production. A m ong the fine arts, w h ich include the three visual arts, only in
a rch itecture is the term 'd e sig n ' regularly referred to today. M any people associate
design w ith the ne w e r design disciplines, w h ich affects ho w architectural design is
understood. But in the discourse o f architects, the older m eaning of design - draw ing
ideas - and the ne w e r m eaning o f design - draw ing appliances - are both in evidence.
For architects, from the fifte e n th century to the tw e n ty-first, design can
draw forth an idea. In the Italian Renaissance, an idea w as understood as universal and
superior to m atter. But in Essay Concerning Hum an U nderstanding (1690), John Locke
argues th a t ideas are de pe nd ent upon experience,9 countering the assum ption that
know ledge is certain and universal and un derm ining the d istru st o f the senses in
Renaissance th e o ry .10 In 1757, David Hum e adds: 'B eauty is no quality in things th e m ­
selves: it exists m erely in the m ind that con tem plates th e m ; and each m ind perceives
a d iffe re n t b e a u ty.'11 C onsequently, perception is subjective and changeable. Any
change in the w eather, the tim e of the day or the position or m ood of the v ie w e r can
a ffe ct perception, so that even an object seem ingly as solid as a building m ay not
seem the sam e from one m o m e n t to the next. Focusing atten tion on sub je ctivity trans­
form ed th e visual arts, its objects, authors and vie w ers. No longer w as architecture a
cohesive body o f know ledge dependent on universal proportions. Since the eighteenth
century, design m ay draw fo rth an idea that is provisional and dependent on
experience at conception and reception.
In the eighteenth century, associated w ith personal and political liberty,
the design and appreciation o f picturesque gardens - 'am biguous o b je cts' in w hich
ideas and m eanings are relative - developed alongside the increasing value given to

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Jonathan Hill

su b je c tiv ity .12 The picturesque tradition celebrates am biguity because it is appropriate
to the recognition th a t perception is subjective and changeable. The original m eaning
of the Italian term 'p itto re s c o ' is a m ethod of laying on paint in bold and irregular
strokes to depict not a detailed copy of nature bu t som e th in g closer to the experience
of nature.13 For eigh te en th -centu ry advocates of the picturesque, the status of garden
design as an art depended on its relations w ith landscape painting, but the garden was
not equivalent to the painting. Thom as W hately, author o f O bservations on M odern
G ardening (1770) states th a t 'Gardening . .. is as superior to landskip painting, as a
reality is to a representation', adding th a t paintings are 'stu die s, not m o d e ls' for
gardens.14 The picturesque garden w as designed the w ay it w as experienced, by a
figure m oving across a landscape: 'The spot from w h e n ce the v ie w is taken is in a
fixed state to the painter, but the gardener surveys his scenery w h ile in m o tio n ,' w rite s
H um phry Repton in 1794.15 Valuing the sub je ctivity of the arch itect and the user, the
un certainties of the w e a th e r and seasons, and w ith less regard fo r orthogonal dra w ­
ings, eigh te en th -centu ry garden design w as a sig nifica nt departure in the practice of
the architect.

Natural weather

A recurring the m e in architectural discourse states that the house is the origin and
archetype o f architecture, the m anifestation o f its im p ortan t a ttrib u te s .16 The m ost
noted exam ple is the prim itive hut, fo r w h ich the Roman arch itect V itruvius is 'th e
source of all the later sp e culation '.17 But a m ore fam iliar and idyllic image o f the prim i­
tive hut, com patible w ith the eigh te en th -centu ry concern fo r origins, appears in the
frontisp ie ce to M arc-A ntoine Laugier's A n Essay on A rchite cture, 1753, depicting four
tree-trunks supporting a p e dim ent o f branches.18
Banister Fletcher w rite s that 'A rch ite ctu re . .. m u s t have had a sim ple origin
in the prim itive e ffo rts o f m ankind to provide protection against in clem e nt w eather,
w ild beasts and hum an e n e m ie s '.19 Increasingly since the seventeenth century, the
house is a private hom e synonym ous w ith the self, providing psychological as w e ll as
physical protection. Robin Evans w rite s: 'There w as a com m onplace analogy in seven­
tee nth-cen tury literature th a t com pared a m an's soul to a privy cham ber, but it is hard
to tell now w h ich becam e private first, the room or the soul. Certainly, their histories
are e n tw in e d .'20
D efined by its separation from the w o rld outside, the hom e is assum ed to
be the m ost secure o f enviro nm en ts. The apparent stability o f the hom e m ay provide
gratification but it can also, sim ultaneously, create anxiety because the hom e can
never be safe enough. David Sibley notes th a t 'N ature has a long historical association
w ith the o th e r',21 w h ile M ark Cousins remarks:

people ... ask nothing o f the house in architectural term s, exce pt that it be
sealed aw ay absolutely successfully from any natural process. . . . There is

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 W eather architecture, w eather drawing

no reason w h y the w in d o w cannot be fixed the next day, or the next w eek.
But it sim ply fo llo w s from the degree of psychic in ve stm e n t w h ich people
have m ade in respect of the build in g's integrity, that it m u st be fixed at four
in the m orn ing .22

Its opposition to w e a th e r historically defines architecture. In an early dem onstration of

linear perspective, m ade be tw ee n 1413 and 1425, Filippo Brunelleschi depicted the
square around the baptistery in Florence. But, rather than draw the sky, he silvered
part o f a w o od en panel so that it w as seen in reflection, and a d iffe re n t sky w as always
p re sen t.23 B runelleschi's dem on stra tion seem s to confirm the opinion th a t w e a th e r is
outside architectural representation and outside architecture. But an alternative in te r­
pretation indicates the im portance o f w e a th e r to architecture. Uncertain and change­
able, w e a th e r m akes architecture m ore am biguous, expanding its potential fo r creative
and m ultiple interpretations.
A m b ig u ity is a quality rarely a ttribu ted to the critical. In art since the early
tw e n tie th century, shock is often the agent o f the critical and the artist its author.
Shock m ay help to p ro m ote ne w architectural ideas and spaces. But it w ears o ff
quickly and is com paratively in effective, as m o st buildings are experienced not once
but m any tim e s w h e n they are not the focus of atten tion. As the user's experience
depends on com plex juxta po sition s of m any m o m e n ts and m any conditions, w h e th e r a
building is critical m ay depend not on instantaneous shock but enduring am biguity, the
ability to appear ever-changing, resist resolution and remain open to interpretation.
The value o f am b ig uity and its association w ith w e a th e r w as occasionally
recognised in the Italian Renaissance. Leonardo da V inci's fascination fo r the e ffe cts of
w e a th e r is w o n d e rfu lly expressed in the title of his painting A Town O ver-w h elm e d by
a Deluge, c. 1515. Leonardo credits Sandro B ottice lli fo r noticing th a t 'various inven­
tion s are to be seen' in a building stain24 and identifies sim ilar potential in w eather: 'I
have in the past seen in clouds and w alls stains w h ich have inspired m e to beautiful
inventions of m any th in g s .'25 A tte n tio n given to the e ffe cts o f w e a th e r and w eathering
is, how ever, an architectural tradition developed principally from the eighteenth-
century picturesque, w h ich held particular fascination fo r the genius of the place in all
its m anifestations and ruins as indicators of the passage of tim e .26
In 1849, John Ruskin w rite s:

For, indeed, the greatest glory of a building is not in its stones, or its gold.
Its glory is in its Age . .. it is in that golden stain o f tim e, that w e are to look
fo r the real light, and colour, and preciousness of a rch itecture .27

Ruskin reserved praise fo r ageing due to the e ffe cts o f nature rather than the appear­
ance of ageing, as in the ne w ly fabricated picturesque ruin, and reg retted the e ffe cts
o f industrialisation. But his sym biosis of architecture and nature counters the assu m p­
tion that w e a th e r is either a problem or a resource:

The idea of self-denial fo r the sake o f posterity, of practising present

econom y fo r the sake of debtors ye t unborn, of planting forests that our

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Jonathan Hill

descendants may live under th e ir shade, or of raising cities fo r future

nations to inhabit, never, I suppose, takes place am ong publicly recognised
m otives o f exertion . . . God has lent us the earth fo r our life; it is a
great entail. It belongs as much to those w h o are to com e after us,
and w h ose nam es are already w ritte n in the book o f creation, as to us; and
w e have no right, by nay thin g that w e do or neglect, to involve them in
unnecessary penalties, or deprive the m o f b e ne fits w h ich it w as in our
po w e r to bequeath.28

Man-made weather

Eighteenth-century picturesque gardens proliferated in conjunction w ith parliam entary

land enclosures, w h ich transfo rm e d open land into regular fields defined by hedges
and w alls, creating larger estates. Caught b e tw ee n the exploration of subjective
experience and prom otion of objective reason, the eighteenth century established tw o
con flictin g concepts o f w e athe r. In one, evident in the picturesque and developed by
Ruskin, w e a th e r is associated w ith the pleasures of perception. In the other, Enlighten­
m e n t reason conceives w e a th e r as ju s t another resource to be m anipulated. Through
the study o f glaciers, plants, grape harvests and oth er natural phenom ena, eighteenth-
and n ine te en th -centu ry em pirical science questioned the long-held assum ption that
clim ate w as unchanging and divided according to zones. Em piricism replaced a static
w o rld w ith one understood as fluid. As Lucian Boia rem arks: 'M an w as becom ing the
dynam ic fa cto r through his ability to m od ify clim ate and to alter existing natural bal­
ances as he pursued his ow n p ro je c ts .'29 The principle th a t w e a th e r is not a condition
to be either feared or favoured but one to be m anipulated increasingly cam e to influ­
ence the history o f architecture.
W ith rudim entary drainage, open fires and candle lighting, the eighteenth-
century house w as no m ore successful as a clim ate m o d ifie r than one centuries
before. By contrast, the em ergence o f new technologies such as gas lighting, the
w a te r closet and central heating ensured that the n ine te en th -centu ry house provided a
m ore com forta ble do m estic environm ent. In 1907, fo r the firs t tim e, the pioneer of air-
conditioning, W illis Havilland Carrier, guaranteed the environm ental conditions w ith in a
building.30 The term 'air-conditioning' w as devised not by Carrier but by a com p etitor,
Stuart W . Cramer, in 1904. For m any years, Carrier used a m ore poetic and appropriate
te rm : 'm an-m ade w e a th e r'. In Towards a N e w A rch ite ctu re (1927), Le Corbusier often
m en tion s architectural solutions to environm ental concerns.31 As early as 1915, he pro­
posed a universal 'neutralising w a ll' to isolate inside from outside, its m aterials either
transparent or solid as required.32 D epending on the external clim ate, eith e r hot or cold
air w as to circulate in the gap b e tw ee n a double m em brane, m aintaining the internal
tem pe rature at a con stant 18°C w h ere ver the building's location.33

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 W eather architecture, w eather drawing

Electromagnetic weather

Today, threats to the hom e arrive by ne w m eans and old. Physical barriers - such as
doors and w alls - are less likely to keep the outside outside and the inside inside.
W hile m eans to exclude natural w e a th e r increase, electrom a gne tic w e a th e r flo w s in
and ou t of the hom e via the phone, television, radio and com p uter, extending the per­
m eability of architecture. Unlike natural and man-m ade w e athe r, electrom agnetic
w e a th e r is generated inside as w e ll as outside. A nth ony Dunne and Fiona Raby w rite
that 'e le ctro m a g n e tic w e athe r, oblivious to dam p proof m em branes, e ffo rtle ssly
passes through, saturating eve ryth in g '.34 Identifying and nam ing the w o rs t excesses of
the electrom a gne tic landscape, they w rite th a t 'The rapid expansion o f uses fo r the
electrom a gne tic spectrum has resulted in a ne w form o f pollution, or e le c tro s m o g '.35
C onsequently, they argue th a t the 'challenge today is not to create electronic space,
but electronic-free space'.36 In 1998, Dunne and Raby proposed a Faraday Chair, an
enclosed day bed to counter the flo w of electronic inform ation. The ph ysicist M ichael
Faraday invented the Faraday Cage in 1836 to shield a room from external electrical
fields. Faraday indicated that the charge of a charged conductor - in his exp erim e nt a
room coated in m etal foil and earthed - is dispersed across the exte rior and does not
en ter the interior. The Faraday Cage is used to p ro te ct electronic eq u ip m e n t from
electrostatic discharges, such as a lightning strike. Dunne, how ever, proposes its
w id e r application:

I realised that today all space is electronic, and that the challenge to designers
is to create an 'e m p ty' space, a space that has not existed for m ost of the
century due to the explosion of uses for the electrom agnetic spectrum .37

Military weather

C ulm inating the d e velopm e nts initiated by e igh te en th -centu ry em pirical science, the
principle th a t w e a th e r is a resource to be exploited led to its d e ploym en t as a m ilitary
w eapon in the second half of the tw e n tie th century. For exam ple, the 1940s discovery
that pure silver iodine sprinkled into clouds stim ulates precipitation encouraged the US
m ilitary to e m p lo y 'cloud seeding', as in a CIA plan to destabilise the Cuban econom y
by seeding clouds before they reached the Cuban sugar crop. In response to such
tactics, the UN General A ssem b ly passed Resolution 3264 in D ecem ber 1974, w hich
led to the 'P rohibition of action to influence the e n viro nm en t and clim ate fo r m ilitary
and oth er purposes com patible w ith the m aintenance of international security, human
w ell-being and health'.

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Jo nathan Hill

W eather architecture

The a ssu m p tio n th a t w e a th e r and a rch ite ctu re are d is tin c t is un co n vin cin g . First,
because th e te rm s 'a rc h ite c tu re ' and 'w e a th e r' are im p re cise in te lle ctu a l co n s tru c ts
th ro u g h w h ic h w e c o m p re h e n d and cre a te o u r w o rld . S econd, because ve ry little
w e a th e r is on ly natural. B u t w e a th e r's re latio nship to a rch ite ctu re , and th e d iscre d ite d
a s s u m p tio n th a t it is a reso urce to be m an ip ula te d, has a ssu m ed added sig n ifica n ce
sin ce th e m id -tw e n tie th ce n tu ry because o f changing a ttitu d e s to th e e n viro n m e n t,
in fo rm e d by p u b licity given to clim a te change. C lim ate-ch an ge research take s acco un t
o f te m p e ra tu re flu c tu a tio n s up as w e ll as d o w n . Global w a rm in g m ay o ccu r w h e n
carbon dioxide and o th e r gases such as n itro u s oxide and m e th a n e co n ce n tra te in the
a tm o s p h e re to p re ve n t long-range radiation esca ping in to space, crea ting a gre e n h o u se
e ffe c t. A m ea ns to fo c u s criticism on th e fre e -m a rk e t e c o n o m y and qu e stio n th e isola­
tio n is t po licies o f co u n trie s and co rp o ra tio n s, global w a rm in g can also be u n d e rsto o d
as a m o d e rn -d a y m a n ife sta tio n o f a tra d itio n th a t in clud es th e biblical floo d, in w h ic h
hum an failing s are th re a te n e d by e n viro n m e n ta l ca ta stro p h e . R ather than w e a th e r as a
reso urce to be e xp lo ite d , critic s o f global w a rm in g reco gn ise th e co -e xiste n ce o f the
e n v iro n m e n t and its o ccu p a n ts. C ritical a w a re n e ss o f th e w e a th e r, its causes and
e ffe c ts , is a valuable basis fo r a rc h ite c tu re because, in all stag es o f building, it reco g­
nises th e co -e xiste n ce o f a rc h ite c tu re w ith its im m e d ia te and w id e r e n viro n m e n ts,
leading to action ag ainst clim a te change, fo r exa m ple. Such kn o w le d g e has u n d o u b te d
b e n e fits b u t w e a th e r's o th e r gre a t a sse t to critica l a rc h ite c tu re is its p o te n tia l to fo cu s
a tte n tio n on the a m b ig u itie s o f pe rcep tion.
Richard G regory w rite s th a t 'visu a l and o th e r p e rce p tio n is in te llig e n t
de cisio n -ta kin g fro m lim ite d sen sory e vide nce. The e sse n tia l p o in t is th a t sen sory
signals are n o t adeq ua te fo r d ire c t or certain p e rce p tio n s, so in te llig e n t g u e s s w o rk is
ne ed ed fo r see in g o b je c ts .'38 C o n se q u e n tly, p e rm e a te d by m e m o ry and exp erience ,
'p e rc e p tio n s are h yp o th e se s. This is s u g g e ste d by th e fa c t th a t retinal im ages are open
to an in fin ity o f in te rp re ta tio n s .'39 Binding design to p e rce p tio n fo c u s e s a tte n tio n on the
'ca p a city to p e rceive one p e rc e iv in g '40 and en co u ra g e s critica l a w a re n e ss o f th e spaces
w e inhabit.

W eather drawing

W h e th e r on a d ra w in g board or a c o m p u te r scree n, th e princip le s o f th e a rch ite ctu ra l

d ra w in g to d a y are largely th e sam e as th o s e esta b lish e d in th e Italian Renaissance.
The purpose o f such a d ra w in g is to accu rately de scrib e an o b je ct, n o t to explore the
flu c tu a tio n s o f w e a th e r, m e m o ry and p e rce p tio n . In the e ig h te e n th ce n tu ry, th e re w as
no sig n ific a n t tra n s fo rm a tio n in d ra w in g e q u iva le n t and a p pro pria te to th e tra n s fo rm a ­
tio n s in un de rsta nd ing . If a rc h ite c ts are to b e la te dly e x p lo it th e a rch ite ctu ra l p o te n tia l of
p e rce p tio n su g g e ste d by th e p ictu re sq u e , th e y m u s t e ith e r discard or tra n s fo rm the
w a y th e dra w , and th u s th e w a y th e y design.

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 W eather architecture, w eather drawing

Notes

1 Plato, Timaeus, Critias, Cleitophon, Menexenus, Epistles, trans. R.G. Bury, Cam­
bridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1929, p. 121.
2 Leon Battista Alberti, On the A rt o f Building in Ten Books, trans. Joseph Rykwert,
Neil Leach and Robert Tavernor, Cambridge, MA, and London: MIT Press, 1988, p. 7.
First published as De Re Aedificatoria, c.1450, trans. J. Leoni, as Ten Books on Archi­
tecture, 1726.
3 Sebastiano Serlio, Sebastiano Serlio on Architecture, vol. 1, books l-V of Tutte I'opere
d ’ architettura et prospectiva, 1537-51, trans. Vaughan Hart and Peter Hicks, New
Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1996.
4 Andrea Palladio, The Four Books on Architecture, trans. Robert Tavernor and Richard
Schofield, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1997. First published as Quattro Libri dell'
Archittetura in 1570.
5 Le Corbusier, Towards a N ew Architecture, trans. Frederick Etchells, London: Rodker,
1927.
6 Rem Koolhaas, Delirious N ew York: a Retroactive M anifesto for Manhattan, Rotter­
dam: 010, 1994. First published in 1978.
7 The Renaissance was named in recognition of the revival and reinterpretation of Clas­
sical antiquity, notably Plato's claim that all the things w e perceive in the material
world are modelled on the ideal 'fo rm s' of a divine geometry. See Plato, Timaeus, p.
121.
8 Alberto Perez-Gomez, Architecture and the Crisis o f Modern Science, Cambridge,
MA: MIT Press, 1983, pp. 302-11.
9 John Locke, Essay Concerning Human Understanding, ed. Peter H. Nidditch, Oxford:
Clarendon Press, 1975. First published in 1690.
10 Marsilio Ficino, letter to Giovanni Cavalcanti, quoted in Albert Hofstadter and Richard
Kuhns (eds), Philosophies o f A rt and Beauty, Chicago: University of Chicago Press,
1964, p. 204.
11 David Hume, 'O f the Standard of Taste', in Selected Essays, Oxford: Oxford Univer­
sity Press, 1993, pp. 136-7.
12 Manfredo Tafuri, Theories and History o f Architecture, trans. Giorgio Verrecchia,
London: Granada, 1980, p. 84.
13 Caroline van Eck, ' "The Splendid Effects of Architecture, and its Power to A ffect the
M ind": the W orkings of Picturesque Association', in Jan Birksted (ed.), Landscapes o f
M em ory and Experience, London: Spon, 2000, p. 247.
14 Thomas W hately, 'From Observations on Modern Gardening', in John Dixon Hunt and
Peter W illis (eds), The Genius o f the Place: the English Landscape Garden
1620-1820, London: Elek, 1975, p. 62. First published in 1770. W hately uses the Old
English term 'landskip'. Its original meaning was a picture of the land, not the land
itself.
15 Humphry Repton, The A rt o f Landscape Gardening, 1794, quoted in Yves-Alain Bois,
'A Picturesque Stroll around Clara-Clara', October, 29, Summer 1984, p. 43.
16 Vitruvius, The Ten Books on Architecture, trans. Morris Hicky Morgan, New York:
Dover, 1960, pp. 38-9. First published as De Architectura in the first century bc.

17 Joseph Rykwert, On Adam 's House in Paradise: the Idea o f the Primitive H ut in Archi­
tectural History, New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1972, p. 105.
18 Marc-Antoine Laugier, An Essay on Architecture, trans. W olfgang and Anni Her­
rmann, Los Angeles: Hennessey and Ingalls, 1977. First published as Essai sur ¡'Ar­
chitecture in 1753.
19 Banister Fletcher, A History o f Architecture on the Comparative Method, London:
B.T. Batsford, 1924, 7th edition, p. 1.

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Jonathan Hill

20 Robin Evans, 'Figures, Doors and Passages', Translations from Drawing to Building
and O ther Essays, London: Architectural Association, 1997, p. 75.
21 David Sibley, Geographies o f Exclusion: Society and Difference in the West, London:
Routledge, 1995, p. 26.
22 Mark Cousins, 'The First House', Arch-Text, no. 1, 1993, p. 37.
23 Hubert Damisch, A Theory o f/C lo u d / Toward a Theory o f Painting, Stanford:Stanford
University Press, 2002, pp. 123-4; Robin Evans, The Projective Cast: Architecture and
its Three Geometries, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1995, p. 133.
24 Leonardo da Vinci, Leonardo on Painting: an Anthology o f W ritings by Leonardo da
Vinci, ed. Martin Kemp, trans. Martin Kemp and Margaret Walker, New Havenand
London: Yale University Press, 1989, p. 201.
25 Da Vinci, Leonardo on Painting, p. 222.
26 Whately, 'From Observations on M odern Gardening', p. 305.
27 John Ruskin, The Seven Lamps o f Architecture, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux,
1984, ch. VI, X, p. 177. First published in 1849.
28 Ruskin, The Seven Lamps o f Architecture, ch. VI, X, p. 180.
29 Lucien Boia, The W eather in the Imagination, London: Reaktion, 2005, p. 42.
30 Huguet Silk Mills, Wayland, NY.
31 Le Corbusier, Towards a N e w Architecture.
32 First devised for the Villa Schwob, La Chaux de Fonds, 1915. Reyner Banham, The
Architecture o f the W ell-tempered Environment, London: Architectural Press, 1969,
pp. 156-63.
33 Quoted in Banham, The Architecture o f the W ell-tempered Environment, p. 160. First
published in 1930.
34 Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby, 'Notopia: Leaky Products/Urban Interfaces', in
Jonathan Hill (ed.), Architecture - The Subject is Matter, London and New York:
Routledge, 2001, p. 102.
35 Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby, Design Noir: the Secret Life o f Electronic Objects,
London/Basel: August/Birkäuser, 2001, p. 21.
36 Dunne and Raby, Design Noir, p. 26.
37 Anthony Dunne, Hertzian Tales: Electronic Products,Aesthetic Experience and Crit­
ical Design, London: Royal College of Art, 1999, p. 105.
38 Richard Gregory, Eye and Brain: the Psychology o f Seeing, Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 1998, p. 5.
39 Gregory, Eye and Brain, p. 10.
40 James Turrell, in Richard Andrews andChris Bruce, '1992 Interview w ith James
Turrell', in Richard Andrews (ed.), James Turrell: Sensing Space, Seattle: Henry
Gallery, 1992, p. 48.

218
Drawing on light
Sam R idgw ay

Introduction

This cha pter de scrib es th e central role M arco Frascari's d e lib era tion s on Lu m e M a te ­
r i a l (m aterial light) have played in both an in tro d u c to ry co n stru ctio n course fo r s tu ­
d e n ts of a rch ite ctu re and the design o f a sm all house in suburban A delaide. In both,
the aim has been to em phasise the im p o rta n t a rch itectura l o b je ctive of em b od ying
the inta ng ible in the tangible. Frascari has played a m ajor role in challenging the pre­
vailing rational and in stru m e n ta l v ie w o f arch itectura l c o n s tru c tio n . Instead, he a rticu ­
lates an a lte rna tive understanding, revealing co n stru ctio n m aterials and tech niq ue s
to be cultu rally em b ed ded and p ro fo u n d ly o n tolo gica l. Influ ence d by his early p ro fe s ­
sional and tea chin g exp erience w ith Carlo Scarpa, T h e Tell-the-Tale D e ta il,'1 a phe­
nom en olo gical exploration o f th e role o f arch itectura l details published in 1984, w as
w ritte n as a m eans o f in tro du cing the idea th a t co n stru ctio n e m b od ies the fu n d a ­
m ental m eanings o f arch ite ctu re , into the design stu d io at the U n ive rsity o f Pennsyl­
vania. T h e Lu m e M a te ria le in the A rc h ite c tu re o f V e n ic e ,'2 published in 1988,
exp lo res th e spiritual d im en sion o f co n stru ctio n by fo cu sin g on the V enetian phe­
nom enon o f Lu m e M ateriale.
The current division b e tw ee n design and con stru ction (mind and body) in
both the architectural profession and the academ y m akes it unusual to hear the w o rd
im agination used in relation to con stru ction . C reativity and im agination are m ore co m ­
m only associated w ith design, and con stru ction w ith technical proficiency, extensive
know ledge of building products and econom ic level-headedness. In schools and the
profession, con stru ction know ledge is generally applied in an instrum ental fashion to
designs conceived in the design studio or the d irector's office. M aterials and te ch ­
niques o f con stru ction are considered to be neutral objects and system s from w hich
buildings are assem bled, and the re is a ten den cy to rely heavily on product m anufac­
turers to provide technical advice regarding standard detailing. In schools of arch itec­
ture, the draw ing forth of an alternative pedagogy that revitalises the im agination of
con stru ction requires us to address its current under-theorisation.

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Sam R idgw ay

Teaching lightness

M y in te re s t in re co n ce ivin g the c u rre n tly d o m in a n t, in s tru m e n ta l m o d e o f co n s tru c tio n

tea chin g began w ith research to w a rd s a M a s te rs degree du rin g th e early 1990s th a t
tra n s fo rm e d m y naive desire to cre a te an in du strialised b u ild in g s yste m in to a de ep ly
scep tical, H eide gg eria n critiq u e o f such s y s te m s . M y co n clu sio n th a t th e y re p re se n te d
th e po ssib le an nihilation o f m uch th a t is go od in a rc h ite c tu re led m e to q u e stio n an
a rch ite ctu ra l e d uca tion th a t still nu rtu re d the p o s s ib ility o f such te ch n o lo g ica l utopias.
D e sp ite th e sp e cta cu la r d e m ise o f m o d e rn ism and th e su b s e q u e n t loss o f status
a ffo rd e d to th e a rch ite ctu ra l p ro fe ssio n , due in large pa rt to th e fa ilin g s o f its physical
fabric, in our scho ol and, I su sp e ct, in m any oth e rs, c o n s tru c tio n w a s s till being ta u g h t
at th a t tim e in an in s tru m e n ta l fash ion as a s e t o f neutral m aterials and te c h n iq u e s th a t
could be ap plied to d e sig ns co n ce ive d in d e p e n d e n tly in th e de sig n stud io. The b ifu rca ­
tio n o f kn o w le d g e in to m a tte rs o f m ind (design): cre a tivity, in no vation and im a gin atio n;
and m a tte rs o f body (con stru ction ): kn o w le d g e o f building p ro d u cts, c o n s tru c tio n te c h ­
niqu es and stru c tu re s , w a s p ro fo u n d . This w a s re in fo rce d by a m ajor re s tru c tu rin g of
th e p ro g ra m m e fro m one five -ye a r p ro fe ssio n a l de gre e in to tw o , th re e -ye a r u n de rgrad­
uate de gre es, th e firs t dealing w ith th e o ry and th e seco nd w ith practice. This w a s later
changed to a th re e -p lu s-tw o -ye a r s tru c tu re . 'B o d y ' kn o w le d g e w a s largely u n th e o rise d
and lacked histo rica l, cultu ral, social or ph ilo sop hical co n te x t. T here w a s an u n d e rsta n d ­
ing th a t c o n s tru c tio n sho uld be ta u g h t in a linear, te ch n ica l and e n cyclo pae dic fash ion ,
starting w ith so-called 's im p le ' building te ch n iq u e s, d o m e s tic tim b e r fra m in g fo r
e xa m ple, and p ro gre ss to m o re tech n ica lly co m p lica te d bu ild in gs. The n o tion th a t co n ­
s tru c tio n could play a g e n e ra tive role in de sig n or th a t th e m aterial e m b o d im e n t of
design ideas held th e key to th e ir m e a n in g fu l p re sen ce w a s n o t on th e agenda.
In th e m id -1 9 9 0 s I w a s a p p o in te d to th e S chool and given the task o f te a ch ­
ing o u r first-ye a r, in tro d u c to ry course in c o n s tru c tio n . M y aim w a s to re-co nce ive this
kn o w le d g e so th a t it w o u ld b e co m e part o f th e w a y s tu d e n ts th in k ab o u t de sig n rather
than a sep ara te and te ch n ica l ca te g o ry o f skills th a t m u s t be th e n in te g ra te d in to th e
design stud io. In th is w a y I hoped to m ove co n sid e ra tio n s o f m a te ria lity fro m th e
p e rip h e ry o f a rch ite ctu ra l im a gin atio n (and pedagogy) to th e core and to pro vid e a
m ea ns o f a u g m e n tin g th e tra d itio n a l m e th o d o f co n ce ivin g a b u ild in g th ro u g h a tte n tio n
to fo rm and plan only. W h ile th e w o rth y goal o f in crea sing s tu d e n ts ' kn o w le d g e in this
area is c o m m o n , it is usually im p le m e n te d in an in s tru m e n ta l fash ion re su ltin g in m ore
cou rses and m ore assessable c o n s tru c tio n c o n te n t in s tu d io pro je cts. M y approach
w a s instead to address the su p p o se d n e u tra lity o f m aterials and bu ild in g te ch n iq u e s.
Paradoxically, fo r a cou rse fo c u s in g on th e m aterials o f a rch ite ctu re , th is m e a n t b e g in ­
ning w ith th e o re tic a l te x ts ra th e r than w ith sim p le bu ild in g te ch n iq u e s, s o m e th in g th a t
som e o f m y collea gu es fo u n d qu ite alarm ing. S tartin g w ith te x ts , h o w e ve r, pro vid e s a
ve ry d iffe re n t e n try p o in t fo r in s tru c tio n in co n s tru c tio n , signalling th a t 'b a s ic ' k n o w ­
ledge is an un d e rsta n d in g th a t c o n s tru c tio n e m b o d ie s s ig n ific a n t m ea ning. T exts
provide an im m e d ia te a n tid o te , fo r exa m ple, to th e facile n o tion th a t d iscou rse co n ­
cern in g a rch ite ctu ra l p ro d u ctio n can be reduced to w h a t D alibor V ese ly has de scrib ed

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as 'th e m e rit o f te ch n ica l e ffic ie n c y ve rsu s th a t o f a e s th e tic s .'3 O ne o f th e m o s t e ffe c t­

ive pieces o f w ritin g I have fo u n d to in tro d u ce an a lte rn a tive un d e rsta n d in g o f a rc h ite c ­
tu re 's m aterial nature to s tu d e n ts is M arco Frascari's article 'The L u m e M a te ria le in the
A rc h ite c tu re o f V en ice .'
Published in 1988, ‘ L u m e M a te ria le ' d e scrib e s a p h e n o m e n o lo g ica l c o n s tru ­
ing or in te rp re ta tio n o f th e m aterials o f a rch ite ctu re , w h e re , as Frascari w rite s : 's to n e s
change th e m s e lv e s in light th ro u g h a rc h ite c tu re and a rc h ite c tu re exists because o f
lig h t.' This 'o n to lo g ica l s to ry te llin g o f a rch ite ctu ra l e v e n ts ' d e p icts a m e th o d o f co n ­
s tru c tin g bu ild in gs fro m 'palpable m aterial lig h t' (lu m e m ateriale), 's o m e th in g born in
th e m aterials o f c o n s tru c tio n and im p riso n e d in th e bo d y o f an e d ifice as th e m in d is
im p riso n e d in th e b o d y .' 'A tan gib le esse nce o f a rc h ite c tu re w h ic h can be used as a
to u c h s to n e fo r th e d isco ve ry o f th e tru e na ture o f th e su b sta n ce s c o m p o s in g a
co n s tru c te d w o rld .'4 The p o e tic core o f th is article is de ve lo p e d fro m th e tru ism
th a t w ith o u t lig h t th e re is e ffe c tiv e ly no a rc h ite c tu re and w ith o u t a rc h ite c tu re th e re is
no light:

A m o u n d o f ston es, a sp le n d id Venetian hom e, a w o n d e rfu l B yzantine

do m e, and th e m o s t extra o rd in a ry G reek te m p le are th e sam e in e rt m a tte r
w ith o u t light. C o nve rsely, th e re is no light w ith o u t th e arch ite ctu ra l m aterial
w h ic h m akes up th e c o n s tru c te d w o rld .5

Frascari's sto ry a b o u t lig h t as a bu ild in g m aterial ce n tre s on the C a'D ario, a Venetian
Palace b u ilt by th e d ip lo m a t G iovanni Dario b e tw e e n 1487 and 1497. In an in scrip tio n
on the facade, Dario de d ica te s th e b u ild in g to 'th e ge nius o f th e c ity ' (U rbis Genio),
th u s d e fin in g it as a ce leb ration o f th e c ity rather than as a personal a g g ra n d ise m e n t.
Frascari reveals th e im p o rta n ce o f place and cu ltu re in his s to ry a b o u t bu ild in g w ith
light by q u o tin g a B yzantine in scrip tio n take n fro m th e A rch b ish o p ric C hapel in
Ravenna: 'L ig h t is e ith e r born here, or im p riso n e d , reigns here in fre e d o m .' This e n ig ­
m a tic in scrip tio n can be in te rp re te d to m ean th a t all c u ltu re s build lig h t in to th e ir archi­
te c tu re d iffe re n tly th ro u g h the use of colou r, sh a d o w , overhangs, o rn a m e n t,
w e a th e rin g s , de tailing , c o m p o s itio n o f facades, use o f lig h t re fle c tin g or absorbing
m aterials, in te rio r day lightin g, sun p e n e tra tio n and so on. W h e n c u ltu re s m ix, as th e y
do in Venice, Ravenna and A de la ide , a rc h ite c tu re be gins to e m b o d y th is diverse revela­
tio n o f lu m e m ateriale. It does n o t m a tte r w h e th e r it is local or im p o rte d , once built-in it
're ig n s . . . in fre e d o m .' In relation to the C a'D ario, Frascari p o in ts o u t th a t it is a

hybrid - or 'm o n s tro u s ' - bu ild in g . . . a co m b in a tio n o f bold, G othic e le­

m e n ts , Tuscan tra d itio n s, L o m ba rdic d e co ra tio n s, and B yzantine m e m o rie s.
. . . C a'D ario is an e xp re ssio n o f th e m u lti-fa c e te d cu ltu re o f V enice. . .. an
e xtra o rd in a ry hybrid th a t co m b in e s th e a rc h ite c tu re o f th e W e s t and the
East w ith th e in flu e n ce s o f G reece and R o m e.6

The article goes on to d e scrib e in de tail several o f th e key fe a tu re s o f the Ca'D ario,
including th e circu lar sto n e and V enetian glass pa tens th a t 'can im p riso n lig h t' and the
'm a te rn a l' m arble skin o f the upper s to re y m ade o f reused ga llio antico, a ye llo w

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Sam R idgw ay

m arble fro m N um idia. In relation to th e se details, Frascari w rite s th a t 'lu m e m ateriale

. . . is a rich su b sta n ce pro du cing a tan gib le b u ilt p o e try o u t o f e le m e n ta l k n o w le d g e .'7
From th e be ginning , m y c o n s tru c tio n cou rse esta b lish e d its e lf as equally
con cern ed w ith th e o ry and practice. The fo u r journal articles th a t fo r th e last several
years have been th e required reading fo r th e course, o f w h ic h 'The L u m e M a te ria le ' is
one, im m e d ia te ly esta blish th a t th is is no t th e o ry in th e c u rre n t te ch n o -ra tio n a l sense
o f th e o ry pro vid ing rules in advance o f practical a c tio n .8 Rather, it is in th e a n cie n t
G reek sense o f th e pairing o f theoria and praxis. As Adrian Snodgrass p o in ts o u t in his
article, 'O n T heo risin g A rc h ite c tu ra l E d u catio n,' fo r th e G reeks, theoria did 'n o t precede
or stand apart fro m pra xis bu t pa rticip a te d in it.'9 The crucial and d istin g u ish in g aim of
th is cou rse is to pro po se an alte rn a tive to tech nica l c o n s tru c tio n th e o ry based on
e xp e rim e n ta tio n , calcula tion and q u a n tifica tio n and, instead, to reco nce ive th e o ry in the
m o d e o f theoria, as c o n s tru c tio n k n o w le d g e th a t can p a rticip ate in th e de sig n process.
B ringing to th e fo re th e p h e n o m e n o lo g ica l and on to lo g ica l nature o f m aking buildings
a llo w s practical k n o w le d g e to in fo rm th e design pro cess tha t, as D onald Schon has
sh o w n , m u s t at its b e s t deal w ith 'c o m p le x ity , u n ce rta in ty, in sta b ility, u n iq uen ess, and
value c o n flic ts .'10 A t its w o rs t, design m ay be te ch n ica lly c o m p e te n t b u t fail at a cul­
tural or e n viro n m e n ta l level. The cu rre n t in s tru m e n ta l c o n ce p tio n o f co n s tru c tio n
th e o ry c o n fo rm s to th e 'c rite rio n o f 'e ffic ie n c y / w h ic h is d e fin e d exclu sive ly in te rm s
o f utilitaria n, q u a n tita tive and, increa sing ly, m o n e ta ry o u tc o m e s .11 The in ab ility or
u n w illin g n e s s o f s tu d e n ts to apply or in te g ra te th is te c h n ic a l k n o w le d g e into a design
stu d io th a t m ay be o p era ting in a ve ry d iffe re n t th e o re tic a l m o d e can cause pro b le m s
and is th e sou rce o f m uch d iscu ssio n . T eaching m ore c o n s tru c tio n and in sistin g on
m o re assessable c o n s tru c tio n c o n te n t in de sig n p ro je cts does n o t address th e un de r­
lying cause o f th e pro blem . The m o m e n t th e w o rd 'in te g ra tio n ' is used in relation to
c o n s tru c tio n kn o w le d g e and the design stud io, it signals th a t th e re is a co n ce p tu a l and
stru ctu ra l sep ara tion b e tw e e n th e tw o th a t is un like ly to be reso lve d by fo r c e !12
'The L u m e M a te ria le ' o ffe rs an eleg ant m eans o f a llo w in g co n s tru c tio n
kn o w le d g e to tra n sce n d th e prevailing im p asse crea te d by in s tru m e n ta l th in kin g and to
p a rticip ate in design. The co lle ctive revelation th a t be g in n in g c o n s tru c tio n s tu d e n ts
have w h e n reading and p re se n tin g th is article during tu to ria l se ssio n s is th a t th e re is,
fo r th e m , a q u ite n e w and e xciting w a y o f con ceiving the m aterial p re sen ce o f a b u ild­
ing 'in ' and 'o f' light. W h ile th e y o fte n fin d th e w ritin g d iffic u lt, th is in its e lf m akes the
eve n tu a l u n d e rsta n d in g s m o re lasting and m o re in flu e n tia l. Its p o e tic and m ulti-laye red
na ture a llo w s s tu d e n ts to w o rk at m any d iffe re n t levels, fro m issues o f in te rio r day
lig h tin g to m a tte rs o f colour, re fle cta n ce and s h a d o w s to th e m o re co m p le x notion of
th e cultu ral s p e c ific ity o f lu m e m ateriale. The u n iq uely a rch ite ctu ra l nature o f th e b u ild ­
ing k n o w le d g e th is article reveals, th e fa c t th a t 'a rc h ite c tu re is co -e x is te n t w ith lig h t'
and th a t an 'a rc h ite c tu ra l p re se n ce e xe rts its e lf' th ro u g h lig h t se a m le ssly corre late s
th e o ry and practice. S tu d e n ts naturally tra n sla te th e o re tica l n o tio n s in to practical co n ­
s tru c tio n d e cisio ns; th e re is no boundary b e tw e e n c o n s tru c tio n kn o w le d g e and the
design process. F urther, s tu d e n ts are unavoidably co n fro n te d w ith one o f th e m o st
fu n d a m e n ta l and co n tin u a lly evo lvin g b u t o fte n illusive ta sks o f our pro fe ssio n - th a t of

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e m b o d yin g th e in ta ng ible in b u ilt fo rm . Frascari, fo r exa m ple, re fe rs to th e tra n s­

fo rm a tiv e pro cess o f spinn ing m o lte n glass on a w h e e l to m ake th e circular pa tens th a t
are e m b e d d e d in th e facade o f th e C a'D ario as th e castin g 'o f a n e w te c to n ic fig u re ',
'th a t pe rsp icu o u sly p re se n ts th e colloidal na ture o f g la ss.' These th ick co lo u re d glass
e le m e n ts pa rticip a te a ctive ly in th e 'g ia n t m arble puzzle' o f th e b u ild in g 's facade, lite r­
ally trapp in g light and m aking it a 'm a te ria l o f c o n s tru c tio n .' The e x p lic it nature o f th is
exa m p le leads to fu rth e r in sig h ts as to h o w o th e r m aterials, de tails and e le m e n ts ,
both on th e facade o f the C a'D ario and o th e r bu ild in gs, 'are d e fin e d by a piercing
light, w h ic h engraves th e ir lines and su b lim a te s th e m to a sym b o l o f repose, c e rtitu d e
and s o le m n ity .'13
The m ajor pro je ct fo r th e course requires s tu d e n ts to 'd e s ig n ' a 'c o n s tru c ­
tio n ' th a t e x e m p lifie s o r reveals som e asp ect o f th e th e o re tica l m aterial th e y are
w o rk in g w ith . In particular, this m eans an exploration o f light, w e a th e rin g , de tailing or
techne. Because all th e articles are p re sen te d and d iscusse d in tu to ria l groups, th e re is
o fte n a s ig n ifica n t cross-o ver b e tw e e n th e th e o re tica l in te re sts revealed throu gh each
m od el. The pro je ct is to design the co n stru ctio n o f a 6 x 6 x 6 -m e tre cube building and
to m ake a m od el o f th is at th e scale o f 1:20. This is inspired by and loosely adapted
fro m th e C ooper U nion cube exercises under John H ejduk and is assessed according to
h o w it resolves and reveals pro g ra m m a tic, th e o re tica l and co n stru ctio n kn o w le d g e .
Im p o rta n tly, fo r th e beginning s tu d e n t, the s tric t size re q u ire m e n t o f th e m od el rem oves
c o m p lica te d fo rm a l and planning de lib era tion s, a llow in g th e m to fo cu s p rim arily on co n ­
s tru ctio n . Form recedes as a background against w h ic h m a te ria lity can s h o w up. A s im i­
larity does e xist w ith th e original exercise and th a t is th a t th e fo rm and size o f the
building, sm aller by 40 per cent, te n d s to prescribe its possible uses. Too sm all fo r a
house, its sim p le vo lu m e is con ceived as a retreat, library, m u sic room and so on. As a
challenge to s tu d e n ts to thin k a b o u t th e relation o f place and building, th e co n stru ctio n s
are site-sp ecific, the design and m od ellin g o f w h ic h is th e firs t exercise o f th e course.
Im p o rta n tly, 'The L u m e M a te ria le ' o ffe rs a pro fo u n d ly ph en o m e n o lo g ica l in te rp re ta tio n
o f Venice as th e cultural, urban, lu m ino us and on tolo gica l place o f th e Ca'D ario. Frascari
explains that, in both painting and c o n stru ctio n , 'th e V enetians rejected th e search fo r a
rationalization o f site in favo r o f a p h e n o m e n o lo g y o f s ite .'14 A p o s itiv is t in te rp re ta tio n o f
th e use o f the y e llo w N u m idian m arble on th e b u ild in g 's facade, probably pillaged from
sites around Venice, fo r exam ple, w o u ld be th a t it w a s due to issues o f site access,
lim ite d space, distance fro m the quarry and cost. A p h e n om en olog ical in te rp re ta tio n
m ig h t be th a t it w a s the con se q u e n ce o f th e Venetian understa nd ing o f the 'm a te rn a l'
nature o f w e a th e re d m aterials in th e co n stru ctio n o f a m arble 'c o s m e s is ' to cove r bare
brick w a lls. F rascari's te x t is a good exam ple o f h o w th is s tu d e n t pro je ct trie s to d is tin ­
guish its e lf fro m th e notion o f 'h o m o g e n o u s space as th e place o f m o d e rn ity ’ referred
to by Perez-G om ez in his in tro d u ctio n to the reissue o f th e E ducation o f an A rch ite ct.
This co n stru ctio n course a tte m p ts to begin th e education o f s tu d e n ts in to 'so m e o n e
w h o kn o w s w h e re he or she stands, b e co m in g responsible fo r a personal m a kin g in
v ie w o f the d ile m m a s o f c o n te m p o ra ry cultu re, u n de rsta nd ing w h y one m akes (and
w h a t one acce pts as an eth ical task), and n o t only h o w .'15

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Constructing lightness

It is in th e c o n te x t o f devising and te a ch in g th is cou rse th a t I began de sig nin g a house

fo r m y w ife and I to live in, s itu a te d on a sm all sub urb an site in A de la ide . Liste n in g to
s tu d e n t p re se n ta tio n s o f 'The L u m e M a te ria le ' in tu to ria l se ssion s ove r several years,
helping tea se o u t issu es and bring the discussio n back to local a rch ite ctu ra l exam ples,
I de ve lo p e d a d e e p e r u n d e rsta n d in g and ap pre ciatio n o f th is p h e n o m e n o lo g ica l in te r­
p re ta tio n o f light. The starting p o in t th a t m ake s th is b u ild in g possible w a s an a tte m p t
to un de rsta nd th e site in te rm s o th e r than th e pu rely rational, in particular to in te rp re t
and reveal th e local light co n d itio n s. M u ch o f o u r train in g leads us to read sites in
te rm s o f w h a t can be m ea sure d and calculated: o rie n ta tio n , d im e n sio n s, solar access
based on sun angles, prevailing w in d s , th e d ire ctio n o f th e b e st v ie w s , veh icle and
p e de strian access po in ts, slope o f th e land and so on. Sites are also eco n o m ica lly ra tio ­
nalised and th e b u ild in gs d e sig ned fo r th e m co n ce ive d as c o m m o d itie s , th e dollar
value o f w h ic h is k n o w n in advance o f th e ir c o n s tru c tio n . It is a lm o s t im p o ssib le n o t to
be d ra w n in to th is cycle o f c o m m o d ific a tio n . As a rch ite cts, h o w e v e r, it is w o rth w h ile
c o n te m p la tin g h o w to in tro d u ce a n o n -in stru m e n ta l reading o f site ph en o m e n a in to our
design pro cess th a t d is tin g u is h e s w h a t w e do fro m o th e r de sig n p ro fe ssio n a ls. This
m ay help to d ive rt a tte n tio n aw ay fro m a s h a llo w ob session w ith e c o n o m ic value only,
and m ore su c c e s s fu lly deal w ith issues o f d w e llin g on th e Earth in a sp e cific place.
From th e be ginning I w a s d ra w n to th e site partly because o f its w o n d e rfu l
light, esp ecially th e late a fte rn o o n , gold en lig h t th a t stre a m s fro m th e w e s t and is
pa rticularly strikin g because o f th e s ite 's e leva tion and its p ro x im ity to th e nearby A d e ­
laide Hills. W h ile a detailed d iscu ssio n o f place is be yon d th e scope o f th is cha pter, it is
w o rth n o tin g th a t th e building, in p a rticular its w e s te rn sto n e w a ll, w a s c o n s tru c te d to
e m b o d y and reveal the particular local lig h t c o n d itio n s as a backgro und against w h ic h
th e pra ctices o f h a bitu atio n are played out. O f cou rse it is d iffic u lt to co u n te r th e claim
th a t it is m e re ly pu shing its e lf and th e ph en o m e n a o f th e site fo rw a rd in th e m od ern
sen se as spe ctacle , and it is tru e th a t it reveals th e m o v e m e n t o f th e sun th ro u g h o u t
th e day and th e passage o f th e seasonal light c o n d itio n s m o re e x p lic itly than a tra d i­
tion al house. In H eideggerian te rm s , h o w e ve r, th is disclo sive ch a ra cte ristic is 'p rim ­
ord ia l' in nature. In o th e r w o rd s , it 'd isclo se s th e e m b o d ie d u n d e rsta n d in g th a t w e
already have o f th in g s in th e w o rld .'16 A s Frascari w rite s in th e L u m e M ateriale : '[tlh is
palpable m aterial light, h o w e v e r, is fre e to exp ress itse lf, and rules the co n stru in g of
a rch ite ctu ra l e ve n ts po sited by th e m aterial re so lu tio n o f e le m e n ts and the detailing
o f c o n s tru c tio n .'17
As I lived nearby, I visite d th e site o fte n and I began to con ceive th e b u ild ­
ing in te rm s o f both te ch n ica l p ra ctica litie s and in resp on se to th e lig h t c o n d itio n s. The
initial design co n c e p t w a s sim p ly to d e velop tw o , tw o -s to re y m aso nry facades, one to
the w e s t and one to the ea st th a t w o u ld contain and p ro te c t a m o re de lica te, tim b e r­
fra m e d and tim b e r-cla d body fro m th e prevailing w e a th e r. The tim b e r body is qu ite
open to th e no rth and th e re fo re p e n e tra te d de ep ly by th e w in te r sun. The m aso nry
w a s a resp on se to th e suburban c o n te x t o f th e bu ild in g b u t also, e sp ecially in the

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w e s te rn facade, a m ea ns o f d e veloping a paradoxical lig h tn e ss. T hat is to crea te a

'lig h t c o n s tru c tio n ' using heavy m aterials, th u s h ig h lig h tin g th e true, jo y fu l nature o f
lig h tn e ss. T his is in c o n tra s t to the c u rre n t inexorable m o ve to w a rd s lig h tw e ig h t b u ild ­
ings. To q u o te Frascari:

Itlh e prevailing c o m m o n p la c e - a th e o re tic a l doxa - is th a t c o n s tru c tio n s are

in crea sing ly b e co m in g lighte r. H o w e ve r, it is ju s t an illusion o f lightn ess
since b u ild in gs p re s e n t heavy and d istre ssin g inenarrable tales. C on­
se q u e n tly a g e n tle im age o f a rch ite ctu re , an idealized tale o f jo y fu lly , lightly-
con ceived a rch ite ctu ra l bodies and im ages, is no lo ng er the paradoxical
m o to r o f s u cce ssfu l and d e lig h tfu l s tru c tu re s .18

I a lw a y s im a g in e d th a t th e w e s te rn faca de th a t fa ce s th e s tre e t and th e w e s te rn

lig h t w o u ld be m ad e o f s to n e . O f co u rse all m a te ria ls are reve aled and tra n s fo rm e d
in lig h t b u t to m e th e re is a spe cia l a ffin ity b e tw e e n sto n e and lig h t. S ton e is a
na tural m a te ria l, lite ra lly p ie ce s o f th e p la n e t th a t have be en qu a rrie d and sha pe d to
reveal an in n e r su b s ta n c e . S tan din g up a w a ll o f sto n e to th e lig h t and th e sun is a
prim a l act o f d w e llin g on th e Earth as m u ch as it fu lfils th e need to su ita b ly clad a
su b urb an ho use . A fte r so m e d e lib e ra tio n , I ch o se a h o n e y -c o lo u re d sa n d s to n e fro m
B a ske t Range in th e A d e la id e H ills th a t had tra d itio n a lly be en used in h o use s around
A d e la id e fo r m a n y years. The c o n c e p t w a s s till to s im p ly c u t large b lo cks o f s to n e , to
try to g e t as m u c h c o lo u r va ria tio n as p o s s ib le and to ra n d o m ly lay th e b lo cks so th a t
th e eye w o u ld be d ra w n to th e d e ta il o f th e w a ll as m u ch as to its e n tire ty . I realised
la te r th a t even such a s im p le idea a b o u t c o lo u r va ria tio n w a s p ro b le m a tic be cau se,
as I soon learned, th e s to n e -s u p p ly in d u s try is ge are d to p ro v id in g as u n ifo rm
(neutral) a p ro d u c t as po ssib le .
W h e n th e tim e cam e to fina lly resolve th e sto n e d e ta ilin g o f the w e s te rn
eleva tion, a con cern I had a b o u t th e scale o f th e blocks being to o large fo r th e building

D esign sk etch .

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Sam Ridgway

Working model.

Sample stone blocks.

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 D raw ing on light

and th e s tre e t encou rage d m e to re th in k th is e leva tion. I su d d e n ly realised th a t I could

enhance the lig h t e ffe c ts on th e w a ll w ith o u t cre a tin g a d ire c t re fe re n ce to classical or
tra d itio n a l bu ild in gs. I w a n te d th e bu ild in g to face th e fu tu re and m ake a stand against
th e inane sp ra w l o f poor qu ality, high energy, re p ro d u ctio n b u ild in gs th a t are appearing
all ove r suburban A delaide. I m ade a quick cardboard m o d e l and w a s really e xcite d
w ith th e resu lts. I realised im m e d ia te ly th a t th e re w a s a w a y o f achieving th is de tail by
using a variation o f an e xistin g sto n e c u ttin g te c h n iq u e (see fig u re be lo w ). In relation to
th e reuse o f sto n e e le m e n ts in th e Ca' Dario th a t had been pillaged fro m abandoned
site s around V enice, Frascari su g g e s ts th a t th e y w e re tra n s fo rm e d 'b y te ch n ica l o p era­
tio n s p ro p e r to ston e w o rk , pro du cing te c to n ic fig u re s o f w o n d e r and in ge nio us variety
in c o n tra s t to th e purely fu n c tio n a l asp e cts o f th e b u ilt a rte fa c t.'19 O f cou rse fifte e n th -
c e n tu ry V enice is a rather d iffe re n t sto ry to tw e n ty -firs t-c e n tu ry A delaide, b u t n e v e rth e ­
less I fe lt th a t s o m e h o w th is idea had tra n sla te d its e lf across tim e and w a s capable o f
crea ting so m e th in g th a t w a s ve ry fo rw a rd -lo o k in g and s ite -sp e cific b u t still p o w e rfu lly
c o n n e cte d to the past. I'm n o t sure w h a t to o ls and te c h n iq u e s w e re used to cu t and
shape th e sto n e fo r th e Ca' Dario, b u t n o w a d a ys sto n e is c u t p rim arily using w a te r-
lu brica ted d ia m o n d -tip p e d oscilla tin g and circular sa w s and it is re la tive ly easy to c u t
one face o f a block on an angle e ith e r by a d ju stin g th e sa w blade or by s ittin g each
block in an angled jig and th e n running it th ro u g h th e saw . D e spite this, because it
s te p p e d o u tsid e th e norm al pra ctice o f the c u ttin g yard th a t specialised in pro du cing
re p ro d u ctio n faca des fo r n e w houses, it caused m any pro b le m s and delays.
In conclusion, I am rem inde d o f Carlo Scarpa's sta te m e n t qu oted by Frascari
in 'The Tell-the-Tale D etail' that, 'in architecture, the re is no such thing as a good idea.
There is only e xp re ssio n .'201 had m any sleepless nights w o n d e rin g w h a t the 'e xp re ssio n '

S to n e cla d d in g
d e ta ils .

227
Sam Ridgway

The crinkled stone

facade reveals local
light and the daily
m o vem en t of the
sun.

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 Drawing on light

of this w all w ould be and ho w it w ould be received by the neighbourhood! I was worried
that it was 'a good idea' only and that its paradoxical lightness w o uld in fact be
'inenarrable.' These fears started to recede w hen I travelled to the stone-cutting yard to
look at the sam ples and knew im m ediately that the idea and the expression w e re sound.
This was confirm ed on the exciting day w hen the first five courses of blocks w e re laid.
M o st people understand im m ediately that it has som ething to do w ith light. O thers see it
as ripples on w ater; one asked if it w as to becom e a w aterfall. Several have thought the
facade was made of tim b e r w hich, having been through the dramas and difficulties of
making it out of stone, initially astonished m e but on reflection I w elcom ed this interpre­
tation as part of a rich process o f signification (see figure below). In this short chapter, I
have concentrated only on a story about light. Sim ply put, this building is my a tte m p t to
stand against the prevailing technological vie w o f everything; to step aside from the off-
the-shelf m entality w h ere w e are supposed to create som ething original and creative
from building products designed by product designers not architects. It is m y atte m p t to
respond to the fact that w e dw ell on the Earth in a specific location w ith in a moving
universe. It tries to say som ething about the sim plistic notion that lightw e ig ht buildings
are light buildings. But m o st of all, it is ju st an atte m p t to make a joyful, serene building
that faces the future w hile acknow ledging a rich architectural past.

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Sam Ridgway

Notes

1 Frascari, 1984, 22-37.

2 Frascari, 1988, 137-145.
3 Vesely, 1995, p. 44.
4 Frascari, 1988, p.138.
5 Frascari, 1988, p.138.
6 Frascari, 1988, p.140.
7 Frascari, 1988, p.141.
8 The other three journal articles are Meagher, 1988, 158-164; Frascari, 1984, 22-37;
Leatherbarrow and Mostafavi, 1992, 116-123.
9 Snodgrass, 2000, p. 90.
10 Schon, 1983, p. 14.
11 Snodgrass, 2000, p. 91.
12 For a lengthy discussion of integrating technical knowledge into the design studio,
see The Journal o f Architectural Education, 51, 2 {November 1997). See also
Ridgway, 2003, 152-163.
13 Frascari, 1988, p.143.
14 Frascari, 1988, p.144.
15 Perez-Gomez, 1999, pp. 14-19.
16 Hill, 2002.
17 Frascari, 1988, p.137.
18 Frascari, 2002, 1-11.
19 Frascari, 1988, p.141.
20 Frascari, 1984, p.29.

Bibliography

Marco Frascari, T h e Tell-the-Tale Detail,' Via, 7 (1984).

Marco Frascari, T h e Lume Materiale in the Architecture of Venice,' Perspecta, 24 (1988).
Marco Frascari, 'A Light, Six-Sided, Paradoxical Fight,' Nexus N etw ork Journal, 4, 2 (2002):
1-11. Online, available at: www.nexusjournal.com/Frascari_v4n2.html (accessed
7 March 2006).
Glen Hill, 'O ut of Place in the Landscape: Questioning the Rhetoric of Place,' Additions to
Architectural History, XlXth conference of the Society of Architectural Historians, Aus­
tralia and New Zealand, Brisbane (2002).
David Leatherbarrow and Mohsen Mostafavi, 'On W eathering: a New Surface Out of the
Tracks of Time,' Daidalos, 43 (1992).
Robert Meagher, 'TechnS,' Perspecta, 24 (1988).
Alberto P6rez-Gomez, 'Education of an Architect: Unravelling a Point of View, 1999,' intro­
ductory essay to the reissued original exhibition catalogue, Education o f an Architect:
a Point o f View - The Cooper Union School o f A rt & Architecture 1964-1971, New
York: The Monacelli Press, 1999.
Sam Ridgway, 'Construction Knowledge and the Design Studio: the Question of Integra­
tion,' Architectural Theory Review, 8, 2 (2003).
Schon, The Reflective Practitioner, New York: Basic Books Inc., 1983.
Adrian Snodgrass, 'On Theorising Architectural Education,' Architectural Theory Review, 5, 2
( 20 0 0 ) .

Dalibor Vesely, 'Architecture and the Question of Technology,' in Martin Pearce and Maggie
Toy (eds), Educating Architects, London: Academy Editions, 1995.

230
Post-secular architecture
M aterial, intellectual, spiritual m odels

Bradley Starkey

Introduction

In 'Translations from D raw ing to B uilding' Robin Evans observes that, unlike sculptors
or painters, architects do not w o rk directly w ith the ob je ct o f th e ir labour but w o rk
tow a rds it through intervening m ed ia .1 D raw ings, te xts and m odels are used to
develop and com m u nica te design inform ation in the architectural design process.
W hereas architectural draw ing and w ritin g have been subjected to architectural th e o ri­
sation, how ever, architectural m odels have tended to escape analysis. Likew ise, archi­
tectural the orists use the m odes of draw ing and w ritin g to theorise the ir w o rk, but
th e y rarely use the architectural m odel as a critical or theoretical tool. M odels are more
likely to be used fo r descriptive purposes in the design process. The lack o f critical
atten tion focu sed on the m odel as a m edium of architectural representation is surpris­
ing. In The Book o f M odels, Chris Dillon w rite s that 'w e are often unaw are that our
m ethods, values and m odes of action are the m se lve s ideological. They are particular
theoretical positions of w h ich w e are unaware but w h ich w e unconsciously su p p o rt.'2
A rchite cts com m o nly adopt the assum ption that fo rm s o f architectural
m ediation are ideologically neutral. C om pared w ith m odels, how ever, the 'm etho ds,
values and m odes o f action' associated w ith draw ings and te xts are m ore consciously
and critically understood. The scope o f this chapter is to critically investigate aspects of
the architectural m odel. A fte r an initial exploration of the m eaning of the term 'm o d e l'
itself, it w ill discuss the displaced status o f architectural m odels in relation to arch itec­
tural theory. It argues that, w h ils t draw ings have been accorded intellectual status,
m odels have been m ore closely associated w ith the realm o f the m aterial.
W ith reference to the strategies of 'im m e d ia cy' and 'hype rm ed iacy', the
chapter w ill discuss the ideological perform ance of descriptive m odels and, w ith refer­
ence to a levitating architectural m odel con stru cted by the author, it w ill sug ge st an
alternative role fo r the m odel in architecture. The chapter concludes by relating archi­
tectural m odels w ith m odels o f tho ugh t. C ontem porary m odels o f th o u g h t are con­
structed upon assum ptions that pro m ote m ateriality rather than spirituality. W ith the

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Bradley Starkey

in te n tio n o f advancing th e idea o f th e post-se cular, th e le vita tin g m o d e l o ffe rs a

te n ta tiv e in te rp re ta tio n o f w h a t a co n te m p o ra ry reappraisal o f th e spiritua l in a rch ite c­
tu re m ig h t be.

The architecture of models and models of architecture

In an a tte m p t to un de rsta nd th e a rc h ite c tu re o f m od els, it is h e lp fu l to re fe r to a classi­

fica tio n s yste m th a t w a s p ro po sed by M arcial E chenique in th e late 1960s, w h ic h
aim ed to id e n tify th e ch a ra cte ristics o f d iffe re n t m o d e l ty p e s .3 The s yste m p lo tte d
m o d e l typ e s w ith in a cub ic space d e fin e d by th re e d im e n sio n s: w h a t th e m od el w as
m ade for; w h a t th e m o d e l w a s m ade of; and h o w th e m o d e l engaged w ith tim e . In
relation to th e firs t d im e n sio n , m o d e ls could be m ade fo r 'd e s c rip tiv e ', 'p re d ic tiv e ',
'e x p lo ra to ry ' or 'p la n n in g ' p u rpo ses. In relation to th e second d im e n sio n , m o d e ls could
be m ade o f e ith e r 'm a te ria ls ' or 'c o n c e p ts '. M a terial m o d e ls w e re fu rth e r sub -divide d
in to e ith e r 'ic o n ic ' o r 'a n a lo g u e ' typ e s, and co n ce p tu a l m o d e ls w e re fu rth e r sub -divide d
in to text-ba sed or m a th e m a tic a lly based typ e s; and in relation to th e third d im e n sio n ,
m o d e ls could e ith e r esta blish 's ta tic ' or 'd y n a m ic ' te m p o ra l re latio nships. D iffe re n t p e r­
m u ta tio n s o f th e th re e d im e n sio n s g e n e ra te d m u ltip le m o d e l type s.
W ith in th is s y s te m , a m od el w a s d e fin e d as being a re p re se n ta tio n of
rea lity 'w h e re re p re se n ta tio n is th e exp ression o f certain releva nt ch a ra cte ristics o f th e
observe d reality and w h e re rea lity c o n sists o f th e o b je cts or s yste m s th a t e xist, have
existe d, or m ay e x is t'.4 In The B oo k o f M o d e ls, Chris Dillon ad op ts a sim ila r un de r­
stan din g o f th e te rm w h e n he w rite s th a t 'w h e n e v e r w e a tte m p t to speak, w rite or
o th e rw is e re p re s e n t asp ects o f our exp e rie n ce and un d e rsta n d in g o f physical reality
w e are e n te rin g in to a m o d e llin g re latio nship w ith th e w o r ld '.5 John M o n k reinforce s
th is d e fin itio n w h e n he w rite s th a t a m od el is a thin g o r co n ce p t th a t 's tim u la te s
pe op le to give a cco u n ts th a t could also be trig g e re d by th e o b je c t being m o d e lle d '.6
W h ils t th e se a p p lica tio n s o f th e te rm advance o u r u n d e rsta n d in g o f w h a t a
m o d e l can be, th e y each d e fin e th e te rm in relation to th e n o tion o f an o b se rve d e x te r­
nal or original reality, w h e re th e m o d e l is a d e scrip tio n o r re p re se n ta tio n o f th a t reality.
The application o f th e te rm w ith in eve ryda y language, h o w e v e r, su g g e sts a n o th e r type
o f m o d e llin g relatio nship.
M u ltip le m e a nings o f th e te rm 'm o d e l' are c u rre n tly in circu la tio n . It can
re fe r to an o b je c t th a t is m ade to re p re s e n t a n o th e r o b je ct (usually at a d iffe re n t scale);
a s yste m or th e o ry th a t de scrib es a ttrib u te s o f s o m e a sp e ct o f reality; or an o b je ct
used in te s tin g a fina l p ro d u ct. The te rm can also be used to re fe r to a person or o b je ct
serving as an exa m p le to be im ita te d by an othe r; a pe rson w h o acts as th e su b je c t fo r
an a rtis t o r w h o is used to display clo th e s; and it can also be used to re fe r to a sp e cific
style o f a particular item (i.e. m ake and m o d e l o f a car). From its e ty m o lo g ic a l ro o ts in
th e Latin te rm m o d u s and m od ulus, it also has co n n o ta tio n s o f p ro p o rtio n and m ea s­
u re m e n t.7 A cro ss th e se diverse nuances o f m ea ning it is u se fu l to d istin g u ish b e tw e e n
m o d e ls th a t d e scrib e asp ects 'o f' s o m e th in g else, and m o d e ls th a t act as an exam ple

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or standard 'fo r' som e th in g else. W h ils t the fo rm e r type is lim ited to the representation
o f reality, the second type has the potential to generate reality.
W hen architectural practitioners, teachers or students talk about models in the
context of design, pedagogy and practice, the w ord is generally understood to refer to a
particular m odel type. Counter to the m ultiple typologies generated w ithin Echenique's
cubic system , and to the m ultiple applications of meaning in everyday language, the appli­
cation and understanding of the term w ithin architecture is reductive. Since the eighteenth
century, architectural discourse has predom inantly interpreted the term to mean an ori­
ginal that should be imitated, as in a small-scale representation of a building.

Model theory

Diana A gre st has w ritte n th a t arch itecture is produced through three m odes: draw ing,
w ritin g and bu ild in g.8 W hile she pro m otes the value o f w ritin g and thus legitim ises
architectural the ory as a generator of architecture, she also undervalues the role o f the
m odel. A gre st does include the m odel as a possible fou rth m ode of production;
how ever, she includes it as a fo o tn o te rather than w ith in the main text, and this
im plies that the re is a displacem ent be tw ee n the status o f the architectural drawing,
te x t or the ory and the status o f the architectural m odel.
The m arginalised status of the architectural m odel can be traced back to the
Italian Renaissance w h en the em ergence o f design as a d istin ct and specialised discip­
line began to be associated w ith the process of draw ing, and disassociated from the
m ateriality of building. During this period, changes in building pro cure m ent m eant that
the design of a building had to be do cum e nted before its construction. Prior to this,
design inform ation w o uld have been orally transm itte d, from the m ind o f the m aster
m ason to the craftsm en w o rking on site, w ith o u t detailed con stru ction draw ings. W ith
building p ro cure m ent in the M iddle Ages, the design and supervision of building was
fused w ith the m ateriality o f building, but in the Italian Renaissance a division in labour
em erged th a t separated design and supervision from building. A rchite cts becam e dis­
tanced from the m ateriality and manual labour o f craft-based w o rk and configured the ir
practice on intellectual term s.
W hile architects used both draw ings and m odels to com m u nica te design
inform ation in the Italian Renaissance, draw ings w ere, in tim e, accorded a higher in te l­
lectual status and w e re the re fore of greater strategic significance to architects. The
process of m aking a m odel required skill but the handling of m a tte r and m odels was
m essy w o rk and the re fore w as carried out in the w o rksho p. In contrast, draw ings
could be m ade in the 'g e n tle m a n ly' space of the study. The process o f draw ing w as
perceived to be equivalent to the process o f w ritin g , doing m athe m atics or philosophis­
ing. D raw ings w e re associated w ith the intellectual, and cam e to be a recognised
m edium through w hich architects could elevate th e ir m inds and, consequently, the
status of the profession. Conversely, m odels w e re m ore closely associated w ith the
m aterial and w e re the re fore accorded a lo w e r status.

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Bradley Starkey

Communicating and generating design ideas

A rc h ite c tu ra l m o d e ls e x is t s o m e w h e re b e tw e e n th e realm o f ideas and th e physical

m a te ria lity o f bu ild in gs. T hey are typ ica lly used in th e de sig n pro cess as a c o m p le m e n t
to d ra w in g and it is o fte n stated th a t a rch ite ctu ra l m o d e ls are easily u n d e rsto o d
by th o se w ith o u t a rch ite ctu ra l train in g or e xp e rie n ce in spatial th in kin g . For this
reason, m o d e ls are o fte n m ade to c o m m u n ic a te design pro po sals to th e public or fo r
c o m p e titio n en tries.
W h ile m o d e ls are fre q u e n tly used to 'c o m m u n ic a te ' design ideas, th e y are
rarely used to 'g e n e ra te ' th e m . A rc h ite c tu ra l m o d e ls are usually m ade a fte r a building
has already been co n ce ive d w h ic h , since th e Italian Renaissance, has usually occurred
th ro u g h th e pro cess o f dra w in g . In 'T ra nsla tion s fro m D ra w in g to B u ild in g ', Robin
Evans w rite s : 'D ra w in g in a rc h ite c tu re is n o t do ne a fte r nature, b u t prior to c o n s tru c ­
tio n ; it is n o t so m uch pro du ced by re fle c tio n on th e reality o u tsid e th e d ra w in g , as pro­
d u ctive o f a reality th a t w ill end up o u tsid e th e d ra w in g .'9
A rc h ite c tu re is b ro u g h t in to existe n ce th ro u g h d ra w in g , w h e re th e su b je ct
m a tte r or building e xists a fte r th e d ra w in g , b u t no t b e fore it. In th is w a y a rch ite ctu ra l
d ra w in g s are p re d ictive in th a t th e y d e scrib e a reality th a t does no t y e t e xist. Evans'
s ta te m e n t is less tru e o f th e co n ve n tio n a l a rch ite ctu ra l m od el, h o w e v e r, and w h ile it is
reco gn ised th a t d ra w in g has th e po te n tia l to bring ideas into e xiste n ce th a t do n o t exist
p rior to d ra w in g , th e su b je ct m a tte r fo r de scrip tive a rch ite ctu ra l m o d e ls already exists
in d ra w n fo rm prior to c o n s tru c tio n . For d e scrip tive a rch ite ctu ra l m od els, th e n , Evans'
s ta te m e n t m ig h t be re -w ritte n thu s: 'M o d e ls in a rch ite ctu re are no t c o n s tru c te d a fte r
nature, b u t a fte r d ra w in g .' H o w e ve r, to re s tric t m o d e l-m a kin g to d e scrip tive rathe r than
ge n e ra tive fu n c tio n s re in fo rce s th e a ssu m p tio n th a t a ttrib u te s d ra w in g w ith in te lle ctu a l
s ta tu s elevated above the m aterial.
Unlike th e m edieval m aster m ason directly engaged w ith th e m ateriality of
building, m odern-day a rch itects exercise a re m o te con tro l over building dealing prim arily
w ith draw ings, m odels and te xts. In The B ook o f M od els, Rolf H ughes uses th e te rm s
'm e d ia te d ' and 'u n m e d ia te d rea lity' to distinguish b e tw e e n th e m ed ia te d realities created
by dra w in gs, m odels and te xts and the unm ed iated realities to w h ic h the y relate.10 The
te rm s are appropriate because th e y ackn ow led ge that m ed ia te d realities do no t sim ply
rep rese nt aspects o f an external original or reality, bu t th e y also co n s tru c t particular real­
ities o f th e ir o w n . In th is w ay, draw ings, m odels and te x ts are hybrids. H ughes w rite s:
'W h e n w e talk ab ou t the se m odels our acco un t w ill be a "h y b rid ", using w o rd s associ­
ated w ith th e m odel alongside w o rd s associated w ith the o b je ct being m o d e le d .'11

Immediacy and hypermediacy

In th e ir book e n title d R em ediation, Jay David B olte r and Richard G rusin id e n tify
tw o strateg ies to w a rd s the p e rcep tion o f m e d ia te d reality as 'im m e d ia c y ' and 'h yp e r­
m e d ia c y '.12 Im m ediacy refers to fo rm s o f m e d ia tio n w h e re th e pre sen ce o f th e m ed iu m

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 Post-secular architecture

is pe rceived as invisible or transparent. V irtual reality, fo r exam ple, strive s to w a rd s

im m e d ia cy w h e re the m ed ia ting presence o f th e c o m p u te r in te rfa ce is invisible so as to
fu lly im m e rse th e user in a virtual w o rld w ith o u t distra ction . Linear p e rspe ctive also
p ro m ise s im m e d ia cy th ro u g h th e transp are ncy and in visib ility o f th e surface o f the paint­
ing, w h ic h dissolve s and p re se n ts th e v ie w e r to th e scene beyond. B olte r and Grusin
w rite : 'It is im p o rta n t to no te th a t th e logic o f tra n sp a re n t im m e d ia cy does no t necessar­
ily c o m m it th e v ie w e r to an u tte rly naive or m agical con victio n th a t th e rep rese ntatio n is
th e sam e th in g as w h a t it re p re s e n ts .'13 W h ils t th e v ie w e r is no t co m p le te ly deceived
by im m e dia cy, h o w e ve r, 'th e user is no lo ng er aw are o f c o n fro n tin g a m e d iu m , bu t
instead stands in an im m e d ia te relationship to th e c o n te n ts o f th a t m e d iu m '.14
W h e re a s im m e d ia cy a ssu m e s th e tra n sp a re n cy or n e u tra lity o f th e act o f
re p re se n ta tio n , h yp e rm e d ia cy a ckn o w le d g e s and visib ly exp re sse s th e p re se n ce o f the
m e d iu m . The stra te g y o f im m e d ia c y c o n s tru c ts th e illu so ry pe rce p tio n o f d ire c t access
to a c o n ta c t p o in t w ith u n m e d ia te d reality, w h e re a s th e stra te g y o f h yp e rm e d ia cy
a ckn o w le d g e s and e xp re sse s its in dire ct, hybrid and th u s m e d ia to ry role.
A t one level, huge d iscre p a n cie s e x is t b e tw e e n th e rea litie s o f a rch itectura l
m o d e ls and the c o m p le x ity o f bu ild in gs. G iven th e d iffe re n c e s b e tw e e n th e m , one
w o u ld e x p e c t arch ite ctu ra l m o d e ls to be pe rce ive d as h yp e rm e d ia to ry. H o w e ve r, this
is rarely th e case and th e to ta lity , th re e -d im e n s io n a lity , m a n o e u vra b ility and/or physical-
ity o f a rch ite ctu ra l m o d e ls en cou rage s th e a ssu m p tio n th a t th e m o d e l ’is' th e building.
The p e rce p tio n o f a rch ite ctu ra l m o d e ls as id eo log ica lly neutral and as o ffe rin g a p e rce p ­
tual im m e d ia cy w ith th e b u ild in gs th a t th e y re p re se n t has b e com e de ep ly e m b e d d e d
w ith in a rch ite ctu re . John M o n k w rite s th a t

a m od el o r se t o f m o d e ls o r genre pro vid e th e w a y in w h ic h spe cia lists,

such as en ginee rs, m ake sense o f reality. To join a pro fe ssio n like e n g in ­
eering in volve s b e co m in g so fa m ilia r w ith a s e t o f m o d e ls th a t th e m od els
p ro vid e the w a y in w h ic h so m e o n e o rd ers th e ir v ie w o f re a lity .15

By im p lica tio n , th e sam e can be said o f a rch ite ctu ra l m od els.

The construction of immediacy

W ith re fe re n ce to e m p irica l research, B o lte r and G rusin explain th a t th e s tra te g y o f

im m e d ia cy is a cu ltu ra lly c o n s tru c te d fo rm o f d e ce p tio n or illusion. P ho togra ph s and
lin e a r-p e rsp e ctive d ra w in g s w e re s h o w n to p a rticip ants w h o w e re u n fa m ilia r such
m edia. T hey w rite :

For th e W e s te rn e rs , p h o to g ra p h y and lin e a r-p e rsp e ctive d ra w in g are m edia

th a t are c o n s tru c te d as tra n sp a re n t. The im ages are tra n sp a re n t, h o w e ve r,
on ly because W e s te rn e rs have already learned to overlook, or 'loo k
th ro u g h ,' th e c o n ve n tio n s th a t th e y appear on paper and o ffe r a static,
m o n o cu la r v ie w . W h e n th e sam e im ages w e re handed to th e A frican

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subjects, they w e re at firs t experienced as hyperm ediated. Som e of the

subjects had never seen paper before, so that the very idea o f paper carry­
ing an image w as foreign to the m . A fte r that initial phase, w h en the sub­
je cts had adjusted and could read the im ages 'prop erly,' the media w o uld
still not necessarily be transparent in our sense, because the African sub­
je cts w o u ld not have had the op po rtu nity to build the collective response
that W estern culture now has to perspective painting, photography, and
realistic film .'6

A rchite ctural m odels are perceived as transparent and ideologically neutral because
they are understood w ith in an architectural culture that has been conditioned to 'look
th ro u g h ' or to 'o ve rlo o k' the hybrid m ateriality and hyperm ediate reality o f the m odel.
D isturbingly, this suggests that architects m ay be un kno w in gly ordering the ir vie w of
reality through deceptive and illusory media.

Abstract models

In the Production o f Space, Henri Lefebvre is critical of the w ay in w h ich architects

w o rk w ith abstractions. He says that the a rch ite ct's space (along w ith the space of
oth er experts such as tha t of urbanists and planners) is a space of calculations and
intellectual abstractions rather than a space of living subjects. He w rite s:

W ith in the spatial practice of m odern society, the arch itect ensconces
him self in his o w n space. . .. This 'conce ive d' space is th o u g h t by those
w h o make use of it to be 'tru e ', despite the fact - or perhaps because of
the fact - that it is geom etrical: because it is a m edium fo r objects, an
ob je ct itself, and a locus for the ob je ctification of plans.17

For architects, the potential problem of im m ediacy is th a t it encourages the assum p­

tion th a t the abstract reality created by the m odel (drawing or text) is synonym ous w ith
the unm ediated reality w ith in w h ich it is intended to be projected. To use Lefebvre's
w o rds, it 'fo rg e ts th a t space does not consist in the projection of an intellectual
re p re se n ta tio n '.18 The three-dim ensionality, physicality, m anoeuvrability and to ta lity of
architectural m odels increases the ten den cy fo r them to be perceived as synonym ous
w ith the building. M ediated realities are never synonym ous w ith unm ediated realities,
how ever, and architectural m odels are always, but in d iffe re n t w ays, abstract and
partial. M odels can never present a one-to-one relationship in all aspects and dim en­
sions. John M on k w rite s:

A m odel cannot trig g e r all possible stories about the m odelled ob je ct so a

m odel is in som e w a y specialised and lim ited. Of course if all the accounts
of the m odel and the ob je ct being m odelled w e re the sam e then the
objects w o uld be indistinguishable and w e m ig ht even conclude th a t they
w e re the sam e o b je c t.19

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 Post-secular architecture

W h e th e r the abstracting tendencies o f architectural m odels is problem atic in the w ay

that Lefebvre claim s is dependent upon w h e th e r the ir m ediatory role is acknow ledged
and used know ingly, or w h e th e r the strategy of transparent im m ediacy is uncritically
and unconsciously assum ed. In relation to draw ing, Jonathan Hill has w ritte n :

To con tra dict Lefebvre, the architectural draw ing does have a positive role if
Ithe] diffe re nce s and sim ilarities [be tw een the draw ing and the building] are
acknow ledged, and used know ingly. All practices need an articulate lan­
guage to develop com plex ideas and propositions before or w ith o u t their
physical application. The draw ing is a m eans to explore ideas, to develop
theories, to speculate on m atter and use, and a space in w h ich to dream
and research.20

Building a model

This discussion of m odels establishes a theoretical co n te xt fo r the author's design-

based research. This section w ill no w refer to an architectural m odel con stru cted by
the author. The m odel com prises a floo r slab and a transparent plane. The floo r slab is
con stru cted out o f m ed iu m -d en sity fibre-board and m easures 700 x 1950. T hirty-five
holes are drilled into the board in a grid pattern; each hole has a nickel-plated
neodym ium iron boron disc inserted into it. The discs are glued into position to flush
w ith the top surface o f the board and the board is lam inated w ith a m irror, w h ich is cut
to flush w ith the pe rim e te r of the flo o r slab. The transparent plane is cast ou t o f clear
po lye ste r resin and m easures 340 x 1200 x 10. W ith the length o f the plane notionally
divided into three, an elliptical m ound is centred on one of the dividing lines (see the
firs t figure below ). The m ound is not solid and has the sam e thickness as the plane so
that a continuous sm oo th surface is created, integrating both plane and m ound.
Centred on the oth er notional dividing line is a rectangular void m easuring 1 1 0 x 2 6 0
(see second figure on next page). Thirty-five nickel-plated neodym ium discs are
em bedded w ith in the thickn ess o f the resin in the sam e grid pattern as the discs in the
flo o r slab.

Bradley S tarkey ,
P ost-S ecular M o d el,
2005. M o u n d .

237
Bradley Starkey

B radley S tarkey ,
P ost-S ecular M o d e l,
2005. Void.

N eodym ium iron boron is the m ost com m o n form o f high-energy m agnetic
material. W ith a Bhm ax range of 207 to 3 2 6 k J /m 3, it has a high energy-to-unit volum e
perform ance. A p o w e rfu l m agnetic field is created above, w ith in and be lo w the floor
slab but to the naked eye the field is invisible. The m agnets are not visible either. The
transparent plane is positioned parallel to the flo o r slab w ith the neodym ium disks ver­
tically aligned and the plane levitates (see figures below).

B radley S tarkey ,
P ost-S ecular M o d e l,
2005. A fte r Rainfall.

B radley S tarkey ,
P ost-S ecular M o d el,
2005. D riftin g Sand.

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 Post-secular architecture

Bradley S tarkey ,
P ost-S ecular M o d el,
2005. R eflection.

The flo o r slab is open and accessible from all sides, and the void be tw ee n
the flo o r slab and the levitating plane fram es the horizon (see figure below ). The m ir­
rored surface produces a reflection of the levitating plane and doubles its apparent
height of levitation. The m ound is reflected in the flo o r slab and a transparent cocoon­
like enclosure is created; one half is form ed by the internal surface o f the m ound; the
oth er by its reflection. The neodym ium discs in the levitating plane are also reflected in
the floo r slab and allude to the existence of the hidden m agnets. H ow ever, th e y do not
occupy the sam e location. The real m agnets are located directly behind the surface of
the m irror; the reflected m agnets appear to be located deeper dow n.
This exercise in design-based research im p lem e nts the process of 'building
a m odel', rather than the m ore conventional and fam iliar process o f m odelling a build­
ing. The significance o f building a m odel is that it allow s the con stru ction o f a specula­
tive space in w h ich to generate design through research and through the process and
m ateriality of m aking. C onsequently, the research ou tcom e is not solely focused on
the production o f a m odel 'o f' architecture. Rather, the process itself becom es a m odel
'fo r' architecture and it suggests a m ode of production w h ere the m odel is used to
generate design ideas through the m ateriality o f m aking. The status o f the architectural
m odel is thus elevated above m ere descriptive or predictive fun ctions. Predictive
m odels all-too-often result in predictable buildings, w h ere the building is projected as a
scaled-up version of the arch itect's m odel. The technology of the levitating arch itec­
tural m odel referred to in this chapter cannot sim ply be scaled up and the m odel th e re ­
fore adopts a critical stance, inform ing architecture in m ultiple and diverging ways.

Bradley S tarkey ,
P ost-S ecular M o d el,
2005. Fram in g the
H orizon.

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Bradley Starkey

Post-secular architecture: material, intellectual, spiritual

models

This chapter has discussed the architectural m odel in te rm s o f m aterial and intellectual
dim ensions, and it has argued that the m odel has not been accorded equivalent intel­
lectual status to the draw ing. By using the m odel as a critical research tool, and one
that is capable of generating rather than m erely describing design ideas, the architec­
tural m odel can integrate a hybrid synthesis of m aterial and intellectual dim ensions.
In contem porary w e ste rn culture, how ever, both m aterial and intellectual
dim ensions are ultim ately validated by a m aterialistic m etaphysics. C ontem porary
m odels of th o u g h t are con stru cted upon hypotheses that are predom inantly secular
and rational and w h ich ultim ately pro m ote m ateriality rather than spirituality. F urther­
m ore, w e ste rn culture has generally defined the spiritual in opposition to the m aterial,
and as transcending the m aterial w o rld. M aterial things, such as w o rks of art, buildings
and architectural m odels have generally been located in the m aterial w o rld and the re­
fore disassociated from the spiritual. C o m m entin g on the relationship be tw e e n art and
divinity in the M iddle Ages, but still w id e ly reinforced by contem porary m odels of
tho ugh t, M oshe Barasch has w ritte n :

The divine is im m aterial; it has no definite, specific fo rm s; it is invisible. The

w o rk of art, on the oth er hand, is by necessity m aterial; it has definite, spe­
cific fo rm s; and it is co m p le te ly rooted in the realm of the visible and
tangible, in the field of sensuous experience.21

Post-secular reinterpretations of philosophy have recently em erged, how ever, and they
suggest a contem porary reappraisal o f the spiritual.22 In advancing the idea of the post­
secular w ith in architecture, the author has built an architectural m odel th a t is not co m ­
pletely rooted in the m aterial w o rld, but instead levitates above it. The levitating m odel
represents the au thor's interpretation of w h a t a contem porary reappraisal o f the
spiritual in architecture m ig h t be.

Notes

1 Evans, 1997, pp. 153-193.

2 Dillon, 1998, p. 51.
3 Echenique, 1970, pp. 25-30.
4 Echenique, 1970, p. 25.
5 Dillon, 1998, p. 49.
6 Monk, 1998, p. 40.
7 Perez-Gomez and Pelletier, 1997, p. 106.
8 Agrest and Allen, 2000, p. 164.
9 Evans, 1997, p. 165.
10 Hughes, 1998, pp. 11-31.
11 Hughes, 1998, p. 13.
12 Bolter and Grusin, 1999.

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 Post-secular architecture

13 Bolter and Grusin, 1999, p. 30.

14 Bolter and Grusin, 1999, p. 24.
15 Monk, 1998, p. 44.
16 Bolter and Grusin, 1999, pp. 72-73.
17 Lefebvre, 1991, p. 361.
18 Lefebvre, 1991, p. 200.
19 Monk, 1998, p. 40.
20 Hill, 2003, p. 174.
21 Barasch, 2000, p. 52.
22 Blond, 1998.

Bibliography

Diana Agrest and Stan Allen, Practice: Architecture, Technique and Representation, London:
Routledge, 2000.
Moshe Barasch, Theories o f Art: From Plato to Winckelmann, London: Routledge, 2000.
Phillip Blond (ed.), Post-Secular Philosophy: Between Philosophy and Theology, London:
Routledge, 1998.
Jay David Bolter and Richard Grusin, Remediation: Understanding N ew Media, Cambridge,
M A and London: MIT Press, 1999.
Chris Dillon. 'Constructs and Deconstructs', in Rolf Hughes and John Monk (eds), The Book
o f Models: Ceremonies Metaphor, Performance, Milton Keynes: Open University,
1998, pp. 49-67.
Marcial Echenique, 'Models: a Discussion', Architectural Research and Teaching, 1:1 (1970),
pp. 25-30.
Robin Evans, 'Translations from Drawing to Building', in Translations from Drawing to Build­
ing and O ther Essays, London: Architectural Association, 1997.
Jonathan Hill, 'Hunting the Shadow: Immaterial Architecture', Journal o f Architecture, 8:2
(2003), pp. 165-179.
Rolf Hughes, 'Second Nature: Philosophy & Performance, Metaphors & M odels’, in Rolf
Hughes and John Monk (eds), The Book o f Models: Ceremonies, Metaphor, Perfor­
mance, M ilton Keynes: Open University, 1998, pp. 11-31.
Rolf Hughes and John Monk (eds), The Book o f M odels: Ceremonies, Metaphor, Perfor­
mance, M ilton Keynes: Open University, 1998.
Henri Lefebvre, The Production o f Space, trans. D. Nicholson-Smith, Blackwell: Oxford,
1991.
John Monk, 'Ceremonies and models', in Rolf Hughes and John Monk (eds), The Book o f
M odels: Ceremonies, Metaphor, Performance, Milton Keynes: Open University,
1998, pp. 33-47.
Alberto Perez-Gomez and Louise Pelletier, Architectural Representation and the Perspective
Hinge, Cambridge, M A an d London: MIT Press, 1997.

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Specifying materials
Language, m a tte r and the conspiracy of m uteness

Katie Lloyd Thomas

The architectural draw ing replicates a prevalent but lim ited conceptualization of m ater­
ial as m atter. Here the use o f language in the poem s of Francis Ponge and in the
architectural specification open up possibilities fo r a m ore properly architectural under­
standing of m aterials.

Introduction

In his w o rk Incidents o f M irror-Travel in Yucatan (1969), the a rtist Robert Sm ithson set
up tw e lv e identical m irrors in the ground of nine very d iffe re n t sites in the Yucatan. For
Sm ithson, the m irrors stood in fo r the eyes o f the artist, and refle cte d particularly the
m aterial and tem po rality o f the landscapes in w h ich they w e re placed. The p e rfe ct blue
of the G ulf of M exico sky, sw a rm s of sw a llo w ta il b u tte rflie s caught m om e ntarily as
they fle w over a gravel heap, the sluggish m o ve m e n t of river m ud as it slo w ly cru m ­
bled over th e m .1
A photograph o f each 'd isp la ce m e n t' and S m ithso n's accom panying te xt
are all that do cu m e n t this w o rk. The refle ction s are literal absences in the im ages -
w h ite holes - but Sm ithson find s them sim ilarly d iffic u lt to capture in text. 'Ideal
language,' he w ro te , could only capture the m irrors as 'ongoing ab stra ction s'.2 Their
duration and physicality evaded representation.
M ateriality and tim e are also notoriously d iffic u lt to capture in orthographic
draw ing; an ongoing abstraction in w h ich only the form of building appears and the
m aterial is nothing but the em p tine ss b e tw e e n the lines; the unblem ished w h iten ess
of the paper or the infinite blackness o f the screen. It w as not ju st the reflections
w h ich Sm ithson could not describe. The m irrors the m se lve s displayed, he w ro te , 'a
conspiracy o f m uteness concerning th e ir very e xiste n ce '.3 O rdinary m irrors, such as
the ones he used, are pe rfe ctly and evenly silvered, and polished into disappearance.
This is of course the case fo r all m ed iu m s of representation - the ir con tribu tion to the
production o f m eaning or co n te n t is intended to go unseen.

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 Specifying materials

S m ithso n's project provides a num ber of starting points fo r this chapter. It
reveals som e of the tensions be tw e e n ideal and m aterial that occur in any form of
representation. And, despite the lim itations th a t the artist encounters, he or she tries
to find a w ay through the m by using language w h e re the im age fails. M o s t im portantly,
it lends us an easily recalled exam ple o f a form of representation - here the travelling
m irrors - w h ich, like the orthographic draw ing, rem ains con stant w h a te ve r its object.
In this chapter I id en tify and discuss an alternative strategy to the travelling
m irrors, in w h ich the form of representation does not necessarily rem ain con stant but,
instead, de flects in response to its objects. Here w e m ig ht im agine that Sm ithson
brought a d iffe re n t set of m irrors to each of his sites - som e greener perhaps, others
cloudier, another set curved and so on - and as a result the ir specific m aterialities
w o u ld be visible at least in relation to the others. This is the intentional strategy o f the
French poet Francis Ponge w h o se project w as to speak 'on the side of th in g s'. It is
also, I hope to sho w , the (unintentional) strategy used in the architectural specification
to m ake possible distinctio ns be tw ee n m aterials - as individuated from each oth er and
be tw ee n th e ir various roles in con stru ction . W hile Ponge's m edium is the 'p ro e m e ' as
he called it, rather than the clause of the specification, it also a tte m p ts to describe the
physical w o rld using w ritte n language. W hile som e of P onge's subjects could be called
'm ateria ls' - anthracite, the pebble or soap, and at a stretch w in d or m oss - m any are
manm ade or natural objects - the door, the crate, the oyster, the m im osa - and even
persons - the gym nast. They do not map neatly onto the m aterials (and com ponents)
o f the specification - concrete, plasterboard, glass (locks, cavity ties, u-bends), but as
in the specification, Ponge takes very particular care to distinguish one from the other,
and to find language that is adequate to the spe cificity of each.
In architecture, the task of describing m aterials is le ft to language, both in
the notes and annotations on draw ings and in the specification, w hich contains no
photographs, draw ings or diagram s.4 Indeed, fo r the team w h o designed the National
Building Specification (NBS) - the standardized version o f the specification that was
introduced in the UK in the 1970s and now prevails - the distinction betw een drawing
and language w as crucial. John Carter, an executive m em b er o f a co m m itte e w h o pre­
pared an early feasibility study, considered it w as essential 'to trace a boundary
betw een drawings, quantities and specification' and that certain inform ation w as 'b e tte r
expressed in w o rds than graphically'.5 Colin M cG regor, one of the team w h o produced
the original NBS and w orked on it right up until his recent retirem ent, reiterates:

You cannot draw a concrete m ix fo r exam ple. Carter is right (and w e have
been plugging this m essage since the beginning) that design in te n t cannot
ju st be expressed on draw ings . .. m uch o f the design m u st be expressed
non-graphically.6

W hile the dra w in g represents form using g e o m e try and is valued in itself, the sp e cifi­
cation is m erely a 's u p p le m e n t' to the draw ing and is not usually considered a
representation at all.7 So m aterial disappears as the invisible m edium of rep rese nta­
tion is not included as an ob je ct of representation in the draw ing, and w h e re it does

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Katie Lloyd Thomas

finally appear, in language, it is considered outside critical atte n tio n , nothing m ore
than a 'practica l', 'le g a l' or 'te ch n ica l' do cum e nt. This ne glect o f the specification
m ig h t be considered the third 'conspiracy o f m u te n e s s ' surrounding m aterial in archi­
tectural representation.
Ponge w as him self interested in the relationships be tw ee n artistic and
technical disciplines. In 1954 he w as com m ission ed by the Électricité de France to
w rite a prose piece that w o uld persuade architects to m ake m ore use o f e le ctricity and
incorporate it into th e ir designs.8 He saw him self as 'a technician o f language' acting as
'an in te rm ed iary' be tw ee n tw o categories of (intelligent!) technicians - the arch itect
and the electrician. The role of the te x t w o u ld be perhaps as 'a spark leaping be tw ee n
tw o opposite poles, separated by a hiatus in the expression only the elim ination of the
logical link allow ing the spark to flash'. His w o rk was, he w ro te , 'conceived in tw o
instalm ents, the firs t ... d istinct from the oth e r' w h ich w as to be 'w h o lly te ch n ica l'.9
Perhaps this im age o f a technical and poetic te x t side-by-side lends a precedent to this
study of the specification in relation to Ponge's poetry.

Specifying materials: a plurality of mirrors

In Jacques Derrida's interpretation o f H usserl's account o f hearing oneself think, he

concludes that a m edium o f representation m u st be at w o rk (for if it w as not present,
ho w w o u ld our ow n speech com e back to us as expression?). He im agines it as a
m irro r th a t does not intervene in the representation and m u st then be 'w ith o u t colour
o f its o w n '.10 M o d e rn ist art across the disciplines has been particularly concerned w ith
bringing the colourless m edium into visibility. Ju st as paint and gestures have been
foregrounded and canvases have been slashed in the visual arts in order to m ake the
m edium visible, som e architectural the orists have explored the fleshiness o f the line or
the graphite sm udge in architectural d ra w in g s.11 Likew ise, in literary practice, there
have been countless exp erim e ntatio ns w ith the m ateriality o f the te xt, from M allarm é
to Derrida. Language poetry and visual poetics in particular understands the w o rd as
m aterial; it has a history and has been produced, and has a m aterial presence on and in
relation to the page.12
Ponge is not a typical w rite r o f this m od ern ist enterprise, but in his concern
to find correspondences be tw e e n his te xts and the objects they describe, he does
draw atten tion to the m ateriality of both. For exam ple, in his poem 'Les M u re s' - 'ripe
blackberries' - he plays on the sim ilarity of the inkiness o f the printed te x t and the
black juice o f the fruits:

In the typographical th icke ts that go into the m aking of a poem , along a

road th a t leads neither beyond thin gs nor to the m ind, certain fru its are
form ed by an agglom eration of spheres, each filled w ith a drop of in k.13

W hile these lines succeed in connecting the absent blackberries to the printed te x t in
fro n t o f us, the m ateriality o f the te x t th a t th e y evoke is lim ited to that of the

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su b sta n ce w h ic h gives th e w o rd s p re sen ce (as vo ice does in spo ken language). For
Ponge, th is stra te g y w o u ld lim it th e use o f ad eq ua tion to o b je c ts th a t shared qu alities
w ith type . Here, m aterial is o th e r to m ea ning or fo rm , and, like H u sse rl's m irro r, it is
th e b y-p ro d u ct o f any re p re se n ta tio n . It is m a tte r con ceived in a n e ga tive relation to
fo rm and as such it is on ly eve r singular.
P o n g e 's m irro r poem 'F a b le ' is also con cern ed w ith th e m aterial o f th e
m ed iu m o f re p re se n ta tio n - th e 's ilv e rin g ' th a t a lw a ys in te rve n e s in th e re fle c tio n - bu t
in it he fin d s a range o f m eans w ith in its language to exp ress this.

Fable
Par le m o t p a r c o m m e n c e do n c ce te x te
D o n t la p re m iè re ligne d it la vérité .
M ais ce tain sous l'un e e t l'au tre
Peut-il être toléré?
C her le c te u r déjà tu ju ge s
Là de nos d iffic u lté s __

(APRÈS se p t ans de m alhe urs

Elle brisa son m iroir)

Fable
By th e w o rd b y th e n sta rts th is te x t
W h o s e firs t line tells th e tru th ,
B ut th is silvering beneath th e one and th e o th e r
Can it be to le ra te d [bo rn e /a llo w e d ]?

Dear reader, already you can judge

From th is o u r d iffic u ltie s __

(AFTER seven years o f m is fo rtu n e s

She [it} b ro ke h e r m irro i)u

Looking at th e po em in g re a te r de tail a n u m b e r o f lines o f s y m m e try b e com e apparent:

1 By | th e w o rd b y
2 By th e w o rd b y the n sta rts th is te x t | W h o se firs t line te lls th e tru th ,
3 B eneath th e one and th e o th e r

Since Ponge ad dre sses the reader directly, a fo u rth line o f s y m m e try could also be
d ra w n b e tw e e n :

4 The poem and th e reader

Ponge re m in d s us o f th e m irro r's p h ysica lity th a t a lw a ys exists b e tw e e n th e o b je c t and

its re fle c te d im age in th e line 'b u t th is silverin g b e ne ath the one and th e o th e r'. In the

firs t line w e see h o w th is silve rin g is no t able to p ro du ce an ideal re fle c tio n .15 W e can
im a gin e 'th e w o rd b y ' as th e re fle c tio n o f 'B y '. Spoken o u t loud, the tw o 'b y 's sound
th e sam e and re fle c t tru th fu lly , bu t in th e ir w ritte n fo rm , as th e y appear m a te ria lly on

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Katie Lloyd Thom as

th e page, th e y are d iffe re n t, one italicized, one capitalized. In ad dition, th e tw o 'b y 's
are no t used in th e sam e w a y - th e firs t has m ea ning in th e s e n te n c e (it is a signifier)
w h ile th e second re fe rs on ly to the w o rd as sign. The act o f re fle c tio n p ro d u ce s a
tra n s fo rm a tio n , no t a copy, and is a tab ula tion , as th e title o f th e po em su g g e sts.
In 'F a b le ' th e silverin g can no t be to le ra te d , it can no t be a llo w e d , fo r as
soon as it appears (as w h e n it be gins to flake on a m irror) th e m e ch a n ism of
re fle c tio n is revealed and no lo ng er neutral. The silverin g is e xa ctly th a t w h ic h disru p ts
id ea lity - w h e th e r o f m irro rs o r spoken and w ritte n language - and fin a lly causes the
m irro r to break.
'Fable' c o m m e n ts on th e im p o ssib ility o f a pure copy or representation, and
draw s atte n tio n again to th e 'silve rin g ' o f th e m irror and th e language o f th e poem w h ich
both m akes th e representation possible and inte rven es in it. B ut 'Fable' uses a very d if­
fe re n t set o f te ch n iq u e s to 'Les M u re s ' to render th e m irro r visible. It does no t sim ply
su b stitu te , fo r exam ple, a black type w ith a re fle ctive silver one to su g g e st th e m irror,
bu t uses th e w a y w e m ove throu gh a reading o f th e poem to co n stitu te its m ateriality,
thu s reco nfig urin g th e relationship o f the language to the object. Thus th e 'm a te ria l' of
each poem is d iffe re n t, and resists reduction to m a tte r as the carrier o f m eaning. W e
m ig h t the n say th a t Ponge w o rk s w ith 'm a te ria ls' (in th e plural) as opposed to m atter.
This d iffe re n tia tio n is also achieved in th e language o f the sp e cifica tio n .
A lth o u g h th e sp e cifica tio n is n o w divided in to s e ctio n s title d w ith le tte rs o f the alpha­
bet, and th is m ig h t su g g e st eq uivale nce b e tw e e n th e m , a clo se r look reveals th a t even
w ith in th e sam e se ctio n th e fo rm s o f d e fin itio n vary fro m clause to cla u s e .16 Clauses
do no t m e re ly repeat w ith th e nam es o f d iffe re n t m aterials o f th e ir pre fe rre d p ro p e rtie s
s u b s titu te d . T hey c o m p le te ly re co n fig u re , d e scrib in g qu ite d iffe re n t asp ects o f the
m aterial. H ere co n cre te is d e fin e d th ro u g h its d im e n sio n s, as if in a d ra w in g :

M ake up to req uire d levels un de r c o n c re te beds and pavings w ith approved

brick hardcore b ro ken to pass a 7 5 m m g a ug e 17

W h e n it is to be m ade up on-site, h o w th e c o n c re te is m ade b e co m e s its d e fin in g

cha racteristic:

M ix A - one part ce m e n t to seven parts all-in aggregate to pass a 3 8 m m sieve

M ix B - one part ce m e n t to seven parts all-in aggregate to pass a 19 m m sieve
The c o n cre te shall be prepared in an appro ved m ixer, or d e live red to site
ready m ixed to BS 5328: 1981, w ith on ly en ough w a te r added to g ive a
g o o d w o rka b le m ix 18

H ere th e c o n cre te is con sid ered in te rm s o f its c o n s titu e n t parts w h ic h th e m s e lv e s

can no t be fu lly explained in te rm s o f su b sta n ce and d im e n sio n . The a m o u n t o f w a te r is
sp e cifie d in relation to w o rk a b ility , th u s bringing th e e xp e rie n ce and ju d g e m e n t o f the
fa b ric a to r in to th e d e fin itio n .
In ord e r to sp e cify co n cre te , a n u m b e r o f d iffe re n t d e fin itio n s m u s t be
used, th a t co n sid e r it th ro u g h qu ite d iffe re n t fra m e s. In the case o f s to n e w e see h o w
th e d e fin itio n changes b e tw e e n natural and cast stone:

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F21 N A T U R A L STON E A S H LA R W A L L IN G /D R E S S IN G S
To be read w ith Prelim inaries/G eneral conditions.
TYPES OF W A L L IN G /D R E S S IN G S
110 A S H L A R ______ .
Stone:
Nam e (tradition al):______ .
P etrological fa m ily :______ .
C o lo u r:______ .
O rig in :______
F in is h :______ .
S u p p lie r:_______ .
Q uality: Free from vents, cracks, fissures, discoloration, or other
de fects adversely affectin g strength, durability or appearance. Before deliv­
ery to site, season thoroughly, dress and w o rk in accordance w ith shop
draw ings prepared by supplier.
M ortar: As section Z21.
M ix : ______ .
S a n d :_______ .
O th er re q u ire m e n ts :______ .
B o n d :______ .
Joints: Flush.
W id th : ______ m m .
P o in tin g :______ .
F e a tu re s:______ . I . . ]
F22 CAST STON E A S H LA R W A L L IN G /D R E S S IN G S
To be read w ith Prelim inaries/G eneral conditions.
TYPES OF W A L L IN G /D R E S S IN G S
110 CAST S T O N E ______ .
Cast Stone Units:
M a n u fa c tu re r:_______ .
P roduct R e fe re n c e :______ .
A bsorption: As c la u s e ______ .
C om pressive streng th: To BS 1217.
Cube strength:
Average (m in im u m ):______ .
Single (m inim um ): N ot less th a n ______ .
F in is h :_______ .
C o lo u r:______ .
M ortar: As section Z 21.
M ix : ______ .
S a n d :______ .
B o n d :_______.
Joints: Flush.
W id th :_______ .
P o in tin g :______ .
O th er re q u ire m e n ts :______ .19

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Katie Lloyd Thom as

The clause fo r natural sto n e sp e cifie s its source. It is id e n tifie d by ge og raph ic origin
and its ge ological c la ssifica tio n . The cast ston e, h o w e v e r, w h ic h is pro du ced, not
sim p ly e xtracte d, is id e n tifie d by a m a n u fa c tu re r and refere nce .
By using d iffe re n t fo rm s o f d e fin itio n , th e sp e cifica tio n is able, like P on ge’s
poetry, to d iffe re n tia te b e tw e e n m aterials, and does n o t tre a t m aterials as su b stitu ta b le .
Such a d iffe re n tia tio n at th e level o f language enables m aterials to appear in language,
and in th e ir plurality. The language o f th e sp e cifica tio n m ay the n o ffe r a w a y o f w ritin g
a rch itectura l m aterials th a t escapes th e ir con cep tu alizatio n as instances o f m atter.

Specifying materials: the performings of mirrors

Perhaps in part because w e im agine th e m fillin g th e w h ite blanks o f th e d ra w in g , it is

easy fo r a rc h ite c ts to th in k o f m aterials as surface e ffe c ts th a t are q u ite su b stitu ta b le .
In th e ir a rg u m e n ts a b o u t fo rm and m a tte r, p h ilo so p h e rs o f h ylo m o rp h ism also assu m e
m aterials to be s u b s titu ta b le . Bronze is th e typica l m aterial used to d e m o n s tra te the
c o n c e p t o f p rim e m a tte r, fo r it can be m e lte d d o w n to be tra n s fo rm e d in to any fo rm ,
and is in its e lf fo rm le s s . In fact, it is th e p a rticular plastic p ro p e rtie s o f bronze th a t
m ake it e xe m plary. A s ta tu e m ade o f charcoal w o u ld d isin te g ra te in to a pile o f useless
d u s t if w e tried to tra n sfo rm its shape. W h e n A ris to tle s h o w s th a t a sph ere can be
m ade in any m a te ria l w e w ill no t d o u b t him , bu t he does no t c o n sid e r th e p ro p e rtie s of
its m aterial. A ping pong ball m ay have fo rm a l sim ila ritie s to a cannonball, b u t it is
clearly d istin g u ish e d by th e p ro p e rtie s o f its m a te ria l and th e w a y it behaves.
In 'F a b le ', Ponge m ake s th e m irro r appear - b u t he also brings the opera­
tio n s o f th e te x t - p rin te d and spoken - to o u r a tte n tio n at th e sam e tim e . W e are co n ­
fro n te d at once w ith th e m irro r th ro u g h its op e ra tio n s and w ith the m ea ns o f its
re p re se n ta tio n . Ponge does no t really d e scrib e th e m irro r or th e re fle c tio n s as a
re p re se n ta tio n m ig h t. Instead, th e te x t p e rfo rm s th e op e ra tio n s o f th e m irro r. Ponge
m ake s th e te x t re fle ct, and pro du ce re fle c tio n s as a m irro r does. He d ra w s th e rea de r's
a tte n tio n to th e act o f reading, by ad dre ssing the m d ire ctly, by playing b e tw e e n the
te x t as spo ken and as w ritte n , and by lite ra lly b o u n cin g you around th e te x t. In the
seco nd line he sen ds you back to th e firs t. The last w o rd nam es th e m irro r so you
return to th e s ta rt to re v ie w th e poem in th e lig h t o f th is in fo rm a tio n and so on. W e
m ig h t say th a t th e te x t en acts th e o b je c t and language b e co m e s so m e th in g o th e r than
a sim p le m irror.
In his long poem 'Faune e t F lora', Ponge fin d s a re latio nship b e tw e e n the
vo ice le ss n e ss o f w o rd s and le tte rs in th e m s e lv e s and th a t o f plants:

T hey have no voices. T hey are all b u t paralyzed. T hey can on ly a ttra c t a tte n ­
tion by th e ir po stures.
For all th e ir e ffo rts to 'e x p re s s ' th e m s e lv e s , th e y m e re ly rep ea t the
sam e e xp ression, th e sam e leaf, a m illio n tim e s . . . th e y th in k th e y 're break­
ing in to a p o lyp h o n ic can ticle , b u rstin g o u t o f th e m s e lv e s .20

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The te x t its e lf repeats lines and phrases, ad eq ua ting th e rep lica tion o f th e leaves
Ponge is in te re s te d in, and d ra w in g o u r a tte n tio n m o re to th e rh yth m and re p e titio n o f
th e language than to its m ea ning. Ponge c o n ce n tra te s on w h a t po em , plant and m irro r
do, fin d in g w a ys o f using language th a t could co rre sp o n d to his o b je c t w ith o u t n e ce s­
sary reco urse to its appearance or fo rm . This stra te g y o f e n a c tm e n t in volve s a s h ift
fro m th e th in k in g a b o u t o b je cts as fo rm e d and in e rt to c o n sid e rin g th e m in te rm s o f
th e w a ys th e y act in tim e .
The sp e cifica tio n (at least since th e 1930s, and in cre a sin g ly since the
1960s) also reveals an e m p h a sis on th e m a te ria l's behaviour, as op p o se d to its appear­
ance, as w e saw in the clause fo r cast sto n e th a t id e n tifie s ab so rp tio n and c o m p re s ­
sive stre n g th . S urprisingly, perhaps, m y tra w l th ro u g h th e NBS revealed only a couple
o f e xa m p le s w h e re th e m a te ria l's appearance is de scrib e d - one co n ce rn in g kn o ts in
w o o d e n flo o rb o a rd s, and a n o th e r ab o u t th e te x tu re o f b ru s h w o rk fo r in tu m e s c e n t paint
- hardly a m ajor issue fo r a rc h ite c tu re . A w h o le range o f p e rfo rm a n ce fa c to rs , such as
th e rm a l and a co u stic tra n s m itta n c e , solar and lig h t co n tro l or resista nce to th e rm a l
stress, m ay be im p o rta n t fo r a m aterial such as glass:

H10 PATENT GLAZING

371 H E A T C O N SER VATIO N
A verage th e rm a l tra n s m itta n c e (U-value) o f p a te n t g la z in g :______
391 SO LAR A N D LIG H T CO NTRO L
Glazing pa ne s/ un its: M u s t have:
Total solar e n e rg y tra n s m is s io n o f norm al in c id e n t solar radiation
(m a x im u m ):______ .
Total lig h t tra n s m is s io n (m in im u m ):______ .
401 TH E R M A L SAFETY
Glazing pa ne s/ un its: M u s t have adeq ua te resista nce to th e rm a l
stre ss ge n e ra te d by o rie n ta tio n , shading, solar co n tro l and co n s tru c tio n .
411 A C O U S T IC PROPERTIES
Sound tra n s m itta n c e : M in im u m w e ig h te d sound re d u ctio n index
(Rw) w ith in 100 to 31 5 0 Hz fre q u e n c y range to BS 5 8 2 1 - 3 :______ .
L o c a tio n :______ .21

W h ile th e a rch ite ctu ra l d ra w in g d e fin e s w h a t is sta tic and p e rm a n e n t in th e building,

th e sp e cifica tio n un d e rsta n d s both th e m a te ria ls o f th e b u ild in g and th e o b je c t th e y
c o n s tru c t as c o n s tru c tio n s in th e m s e lv e s th a t are pu t to g e th e r in s p e c ific w a ys, and
have a life th a t p re ce d e s and exce ed s th e m o m e n t o f th e ir a rticu la tio n in th e sp e c ific a ­
tion . T hey even have a duration w h ile on -site (including e n dless clauses fro m ve ry early
on and increasingly, o b se ssive ly, a b o u t p ro te c tin g m aterials on-site, p la ste r in specially
b u ilt dry sheds, co ve rs on tim b e r flo o rs once laid and so on), and a fte r th e y have been
b u ilt in te rm s o f h o w th e y w ill p e rfo rm - p re ve n tin g a certain sound tra n sm issio n , p ro ­
te c tin g fro m fire fo r a certain tim e and so on.
The hylom o rp hic schem a sets form up as active and m a tte r as m e re ly inert.
W ith in its te rm s o f reference, m a tte r does no t act and is outside duration. This w a s

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perhaps the lim it th a t S m ithson could n o t ge t beyond w h e n he tried to describe the

m irrors th e m se lve s. P onge's strateg y o f e n a ctm e n t, and the perform ance specification
understand m aterials in th e ir capacity to act, and th e re fo re in tim e . Thus the se docu­
m e n ts provide an alternative con cep t o f the m aterial that is able to em brace th e ir co n sti­
tu tio n and th e ir capacity to co n tin u e to e ffe ct, long a fte r th e building process is com p le te .

A language of materials

Clearly th e sp e cifica tio n m u s t also be m o re 'p ro p e rly ' read along Foucauldian lines as
an in s titu tio n a l p ro d u ct th a t in tu rn rep lica tes the in s titu tio n .22 A nd indeed, as the use
o f the NBS b e co m e s standard pra ctice and has y e t m ore d o m in a n t re p ro d u ctive
p o w e r, m an y o f th e a m b ig u itie s and p e cu lia ritie s o f th e sp e cifica tio n th a t have been
m e n tio n e d here are being ironed out. A cco rd in g to M cG rego r, th e NBS is in te n d e d
n o w to d e scrib e 'w o rk in place', i.e. th e fin ish e d re su lt rathe r than th e pro cess of
a ch ie ving it.23 The re ce n tly d ig itize d version o f th e NBS a llo w s you to 'fill in th e blanks'
fro m a list o f given cho ice s, re in tro d u cin g th e p rin cip le o f m a te ria ls as s u b s titu ta b le . By
m aking th e in sertio n o f c u s to m iz e d clauses e x tre m e ly c u m b e rs o m e , it re in fo rce s stan­
dard pra ctice and re stricts o th e r p o ssib ilitie s.
B u t if w e a lw a ys pass ove r th e sp e cifica tio n because it is 'ju s t' a tech nica l
or legal d o c u m e n t, w e m aintain the 'co n sp ira cy o f m u te n e s s ' co n ce rn in g m aterials in
a rc h ite c tu re . D e spite its po e try, P on ge 's language is e x tre m e ly pre cise , even dry, and
strive s fo r o b je c tiv ity th a t he is also aw are can ne ver be achieved:

(L lyricism in general d istu rb s m e. T hat is, it se e m s to m e th a t th e re is

so m e th in g to o su b je ctive , a d ispla y o f s u b je c tiv ity w h ic h appears to m e to
be unpleasant, slig h tly im m o d e s t. I be lie ve th a t th in g s - h o w can I say it -
th a t e m a na te fro m yo u r s u b je c tiv ity sho uld no t be displayed. N aturally, one
never does an ythin g bu t th a t.24

In th is w a y, it lends its e lf to a co m p a riso n w ith th e te ch n ica l language o f th e sp e cifica ­

tio n w h ic h , in turn, m ay be read as an open te x t. B ut th e re is m ore at stake in th is par­
allel reading than a p o eticizing o f th e sp e cifica tio n . I hope to have m ade a case fo r
so m e co n ce p tu a l p o ssib ilitie s th e s p e cifica tio n m ig h t o ffe r. W h e re S m ith s o n 's m irro r
tra ve ls hold up id en tical m irro rs to a m yriad o f site s, th e sp e cifica tio n , in c o m m o n w ith
P on ge 's prose po etry, uses language in a va rie ty o f w a ys to hold up d iffe re n t m irro rs to
d iffe re n t m aterials, even to th e sam e m aterials taking up d iffe re n t roles in th e building
process. In th is w a y, I su g g e st, th e language o f th e sp e cifica tio n is a m e d iu m in w h ic h
'm a te ria ls ' in th e plural can be d e scrib e d as op p o se d to 'm a tte r' in th e singular. A nd if
w e look clo sely at th e language o f m aterials, w e disco ve r th a t its d e fin itio n s m ove
beyond the co n c e p t o f in ert, passive m a tte r; th e y are d e fin e d as active and te m p o ra l.
A lth o u g h th e d ra w in g tre a ts m aterial th ro u g h th e p re va le n t h ylo m o rp h ic m od el - as
th a t w h ic h is fo rm e d - th e sp e cifica tio n o ffe rs a version o f m aterials th a t can no t be
con ta in e d by th e co n c e p t o f m a tte r and reveals its inadequacies. In th e sp e cifica tio n

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 Specifying materials

w e begin to id en tify a m odel of m aterials th a t is properly architectural and m ore ade­

quate to the discipline.
In his T e x t on E lectricity' Ponge suggests that there m ay be productive
relations be tw ee n architecture 'e le c tric ity ' and poetry. Here a literary analysis of a te ch ­
nical te x t challenges the 'conspiracy o f m u te n e ss' concerning m aterials in architecture
and, through these strange operations, finds w a ys to thin k about m aterials th a t escape
th e ir co n fin e m e n t to a con cep t o f m atter.

Notes

Thanks here to Martin Mulchrone and Jim Randell at DLG Architects, to John Gelder and
Colin McGregor at the NBS, and to Andrew Leach for their responses to my questions and
to the RIBA archive for access to their specifications.

1 See Smithson, 1996, pp. 119-133. For the most interesting discussion of material
and mirror in Smithson's work see Shapiro, 1995.
2 Smithson, op. cit., p. 122.
3 Ibid., p. 124.
4 There is no one 'specification', and when I use the term it is in the most general
sense and normally means 'as w e use now in the UK'. In the eighteenth-century
specifications, layout drawings are som etim es included in the document, and in later
examples one does sometimes see sketches - usually marginalia and 'outside' the
text. W hether the diagrams and drawings that appear as hyperlinks in the online NBS
are inside or outside the text is a more complex question!
5 Carter, 1969, p. 760.
6 Colin McGregor, email correspondence w ith the author, 14 February 2005.
7 Bowyer, 1985, p. 9.
8 See Leach, 2002, pp. 35-49 for a fascinating discussion of this text.
9 Ponge, 'Text on Electricity', http:www.electronetw ork.org/articles/ponge, transcribed
from Ponge, 1979, pp. 156-212.
10 This discussion of Husserl's argument in Ideas / follow s Jacques Derrida's interpreta­
tion. Derrida suggests that Husserl uses a mirror analogy to account for this medium,
but that this mirror m ust be ideal. See Derrida, 1973, p. 118.
11 See her collaborative project enlarging the lines of an ordnance survey map in Ingra­
ham, 1991, p. 69 and Justine Clark's piece on the material 'underside' of the drawing,
Smudges, Smears and Adventitious Marks.
12 See, for example, Silliman, 1995.
13 Selected Poems, 1998, p. 15. Translation of this poem by C.K. Williams.
14 Translation based on Sorrell's, 1981. p. 118, w ith minor changes.
15 Here I disagree w ith Sorrell's analysis that this line 'offers perfect sym m etry' (op. cit.).
16 The alphabetic structure of the specification has its origins in an earlier division into
trades, and eighteenth-century specifications are divided by the storeys of the building.
17 Jack Bowyer, op. cit., p. 55.
18 Ibid., p. 57.
19 NBS, 2004, F21, F22.
20 Op. cit., p. 71. Translation of this poem by Margaret Guiton.
21 NBS, op. cit., H10.
22 For an excellent summary of these issues, raised particularly in the work of Michel
Foucault and Gilles Deleuze, see Lecercle, 2002.

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Katie Lloyd Thomas

23 Colin McGregor, email correspondence w ith the author, 6 March 2006.

24 Ponge, interview in Gavronsky, 1969, p. 37.

Bibliography

Aristotle, Metaphysics, trans. Hugh Lawson-Tancred, London: Penguin, 1988.

Jack Bowyer, Practical Specification Writing, London: Hutchinson and Co., 1985
Jack Carter, 'National Building Specification', in The A rchite cts' Journal Information Library,
19 March 1969.
Justine Clark, Smudges, Smears and Adventitious Marks. Online, available from:
www.architecture.auckland.ac.nz/publications/interstices/i4ATHEHTML/papers/clark
(accessed 30 April 2004).
Jacques Derrida, Speech and Phenomena, trans. David Allison, Evanston: North W estern
University Press, 1973.
Serge Gavronsky, Poems and Texts: an Anthology o f French Poems, Translations and Inter­
views, New York: Random House, 1969.
Catherine Ingraham, 'Lines and Linearity: Problems in Architectural Theory', in Drawing
Building Text, Andrea Kahn (ed.), New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1991.
Andrew Leach, 'Electricity, W riting, Architecture', Mosaic, 35/4 December 2002, pp. 35-49.
Jean-Jacques Lecercle, Deleuze and Language, Basingstoke: Palgrave-Macmillan, 2002.
NBS, National Building Specification: Standard Version (Update 38), London: RIBA Enter­
prises Ltd, 2004.
Francis Ponge, The Pow er o f Language: Texts and Translations, ed. and trans. Serge
Gavronsky, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1979.
------ Francis Ponge: Selected Poems, Margaret Guiton (ed.), London: Faber and Faber,
1998.
------ 'Text on Electricity'. Online, available from : ww w.electronetw ork.org/articles/ponge
(accessed 8 October 2006).
Gary Shapiro, Earthwards: Robert Smithson and A rt A fte r Babel, Los Angeles: University of
California Press, 1995.
Ron Silliman, The N ew Sentence, New York: Roof Books, 1995.
Robert Smithson, Robert Smithson: the Collected Writings, Jack Flam (ed.), Los Angeles:
University of California Press, 1996.
Martin Sorrell, Francis Ponge, Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1981.

252
Architecture as
im a g e -s p a ce -tex t
B etty Nigianni

Introduction

A poem by Sylvia Plath provides a basis fo r con tem plation on the in te rtw in in g relations
be tw e e n 'space', 'im ag e' and 'te x t' and on how they m ig h t inform architectural
representation in a critical way. Departing from a fra m e w o rk that sees an essentially
em p athe tic and inter-productive relation be tw e e n space and the subject, this chapter
discusses the engagem ent of architectural representation w ith visuality and textuality,
reconsidered, how ever, through a poeticising subjectivity. D raw ing from Benjam in,
Bachelard and Lacan, I argue that the role of visuality in spatial experience should be
reconsidered beyond conventional optics, but instead in te rm s o f 'im a g e s' th a t derive
from psychic activity. In this sense, 'im a g e ' refers to an e n d o w m e n t of architectural
space w ith a subjective quality; visuality, the re fore, im plies a certain creative engage­
m en t w ith the object. Such a perspective holds interesting im plications fo r arch itec­
tural representation. From a 'te x t' to be 'read', som e th in g to be gazed at from a certain
v ie w p o in t, architecture becom es som ething that interacts w ith the subject, making
im possible its representation in the conventional sense. There is no 're a lity' to be
represented, but an ongoing interaction b e tw ee n 'o b je c t' and 'su b je ct', 'architectural
space' and 'user', producing each tim e a d iffe re n t 'te x tu a lity ' that allow s m eaning to be
reconstructed over and over; and so a d iffe re n t 'spatia lity' that provides a terrain
fo r the sub je ct's transfo rm a tion . I then suggest that architecture is retho ug ht as a
'hybrid' created ou t of m ateriality, narratives and psychic space - w h a t I call
'im a g e -s p a c e -te x t'; and th a t architectural representation does not sim p ly recreate, but
rather creates that hybridity. Engaging w ith a variety o f sources, such as the visual
arts, film or literary narratives, could be a w ay to do this. By addressing the sub je ct's
reality and so m e h o w w eaving it into the design process, architectural representation
w ill m ake critical architecture possible.
A ccepting an em p athe tic and inter-productive relation be tw e e n space and
the subject, this chapter discusses the involvem ent of architectural representation w ith
visuality and textua lity reconsidered through sub je ctivity and poetic im agination. 'Tale

253
Betty Nigianni

o f a Tub', a poem 'w ritte n from the b a thtub' by Sylvia Plath1 accom panies, interrupts,
highlights, juxtaposes the discussion. The poem is, how ever, not analysed or in te r­
preted. I have not treated the poem as a 'repre sen ta tion ' in the conventional
sense, but as a fra m e w o rk, w h ich enabled m y reflections to develop. As the
chapter sets ou t to argue, representation cannot be lim ited to the re-creation or inter­
pretation o f a reality; to represent is essentially to create ne w spaces fo r critical
experience and practice.

Architecture as im age-space-text

Current visual theory and practice have been m uch preoccupied w ith a reconceptuali­
sation o f vision and visuality, and have stressed the necessity o f postm odern
representation to go beyond the 'objective ', focused m od ern ist vision, to em brace
issues o f subjectivity. Critiques of m odern m odels o f representation have specifically
attacked 'Cartesian p e rspe ctivalism ', m ainly fo r its separation o f sub je ct and object,
w h ich renders the firs t transcendental and the second inert, recreating a bipolarity of
subject and object that sustains m etaphysical tho ugh t, em pirical science and capitalist
logic;2 as visual th e o rist and artist V ictor Burgin argues, 'th e image of the convergence
of parallel lines to w a rd a vanishing point on the horizon becam e the very figure of
W estern European global econom ic and political am b itio n s'.3 Critics o f perspectivalism
rejected the consideration of perspective as em pirically true and universally valid, and
instead th e y tried to de m on stra te how it is a 'sym bolic fo rm ', in con sistent and discon­
tinuous as any oth er m odel of representation. A concern about sig ht as a historical and
social fa ct has the re fore developed; as art critic Hal Foster argues, there has been an
e ffo rt 'to 'socialise vision' and to 'indicate its part in the production of su b je ctivity'.4 In
addition, draw ing from the Lacanian dialectic of the gaze, a thinking on vision's ow n
production as part o f in te rsub jectivity has fu rth e r con tribu te d to th a t dialogue.
In this context, vision and visuality have been addressed as involving - if w e
w e re to make any distinctions - body, psyche and mind together. A lthough a difference
b e tw ee n the tw o term s has been sustained, w ith vision related to sight as a physical
operation, and visuality considered as a social con stru ct related m ore to m ental images
rather than to w h a t is visible to the eye, that difference has been constantly challenged.
In The Visible and the Invisible, M aurice M erleau-Ponty recognised the guide of Plato's
'idea' in the eye and m ade a point about m ental im ages originating in the realm o f the
senses; inspired by M erleau-Ponty, Jacques Lacan in his turn stressed the im portance
of the role of visual im ages in the w o rking s o f the hum an mind.
Such a rethinking of vision and visuality has inevitably been integrated w ith
a rethinking of spatiality. If perspective is but a m odel o f perceiving and constructing
the w o rld, then there is m ore than perspectival space. Instead o f the universal and
stable e n tity envisaged since the E nlightenm ent, space has been gradually reconsid­
ered in term s of the sub je ct's experience and production; from the Kantian a priori, it
has m oved closer to the Freudian extension of the psyche.

254
 A rchitecture as im a g e -s p a c e -te x t

The p h o to g ra p h ic c h a m b e r o f th e eye
reco rds bare p a in te d w a lls, w h ile an e le ctric light
flays the ch ro m iu m nerves o f p lu m b in g raw ;
such p o v e rty assaults th e ego; cau gh t
naked in the m e re ly actual room ,
th e s tra n g e r in th e lavatory m irro r
pu ts on a public grin, repeats o u r nam e
b u t scru p u lo u sly re fle c ts th e usual te rro r.5

W a lte r B enjam in o b serve d a c o n n e ctio n b e tw e e n th e hum an m in d and a rch itectura l

space th ro u g h a fo rm o f 'p h o to g ra p h ic ' im a g e .6 In A B erlin C hronicle, he re co lle cts his

c hildh oo d m e m o rie s o f Berlin largely as tableaus, 's tre e t im a g e s' as he nam es th e m .
T hese are sna p sh o ts o f th e physical fa b ric o f th e c ity in ve ste d w ith a personal sense o f
m e a n in g .7 For B enjam in, visu a lity has an im p o rta n t part in th e pro cess o f co m in g to
te rm s w ith space and it is fo rm e d by a kind of, in his o w n te rm s , 'u n co n scio u s o p tic s ':8

N o th in g p re v e n ts o u r keeping roo m s in w h ic h w e have sp e n t tw e n ty -fo u r

hours m ore or less clearly in our m e m o ry , and fo rg e ttin g o th e rs in w h ic h
w e passed m o n th s . It is not, th e re fo re , due to in s u ffic ie n t exp osu re tim e if
no im age appears on th e plate o f re m e m b ra n ce . M o re fre q u e n t, perhaps,
are the cases w h e n th e h a lf-lig h t o f habit de nies the plate th e necessary
lig h t fo r years, un til one day fro m an alien sou rce it fla sh e s as if fro m
b urning m ag n e siu m p o w d e r, and n o w a sn a p sh o t tra n s fix e s th e ro o m 's
im age on th e p la te .9

This im p rin tin g o f arch ite ctu ra l spaces o n to th e m in d, sim ila r to th e ca m e ra 's 's n a p ­

s h o t', is no t d e p e n d e n t upon th e ph ysics o f co n ve n tio n a l op tics: bu ild in gs are e x p e ri­

enced as a series o f p ictu re s taken o u t o f a de ep ly personal p h o to g ra p h ic album .
'Im a g e ' plays a vital role in G aston B ach elard's th in kin g on a rch itectura l
space. Bachelard sees spatial e xp erience as being fo rm e d by 'im a g e s ' w ith a localising
q u a lity th a t c o m e b e fo re th o u g h ts and o u t o f psych ic a c tiv ity .10 In The P o e tics o f
Space, roo m s, even ch e s ts and d ra w e rs, are dre am e d, im a gin ed or re m e m b e re d ;
spatial e xp e rie n ce is no t a rch ite ctu ra l in th e co n ve n tio n a l sense, m uch less g e o m e tri­
cal, b u t in ste ad occu rs th ro u g h im a ge s th a t relate 'to an a rch e typ e lying d o rm a n t in the
de p th s o f th e u n c o n s c io u s '.11 A lth o u g h th e B achelardian 'p o e tic im a g e ' is less optical
and m o re p ro to typ ica l than B e n ja m in 's 's n a p s h o t', it s till evo kes a spatial visu alisin g
th a t bears a personal, 'in tim a te ' as Bachelard calls it, d im e n sio n .
In th is co n te xt, and fo r bo th B enjam in and Bachelard, 'im a g e ' re fe rs to an
e n d o w m e n t o f a rch ite ctu ra l space w ith a 's u b je c tiv e ', psychical quality, v isu a lity th e re ­
fo re im p lie s a crea tive e n g a g e m e n t w ith th e 'o b je c tiv e ' w o rld o f a rch ite ctu re . B enjam in
argues th a t w e exp e rie n ce o u r e n v iro n m e n t go in g th ro u g h a certain pro cess o f id e n tifi­
cation w ith it. In his essays 'O n th e m im e tic fa c u lty ' and 'D o c trin e o f th e sim ila r', he
de scrib es th a t pro cess as 'm im e s is ', using th e te rm no t in th e P latonic sense o f a c o m ­
p ro m ise d 'im ita tio n ' o f an original, bu t ra th e r in th e psych oa na lytic sense o f a crea tive

255
Betty Nigianni

em pathising w ith the o b je c t.12 For Benjam in, the ability to id en tify w ith and assim ilate
to the en viro nm en t refers to a constru ctive reinterpretation that goes beyond m ere
im itation and becom es a creative act in its e lf.13 In that perspective, vision operates on
a w h o le new level: B enjam in's phrase, 'For I w as there . .. w h en I ga zed ',14 describing
his experience of looking at postcards and feeling instantly transported into the places
they depicted, describes a creative interchange be tw e e n spatiality and visuality. M o re ­
over, 'im a g e ' in its com m o n usage as 'im ita tio n ', referring to an analogical representa­
tion, a re-presentation, an ultim ate resurrection o f an object, is subverted to be
associated w ith im agination and a poeticising subjectivity.

Ju st how gu ilty are w e w h en the ceiling

reveals no cracks th a t can be decoded? w h en w a sh b o w l
m aintains it has no m ore holy calling
than physical ablution, and the to w e l
dryly disclaim s that fierce troll faces lurk
in its exp licit folds? or w h en the w in d o w ,
blind w ith steam , w ill not ad m it the dark
w h ich shrouds our prospects in am biguous sha do w ?15

From a 'te x t' to be 'read' then, som e th in g to be gazed at from a certain vie w po in t,
architecture becom es som e th in g that interacts w ith the subject. Reading oneself into
architecture and seeing oneself reflected in architecture renders architectural
experience a discursive process w ith obvious im plications fo r architectural representa­
tion. A t this point, I thin k th a t Lacan's account o f visuality becom es im portant. His
the ory o f the 'gaze' or 'loo k', w h ich presupposes th a t the ob je ct w e are looking at
looks back at us, im plies also a certain m im e tic a ttitu d e to w a rd s the e n viro n m e n t.16
But further, Lacan's idea of an 'I' th a t is 'ph o to -g ra p h e d '17 to som e e xte nt by a w o rld of
inanim ate objects, apart from reco nstitutin g the subject as a being that exists 'in the
spectacle of the w o rld ',18 it m arks a m ajor sh ift in representation. As Lacan claims:

W hen I am presented w ith a representation I assure m yse lf that I know

quite a lot about it, I assure m yself as a consciousness th a t know s tha t it is
only representation, and that there is, beyond the thing, the thing itself;
behind the phenom enon, there is a noum enon. . . . In m y opinion, it is not in
this dialectic be tw ee n the surface and that w h ich is beyond that things are
suspended. For m y part. I set ou t from the fact th a t there is som ething that
establishes a fracture, a bi-partition, a splitting o f the being to w h ich the
being accom m odates itself, even in the natural w o rld .'19

In the se term s, there is no 're a lity' to be represented, but rather an ongoing interaction
b e tw ee n 'o b je ct' and 'su b je ct', 'a rch ite ctu re ' and 'user'. As vision becom es susce pti­
ble to subjectivity, seeing from a point o f vie w that is alw ays related to an ob je ct
becom es inadequate; instead, representation should so m e h o w provide us w ith a
Lacanian 'loo k', w h ich, as visual th e o rist Colin M acCabe argues,

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 A rchitecture as im a g e -s p a c e -te x t

is n o t d e fin e d by a scie nce o f o p tic s in w h ic h th e eye fe a tu re s as a g e o m e t­

rical po in t, b u t by th e fa c t th a t th e o b je c t w e are lo okin g at o ffe rs a po sitio n
fro m w h ic h w e can be looked at - and th is look is n o t pu n ctu a l b u t s h ifts
over th e su rfa ce .20

T w e n ty years ago, th e fa m ilia r tub

bred an a m p le patch o f o m e n s; b u t n o w
w a te r fa u c e ts sp a w n no danger; each crab
and o cto p u s - scrabbling ju s t b e yon d th e vie w ,
w a itin g fo r so m e accide ntal break
in ritual, to strike - is d e fin ite ly gone;
th e a u th e n tic sea de nies th e m and w ill pluck
fa n ta s tic fle sh d o w n to the h o n e st bone.

W e take th e plunge; un de r w a te r o u r lim bs

w a ve r, fa in tly green, sh u d d e rin g aw ay
fro m th e g e nu ine co lo u r o f skin; can our dream s
e ve r blur th e in tra n sig e n t lines w h ic h draw
th e shape th a t shu ts us in? ab so lu te fa ct
in tru d e s even w h e n th e revo lted eye
is closed; th e tu b e x is ts behind o u r back:
its g litte rin g su rfa ce s are blank and tru e .21

R e p re se n ta tio n in th a t sense p ro d u ce s a d iffe re n t 'te x tu a lity '. w h ic h no t

o n ly a llo w s m ea ning to be re co n s tru c te d o ve r and over, b u t fu rth e r re c o n s titu te s the
s u b je c t as a te rrito ry fo r tra n s fo rm a tio n . A re p re se n ta tio n in fo rm e d by th e gaze o f the
O th e r is a critica l re p re se n ta tio n ; it su b ve rts C artesian space to open up th e tra n s c e n ­
d e ntal space o f th e relation to th e O th e r.22 The in tru sio n o f th e o th e r th a t m akes o f the
s e lf a spe ctacle or o b je c t in relation to th a t o th e r is acco m pa nie d by a radical d e c e n ­
trin g o f th e su b je ct; and, alth ou gh in Lacan th a t d e ce n trin g ta ke s th e fo rm o f a th re a t­
ening annihilatio n, in certain 'a lte rn a tiv e ' scop ic re g im e s, as art histo ria n N orm an
B ryson p o in ts out, is c e le b ra te d .23 The s u b je c t's a c k n o w le d g e m e n t o f its e lf in n o n ­
c e n tre d te rm s b e co m e s a w a y o f e m p a th isin g w ith th e w o rld , and in B e n ja m in 's
te rm s , it is th ro u g h e m p a th y th a t w e can, if n o t fully, u n de rsta nd the oth er.
W h a t is im p o rta n t to no te here, as fa r as it c o n c e rn s a rc h ite c tu ra l
re p re s e n ta tio n , is th a t, fo r B achelard, e m p a th y is fu rth e r a m a tte r o f a c c e p tin g spa­
tia lity . The re la tio n o f th e s e lf to th e o th e r, w h a t B achelard calls 'tra n s s u b je c tiv ity ',
ha pp en s in th a t in -b e tw e e n space w h e re b o u n d a rie s g e t fuzzy, w h e re , as he
o b s e rv e s , 'in s id e and o u ts id e are n o t a b an do ned to th e ir g e o m e tric a l o p p o s itio n '.24
The fe a r o f living w ith o u t a 'g e o m e tric a l h o m e la n d ', in 'a m b ig u o u s s p a c e ' o f no clear
d is tin c tio n b e tw e e n in sid e and o u ts id e , re fe rs to a ce rta in m is re c o g n itio n o f th e
spa tial c o n tin g e n c y o f life . B achelard arg ue s, h o w e v e r, th a t a t th e level o f th e p o e tic
im age th is is a vo id e d ; th ro u g h th e im a ge , th e re is a un io n 'o f a pure b u t s h o rt-live d
s u b je c tiv ity and a re a lity w h ic h w ill n o t n e c e s s a rily reach its fin a l c o n s titu tio n ',25 th a t
e n ab les a kind o f u n d e rs ta n d in g o f th e s e lf and o th e r th ro u g h each o th e r.

257
Betty Nigianni

In this particular tub, tw o knees ju t up

like icebergs, w h ile m inute brow n hairs rise
on arm s and legs in a fringe o f kelp; green soap
navigates the tidal slosh of seas
breaking on legendary beaches; in faith
w e shall board our im agined ship and w ild ly sail
am ong sacred islands o f the mad till death
shatters the fabulous stars and m akes us real.26

It is becom ing obvious so far that critical architectural representation, in term s of

opening up architectural space to the su b je ct's experience, inte rpre ta tion and trans­
form atio n, cannot escape to address issues of visuality and te xtu a lity as discussed
above. For this, it w ill have to go beyond a rch itecture 's geom etrical physicality, to
recognise it as a 'h yb rid ' created ou t o f m aterial and psychic space, im ages and poetic
narratives; and furthe r, beyond sim p ly re-creating, reflecting architecture, to creating
that 'h yb rid ity' and so critical environm ents. D raw ing from a variety of sources, such as
the visual arts, film practice or literary narratives, could be a w ay to do this. A part from
the obvious by no w w ish to draw links be tw ee n visuality, space and narratives, my
play on Roland Barthes' term 'im age space te x t' in the title o f this chapter intends to
point out possible sim ilarities be tw ee n architectural design and film practice, in term s
o f com bining to g e th e r a variety of elem ents, w h ich are perhaps w o rth exploring. A
num ber o f architectural the orists, such as Juhani Pallasmaa, lain Borden and, m ore
recently and m ore extensively, Jonathan Hill have pointed to w a rd s that direction. But
also a num ber o f practising architects have experim e nted w ith a variety of m aterials as
part of th e ir design process. Niall M cLaughlin has w o rke d w ith visual im ages, inspired
by paintings or literature, as w e ll as w ith narratives, eith er from the clie n t's ow n brief
or from the history of the site, to com e up w ith an actual design proposal.
Such practices introduce new system s of visual and spatial representations,
w h ich so m e h o w refle ct 'a historical transition from the representational priority of
"s u rfa c e " to that o f " in te rfa c e " ',27 rendering architecture from an 'o b je ct', a built
'th in g ', to 'a set o f flo w s ', 'a set of experiences and re p ro d u ctio n s'.28 To do so, they
so m e h o w bring into spatial representation 'th e su b je ct's psychical rea lity';29 instead of
the Latin im ago o f im itation, they draw m ore from the Freudian im ago of 'unconscious
rep rese ntatio n' and im agination.30 As this chapter has set out to dem onstrate, critical
representation cannot escape an engagem ent w ith subjectivity. In this way, the search
fo r alternative visualities, spatialities, architectures, w ill not foreclose difference but,
rather, keep it at play.

Notes

1 Plath, 1981, p. 275.

2 Foster, 1988, p. 10.
3 Burgin, 1996, pp. 148-149.

258
 Architecture as im age-space-text

4 Foster, 1988, p. 9.
5 Plath, 1981, p. 24.
6 Leach, 2000, p. 28.
7 Ibid., p. 28.
8 Benjamin, 1992, pp. 230-231.
9 Benjamin, 1979, pp. 342-343.
10 Casey, 1998, p. 287.
11 Bachelard, 1994, p. xvi.
12 As discussed by Freud, the joke communicates through acertain empathising w ith
the subject of the joke, which takes place in the imagination.For Freud, that kind of
mimesis implies a creative engagement w ith the 'object' and could be of potential
significance for aesthetics. See Freud, 1976.
13 Leach, 2000, pp. 30-31.
14 Benjamin, 1978, p. 328.
15 Plath, 1981, p. 24.
16 In 'The split between the eye and the gaze', Lacan refers extensively to Roger Cail­
lois' account of 'm im icry' in nature. In Lacan, 1994, pp. 73-74.
17 Lacan, 1994, p. 106.
18 Ibid., p. 75.
19 Ibid., p. 106.
20 MacCabe, 1985, p. 67.
21 Plath, 1981, p. 25.
22 Lacan, 1994, p. 119.
23 Bryson, 1988, p. 104.
24 Bachelard, 1994, p. 230.
25 Ibid., p. xix.
26 Plath, 1981, p. 25.
27 Burgin, 1996, p. 157.
28 Borden, 2001, p. 6.
29 I further refer here to Victor Burgin's call for an introduction of 'psychical reality' into
spatial representation in order to keep upw ith our apprehension of spacein post­
modernity; and his observation that 'attention to psychicalreality calls for apsychical
realism - impossible, but nevertheless . .. ' In Burgin, 1996, p. 56.
30 Laplanche and Pontalis, 1973, p. 211.

Bibliography

Gaston Bachelard, The Poetics o f Space, Boston: Beacon Press, 1994.

Roland Barthes, Image M usic Text, London: Fontana Press, 1977.
W alter Benjamin, Reflections, New York: Schoken Books, 1978.
W alter Benjamin, One-way Street, London: Verso, 1979.
W alter Benjamin, Illuminations, London: Fontana Press, 1992.
lain Borden, Skateboarding, Space and the City: Architecture and the Body, Oxford and New
York: Berg, 2001.
Norman Bryson, 'The Gaze in the Expanded Field', in Hal Foster (ed.), Vision and Visuality,
Seattle: Bay Press, 1988.
Victor Burgin, In/Different Spaces: Place and M em ory in Visual Culture, Berkeley, Los
Angeles and London: University of California Press, 1996.
Edward S. Casey, The Fate o f Place: a Philosophical History, Berkeley, Los Angeles and
London: University of California Press, 1998.

259
Betty Nigianni

Hal Foster, 'Preface', in Hal Foster (ed.), Vision and Visuality, Seattle: Bay Press, 1988.
Sigmund Freud, Jokes and their Relation to the Unconscious, London: Penguin, 1976.
Sigmund Freud, The Standard Edition o f the Complete Psychological Works o f Sigmund
Freud, vol. XXII (1932-1936), London: Vintage, 2001.
Sigmund Freud, The Standard Edition o f the Complete Psychological Works o f Sigmund
Freud, vol. XXIII (1937-1939), London: Vintage, 2001.
Jonathan Hill, Actions o f Architecture: Architects and Creative Users, London and N ew York:
Routledge, 2003.
Phillip Hill, Lacan for Beginners, London and New York: W riters and Readers Publishing,
1997.
Jacques Lacan, Ecrits: a Selection, London: Routledge, 1989.
Jacques Lacan, The Four Fundamental Concepts o f Psychoanalysis, London: Penguin
Books, 1994.
Jean Laplanche and Jean-Bertrand Pontalis, The Language o f Psychoanalysis, London:
Karnac Books, 1973.
Neil Leach, 'W alter Benjamin, Mim esis and the Dreamworld of Photography', in lain Borden
and Jane Rendell (eds), Inter/Sections: Architectural Histories and Critical Theories,
London and New York: Routledge, 2000.
Colin MacCabe, Theoretical Essays: Film, Linguistics, Literature, Manchester: Manchester
University Press, 1985.
Niall McLaughlin, 'A Royal Gittern from the British M useum ', presentation at the conference
Material M atters: M ateriality in Contemporary Architectural Practice and Theory,
School of Architecture and the Visual Arts, University of East London, 2004.
Niall McLaughlin, Niall McLaughlin Architects Profile. Online, available at: w w w .niallm -
claughlin.com/Profile.html (accessed 13 September 2006).
Harry Francis Mallgrave and Eleftherios Ikonomou, Empathy, Form and Space: Problems in
German Aesthetics, 1873-1893, Santa Monica: The Getty Centre for the History of
A rt and the Humanities, 1994.
Maurice Merleau-Ponty, The Visible and the Invisible, Evanston: Northwestern University
Press, 1968.
Juhani Pallasmaa, The Eyes o f the Skin: Architecture and the Senses, London: Academy
Editions, 1996.
Sylvia Plath, Collected Poems, London: Faber and Faber, 1981.

260
Acts of imagination and
reflection in architectural
design 1
Peg Rawes

Introduction

A rchite ctural designers are required to develop conceptual and critical skills about the
urban, environm ental, social and cultural design con texts tha t inform th e ir design
processes. In addition, these skills are inform ed by the individual's p o w e rs of ju dg e­
m ent, w h ich connect th e ir ideas to broader design con texts. A rchite ctural designers
are the re fore required to develop the ability to 're fle c t' upon a range of cultural
inform ation, to g e th e r w ith the processes, techniques and products that are involved in
the discipline. Furtherm ore, the ability to actively em body these ju dg em en ts in the
design process directly inform s his or her ability to generate an architecture, w h ich
're fle c ts ' the needs of the relevant social, environm ental and cultural contexts, as w e ll
as the design co n te xt in w h ich he or she w o rks. W e m ig h t the re fore call this process
're fle ctive thin kin g'. R eflective thinking underpins the design processes of drawing,
thinking and m odelling the built en viro nm en t, and the de sig ner's personal experience
o f architectural and urban space.
This discussion exam ines the nature of these relationships w ith reference
to Kant's theories of the im agination and the reflective subject in the C ritique o f Ju d g ­
m e n t (1790). In particular, I develop a discussion about refle ctive and im aginative th in k­
ing, w h ich generate technical and aesthetic understandings of the m aterial, cultural
and theoretical relationships th a t co n stitu te architectural design. I argue th a t Kant's
're fle ctive sub je ct' enables these discussions about aesthetic and technical thinking in
design, especially w ith respect to the role o f ge om e try. Developing out of this argu­
m ent, I consider ho w the processes o f im agining and reflecting (i.e. reflective ju dg e­
m ent) operate in the act of draw ing, and in the experience o f visiting a particular spatial
art installation in a contem porary m odern-art m useum .
In the firs t section, I outline Kant's theory o f reflection in order to highlight
ho w it is valuable fo r a discipline th a t requires both g e om e tric and spatial know ledge
as part of its design processes, and to indicate how it in fo rm s the processes of
draw ing, experiencing and thinking about architectural design. I then develop the

261
Peg Rawes

discussion to argue that Kant's the ory is intrinsically concerned w ith the production of
aesthetic experiences o f space by exam ining the role of the im agination in relation to
g e om e tric p o w e rs of refle ctive thinking. The im agination is the re fore significant
because it enables the reflective designer to engage in ae sthetic and technical m odes
o f spatial th in kin g .2
Kant's the ory is interesting fo r architects because it pro m otes the im p or­
tance of an individual's ability to refle ct as part of the production of aesthetic and te ch ­
nical ju dg em en ts. In particular, his the ory of the im agination reveals th a t ge om e tric
thinking and ge om e tric relationships are inherently connected to the designer's reflec­
tive and ae sthetic pow ers. In this respect, g e om e try in architectural design is integral
to the aesthetic or reflective process because it is both a technical (e.g. a form of
scie ntific or engineering know ledge) and an em bodied (e.g. an im aginative) activity.3
W hen understood as an exam ple of both the technical and the aesthetic construction
o f space, reflective ju d g e m e n t the re fore offers the designer an enriched understanding
o f g e om e tric thinking.

Reflective thinking

In the firs t introduction to the Critique o f Judgm ent, Kant highlights the difference
be tw ee n refle ctive thinking versus the individual's p o w e rs o f reasoning and under­
standing. R eflective ju d g e m e n t is a special kind o f thinking available to the individual
because it is the ability to produce relationships be tw ee n the individual, or a particular
experience, and the w o rld. Kant gives tw o descriptions o f its pow ers: first, it is 'the
ability to reflect, in term s of a certain principle, on a given presentation so as to [make]
a concept possible', and second, it is 'th e ability to determ in e an underlying concept by
m eans of a given em pirical pre sen ta tion '.4 R eflective ju d g e m e n t is the re fore d istin ct
from reasoning (the ability to de term in e the particular through the universal) and under­
standing (the ability to cognise the universal (i.e. rules)). Instead, the individual gener­
ates ju dg em en ts about the w o rld through his or her 'ability to sub sum e the particular
under the universal'.5 So, in the relationship be tw ee n the individual and the particular
experience, the reflective sub je ct is able to generate a d istin ct set of ju dgem ents,
w h ich are m ore im p ortan t than conceptual form s of know ledge or reasoning. There­
fore, in a design context, this m eans the designer's p o w e rs o f reflection m ay be m ore
significant in the process of developing a specific and original ju d g e m e n t than his or
her pow ers o f conceptual understanding or reasoning.
Furtherm ore, Kant's exam ination of ho w the reflective subject engages
w ith the w o rld highlights the im portance o f the ‘process' o f con stru cting ju dg em en ts
because he draw s a tten tion to the relationship b e tw ee n reflective thinking and aes­
th e tic ju dg em en ts. R eflective ju d g e m e n t is not m erely a cognitive form of thinking, but
is a special kind of em bodied thinking, w h ich is also generated by the individual's
p o w e rs o f feeling or em otions. R eflective ju d g e m e n t the re fore represents a special
kind of aesthetic activity, in w h ich the relationship be tw e e n the individual and the

262
 Acts of im agination and reflection

w o rld is developed ou t o f his or her p o w e rs of thinking and feeling. As such, it repre­

sents a 'subjective relation' (rather than an objective, logical or m echanical relationship)
in w h ich aesthetic ju dg em en ts are subjective, ye t also technical (i.e. techne) pow ers
derived from nature.6 For Kant, then, the p o w e r to think refle ctively is itse lf an aes­
th e tic activity. In addition, he em phasises the im portance of the 'te chn ical' po w e r of
thinking in 're fle ctive ju d g m e n t' w h ich connects the subject and the w o rld, rather than
a harm ony tha t is produced through a 'm echa nical' or instrum ental 's c h e m a '.7 Kant
also stresses th a t a new kind of au tono m y is established in the individual because it
reflects the 'purp osivene ss' o f nature; that is, a certain kind o f agency is granted w hich
is neither 'm e re ly subjective, restricted to the sensibility o f the individual, or exclusively
c o g n itive '.8 Thus, he defines this as 'a ju d g m e n t' w h ich he calls 'an AESTHETIC ju d g ­
m e n t o f re fle c tio n '.9
M oreover, the relationship be tw ee n the individual and the w o rld is em pha­
sised in the im portance Kant gives to the act of m aking ae sthetic ju dg em en ts, so that
procedures tha t m ig h t previously have been defined as de term in ed concepts (e.g. the
architectural diagram or plan) becom e understood as 'aesth etic acts'. As a result,
scie ntific or technical procedures, such as geom etry, becom e understood as 'te chn ical'
fo rm s o f aesthetic activity. Spatial and g e om e tric ju dg em en ts becom e defined in term s
o f th e ir ability to express the pow ers of the sensing, refle ctive subject and his or her
experiences in the w o rld, not in te rm s o f the ir status as concepts or abstract ideas.
Central to reflective ju d g e m e n t's pow er, the re fore, is its ability to generate relations in
the form of an 'aesth etic o f fee lin g'. This is especially evident in the capacities of the
im agination to provide connections be tw e e n a ju d g e m e n t or idea and the objects to
w h ich it relates, the re by enabling the exploration o f an 'a rtistic and technical' (i.e. aes­
thetic) understanding of geom etry.
Kant's d e finition o f refle ctive thinking in relation to the oretica l and practical
fo rm s o f ge o m e tric figu ratio n provides a link b e tw e e n the ae sthetic act o f draw ing
and the technical con stru ction o f a ge o m e tric figu re; fo r exam ple, in the s h ift from
hypothesising a ge o m e tric figure ou t o f an axiom to the act o f dra w in g ou t a g e o m e t­
ric figure. In the next section I explore this refle ctive thin kin g to su g g e st tha t g e o m e ­
try is not m erely conceived as a scie n tific discipline, harbouring rational and idealised
fo rm s of know ledge, but is reco nn ected to its pro pe rties o f ae sthetic m anufacture
and con stru ction .

Imagination and geometric thinking10

In th is sectio n I con sid er th e w a y in w h ich the a c tiv ity of dra w in g plans, sectio ns,
lines, etc., are a e sth e tic a ctivitie s th a t involve the im agination opera ting as a
te ch n iq u e or tool w ith in th e event. I explore a com m o n experience o f dra w in g in
a rch itectura l education in relation to K ant's analysis o f the im a g in a tio n 's p o w e rs to
su g g e st th a t the im agination is in trinsic to the tech nica l and a e sth e tic processes
o f designing.

263
Peg Rawes

Im agine a s tu d e n t s ittin g at a desk, d ra w in g th e sectio n fo r a housing

p ro je c t in N e w ca stle , on th e n o rth -e a st coa st o f Britain. In a p u rely m a th e m a tica l
a cco u n t o f th is activity, the pro ced ure o f g e o m e tric d ra w in g - o f d e fin in g w a lls, b o u n d ­
ary lines, flo o rs, ceilings, w in d o w s , doors, cladding, exte rn al gro un d, fo u n d a tio n s, load-
bearing beam s and so on - m ig h t fo cu s on th e a tte n tio n to th e co rre ctio n and erasure
o f lines, th e un d e rsta n d in g and a d ju s tm e n t o f angle, line or degree o f curva tu re. The
a c tiv ity m ig h t be takin g place using a co m p u te r, a C AD -cam package in w h ic h th e p lo t­
tin g o f lines and th e d ire ctio n o f in te n tio n and de cisio n is c o n d u cte d th ro u g h the
m a n o e u vre s o f th e m o u se in th e hand. H o w e ve r, in each case, a lim ite d g e o m e tric
a cco u n t w ill o m it th e e m b o d ie d a c tiv ity o f th is person d ra w in g fro m its d e scrip tio n of
th e event.
R e-im agine th e scen e: she is s ittin g at her desk at 7 .3 0 a m in th e m orn ing .
It's cold and so she has dragged th e d u v e t ove r fro m th e bed to her chair and is
w ra p p e d up in it. For th e firs t 15 m in u te s she looks ove r th e w o rk she le ft a t 8.30 pm
last night, de cid ing w h ic h lines and spaces can stay, and w h ic h w ill have to be
red ra w n . There is a pro blem w ith th e s ta irw e ll and a cce ss to th e block o f fla ts. A c c o rd ­
ing to th is scale o f 1:100 she n o w realises tha t, on a 1:1 scale, each stair w o u ld be 1.5
m e tre s high. This w ill be th e firs t area o f th e sectio n th a t w ill have to be erased and re­
dra w n . She goes d o w n th e hall to th e kitche n to m ake th e firs t o f several very strong ,
hot, s w e e t c o ffe e s th a t she w ill drink ove r th e n e x t fo u r hours. B u t it is also th e day
b e fo re her s tu d io re v ie w in w h ic h she w ill be a sse ssed by a gro up o f tu to rs (som e
kn o w n , o th e rs not), and so th e d ra w in g w ill be, in part, a d ra w in g o f adrenaline, m ixing
desire, an ticip a tio n , w o rry and c o n ce n tra tio n in th e process. Thus, her use o f th e
in s tru m e n ts and to o ls o f c o n s tru c tin g spaces, w h ic h range fro m physical in s tru m e n ts -
such as pens, pe ncils, rulers, erasers, co m p a sse s, set-squ are s, c o m p u te r s o ftw a re ,
ha rdw are, m ou se and keyboard - to th e p o w e rs o f her im a gin atio n, w ill all be handled
in the c o n te x t o f th e se fee lin gs.
The d ra w in g has b e co m e an e n a c tm e n t o f g e o m e tric fig u re s, planes and
spaces th a t are im b u e d w ith th e traces o f e m o tio n a l pre ssure , strain, relief, te n sio n
and change. A pro cess th a t in volve s skills ranging fro m th e ab ility to con cep tu alise,
analyse, evaluate, dra w , c o n ce n tra te , apply d e x te rity , m an ip ula te in s tru m e n ts , focu s,
apply editorial co n tro l, and th e ab ility to keep o u t-o f-m in d th e a n ticip a tio n o f th e fo llo w ­
ing day. G e o m e try has b e co m e an a c tiv ity th a t is in h e re n tly c o n s tru c te d o u t of
a e s th e tic exp e rie n ce , so th a t g e o m e tric fig u re s b e co m e linked to th e re fle c tiv e p o w e rs
o f th e individual sub je ct. The e ve n t m ig h t be called an am algam , a re fle c tiv e
's u b je c t-fig u re '11 or an 'e v e n t-d ra w in g ' in w h ic h th e re la tio n sh ip b e tw e e n th e d ra w in g
and th e individual re p re se n ts a series o f p ro ce sse s or reasoning in a rch ite ctu ra l design.
In th e firs t in tro d u c tio n o f th e C ritique o f J u d g m e n t Kant e xa m in e s th e
p o w e rs o f th e im a g in a tio n in relation to g e o m e tric th in kin g . He argues th a t th e indi­
v id u a l's p o w e rs o f re fle c tio n (i.e. re fle c tiv e ju d g e m e n t) bring to g e th e r th e im a gin atio n
and te ch n ica l ju d g e m e n ts in th e act o f d ra w in g g e o m e tric fig u re s. In a s u p p le m e n ta ry
no te to th is passage, he also e m p h a sise s th e a e s th e tic p o w e r o f th e im a gin atio n in the
act, w h e n he w rite s :

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 Acts of im agination and reflection

This pure and, p re cise ly because o f th a t pu rity, s u b lim e , scie nce o f g e o m e ­

try se e m s to co m p rise so m e o f its d ig n ity if it co n fe sse s th a t on its e le m e n ­
ta ry level it needs in s tru m e n ts to c o n s tru c t its co n ce p ts, even if on ly tw o :
com p ass and ruler. T hese c o n s tru c tio n s alone are called g e o m e tric , w h ile
th o se o f high er g e o m e try are called m echanical, because to c o n s tru c t th e
co n ce p ts o f h igh er g e o m e try w e need m o re c o m p le x m ach in es. Y et even
w h e n w e call co m p a ss [Zirkel] and ruler [Lineal] (c ircin u s e t regular) in s tru ­
m e n ts , w e m ean no t the actual in s tru m e n ts , w h ic h could ne ver produce
th o se fig u re s [circle and (straight) line] w ith m a th e m a tica l pre cisio n, bu t
on ly th e s im p le s t w a y s [th ese fig u re s can] be e xh ib ite d by o u r a p rio ri
im a gin atio n, [a p o w e r] th a t no in s tru m e n t can e q u a l.12

So th e im a gin atio n tra n s fo rm s th e o re tica l g e o m e tric ideas in to 'p ra ctica l and em b o d ie d

actio ns in th e in dividu al'. For Kant, th e im a gin atio n is a p ro d u ctive p o w e r th ro u g h
w h ic h ideas and fe e lin g s are g e ne rated . It is a c o n s titu e n t in 're fle c tiv e th in k in g ' w ith
th e p o w e r to ge ne rate both a e s th e tic and te ch n ica l ju d g e m e n ts , in clud in g the p ro d u c­
tio n o f practical g e o m e tric th in kin g . T h e re fo re , if w e re fle c t on the im age o f the
s tu d e n t d ra w in g , w e are able to see h o w g e o m e try is tra n s fo rm e d fro m th e o re tica l
reason (idea) in to a series o f actions, in s tru m e n ts or e n a c tm e n ts , w h ic h c o n s titu te the
d iffe re n t fo rm s o f 'p ra c tic a l' or applied g e o m e tric m e th o d s . Im p o rta n tly, it is th e im a g i­
n a tio n 's p o w e rs th a t pro vid e the c o n d u it fo r th is passage, fro m th e 'p u re ' g e o m e tric
relations to th e te ch n ica l acts o f a rtis tic p ro d u ctio n , so th a t each is b ro u g h t in to
h a rm on y w ith th e oth er, e sta b lish in g h e te ro g e n e ity in g e o m e tric thin kin g.
In c o n tra s t to s c ie n tific u n d e rsta n d in g s o f space and g e o m e try , in w h ic h the
'te c h n ic a l' p ro ced ures are separated fro m th e 'a e s th e tic ' a cts o f pro du cing g e o m e tric
fig u re s ,13 th is d iscu ssio n su g g e sts th a t K ant's re fle c tiv e su b je c t m aintains th e c o n n e c ­
tion b e tw e e n a e s th e tic and te ch n ica l actio ns. As a result, a d iscu ssio n ab o u t g e o m e tric
'te c h n iq u e s ' can be re th o u g h t because th e y are asp ects o f th e re fle c tiv e su b je ct, no t
exte rn al c o n s tru c tio n s o f 'id e a l' s c ie n tific tru th s . Space and g e o m e try th e re fo re
b e co m e e m b o d ie d in th e actio ns o f th e d e sig n e r as she d ra w s. T hey are h e te ro ­
ge n e o u s relatio ns in th e pro cess o f d ra w in g , th ro u g h w h ic h th e s tu d e n t's a e s th e tic
p o w e rs o f reasoning, ju d g in g and im a gin in g are tra n s fo rm e d in to m en ta l, sen sory and
bodily actio ns. K an t's final C ritique s h o w s th a t idealised or h o m o g e n e o u s em p irica l
fo rm s o f g e o m e try are tra n s fo rm e d in to a e s th e tic a cts in th e re fle c tiv e de sig ner. G eo­
m e tric pro ce d u re s, in s tru m e n ts and fig u re s c o n s tru c te d by th e im a g in a tio n do n o t re p ­
re se n t ob je ctive fo rm s o f pre-given kn o w le d g e . Rather, th e y are te ch n ica l and
a e s th e tic a ctio n s th a t are p ro du ced by th e d e s ig n e r's p o w e rs o f im a gin atio n. In turn,
g e o m e tric d ra w in g and g e o m e tric th in kin g are e m b o d ie d and re fle xive processes
because th e y e xp ress th e d e s ig n e r's p o w e rs o f co n s tru c tio n .

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Peg Rawes

Feeling magnitude

In th is part o f th e discussion I con sid er h o w th e in dividu al's im agination operates in the

exp erience o f a co n te m p o ra ry spatial and a e sth e tic eve nt. I explore th e installation by
th e a rtist, O lafu r Eliasson, in ord er to d ra w a tte n tio n to th e p o w e r o f th e im a gin atio n in
th e co n stru ctio n o f the p ro je c t's spatiality. The exp erience o f visitin g th e art installation,
The W e a th e r P ro je ct (2 0 0 3 -4 ),14 w h ic h Eliasson w a s c o m m is s io n e d to m ake fo r the
Tate M o d e rn in London, high lig hts the w a ys in w h ic h re fle ctive ju d g e m e n t enables
em b o d ie d spatial ju d g e m e n ts to be m ade by th e d e sig n e r w h e n he or she engages w ith
m od ern a rch ite ctu re as part o f the process o f visiting a co n te m p o ra ry art m u se u m .
The W e a th e r P ro je c t co n siste d o f a large re p re se n ta tio n o f a y e llo w sun
(m ade up o f hund reds o f s o d iu m -y e llo w lig h tb u lb s used fo r lig h tin g stre e ts), w h ic h w as
re fle c te d fro m a su sp e n d e d m irro r o n to th e flo o r o f th e T urbine Hall in th e m u se u m .
S m oke ge n e ra to rs pro du ced a fin e m is t th a t fille d th e hall to sim u la te a fo g g y, balm y
day, and re su lte d in visito rs s ittin g o r lying on th e floo r, as if bathing in su n lig h t, or
playing w ith th e ir re fle c tio n ge n e ra te d by th e m irro r on th e ceilin g o f th e Hall.
This s im u la tio n o f an e n v iro n m e n t in w h ic h visito rs re sp on ded as if th e y
w e re in an o u td o o r space (yet w ith th e kn o w le d g e th a t it is a rtificia lly crea te d inside a
co n te m p o ra ry art m u se u m ) h ig h lig h ts h o w th e e xp erience o f a m od ern art in sta lla tion
can involve th e v is ito r in m aking re fle c tiv e ju d g e m e n ts . In particular, its illu so ry use of
th e sen sory, m e te o ro lo g ic a l qu alities o f lig h t and w a te r vap ou r enable a co n caten atio n
o f g e o m e tric and spatial a w a re n e ss to be ge n e ra te d th ro u g h th e c o m b in e d sen sory
p e rce p tio n o f th e physical space o f th e in sta lla tion and th e g e o m e tric d im e n s io n s of
th e bu ild in g in w h ic h it is housed. The v is ito r fo rm s re fle c tiv e and spatial ju d g e m e n ts in
a n u m b e r o f w a ys, pa rtly because o f th e c o n flu e n ce b e tw e e n th e large internal g e o ­
m e tric scale o f th e re co n d itio n e d in du strial bu ild in g, and its co n te m p o ra ry c o n te x t as a
m o d e rn art m u s e u m , co m b in e d w ith th e e xp e rie n ce o f in ha bitin g an in sta lla tion th a t
sim u la te s th e external, c lim a tic e n v iro n m e n t o f a la te -m o d e rn in d u stria lise d city. M o re ­
over, if w e c o n sid e r th e e xp e rie n ce in th e c o n te x t o f h o w th e im a gin atio n pro du ces
e m b o d ie d g e o m e tric kn o w le d g e and spatial e xp erience , g e o m e try is ge n e ra te d by th e
v is ito r's ju d g e m e n ts o f th e d iffe re n t scales th a t th e y 'fe e l' b e tw e e n th e ir o w n body
and th e physical, g e o m e tric d im e n s io n s o f th e T urbine Hall. Thus, th e v is ito r m akes
in te rn a lly ge ne rated ju d g e m e n ts a b o u t th e m a g n itu d e o f space, and g e o m e try sh ifts
fro m being an in te lle ctu a l branch o f m a th e m a tica l reasoning in to ju d g e m e n ts th a t are
fo rm e d by an in d ivid u a l's fe e lin g s .15
In addition, a co n tra stin g set o f ju d g e m e n ts or fe e lin g s a b o u t m a g n itu d e are
also e v id e n t th a t are d e rive d fro m th e s im u la tio n o f being im m e rs e d in the lim itle ss,
exte rn a l e n v iro n m e n t and horizon. The v is ito r's fe e lin g o f th e p o te n tia l lim itle s s n e s s in
th e m a g n itu d e o f the e n v iro n m e n t c o n tra d ic ts th e real lim its o f the b u ilt a rch ite ctu ra l
space o f th e m u se u m and th e m aterial a rtifice o f th e in sta lla tion , w h ic h g e n e ra te s a
d yn a m ic fe e lin g o f g e o m e tric m a g n itu d e . T h e re fo re , g e o m e tric reasoning is also
in volve d in th e a e s th e tic e xp erience , because it c o n s tru c ts th e v is ito r's a w a re n e ss of
bo th th e a rch ite ctu ra l p ro p o rtio n s o f th e space and his or her e xp erience o f th e art

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installation inside the m useum . Consequently, g e om e tric space is produced as a result

o f the individual's sensory aw areness of the d iffe re n t scales o f the physical space of
the m useum , the installation and his or her body. An em bodied experience or cognition
is generated in the m useum visitor, underlining m y discussion that refle ctive thinking is
not 'ju s t' produced through intellectual cognition or understanding. Rather, it is derived
from an individual's feelings and aesthetic ju dg em en ts. The experience also represents
an ae sthetic analogy of Kant's the ory of the sublim e, in particular in the individual's
experience of the 'in co m pre hen sib le' dynam ic be tw e e n scale and quantity.
The im agination's ability to produce refle ctive ju dg em en ts occurs partly in
Kant's explanation of the sublim e; fo r exam ple, in his exam ination of ho w the im agina­
tion c o n stitu te s a link be tw ee n the sub je ct and the transcendental sublim e w h e re he
highlights the boundaries or lim its in this relationship, in particular. He explores tw o
versions o f this relationship; first, by explaining ho w the im agination subsum es form al,
m athem atical and external concepts into an internal state of 'a gita tion ' and sensation in
its a tte m p ts to cognise the m agnitude o f the sublim e. Second, the m ental agitation
that results from the individual's a tte m p ts to understand the sublim e, and the
inevitable failure to do this, produces an 'in te n sive ' kind of boundary be tw e e n the
reflective su b je ct's feelings of pleasure and displeasure. Here, then, the im agination's
activities represent the boundary b e tw ee n the desire to understand the unknow able,
and the failure to do so, w h ich generates the dialectical feelings o f pleasure and
excess versus displeasure and fear in the experience.
Thus, by em phasising the im portance of 'a ctivity' in the im agination's
a tte m p ts to com prehend the division of the sublim e into m athem atical or 'sublim e
ob je cts', the im agination's contribution is show n in the 'm ental agitation' that it under­
takes in the production o f its judgem ents, aesthetic cognitions or desires.16 The im agi­
nation is the re fore significant fo r the individual because it enables space and geom etry
to becom e em bodied, rather than m erely being cognitive ideas. G eom etric space is con­
structed, not through the production o f geom etric concepts, but in the 'm ovem ent
b e tw e e n ' feelings o f pleasure and displeasure that are experienced by the individual.
Kant's the ory of the im agination is therefore central to his theory o f reflective judge­
m ent. This aesthetic form of thinking enables the individual designer to make judge­
m ents about the w o rld by m eans o f his or her em bodied pow ers or feelings. First, the
individual's experiences of engaging w ith built architectural spaces are revealed to be
intrinsically linked to the processes and pow ers of the im agination. In addition, the
designer's pow ers of im agination represent a technique or tool in the process, therefore
show ing the im agination is both a technical ju dg em en t the designer uses in the process
of drawing space, and an aesthetic po w e r th a t links him or her to the built environm ent.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I am suggesting that the architectural design process involves the

designer in m aking real m aterial and physical links be tw ee n abstract ideas and

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em bodied experience, challenging the perception th a t the im agination, and the spaces,
fo rm s and ideas that it generates, are always inadequate, insubstantial or confused
versions o f pure theoretical ideas. The im agination is the re fore a particularly im p ortan t
kind o f em bodied thinking and designing, through w h ich the arch itect is able to con­
stru ct im ages {drawings, m odels, renders, etc.) that have a m aterial, aesthetic, cogni­
tive and technical value.
The im agination and reflection are the re fore intrinsic to architectural design,
w h e n re-evaluated as part of the critical tools th a t w e use to draw , think, discuss and
experience arch itecture as designers and users. C onsequently, draw ings, m odels and
the sub je ct's inhabitation o f the built e n viro nm en t represent m aterial con stru ction s of
an 'e m b o d ie d ' (not a disem bodied) reason. The relationship b e tw ee n architectural
design and the im agination is reconfigured so that its products becom e understood as
m aterial expressions of the process o f refle ctive thinking in design. In addition, the
activities of the im agination are an expression o f the em bodied su b je ct's pow ers of
production; it is a technical procedure that generates sensory relations b e tw ee n the
individual and the w o rld. The reflective self is 'b o th ' the ae sthetic experiences in
the sensing designer, and the technical con stru ction of g e om e tric figures, challenging
the suggestion th a t g e om e tric figures are alw ays products of d e te rm in istic scie ntific
procedures. Rather, in the refle ctive designer, the aesthetic and technical expressions
o f g e om e try are brought to g e th e r into a reflexive, thinking and perceiving agency.

Notes

1 This chapter is a version of a paper titled, 'Reflective Subjects in Kant and Architec­
tural Design Education', in the Journal o f Aesthetic Education, Spring 2007, Volume
41, no. 1, University of Illinois Press, 2007.
2 There are key differences between the powers of the imagination in Kant's first crit­
ical text, the Critique o f Pure Reason (1781/1789), and in his final critical text, the Cri­
tique o f Judgment. In the former, the imagination is seen as 'regulatory', i.e. it does
not have the power to create legitimate, autonomous ideas. However, in the latter, it
is considered to be 'productive' because it is able to produce legitimate content in
thinking.
3 Geometry and mathematics are given different values in the Critique o f Pure Reason.
Here, Kant is concerned w ith determining the 'forms of knowledge', not the subject's
powers of thinking or acting, so that mathematics and geom etry are 'external form s'
of knowledge, not internal or embodied modes of thinking in the subject. In addition,
space and tim e are limited to 'sense-perceptions' for the individual not 'proper' forms
of knowledge, like geometry and mathematics. Therefore, geometry is a pure but
disembodied intuition, and space is a limited embodied form of sense-intuition.
4 Kant, 1790/1987, 2117399.
5 Kant, 1790/1987, 2027391.
6 Kant, 1790/1987, 2147402.
7 Kant, 1790/1987, 212-37400-1.
8 Kant, 1790/1987, 2187406. Kant's theory of 'a rt' is generated in this relationship
between the subject and nature; for example, through the analogous powers of
representation. Aesthetic judgem ent therefore registers the scope for agreement or

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disagreement between the nature and the analogy, not on the basis of the concep­
tual value of the image. But he also w rites that art can be generated in the agreement
between the understanding and reason in the form of 'a unique concept', that is, 'the
concept of nature as art' (Kant, 1790/1987, 203'-204'/392-3).
9 Kant, 1790/1987, 2217409.
10 See the exhibition catalogue, Spatial Imagination in Design, Peg Rawes and Jane
Rendell (eds), AHRC and EPSRC, and the Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL, 2005,
for more examples of research into the cultural, historical, practical and theoretical
role of imagination in architectural design that were developed by a group of archi­
tects, artists and w riters during a year-long project, as part of the AHRC and EPSRC's
joint-funded initiative. Designing for the 21st Century.
11 See Rawes, 2007 for further discussion of this term.
12 Kant, 1790/1987, 1987388.
13 Perhaps most strongly demonstrated in the modern view that Euclid's Elements is an
'exclusively' scientific mathematical text. See, for example, Heath, 1956, v.
14 Tate Modern Unilever Series, 'Olafur Eliasson'.
15 Geometry can also be described as the science of magnitudes, in so far as it is the
construction of geometric bodies through the division of a magnitude into parts. A
link between geometry and feelings or perceptions of scale can therefore be sug­
gested because both relate to the body.
16 Kant, 1790/1987, 2597116.

Bibliography

Thomas Heath, Euclid: the Thirteen Books o f the Elements, Volume 1, London: Dover Publi­
cations, 1956.
Immanuel Kant, Critique o f Judgment. Translated by W erner S. Pluhar, Indianapolis: Hackett
Publishing Company, 1987.
Peg Rawes, 'Reflective Subjects in Kant and Architectural Design Education', Journal o f
Aesthetic Education, University of Illinois Press, Spring, 2007.
Peg Rawes and Jane Rendell (eds), Spatial Imagination in Design, AHRC, EPSRC and the
Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL, 2005.
Tate Modern Unilever Series, 'Olafur Eliasson'. Tate Modern. Online, available at:
ww w.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/eliasson (accessed 30 August 2005).

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In the corner of
perception
Spatial e xp e rie n ce in d istra ctio n

Katja Grillner

O ur tave rn s and o u r m e tro p o lita n s tre e ts , o u r o ffic e s and fu rn ish e d room s,

o u r railroad sta tio n s and o u r fa cto rie s appeared to have us locked up ho pe­

lessly. Then cam e th e film and b u rst th is p riso n -w o rld a su nd er by th e dyna­

m ite o f th e te n th o f a second, so th a t n o w , in th e m id s t o f its fa r-flu n g ruins
and debris, w e calm ly and a d ve n tu ro u sly go traveling. W ith th e close-up,
space exp an ds; w ith s lo w m o tio n , m o v e m e n t is e xte n d e d . The enlarge­
m e n t o f a s n a p sh o t does no t sim p ly re n de r m ore precise w h a t in any case
w a s visible , th o u g h unclear: it reveals e n tire ly n e w s tru c tu ra l fo rm a tio n s of
th e s u b je c t.1

This rem a rkab le vision o f th e p o w e rfu l e ffe c ts on hum an e xp erience and p e rce p tio n of
th e in ve n tio n o f film is pro vid ed by W a lte r B enjam in in his classic essay fro m 1936,
'The W o rk o f A rt in th e A ge o f M e ch a n ica l R e p ro d u ctio n '. In th is essay, Benjam in
argues fo r th e p o te n tia l o f n e w m edia te c h n o lo g y to liberate th e su b je c t by crea ting a
n e w m od e o f p e rce p tio n , a n e w v ie w in g p o sitio n th a t c o m b in e s d istra ctio n , ab sorp­

tion , critic a lity and d is ta n c ia tio n .2 Film and p h o to g ra p h y have pro vid ed access to a c rit­
ical stu d y o f th e w o rld in w h ic h w e are o th e rw is e h o p e le ssly im m e rs e d - n o w 'w e
calm ly and a d v e n tu ro u sly go tra ve lin g '. B enjam in de scrib es th e film ic e xp e rie n ce w ith
its sho ck e ffe c ts as m irro rin g th e m o d e rn urban m od e o f existe n ce , and argues th a t
th is m akes it an a p pro pria te train in g ground fo r cop in g w ith and, im p o rta n tly, c o m p re ­
he nd ing c o n te m p o ra ry c o n d itio n s o f life.
A rc h ite c tu re plays an in te re s tin g role in B e n ja m in 's a rg u m e n t. On th e one
hand, 'th e taverns, o u r o ffic e s , our railroad s ta tio n s ' and so on have 'lo cke d us up' in a
'p ris o n -w o rld ' th a t on ly film could 'b u rs t asu n d e r'. On th e oth er, a rc h ite c tu re is bro u g h t
to th e fo re as a p rivile ge d art fo rm , th e exp e rie n ce o f w h ic h p o in ts h u m a n ity to a very
p a rticular and a cu te ly re le va n t m od e o f a p pro pria tion , 'm a s te re d ' by habit and by
im p re ssio n s cau gh t in 'an in cide ntal fa sh io n '. This o b se rva tio n , th a t a rc h ite c tu re shies
aw a y fro m a tte n tiv e c o n te m p la tio n , and de m an ds to be pe rceived rather as a backdrop
to life than as an o b je c t in life, p o in ts to an in te re stin g d ile m m a facin g th e a rch ite ctu ra l

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 In th e corner of perception

critic: if th e o b je c t un de r scru tin y, a rch ite ctu re , o ffe rs its e lf as a m e re background

eve nt, ap p ro p ria te d p rim a rily by habitual use and occa sio nally by a tte n tiv e visual p e r­
ce p tio n , h o w are w e to cap ture it? H o w could such a de lica te p h e n o m e n o n be s c ru ti­
nised if it can no t be held firm ly b e fore th e eyes o f th e reader? It appears nearly
im p o ssib le to re p re s e n t and to c ritica lly engage w ith . Yet, as a rch ite ctu ra l critics, w e
are cha lle ng ed and inspired to e x p e rim e n t w ith th is co n d itio n . W e c o n s tru c t, in d iffe r­
e n t w a ys, te m p o ra ry fra m e s or lenses th ro u g h w h ic h a critical p o in t can be perceived.
The p h e n o m e n o n o f a rc h ite c tu re o fte n , the n, c o m e s in to fo cu s, fo r a m o m e n t, the n
fad es a w a y again.
This ch a p te r d iscusse s th e se cha lle ng es fo r a rch ite ctu ra l research and c riti­
cism by exa m in in g m o re clo se ly th e particular n o tio n s o f a d is tra c te d and de -fo cuse d
a rch ite ctu ra l exp e rie n ce th a t B en ja m in articu la te s, and by fu rth e r p re se n tin g m y o w n
research in to th e se n o tio n s in tw o re ce n t w ritin g and spatial in sta lla tion p ro je cts,
'W ritin g a rc h ite c tu re o u t o f fo c u s '3 and o u t o f fo cu s (in d is tra c tio n )* T hese la tte r p ro j­
e cts are p ro p o sitio n a l w o rk s .5 T hey use literary, visual and spatial fo rm s to indicate
possible roles and m o d e s o f opera tion o f a 'd is tra c te d c ritic ' - a c ritic w h o picks up
w h a t is happening in th e 'c o rn e r o f p e rc e p tio n ' rather than w h a t is e v id e n tly appearing
on ce n tre stage. The re latio nship in th is ch a p te r b e tw e e n m y reading o f B enjam in
on the one hand, and m y te xtu a l, visual and spatial in sta lla tio n s on th e o th e r, is
c o m p le m e n ta ry bu t rathe r in d ire ct and u n ce rta in .6

Distracted experience, shock and the haptic

The n o tio n s o f d istra ctio n and sho ck had an im p o rta n t critica l and political fu n c tio n fo r
B enjam in. A rc h ite c tu ra l a p pro pria tion is d e scrib ed as esse n tia lly ta c tile and go vern ed
by use. 'A rc h ite c tu re has a lw ays re p re se n te d th e p ro to ty p e o f a w o rk o f art th e re ce p ­
tio n o f w h ic h is c o n s u m m a te d by a c o lle c tiv ity in a sta te o f d is tra c tio n ,' he w r ite s .7 Its
co lle ctive nature and th e 'in cid e n ta l fa s h io n ' in w h ic h it take s place p ro m o te a rch ite c­
tural exp e rie n ce , fo r B enjam in, to a re vo lu tio n a ry fo rc e o f 'canonical v a lu e ’ . W h ile B en­
ja m in 's d iscu ssio n o f a rch ite ctu re in th is essay is rem a rkab ly sho rt, it co n tin u e s to raise
c on sid erab le critica l in te re s t w ith in a rc h ite c tu re th e o ry. W h ile his o b se rva tio n s on the
one hand m ig h t be used in isolation to un de rpin various haptic, syn a e s th e tic and p h e ­
n o m e n o lo g ica l stu d ie s o f a rch ite ctu ra l e xp erience , it is, on th e o th e r hand, im p o rta n t to
fu lly reco gn ise th e po litica l c o n te x t in w h ic h (and p u rp o se s fo r w h ic h ) B enjam in a rtic u ­
lated th e se ideas.8
The d istra ctin g e ffe c ts o f m edia te c h n o lo g y are ce le b ra te d in th e essay,
because th e y enable a radical break w ith tra d itio n a l a e s th e tic value s (the aura o f th e
w o rk o f art, its cu lt-va lu e ).9 A rc h ite c tu re plays a su b o rd in a te d role in th e a rg u m e n t and
is addre ssed in o rd e r to po in t at an a rt fo rm th a t has a lw a ys c o m p lic a te d th e se tra d i­
tion al values, bo th d e pe nd ing on its in e vita b le c o n n e ctio n to n o n -c o n te m p la tiv e usage,
and on th e c o lle c tiv e nature o f its a p pro pria tion . T hrou gh th e d istra cte d eve ryda y prac­
tic e s o f a rch ite ctu re , citie s and landscapes, h u m a n ity has been prepared fo r th e n e w

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tim e s (1930s Europe) and the necessary re-a dju stm ent of its perceptual apparatus.
Benjam in envisions that the shock, the fragm e ntatio n, the distractedness, that he
spots in con tem po rary film , in com bination w ith everyday practices, the goings-on of
life, the habitual perception o f architecture, w ill 'ino culate' hum anity against the allure
o f fascism (presented as it is in an aesthetically com prehensible form ). The m odern
subject, as seen by Benjam in, is devoid of fascism . S/he is a distracted c ritic .10

Distracted in use

Buildings are appropriated in a tw o fo ld manner: by use and by perceptions -

or rather by touch and sight. Such appropriation cannot be understood in
te rm s of the atten tive concentration o f a to u rist before a fam ous building.
On the tactile side there is no counterpart to con tem plation on the optical
side. Tactile appropriation is accom plished not so m uch by a tten tion as by
habit. As regards architecture, habit de term in es to a large exte n t even
optical re ce p tio n .11

The chain o f key-co nce pts in th is central passage is 'u s e ' and 'p e rc e p tio n ', tra n s­
fe rre d to 'to u c h ' and 's ig h t', its qu alities nam ed as 'ta c tile ' and 'o p tic a l', and th e ir
m odes o f 'a p p ro p ria tio n ' then referred to as 'a tte n tio n ' or 'h a b it'. H abit is given a
m ore im p o rta n t role than a tte n tio n in d e te rm in in g both op tical and ta ctile rece ptio n in
a rch ite ctu re . W h a t w e experience o f an art fo rm such as a rch ite ctu re w h ile going
about our daily lives is, in relation to the w h o le n e ss o f its visual and m aterial gestalt,
rather fra g m e n ts th a t reach us in a state o f d istra ction (w h ile doing so m e th in g else).
There is, in B en ja m in's po sitio n, no alte rna tive. To c o n te m p la te a rch ite ctu re visually,
fro m a to u ris tic v ie w p o in t, is e sse ntia lly m ea ningless. It says very little ab ou t the
o b je ct o f study.
Benjam in's pairing of touch and sight, tactile and optical, ties directly back
to the distinction made by Alois Riegl in Problem s o f Style (1893) be tw ee n the optical
(delivering a survey) and the haptic (feeling its w ay along or around the w o rld, experi­
enced as surface rather than outline).12 In the article 'S tereoscopy: m odernism and the
haptic', David T rotte r discusses the experiential dim ension of hapticity through the
stereoscopic im ages of the late nineteenth c e n tu ry .13 According to Trotter, Riegl chose
to speak of the haptic rather than the tactile in order to avoid a literal understanding of
th a t 'haptic regard' as one that 'to u ch e s'. Haptic com es from 'h a p te in ' w h ich m eans to
fasten. W hile the op tic gaze 'surveys' the w orld, the haptic look 'atta che s' to it.14
Benjam in lacks a corresponding w o rd to 'co n te m p la tio n ' fo r 'ta ctile ', or in Riegl's
vocabulary, 'hap tic', atten tion. According to Benjam in, this form o f appropriation in
architecture is never prem editated or intentional, it is rather a sid e -e ffe ct o f use. It
happens to the subject, w h o m it distracts. Distraction m eans, im portantly, both to turn
aw ay from a certain activity or atten tive focus, and to in its place focu s on som ething
else. To be distracted is to be 'called e lsew h ere '.

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Imagining distraction

In th e article 'D is tra c tio n and D igital C u ltu re ', W illia m Bogard discusse s th e fu n c tio n o f
d istra ctio n in so c ie ty as a m ech an ism th a t a ssu m e s d iffe re n t m o d e s o f o p era tion in d if­
fe re n t cu ltu re s, and as a fo rce th a t has both su b ve rsive and co n tro llin g e ffe c ts on
s o c ie ty as w e ll as th e in d ivid u a l.15 He also m ake s the im p o rta n t ob se rva tio n th a t

d e sp ite th e fa c t th a t d istra ctio n is e v e ry w h e re in e xp erience , it is n o t at all

d iffic u lt to im a gin e a w o rld w ith o u t distra ctio n . Such an idea is in fa c t the
norm if w e co n sid e r it fro m th e p o in t o f v ie w o f social c o n tro l.16

The n o rm a tive d iscou rse o f a rch ite ctu re , as rep ro d u ce d in co n ve n tio n a l re vie w s o f n e w
b u ild in gs and th e a cco m pa nyin g arch ite ctu ra l p h otog rap hs, also m anages very
s m o o th ly to avoid n o tio n s o f a d istra cte d use. This is no t a surprise. For h o w could
one, in rhe to rica lly con vin cing w a ys, even begin to m ake th o se o th e r pe rsp e ctive s
appear and be u n d e rsto o d w ith o u t losing a lto g e th e r th e a u th o rity o f th e a rc h ite c t as a
d e s ig n e r in c o n tro l? 17
The tw o p ro je c ts p re s e n te d h e re e x p e rim e n t in d iffe re n t m ed ia w ith th e
im a g in in g o f a w o rld in d is tra c tio n . The sp a tia l in s ta lla tio n , e x h ib ite d in th e g ro u p
s h o w S p a tia l Im a g in a tio n at d o m o B a a l in L o nd on 20 06 , c o n v e y s a s e n s a tio n o f a d e ­
fo c u s e d , d is tra c te d , p e rc e p tio n th ro u g h a play w ith la yers o f m e d ia tio n - s till-
im a g e s and s o u n d d is trib u te d in sp a ce . H o rizo n ta l lig h t b o xe s are d is trib u te d in th e
s ta irw e ll o f th e g a lle ry space (see fig u re s b e lo w ). T h e se b o xe s d is p la y th re e trip -
ty c h s m ade up fro m p h o to g ra p h s o f T V -stills fro m D V -ca m era fo o ta g e film e d in
Haga Park, S to c k h o lm . T his e ig h te e n th -c e n tu ry la nd scape ga rde n is a p u b lic park
(on royal g ro u n d s) b o rd e rin g th e in n e r-c ity and th e n o rth b o u n d E4 h ig h w a y . T hree
s e ttin g s w ith in th is park are p re s e n te d : th e T e m p le o f Echo, th e ru in s o f th e n e ver-
c o m p le te d royal palace, and a h u t in th e w o o d s (E e y o re 's ho use ). L is te n in g clo se ly,
th e so u n d s o f th e s e p lace s (tra ffic , b ird s and ru s tlin g leaves) and fra g m e n ts o f th e ir
s to rie s tric k le o u t. T he in s ta lla tio n calls fo r th e a tte n tio n o f visu a l, aural and c o rp o ­
real s e n se s, w h ile c a re fu lly s te e rin g a w a y fro m any se n se o f a 'c o m p le te ' or
'w h o le ' e xp e rie n c e .
T his in s ta lla tio n w a s d e v e lo p e d o u t o f a p ro je c t in itia te d w ith an essa y on
Haga Park w ritte n in 2 0 0 4 and p re s e n te d a t th e C ritic a l A rc h ite c tu re c o n fe re n c e in
L o n d o n th a t year. T he essa y a d d re s s e s p a rtic u la r p lace s in th e park. W h ile be in g
o ne o f th e m o s t in te re s tin g e x a m p le s o f e ig h te e n th -c e n tu ry la n d sca p e g a rd e n in g in
S w e d e n , th e s ite s and e x p e rie n c e s re la te d w e re s e le c te d on th e basis o f ra th e r
v a g u e (u n im p o rta n t) p e rso n a l m e m o rie s fro m m y o w n 'd is tra c te d ' uses o f th is park
as a ch ild and te e n a g e r. M e m o rie s o f p a st use w e re c a lle d fo rth by w r itin g , in
an a tte m p t to 'd e fo c u s ' th e s c h o la rly gaze o f th e g ro w n -u p c ritic , b u t also to
in v ite th e re a d e r to im a g in e and s im u lta n e o u s ly re fle c t on th e park in te rm s o f
d is tra c tio n . It ch a lle n g e s , in w a y s th a t I w ill g e t back to , th e re la tiv e 'e a s e ' w ith
w h ic h w e 'im a g in e a w o rld w ith o u t d is tra c tio n ', and th a t c o n tin u e to re p ro d u c e th a t
id e a lis tic m o d e l.

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Katja Grillner

Installation by
Grillner in the S p a tia l
Im a g in a tio n group
exhibition. Gallery
domoBaal, London
2006. Three
light/sound boxes
are located on the
walls of the gallery
stairwell. They
display three
triptychs made up
from photographs of
TV-stills from DV-
camera footage
filmed in Haga Park,
Stockholm. Listening
closely, the sounds
of these places
(traffic, birds and
rustling leaves) and
fragments of their
stories trickle out.

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 In th e corner of perception

Plan o f th e
d o m o B a a l g a lle ry fo r
th e S p a tia l
Im a g in a tio n grou p
e x h ib itio n , L o nd on
2 0 0 6 . G rilln e r's
in s ta lla tio n o u t o f
fo cus (in d is tra c tio n )
is lo c a te d in th e
s ta ir w e ll. T h e th re e
lig h t/s o u n d bo xes
are d is trib u te d alo n g
th e w a lk up to or
d o w n fro m th e m a in
g a lle ry sp ace, here
m a rk e d as a)
E e y o re 's H o u se, b)
T h e R uin , c) T h e
T e m p le o f Echo. T h e
s ta ir w e ll an d la n d in g
in a d d itio n d is p la y e d
w o rk s by S tu a rt
M u n ro , Peg R a w e s ,
an d J a n e R en dell.

Magician and surgeon

The s u rg e o n re p re s e n ts th e p o la r o p p o s ite o f th e m a g icia n . The m ag icia n

heals a sick p e rso n by th e laying on o f ha nd s; th e su rg e o n c u ts in to th e
p a tie n t's b o d y. The m a g icia n m a in ta in s th e n a tu ra l d is ta n c e b e tw e e n th e
p a tie n t and h im s e lf; th o u g h he re d u c e s it ve ry s lig h tly by th e laying on o f
ha nd s, he g re a tly in cre a se s it by v irtu e o f his a u th o rity . T he s u rg e o n
d o e s e x a c tly th e re v e rs e ; he g re a tly d im in is h e s th e d is ta n c e b e tw e e n
h im s e lf and th e p a tie n t by p e n e tra tin g in to th e p a tie n t's b o d y, and
in c re a s e s it b u t little by th e ca u tio n w ith w h ic h his hand m o v e s am o n g
th e o rg a n s .18

If, in th e e xp e rie n ce o f a rch ite ctu re , B enjam in sa w th e in dividual as s o m e h o w cap tured

in habitual p e rce p tio n , w h e re co n te m p la tio n w a s m e a ningless, and ta ctile appro pria tion
in acce ssible to critica l analysis, p h o to g ra p h y and film su d d e n ly a llo w e d th e individu al to
access his/h er o w n w o rld o f action as an engaged o b serve r. B enjam in fa m o u s ly c o m ­
pares the m agician to th e surg eo n to a rticu la te h o w th e s e n e w surgical too ls, the
cam era, th e film , th e p ro je cto r, p e n e tra te m o re fo rc e fu lly in to th e p a tie n t (the w o rld )
w h ile sim u lta n e o u s ly m a intainin g a critica l distance:

In sho rt, in c o n tra s t to th e m agician - w h o is s till hidden in th e m ed ica l prac­

titio n e r - th e surg eo n at th e d e cisive m o m e n t abstains fro m facin g the
pa tie n t m an to m an; rather, it is th ro u g h the o p era tion th a t he pe n e tra te s
in to h im .19

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Katja Grillner

T hrough m e d ia tin g te ch n o lo g y, eve ry o b s e rv e r (cinem a-goer) could access th e po sitio n

o f the cam era op e ra to r (the surg eo n) and, as B enjam in w ro te , bo th exte n d 'o u r c o m ­
p re he nsio n o f th e n e ce ssitie s w h ic h rule our live s' and m anage 'to assure us o f an
im m e n s e and u n e xp e cte d fie ld o f a ctio n '.
T ro tte r s h o w s in his analysis o f th e ste re o s c o p ic im age h o w th e haptic look
w a s in vite d by th e use o f lo w p e rsp e ctive s and p ro tru d in g fo re g ro u n d s , th e se typ ica lly
having a sig n ifica n ce th a t slig h tly d istu rb s th e v ie w e r. This c o rre sp o n d s to th e shock-
e ffe c t w h ic h B enjam in refers to in relation to D adaist art as 'h ittin g th e s p e c ta to r like a
bullet, happening to him , acq uiring a ta c tile q u a lity', e ffe c ts th a t in film w e re created
by close-ups, m o n ta g e , rapid cuts, slo w /ra p id m o tio n and so on. In co n tra st to the
surgeon and cam era op e ra to r (film d ire cto r, ed itor, etc.), th e cin e m a -g o e r can no t
c o n tro l his or her to o ls and th e re su ltin g s tru c tu re o f a m e d ia te d exp e rie n ce . Benjam in
q u o te s th e co n te m p o ra ry critic G eorges D u ha m el as having said 'I can no lo ng er thin k
w h a t I w a n t to th in k. M y th o u g h ts have been replaced by m oving im a g e s'. This, m eans
B enjam in, is so m e th in g th e m od ern su b je c t ju s t needs to a cce pt. F ilm ic e xp e rie n ce in
fa c t train s th e 'a p p e rce p tive ap pa ratus' in a w a y th a t c o rre sp o n d s to m od ern urban
exp e rie n ce and its d e m a n d s on th e s u b je c t.20
B u t h o w does th is 's u b je c t-in -s h o c k ' b e co m e a critic? B enjam in se e m s to
im p ly th a t it is an a u to m a tic e ffe c t o f th e c in e m a tic v ie w in g p o s itio n .21 E ssentially
m e d ia te d th ro u g h te ch n o lo g y, th is p o sitio n co m b in e s, curiou sly, distra ctio n , ab sorp­
tion , c ritic a lity and d ista n cia tio n , n o tio n s th a t do no t n o rm ally blend w e ll. To be 'c ritic a l'
m ea ns to be high ly c o n ce n tra te d and fo cu se d . N o t to o 'a b so rb e d ' in th e o b je c t of
scru tin y, b u t rathe r able to pu t th e o b je c t a t a c o n ve n ie n t, o b je c tiv e 'd is ta n c e '. 'D is tra c ­
tio n ' has little room in th is practice. B en ja m in tu rn s th is logic around: d istra ctio n does
n o t on ly hold a le g itim a te place w ith in critic is m , b u t is m o re o v e r n e cessa ry to address
if w e are to pro du ce any spatial and a rch ite ctu ra l c riticism o f relevance to our
c o n te m p o ra ry c o n d itio n s. The essay and in sta lla tion th a t I p re s e n t in th is ch a p te r cam e
o u t o f a tte m p ts to opera te as a d istra cte d critic. W e w ill return to th e m and discuss in
w h a t w a y th is critic appears to be d istra cte d , in w h a t w a y her re su ltin g w o rk s m ig h t
succe ed in co n ve yin g a d istra cte d m o d e o f e xp erience , and h o w critica l p o sitio n s are
a tta in e d in th e se w o rk s .

A distracted critic in operation

Let us rehearse b rie fly th e nature o f th e essay. It take s place in Haga Park, S to ckh o lm ,
w h ic h is approached as an actual and a re m e m b e re d place. The park is w ritte n as a
site o f eve ryda y exp e rie n ce , no t in th e e ig h te e n th ce n tu ry, no t fo r S to ckh o lm e rs today,
b u t fo r th e a u th o r (here 'th e d istra cte d c ritic '). W h a t is th e Haga Park th a t fo llo w s 'h e r'
around? The re m e m b e re d place th a t she s to re s in her m ind, a place th a t expands,
e vo lve s, even disappears in part, as tim e and life goes on. In th e a tte m p t to w rite this
place, m y o w n re m e m b e re d and c u rre n t exp e rie n ce s w e re used as prim ary source
m aterial. To a ssist m y o b se rva tio n s I b ro u g h t a D V -cam era on m y w a lk s in the park,

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origin ally w ith th e in te n tio n of using it as a m e re re g istra tio n device. G radually I

be cam e qu ite in te re s te d in th e crude fo o ta g e . O ne o f th e seq ue nce s, film e d fo llo w in g
th e ju nio -high jo g g in g -tra il on a bike, m ade m e seasick eve ry tim e I w a tc h e d it. I had to
s to p it. The qu ive ring s till on m y TV had very particular qu alities.
In w h a t w a y does th is critic see m distra cte d? The a u th o r o f th e essay
relates to th e reader an a cco u n t o f a Haga Park th a t ob lig es th e reader to fo llo w her
train o f th o u g h t, w h ic h m o ve s b e tw e e n re m e m b e re d and p re s e n t tim e , as w e ll as
re fle c tin g on th e p a rticular m od e in w h ic h it is being to ld and w h y . It also addresses
th e notion o f d istra cte d e xp e rie n ce and its critica l and po litica l fu n c tio n fo r B enjam in.
So th e te x t m akes a do uble-layered p e rfo rm a n ce . To so m e e x te n t th a t essay has a
s im ila r scope to th is cha pter, b u t its m od e o f o p era tion is esse n tia lly d iffe re n t. The
particular e ffe c t o f d istra cte d n e ss c o n sists o f th e allo w a n ce m ade fo r th e te llin g o f par­
allel sto rie s, and o f m aking o b se rva tio n s s o m e tim e s by asso cia tion rather than by argu­
m e n t or n a rrative .22 This leaves a m p le space fo r th e reader to assu m e a critica l p o sitio n
in relation to th e landscape th a t is w ritte n fo r her im a gin atio n. N e ve rth e le ss, the
narrating voice in th e essay care fu lly gu id es th e reader am o n g th e se im p re ssio n s
and crea te s a critica l space w h e re so m e co n clu sio n s are d ra w n and a rg u m e n ts are
pu t fo rw a rd .
In w h a t w a y m ig h t th e re su ltin g w o rk s con vey a distra cte d m od e o f
exp erience ? By dra w in g on personal m e m o rie s and e xp e rie n ce s as a p rim ary source,
th e a u th o r can on ly hope th a t th e re su ltin g a cco u n t m ig h t bear a s ig n ific a n t relation to
p o te n tia l readers w h o can reco gn ise in it w a y s o f e xp e rie n cin g and un de rsta nd ing
particular places and landscapes. The cho ice o f such an a u tobiog ra ph ica l m e th o d is
based on a re co g n itio n o f th e im p o rta n ce o f a cultu ral s p e c ific ity in any d iscu ssio n o f
spatial e x p e rie n ce .23 W h ile th e se kinds o f sou rces are, in so m e sen se, a lw ays unique,
th e pro cess o f w ritin g th e m - m aking a 'fa ith fu l' a cco u n t - is o f cou rse w h o lly d e p e n ­
d e n t on m e d ia tio n . As soon as a m e m o ry is evoked and retold, it is seve red fro m any
original 'im p re s s io n ', w h ic h is also th e on ly w a y th a t it m ay ever b e co m e use ful. The
d istra cte d na ture o f th e essay is fu rth e r a p pa rent in th e w a y th a t it m ake s use o f both
a p a rticular place, Haga Park, and a p a rticular p e rs o n 's e xp e rie n ce s, th e a u th o r's,
w ith o u t having any a m b itio n to give any c o m p le te or tru ly e xh a u stive a cco u n t o f eith er.
It em p lo ys th e m m e re ly to p o in t at and give m a te ria lity to certain ph en o m e n a and
e xp erience s, w h ic h in turn d e m an d the evo catio n o f a s lig h t in te re s t in bo th th e sp e ­
cific park and th e author. The reading act m ig h t th e n , in itse lf, pro vo ke a certain uneasi­
ness, a n o th e r level o f distra ctio n , th a t has to be ca re fu lly balanced (and m ig h t also stop
s o m e readers fro m ever reading throu gh ).

Establishing evidence

The scene o f a c rim e , too, is d e se rte d ; it is ph o to g ra p h e d fo r the pu rpo se of

esta b lish in g e vide nce. W ith A tg e t, ph o to g ra p h s b e co m e standard evide nce
fo r histo rica l o ccu rre n ce s, and acquire a hidden po litica l sig n ifica n ce . They

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Katja Grillner

de m an d a sp e cific kind o f approach; fre e -flo a tin g c o n te m p la tio n is no t

a p pro pria te to th e m . T hey s tir th e v ie w e r; he fe e ls cha lle ng ed by th e m in a
n e w w a y .24

In th e in sta lla tion , th e im ages s h o w n in light boxes relate to th re e p la c e s /s e ttin g s /

scen es fro m th e essay (echo te m p le , ruin, E eyo re's house) (see fig u re s be lo w ). T hese
trip ty c h s are co m p o s e d fro m D V -stills (the 'q u ive rin g s till') p h o to g ra p h e d d ire c tly fro m
th e ir appearance on TV. T hese im ages had taken m e by su rp rise w h ile I w a s still
w ritin g the essay. I too k one pictu re, the n a n o th e r.25 I be cam e fa scin a te d by a rre sting
th e se fle e tin g m o m e n ts . To s o m e h o w pull th e in sta nce s apart, and the n, in c o m p o sin g
the trip ty c h s , to re a sse m b le se le cte d m o m e n ts . There w a s also so m e th in g cu rio u s in
th e rough, lo w -te ch , m e d ia tin g te ch n o lo g y, th e p re sen ce o f th e TV, th e in te rfe re n c e
pa tte rn s, the strang e co lo u r patches.
C om pa re d w ith th e essay w h e re I try ve ry c a re fu lly and hard to actually
re m e m b e r, to cap ture, m y 'a c tu a l' m e m o rie s and e xp e rie n ce s o f th is place, I here
co m p o se a scene, or seq ue nce , th a t is dista n cin g its e lf bo th fro m m e, and po ssib ly
also from th e vie w e r. W h e n I appear as a pe rson in so m e o f th e se im ages, th e y m ig h t
in a sense be looked upon as s e lf-p o rtra its, b u t th a t m ig h t also be be sid e th e p o in t. The
surve illan ce cam era a sso cia tions th a t m ay be trig g e re d by th e coarse te x tu re rather
u n d e rlin e s a d ista nce , very d iffe re n t fro m th a t b e tw e e n th e reader and th e narrator of
th e essay. The in dica tion o f a cam era reco rdin g w ith o u t a cam era op e ra to r behind it
tw is ts th e s u b je c tiv ity around. The places n o w appear to look back at us, to survive us.
To a lw a ys be th e re as w e pass by te m p o ra rily.

E e y o re 's H ou se.

T h e R uin.

T h e T e m p le o f Echo.

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 In th e corner of perception

The sound leaking o u t o f each lig h t box is n o t to be co n v e n ie n tly audible

fro m afar. Rather, it in vites c o n ce n tra tio n , th e im p u ls e to p u t th e ear rather clo se to the
box. The sound c o n sists o f tw o basic tra cks. First, the surro un d sound fro m th e DV-
reco rdin g o f th e particular place - lots o f tra ffic , tw itte rin g birds, w a lkin g ste p s in
leaves, jo gg ers passing by, a q u ite p a rticular e c h o -e x p e rim e n t in th e e ch o -te m p le (see
fig u re be lo w ). This firs t track gives a te m p o ra lity and aco u stic s p a tia lity to th e still-
im ages in th e lig h t box. S econd, m y o w n reading o f se le cte d fra g m e n ts o f the w ritte n
essay th a t p o sitio n s a 're a d in g '/'a c c o u n tin g ' su b je c t in relation to th e scen e. This
second track overlays th e sound track o f th e surro un din gs.
The lig h t (and sound) boxes are d is trib u te d on d iffe re n t w a lls and levels in
th e s ta irw e ll o f th e gallery space (see fig u re on page 275). The backgro und sounds
fro m th e park fro m each box blends in to one aural e xp e rie n ce po ssib ly tra n s p o rtin g the
liste n e r m o m e n ta rily to so m e o th e r place. It is a reco gn isab le o u td o o r sound. The place
is n o t n e cessa rily a park. B ut th e a tte n tiv e lis te n e r m ig h t im agine s o m e w h e re w h e re
th e re are en ough tre e s and bushes to house cro w s, blackb irds and sp a rro w s, and y e t
no t arcadia, pro ba bly po llu ted due to th e heavy tra ffic . W h e n approaching each box the
narrating voice w ill be heard: 'The te m p le o f echo e ch oe s 'S prin g 1980: I can no t
recall h o w w e g e t the re . W e run around th e ro o fle ss ro o m s ', 'I d o n 't w a lk d o w n . There
is a path running no rth . . . ' To hear w h a t she says, you m u s t c o n ce n tra te .
The in sta lla tion crea te s a play w ith d iffe re n t m o d e s o f a tte n tio n , evoking
visual, aural and visceral sen ses, w h ile care fu lly s te e rin g a w a y fro m any no tion o f a
'c o m p le te ' or 'w h o le ' exp e rie n ce . W h ile th e reader o f the essay is guided along th e
park and te x t by a narrator and author, w h o th e re b y rathe r ca re fu lly d ra w s a critical

T h e trip ty c h s on
d isp la y are
c o m p o s e d fro m
D V -stills
p h o to g ra p h e d
d ire c tly fro m th e ir
ap p e a ra n c e on th e
T V . T h e ro u g h , lo w -
te c h , m e d ia tin g
te c h n o lo g y , th e
p res en c e of th e T V ,
th e in te rfe re n c e
p a tte rn s , th e s tra n g e
c o lo u r p a tc h e s , th e
coarse te x tu re , all
tr ig g e r su rv e illa n c e -
c a m e ra a s so c iatio n s ,
u n d e rlin in g a
p a rtic u la r d istan ce,
a c a m e ra reco rd ing
w it h o u t a ca m era
o p e ra to r b e h in d it,
an d tw is tin g th e
s u b je c tiv ity aro u n d .

279
Katja Grillner

space, this particular fun ction is le ft ou t o f the installation, or m ore precisely, it is not
integrated, but appears in another space as a catalogue essay that one m ay read, or
not. It leaves, then, to the 'v is ito r' an open critical space w h e re the im ages could be
from anyw here, and the voice and the w om an portrayed could be anyone. The cap­
tions say: 'Tem ple o f Echo', 'The Ruin' and 'E eyore's House'. It could be fiction al as
w e ll as real.

Out of control

To use W alter B enjam in's seventy-year-old essay in a contem porary co n te xt is not

unproblem atic. The age o f m echanical reproduction looks very d iffe re n t today. It is not
prim arily m echanical at all. If the status o f the 'original' in B enjam in's vie w had been
radically devalued in the w ake o f reproductive technologies, th a t sam e notion has lost
its significance today if w e , fo r exam ple, look at the im plications of developm e nts in
the co m p u te r gam e or bio-genetic reproduction industries. N evertheless, the rem ark­
able popularity o f B enjam in's essay am ong scholars in architecture, art and media
theory does not appear to w a n e .26 A significant reason fo r this m ig h t be that, ho w e ver
fa st the w orld, and our conceptions of the w o rld, appears to be changing, w e cannot in
fact escape the strong resilient discourse that holds on to the, as Benjamin w rite s,
'ou tm o d e d concepts such as creativity and genius, eternal value and m ystery - con­
cepts w h ose uncontrolled {and at present alm ost uncontrollable) application w o u ld lead
to a processing of data in the Fascist se n se '.27 W e seem to be helplessly stuck. Ben­
ja m in 's enthusiasm fo r the film m edium , w h e n taken out of its 1936 context, needs to
be qualified w ith references to the early film s of the avant-garde tra d itio n .28 As w ith
o th er artistic m edia, film m ay obviously be put to d iffe re n t uses, calling at tim e s for
critical shock and distraction, w h ich is w h a t Benjam in observes, but at oth er tim e s for
com p le te and essentially uncritical absorption.29
The highly condensed form of B enjam in's discussion o f architecture means
th a t several critical questions are le ft unattended to. Is architecture w o rth y o f the
canonical role given to it by Benjamin? A rchite ctural aesthetics m u st surely be held to
be as responsible as oth e r art fo rm s fo r its w illingn ess to serve political leaders in pro­
viding a com prehensible vie w of the w o rld as beautiful and w h ole . In fact, architectural
discourse m ig ht even be considered as a particular stronghold for a resilient cult of
values of authenticity, iconicity and artistic genius. A no ther interesting query concerns
the possible relationship b e tw e e n technologies o f 'm echanical rep rod uction ' in archi­
tecture, and the particular value Benjam in ascribes to architecture as a training ground
fo r the distracted critic. Issues of scale and program m e in the architectural project
have, th ro u g h o u t history, provoked the d e velopm e nt o f d iffe re n t form s of accessible
representations (m oulds, draw ings, m odels, plates, m apping, surveying technologies
and so on) that m ay be considered 'proto-m echanical' reproductive technologies.
Q uestions of originality and a u th e n ticity in architecture have, in this respect, always
been com plex and they rem ain highly am biguous still today. The W estern, pre-m odern

280
 In the corner of perception

and Renaissance understanding of architecture ne vertheless clearly positioned God in

the role of ae sthetic au thority and as an absolute anchor and divine original. Even if
that particular anchor point has largely disappeared, the idea o f (and desire fo r obtain­
ing) that authorial position still haunts architectural discourse.30
The the oretica l discourse in architecture (w hat Benjam in w o u ld translate
through his M arxist filte r to the 'su p e rstru ctu re ') seem s to be far behind the expected
im plications of current m odes of architectural con sum p tion and production. W hile the
uses o f architecture may have fostere d a distracted critic long before m echanical
reproduction speeded up this d e velopm e nt in oth er art form s, the theoretical under­
standing of architecture continues to attach a definite cult-value to individual buildings,
and has great d ifficu ltie s incorporating the role of program m e and use in the under­
standing o f architecture as an art fo rm .31 Even in oth er fields it is evide nt today that
Benjam in's vision o f an e ffic ie n t 'ino culation ' o f hum anity against the fascist aestheti-
sation of politics is still unbearably far away. W h a t does one conclude from that? Is the
w h o le arg um e nt the re by invalidated? In term s o f its historical analysis, it is a relevant
question. But in the co n te xt of its tim e, the essay reads m o st of all as a fo rce fu l (and
desperate) expression of a utopian hope, as w e ll as w arning against all accounts of
w h ole ne ss, a u then ticity and uncom prom ising beauty. Read in that way, its basic pre m ­
ises may be taken as still valid, and of crucial im portance in relation to the critical
understanding o f our contem porary spatial surroundings. W hat Benjam in identifies
w ith the 'absent-m inded exam ining public' is im p ortan tly a critic w h o is both ou t of
control, but at the sam e tim e le ft w ith (and leaving to others) a space to m anoeuvre -
to experience and think. W hen D uham el com plained tha t in the m ovies 'his tho ugh ts
w e re replaced by m oving im ages', one m ig ht w o n d e r if he had ever th o u g h t about, or
been troubled by, the kind of control a highly focused philosophical discourse really
exerted on his thoughts?

Acknowledgements

The research fo r this chapter and the presented projects has been supported by
funding from the S w edish Research Council through AKAD (w w w .a k a d .s e ), and by the
Spatial Im agination in Design research clu ste r (w w w .sp a tia lim a g in a tio n .o rg ). I w is h to
thank all participants o f the clu ste r - in particular Penelope Haralam bidou, Peg Rawes
and Jane Rendell - fo r providing challenging and inspiring input to this research.

Notes

1 Benjamin, 1969, p. 236.

2 In the combination of these complex notions lie the contradictions and paradoxes
which, I suspect, contribute strongly to the continued engagement by scholars and
critics in this essay.
3 The essay, 'W riting architecture out of focus', was presented as a paper for the

281
Katja Grillner

AHRA conference Critical Architecture at the Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL,

London, November 2004, and will be published in the forthcom ing book from the
event (Critical Architecture, ed. Mark Dorrian and others (London: Routledge, 2007)).
It is a translated and revised version of my essay, 'Kritik och Forstroelse (vi befinner
oss I Hagaparken, Stockholm)', in Varje dags arkitektur - Arkitekturm useets Arsbok
2004, ed. Christina Englund (Stockholm: Arkitekturm useet, 2005) ('Critique and Dis­
traction (we find ourselves in Haga Park, Stockholm)', in The Architecture o f Every
Day (Swedish Museum of Architecture, 2005)).
4 The installation out o f focus (in distraction) was part of the group show Spatial Imagi­
nation that took place at the gallery domoBaal Contemporary Art in London. 9-20
January. The exhibition showed w ork from the research cluster Spatial Imagination in
Design, funded by the EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Science Research Council)
and the AHRB (Arts and Humanities Research Board) in the UK (www.spatialimagina-
tion.org). Production credits: Peter Tollmar for assistance w ith sound production,
Goran Nilsson, model-maker at Dekorteknik, Stockholm, Sweden, for light/sound box
production.
5 By 'propositional' I mean that they 'propose' particular modes of w riting and repre­
senting spatial experience, instead of, or in addition to, what happens, for example, in
this chapter, 'reflecting on' and 'discussing' those experiments.
6 A difficulty inherent in many critically oriented practice-led research projects in the
arts and in architectural design is distinguishing between the different positions one
m ight take as a scholar in relation to texts and works that are outside one's ow n prac­
tice, and as a writer, artist and designer in relation to one's ow n propositional proj­
ects. It is crucial, in my view, to avoid a setting up of simplistic binary relations
between analyses that may be understood as more theoretically explicit, and others
that are performed as material, sensual or poetic explorations; i.e. the form er must
not be understood to explicate, or legitimate, the latter. Rather, through different
approaches, com plementary perspectives are offered as layer after layer.
7 Benjamin, 1969, p. 239.
8 Here I am particularly concerned w ith how the interest for embodied experience in
architecture, raised by Benjamin's remark, easily leads on to a phenomenological
approach, whereby aspects of use and cultural specificity (highlighted by Benjamin
through his reference to 'habit') m ight be pushed aside in favour of more generalised
accounts. Iris Marion Young's critique of the undifferentiated phenomenological
subject in the essay 'Throwing like a girl' is compelling. Regardless of w hy there
exists such a motion-pattern as 'throw ing like a girl', she argues that it does imply on
a fundamental level a quite different mode of 'being-in-the-world' than the elegant
projection performed by the one w ho throw s a ball 'as one ought to ' (Young, 2005,
pp. 27-45. This essay was first published in Human Studies, 3 (1980)).
9 Benjamin, 1969, p. 218.
10 Benjamin, 1969, pp. 240-2.
11 Benjamin, 1969, p. 240.
12 Here as related by David Trotter in his article (2004, p. 39).
13 Trotter, 2004.
14 Trotter, 2004, p. 39.
15 To distract something is to elude its clutches; but also, as a consequence, to
now clutch it, secretly and from behind. These qualities of clutching, elusion,
of escape and capture, are w hat make distraction and its related strategies -
simulation, disappearance, removal - games of power.
(Bogard, 2000)

16 Bogard, 2000.
17 In his book Actions o f Architecture, Jonathan Hill emphasises the building as a site of

282
 In the corner of perception

action and discusses the implications of the unwillingness from the architects' side to
acknowledge the users' roles as co-authors to the architectural w ork (Hill, 2003).
18 Benjamin, 1969, p. 233.
19 Benjamin, 1969, p. 233.
20 Benjamin, 1969, p. 238 and note no. 19.
21 The film makes the cult value recede into the background not only by putting
the public in the position of the critic, but also by the fact that at the movies
this position requires no attention. The public is an examiner, but an absent-
minded one.
(Benjamin, 1969, pp. 240-1)

22 To w rite in such a way that brings to the surface several phenomena at once, and at
the same tim e the presence of a distracted subject amid all this, the result may be a
text that reflects the film ic effect Benjamin relates. This is not undone. Even Ben­
jamin had several examples among his contemporaries. Virginia W oolf's stream-of-
consciousness w riting in novels such as The Waves, M rs Dalloway and Jacob's
Room, for example, appears to be aiming for a similar effect. At the same time, her
essay-writing allows for considerably less distraction.
23 See com m ent in note 8 above. Other modes of working w ith such a specificity
(experience grounded in a named, gendered etc., subject) may be achieved through
discussing characters from film, literature and so on, or documentary characters,
based on interviews, and relating the accounts of other individuals that w e know or
come to know.
24 Benjamin, 1969, p. 226.
25 In total, around 140 pictures w ere taken.
26 A Google search on 'W alter Benjamin' + architecture + 'w ork of art' gives, for
example, 27,300 hits (accessed 1 November 2005).
27 Benjamin, 1969, p. 218.
28 Such as, for example, Dziga Vertov's The Man with a M ovie Camera (1929), or W alter
Ruttman's Berlin. Symphonie einer Gross Stadt (1927).
29 The mechanisms of absorption are, for example, explored in Mulvey (1975 and 1981)
where she identifies and analyses the com plicit role of narrative structure and close-
ups in positioning the female subject as object of desire.
30 The history of and discourse on authorship in architecture is compelling and complex.
In the research project Architecture and its M ythologies that I pursue in collaboration
w ith Tim Anstey and Rolf Hughes, w e are investigating these issues. W e are cur­
rently producing a collection of essays entitled Architecture and Authorship to be pub­
lished by Black Dog Publishing in spring 2007 (see w w w .auctor.se).
31 In the eighteenth century, architectural treatises begin to address notions of utility
and programme in new ways. In an interview w ith Paul Rabinow from 1982, Michel
Foucault argues that architecture did not become political until the eighteenth
century. He qualifies this by saying that it is only then that its programme and organi­
sation are considered from the point of view of political theories of governm ent and
social control. Interestingly enough, Foucault remarks that this change takes place pri­
marily outside the discipline or discourse of architecture and is typically realised in
building types such as the hospital and the prison. See 'Space, Knowledge and
Power' (1998, pp. 430-9).

283
Katja Grillner

Bibliography

W alter Benjamin, 'The W ork of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction', in Hannah
Arendt (ed.), Illuminations, New York: Schocken Book, 1969, pp. 217-51.
William Bogard, 'Distraction and Digital Culture', in Arthur and Marilouise Kroker (eds),
ctheory.net (article: a088, published: 10 May 2000). Online, available from:
www.ctheory.net/articles.aspx7id =131 (accessed 11 November 2005).
Michel Foucault, 'Space, Knowledge and Power', in Michael K. Hays (ed.), Architecture
Theory Since 1968, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1998, pp. 430-9.
Jonathan Hill, Actions o f Architecture: Architects and Creative Users, London: Routledge,
2003.
Laura Mulvey, 'Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema', Screen, 16 (3, 1975).
Laura Mulvey, 'Afterthoughts', Framework (15-17, 1981).
David Trotter, 'Stereoscopy: Modernism and the Haptic', Critical Quarterly, 46 (4, 2004),
38-58.
Iris Marion Young, On Female Body Experience, New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.

284
Index

Illu stra tion s are indicated by bold page nu m be rs

A cca d e m ia d e l D isegn o 210 bio-terro r attacks, preparation fo r 16 3 -4 , 1 6 5 -6

ae sth e tic ju d g e m e n ts 263 Black S n o w (Bulgakov) 138
A g re st, Diana 233 B loom er. J e n n ife r 100
Aguilera, Julieta 173, 174 B olter, Jay David 2 3 4 -6
air-conditioning 214 B ook o f M o d e ls (Hughes) 234
air m aps 128, 1 5 9 -6 6 , 160, 162, 164 B orges, Jorge Luis 64, 137
A lb erti, Leon B attista 4 5 -6 , 89, 210 boundaries 205
Alfarano, Tiberio 10, 8 9 -9 3 , 90 Bragdon, Claude 73, 169
Alhazen 3 8 -9 Bragdon, Claude Fayette 128, 1 6 9 -7 1 , 1 7 3 -5
am b ig u ity 212, 213 Bram ante, D onato 1 1 1 -1 2
A m p io e M a g n ific o Collegio (Piranesi) 100 brise s o le il 1 1 3 -1 4
anagogy 2 7 -9 B runelleschi, Filippo 4 4 -5 , 213
analogy and dra w in g 3 -4 Bufalini, Leonardo 92, 93
an am o rpho sis 137-41 B uilding In fo rm a tio n M o d e llin g (BIM ) 2 -3
A nderson, C hristy 65 building sites 1 1 7 -1 8
antono m asia 1 4 1 -4 b u ilt ob je cts, relationship to dra w in g s 1 3 -1 4
archaeology: C anterbury dig 1 8 3 -8 , 189, 190; Bulgakov, M ikh ail 138
d ra w in g s o f rubbish pits 1 8 9 -9 0
a rch ite ctu re : challenge to classical language o f CAD: and scale 70-1
1 0 1 -2 ; c u rre n t d ra w in g practices and C a'D ario 2 2 1 -2 , 227
pu blicatio ns 1-2 , 5; g o th ic 14; optical C aillois, Roger 127, 1 2 9 -3 4
co rre ctio n in 15; re p rese ntatio ns and the C alvino, Italo 205
im agination 3 4 -4 1 ; role o f th e unfinished C am po M arzio d e ll'A n tica Rom a (Piranesi) 100,
109; space in 10 1 -2 ; sp iritu a lity in 240; 105, 106
tw in n e d body o f 8 9 -9 6 ; and w e a th e r 216 C apitol C om plex, Chandigarh 118
Argan, G.C. 45 C arrier, W illis Havilland 214
carta da lucido 31
Bachelard, G aston 255, 257 C arter, John 243
Barasch, M o sh e 240 C arter, Paul 190
Barbaro, D aniele 17, 18 Cartesian pe rspe ctivalism 254
Baudrillard, Jean 132 Cassirer, Ernst 58
Bauhaus 5 7 -8 Cellini, B en ven uto 48
B eirut Green Line 202 C e llini's handbook 44
Benjam in. W a lte r 182, 2 5 5 -6 , 2 7 0 -2 , 2 7 5 -6 , C esariano, Cesare 28
280-1 C hinese pain ting 81, 8 1 -5 , 84, 86
Berlin Chronicle, A (Benjam in) 255 C h rist icons 8 1 , 81
b io -p o w e r 165 cin e m a tic visual e ffe c ts 1 4 6-5 7

285
Index

circulation rou te s 121-2 and ten d e rn e ss 197; as th e trace o f the

c itie s 10 2 -3 a rtis t's hand 196; translatio n to buildings
cloud see ding 215 2 0 3 -4 ; as visual th in kin g 1 9 7 -8
co m m u n ica tio n o f a rch itectura l kn o w le d g e 44 d ra w in gs: as ancillary co m p o n e n ts 5; as pieces
c o m p u te rs: application to a rch ite ctu re 2 -3 , o f art 5; relatio nship to b u ilt ob je cts 13 -1 4
2 1 -2 ; c o m p u te r assiste d design (CAD) Du Prel, Carl 170-1
70-1 ; d e piction o f fo u r-d im e n sio n a l fig u re s D ue Regole della P rosp ettiva Prattica (Vignola)
17 2 -5 ; digital m od el-m a kin g 15 0 -6 ; gam es 16
131 ; graphics 117; m im icry by digital m edia D uham el, G eorges 276
1 3 2 -3 ; ph otore alism in graphics 130-1 Dunne, A n th o n y 215
con ce a lm e n t, devices o f 1 3 7-4 4 Durand, Jean-N icolas-Louis 12, 21
c o n fro n ta tio n , lines o f 2 0 1 -7
c o n stru ctio n : im agination o f 8 3 -6 ; of Eam es, A. 194
im m e d ia cy 2 3 5 -6 ; tea chin g 220, 2 2 2 -3 Eisenm an, Peter 105
co sm o p o ie sis, dra w in g as 4 e le c tro m a g n e tic w e a th e r 215
C ousins, M ark 2 1 2 -1 3 Eliasson, O lafur 182, 266
C ra nksh aft W e ll W indlass (Ramelli) 8 3 -5 e m p a th y 257
C reation o f th e Sun a n d M oo n, The (Zuccaro) e n th y m e m e 142, 143
53, 54 Essay C oncerning H um an U nde rsta nding
C ritique o f J u d g m e n t (Kant) 262, 2 6 4 -5 (L o c k e )211
Cyclops, sto ry o f 1 4 2 -3 Evans, Robin 117, 203, 212, 231, 234
evo cative fra g m e n ts 1 1 4 -1 5
D am isch, H u b e rt 12 exiles 204
darkness 1 3 3 -4
D e A d m in is tra tio n e (Suger) 28 Fable (Ponge) 2 4 5 -6 , 248
delay, de vice s of 1 3 7 -4 4 facture , arch itectura l 23
Deleuze, G illes 10, 102, 103, 141 F athe r D isegn o an d his three da ug hters
Della p ittu ra (Alberti) 4 5 -6 (Zuccaro) 4 8 -5 1 , 49, 52, 53
de m arks 141 Faune e t Flora (Ponge) 2 4 8 -9
Derrida, Jacques 244 Filarete 14, 7 1 -2
D esargues, Gérard 1 9 -2 0 film s 131, 2 7 5 -6 ; visual e ffe c ts fro m 14 6 -5 7 ,
D escartes, Rene 26 258
d e scrip tive g e o m e try 21 Fletcher, B an ister 212
design: cultu ral c o n te x t o f 7 9 -8 0 , 8 3 -4 , 84 flu id ity 100-1
histo ry o f 2 1 0 -1 2 fo rm and d im e n sio n s 170-1
digital rep rese ntatio n see co m p u te rs F oucault, M ich e l 165
d im e n sio n s 17 0 -5 fo u rth dim e n sio n 1 7 0 -5
dire ctn e ss of d ra w in g 195 fra g m e n ts 11 4 -1 5
d is e g n o : histo rica l d e fin itio n s o f 9, 4 3 -5 5 ; unity Frascari. M arco 2 2 1 -3 , 227
in 58, 59 French, T hom as 67
D isputa fre sco (Raphael) 1 1 1 -1 2 , 112, 118 Freud, S igm und (M y s tic W ritin g Pad) 1 8 8 -9
distra ctio n : and criticism 2 7 6 -7 , 281; essay fun erary m o n u m e n ts 93
2 7 6 -7 ; insta lla tion s 2 7 3 -4 , 274, 275,
2 7 7 -8 0 , 278, 279; shock and the haptic garden design 2 1 1-1 2
2 7 1 -2 ; in use 272 Gebhard, D. 31
Donne, John 138 G ellner, E rnest 43
D ourish, Paul 133 g e o m e tric th in kin g and im agination 2 6 3 -5 ,
dra w in g: a b a n d o n m e n t o f 199; and analogy 2 6 6 -7
3 -4 ; and a rch ite cts 6; celeb ration o f 19 4-5 ; g e o m e try, de scrip tive 21
in co n te m p o ra ry life 1 9 3 -4 ; corporeal act of G hiberti, Lorenzo 44
7 9 -8 0 , 8 4 -5 ; as co sm o p o ie sis 4; creative G ibson, J.J. 198
act o f 198; c u rre n t practices and Giles o f V iterb o 110, 111
publications 1-2 , 5; d e fin itio n o f 205; G inzberg, Carlo 89
dire ctn e ss o f 195; e ffe c t o f u n ce rta in ty and G oing up the R iver on the Q ing M in g F estival
risk 4 -5 ; and e m p a th y 196; loss o f from 82, 83
curriculu m 194; M a rks in Space exh ib ition g o th ic a rch ite ctu re 14
195; reasons fo r th e im p o rta n ce o f 19 7 -8 ; graphical fig u re s, u se fu ln e ss o f 124

286
 Index

green skyscrapers 163 light: in a rch ite ctu re 2 2 1 -3 ; co n stru ctio n of

G ropius, W a lte r 57 2 2 4 -9 , 2 2 5 -9
Grusin, Richard 2 3 4 -6 lightin g 16 -1 7
Guattari, Félix 102, 103 lines o f co n fro n ta tio n 2 0 1 -7
G u llive r's Travels (S w ift) 68, 73 Lives o f th e A rtis ts (Vasari) 4 6 -8
Guo Ruoxu 82 Locke, John 180, 211
Lom azzo, G.P. 55, 55, 56
H araway, D onna 133 L u m e M a te ria le 2 2 1 -3
Harris m a trix 185, 186 Lynn, Greg 147
H aydocke, Richard 55
H e em ske rck, M a e rte n van 111 M acC abe, Colin 2 5 6 -7
H eidegger, M a rtin 39 M cC u llo ug h, M alcolm 127
H ere and There, Then an d N o w (H odgson) 187 M cG regor, Colin 243, 250
high er d im e n sio n s 1 7 0 -5 m ag nitu de, fee lin g 2 6 6 -7
H is to ry Lesson (Hodgson) 187 M alebranche, Nicolas 70, 72
H is to ry o f S exuality (Foucault) 165 m an-m ade w e a th e r 214
H itch cock, A lfre d 128, 139-41 M an ha ttan 1 5 9 -6 6
H odgson, Jan et 18 3 -8 , 189, 190 m an ip ula tion o f w e a th e r 214
H o m e r 128 M a rks in Space e xh ib itio n 195
H ooke, Robert 6 9 -7 0 m a te ria lity o f paper 23
H ughes, Rolf 234 m aterials: behaviour o f 249; language o f 2 4 6 -8 ;
H um e, David 211 sp e cifyin g using language 243, 248-51
H usserl, E dm und 39 m atrixial stratigraph 185, 186
h yp erm e dia cy 2 3 4 -6 M auss, M a rce l 131
M é c a n is m e de la c o m p o s itio n (Durand) 12, 21
ichnography 2 8 -9 ; St. P ete r's Basilica 8 9 -9 3 M ed er, Joseph 43
iconography 92 M erleau-P onty, M au rice 39, 179, 254
Iconologia (Ripa) 4 8 -5 0 , 50, 51 M e rritt, David 205
Idea d e ll'A rc h ite ttu ra U niversale (Scamozzi) 16 M icro grap hia (Hooke) 6 9 -7 0
im ages 2 5 5 -6 ; as too ls 8 1 -2 M icro m é g a s (Voltaire) 68
im agination: of co n stru ctio n 8 3 -6 ; role in m icro sco p e s 6 9 -7 0
a rch itectura l re p re se n ta tio n s 34-41 m ilita ry uses o f the w e a th e r 215
im m e d ia cy 2 3 4 -6 M ill O w n e r's A ssociation building 1 1 3 -1 7 , 115,
in sects, m im ic ry o f 130, 131 116, 117
invisible, th e 3 1 -2 m im e tic im ages 80-1
m im icry: by digital m edia 13 2 -3 ; as a lack of
Jea nn eret, M ich e l 110 co n tro l 130; in nature 130, 131
Jie-hua tradition of pain ting 82 M im ic ry an d Le ge nd ary P sychasthenia (Caillois)
Jones, A llen 197 129
Jon es, Inigo 65 M irro r Travel in Yucatan (Sm ithson) 2 4 2 -3
Julien, Joey 1 7 2 -3 m od els, arch itectura l: ab stra ct nature o f 2 3 6 -7 ;
co m m u n ica tio n and generation o f ideas
Kant, Im m anu el 181, 2 6 2 -5 , 267 234; as critical research to o l 2 3 7 -9 , 2 3 7 -4 0 ;
Kem p, W o lfg a n g 48 d e fin itio n s o f 2 3 2 -3 ; and the im agination
king's tw o bodies 8 8 -9 34-41 ; m arginalised status o f 233; and the
Klein, N orm an 147 spiritual in a rch ite ctu re 240; use of 231; see
Kristeva, Julia 204 also d ra w in g ; rep rese ntatio n
M onk, John 235, 236
Lacan, Jacques 254, 256 M o n tre so r, John 161
language o f sp e cifica tio n s 2 4 6 -8 M un da neu m m use um 121, 122
Le C orbusier 10, 100, 1 1 3 -1 7 , 118, 214; use of M un dy, J. 53
spirals 12 0 -4 M u se u m o f C o n te m p o ra ry A rt, Paris 122
Lefebvre, Henri 2 3 6 -7 M u se u m o f U n lim ite d G ro w th 122, 123
legendary psychasthenia 130 M y s tic W ritin g Pad 18 8 -9
Leonardo da Vinci 110, 213
L 'id ea d e ll'a rch ite ctu ra universale (Scamozzi) N a tion al B u ild in g S p e c ific a tio n (NBS) 243,
2 9 -3 0 250

287
Index

natural w e a th e r 2 1 2 -1 4 quadratura te ch n iq u e 14 8-9 , 150-1

nature 130, 131 Q uiviger, François 5 3 -4
N e a ra m n e w (Carter) 190
N evins, Deborah 31 Raby, Fiona 215
N e w York C ity 1 5 9 -6 6 Ram achandran, V.S. 198
Noll. A. M ichael 172 Ram elli, A g o stin o 83
Nolli, G iovanni B attista 99, 10 4 -7 Raphael 11 1 -1 2 , 112
N o rth b y N o rth w e s t 1 3 9-4 0 reality and digital re p re se n ta tio n 1 3 1 -2
Novak, M arco s 173, 174 re c to -v e rs o relationship 30, 33n17
red raw ing , act o f 8 3 -6
O bse rva tion s on M o d e rn G ardening (W hateley) re fle ctive th in kin g and ju d g e m e n t 2 6 2 -3 , 2 6 7 -8
212 relativity o f p e rce p tio n 70
O dysse y (Hom er) 14 2 -3 R e m ed iatio n (B olter and G rusin) 2 3 4 -6
o rd er in th e R enaissance 110 Renaissance: order in 1 10
ortho go na l pro je ction 19 rep rese ntatio n: cu rre n t practices and
publications 1 -2 , 5; end o f 1 3 7 -8 ; o f higher
Palladio, Andrea 65 d im e n sio n s 1 7 1 -5 ; and th e im agination
Pallasmaa, Juhani 147 3 4 -4 1 ; u n ive rsality o f p ro cesse s 7; visib ility
Panofsky, E. 48 o f th e m e d iu m o f 244; see also dra w in g;
panoram as 147, 1 5 1 -4 m odels, a rch itectura l
paper: as active to o l of th e facture 30; and re p rese ntatio nal realism 1 3 0 -2
anagogy 2 7 -9 ; carta da lu cido 31 ; as a R epton, H u m p h ry 212
conceiving to o l 28; co n te m p o ra ry a ttitu d e s Riegl, A lois 272
to 2 5 -6 ; d e v e lo p m e n t o f 25; and th e end of Ripa, Cesare 4 8 -5 0 , 50, 51
re p rese ntatio n 1 3 7 -8 ; Italian p ro du ction of Rom e 10 0 -1 , 10 2 -3 , 10 4 -7
d ra w in g s 3 1 -2 ; m a te ria lity o f 23; no t ju s t a rubbish pits 1 8 9 -9 0
passive in s tru m e n t 23; re c to -v e rs o ruins 1 1 0 -1 1 , 1 1 3 -1 4
relationship 30, 33n17; as sig n ifica n t Rules an d E xam ples o f P ersp ective P rop er fo r
te ch n o lo g y 24; s o tto -lu c id i32; use and Painters an d A rc h ite c ts (Pozzo) 20
fu n c tio n s o f 2 6 -9 Ruskin. John 2 1 3 -1 4
Paul III in sp e ctin g the reb uilding o f Saint
P e te r's (Vasari) 9 4 -5 , 95 St. P e te r's Basilica 8 9 -9 3 ; co n s tru c tio n o f ne w
pe rception, re la tivity o f 70 1 1 1 -1 2
P e rp e tu a l M o tio n (Jeanneret) 110 Sant'lgnazio, Rom e 1 4 8 -9 , 149
pe rspe ctivalism 254 scale: and CAD 70-1 ; d e fin itio n s o f 6 4 -5 ; and
p e rspe ctive 15 -2 1 ; and m ovie-m aking 148 d ra w n w o rld s 7 2 -3 ; and the im agination
P fe iffe r, Heinrich 111 7 1 -2 ; and m icro sco p e s 6 9 -7 0 ; related
P hilo soph y o f M y s tic is m (Du Prel) 170-1 lite rature 68; relativity o f p e rcep tion 70;
p h o to g ra m m e try 1 4 7 -8 re p rese ntatio n o f 6 5 -7 ; use of dividers
Phyllia 131 6 6 -7 , 67
p ictu resq ue gardens 2 1 1-12 Scam ozzi, V in cen te 16, 2 9 -3 0 , 65
p in w h e e l fig u re s 12 2 -3 sciagraphy 17
Piranesi, G iovanni B attista 9 9 -1 0 7 , 106 sea 102
pits 1 8 9 -9 0 se ctio n s 16
place and w ritin g 188-91 self-re fe ren ce, logic o f 144
Plath. Sylvia 2 5 3 -8 Serlio, Sebastiano 65
Plato 80-1 Shanks, M ich ae l 185, 191
P oetics o f Space, The (Bachelard) 255 Shroud o f T urin 139
Ponge, Francis 181. 243, 2 4 4 -6 , 250-1 Sibley, David 212
Pozzo, A ndrea 20, 14 8-9 , 149 S ix M e m o s fo r the N e x t M ille n n iu m (Calvino)
Précis des Leçons d 'A rc h ite c tu re (Durand) 12 205
P rob le m s o f S tyle (Riegl} 272 skyscrapers, green 163
P rod uctio n o f Space (Lefebvre) 2 3 6 -7 S m ithso n, R obert 2 4 2 -3
pro je ction 12 -1 3 , 19 Soane, John 7 2 -3
P rojective O rn a m e n t 170, 171 Soper. G eorge 161
p ro m e n a d e 121-2 s o tto -lu c id i 32
psychoanalysis and a rch ite ctu re 191 space: in a rch ite ctu re 1 0 1 -2 ; sm o o th and

288
 Index

striated 10 2 -3 ; in te rm s o f m o v e m e n t u n finished : and brise s o le il 1 1 3 -1 4 ; building

1 0 3 -4 ; urban 10 2 -3 s ite s 1 1 7 -1 8 ; evo cative fra g m e n ts 1 1 4 -1 5 ;
spa tiality and visu a lity 2 5 3 -8 flu x versus stasis 1 1 0 -1 2 ; M ill O w n e r's
spe cifica tions: language o f 2 4 6 -8 , 2 5 0 -1 ; A ssociatio n building 1 1 3 -1 7 , 115, 116, 117;
ne g le ct o f 2 4 3 -4 p o te n tia l fo r cre a tivity 118; re d e m p tive
S pe nce r-B row n , G eorge 142 im p lica tio n s o f ruins 1 1 0 -1 1 ; role in
spiral fig u re s, use o f by Le C orbusier 1 2 0 -4 co n te m p o ra ry a rch ite ctu re 109
sp iritu a lity in a rch ite ctu re 240 un ity o f the arts 5 5 -8
Spuybroek, Lars 147 urban space 10 2 -3
ste re o g n o sis 14 1 -2
S tere oscop y: m o d e rn ism an d the ha ptic Vasari, G iorgio 4 6 -8 , 94, 95, 210
(T rotter) 272 Veblen, T h o rste in 131
stratigra ph y 185, 186 v e c to r analysis 161
su b je c tiv ity and vision 2 5 6 -7 Venice H ospital 123
su b w a y syste m o f N e w York 161, 162 V ero nica's veil 9 1 -2 , 93
Suger, A b b o t 28 Vertigo (H itchcock) 139-41
Sullivan, Louis 169 Vignola 16
S w ift, Jonathan 68 Villa Bardelini 16
sym bo ls 12 Villa La R oche-Jeanneret 121
Villa M e y e r 121
Tafuri, M a n fre d o 100 Villa Savoye 121, 122
Tale o f a Tub {Plath) 2 5 3 -8 V irtru viu s 28
Tallis, R aym ond 127 V irtual R eality (VR) 1 7 2 -5
Taut, Bruno 56 visib ility o f th e m ed iu m o f re p re se n ta tio n 244
Ten B ooks (Vitruvius) 17 Visible and the Invisible, The (M erleau-P onty)
The 39 Steps (H itchcock) 141 254
Thoenes, C h risto f 111 visual e ffe c ts fro m film 1 4 6 -5 7
T housand Plateaus, A (Deleuze and G uattari) visu ality in spatial e xp erience 2 5 3 -8
102 V itruvius 9, 15, 17
tim e , d ra w in g 1 8 5 -8 V ittalpando, Juan B autista 18
Time M a ch in e (H odgson) 187 V oltaire 68, 72
T im es Square D istrict, M an ha ttan 1 5 9 -6 6 , 160, Voysey, C.F.A. 187
164
To M rs. M .H . (Donne) 138 W agner, Richard 5 5 -6
Topografia d i Rom a (Nolli) 1 0 4 -7 w a s te fu ln e s s 131
to p o g ra p h y 14 1 -2 , 143 w e a th e r: and a m b ig u ity 213; and a rch itecture
to p o lo g y 144 216; e le c tro m a g n e tic 215; m an-m ade 214;
Towards a N e w A rc h ite c tu re (Le C orbusier) m ilita ry uses 215; natural 2 1 2 -1 4
214 W e a th e r Project, The (Eliasson) 266
transitu s 28, 30 W h a te le y, T hom as 212
Translation fro m D ra w in g to B uild ing s (Evans) W ork o f A r t in the A g e o f M e ch a n ica l
203, 231, 234 R e production, The (Benjam in) 2 7 0 -2 , 280-1
tra n slu ce n cy 100-1 w o rld -m a kin g , dra w in g as 4
transparency of m edia 2 3 5 -6 w ritin g and place 188-91
T rotte r, David 272, 276 W ynne , Philip H enry 174
Tu Hua Jian W en Z h i (Guo Ruoxu) 82
tw in n e d body o f a rch ite ctu re 8 9 -9 6 Xuan H e Hua Pu 82

un ce rta in ty and risk, e ffe c t on d ra w in g 4 -5 Zuccaro, Federico 4 8 -5 5

289
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