M4: Frame vs. Field

FODR Semester One 2017 M4: Frame vs. Field

837010, Anneke Prins (studio 10)

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Week 9 reading: Perspective as symbolic form

Question 1: What are Durer’s rules for perspectival projection?

Question 2: Describe homogenous space?

When producing a perspectival projection there are certain rules that should be followed. Firstly, all orthogonals must meet at a vanishing point. The vanishing point is determined by the perpendicular drawn from the eye to the picture frame. The second rule is that all parallels must have a common vanishing point. In some cases, an image may have more than one vanishing point. Lastly, any portion of the picture is calculable when equal dimensions diminish progressively as they recede into space.

Homogenous space can be defined as space in which all objects exist within a consistent and calculable medium. This form of space is produced through construction. Each element relates to one another and the space around which it lies. The position of objects is also determinable due to the mathematical nature of homogenous space.

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Cities and Eyes 3: Baucis

After a seven days’ march through woodland, the traveller directed towards Baucis cannot see the city and yet he has arrived. The slender stilts that rise from the ground at a great distance from another and are lost above the clouds support the city. You climb them with ladders.

On the ground the inhabitants rarely show themselves: having already everything they need up there, they prefer not to come down. Nothing of the city touches the earth except those long flamingo legs on which it rests and, when the days are sunny, a pierced, angular shadow that falls on the foliage.

There are three hypotheses about the inhabitants of Baucis: that they hate the earth; that they respect it so much they avoid all contact; that they love it as it was before they existed and with spyglasses and telescopes aimed downwards they never tire of examining it, leaf by leaf, stone by stone, ant by ant, contemplating with fascination their own absence.

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Old quad isometric

The following is an isometric view of the old quad. Using Rhino, the old quad was constructed to scale, then using the ‘make 2D’ command, after setting the viewport to isometric, an outline was created. From here linework was edited in Adobe Illustrator using a range of lineweights between 0.25 and 0.01 to infer a greater sense of depth.

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1m

2.5m

5m

Old quad isometric: notations

Cities & eyes 3: BauCis

After completion of the old quad model in Rhino, a range of symbols were added to represent Marco Polo’s journey through the city of Baucis, as told within the assigned story. These symbols demonstrate movements, time, thresholds, people etc.

As a whole, the symbols show cautious movement throughout the city, as Marco Polo enters a place that prefers not to make contact with the earth below. His curiosity of such a place is shown through constant observation, by way of glancing or staring.

After all symbols were inserted, final line work was edited in Adobe Illustrator. The dark infill on sections of the linework represents a cut line; the city continues beyond what is shown.

Key

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1m

2.5m

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Slow lingering step

Person

Regular step

Crowd of people

Tentative step

Climbing upwards

Glance

Opening up of space

Long stare

Perspective 1

Earth/ Baucis

Perspective 2

Passage of time

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Quad perpectives: one and two

Perspective 1

Perspective 2

On arrival to the city Marco Polo must look upwards to view Baucis. The inhabitants of the city prefer not to have direct contact with the earth, and by having the angle of perspective from below demonstrates this separation.

Taken at eye level, perspective two allows the viewer to gain an understanding of the interior of Baucis. The particular cropping of Perspective 2 also provides the opportunity to explore how the inhabitants interact with the different spaces within the city.

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Perspective scenes: one and two

Scene 1—Arrival

Scene 2—The observatory

Within the first scene, Arrival, a more dramatic approach to the editing of the image was taken.

The angle and layering of different textures, coupled with the absence of characters, creates a sense of intrigue as to who inhabits of the city are, which is only accessible by climbing ladders. The use of a transparent floor is representative of the inhabitants interest in observing the earth below.

Trees and clouds obscure the city from view in part to infer the hidden nature of the city upon arrival.

The scene, The observatory, depicts a number of the city’s inhabitants viewing the world below. The addition of the globe demonstrates their interest in earth without need for direct contact. The lack of external walls reflect the open nature of the city.

The placement of an image of foliage overlaid with a cloud texture on the floor reinforces this idea of observation, yet a distant connection to the earth.

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Week 10 readings: Mapping the unmappable

Question 1: What is the difference between autographic and allographic practice?

Question 2: Why do architects need new representational techniques?

The many art forms that exist can be broadly defined as either autographic or allographic. It is the authors direct involvement with the final output that is the determining factor as to what category the art form is placed in. Autographic arts, such as sculpting and painting require the direct involvement of the author. In contrast, allographic arts can be reproduced numerous times without the author being present. This is possible due to notation, the defining characteristic of allographic art.

Music, poetry and theatre, examples of allographic art, depend on notational practices to reproduce works, though variation in the final output is possible due to individual interpretation.

For the continued evolution of the architectural field, new representational techniques are required. Contemporary cities are dynamic areas with few stable objects and fixed subjects, which traditional representational techniques imply.

The complex network of flows, both visible and invisible, within the contemporary city have hindered the architect’s ability to intervene or describe concepts clearly. New techniques are needed to be able to engage with time and change, shifting scales, mobile points of view and multiple programs. Inventing new notation in architectural representation is not the answer, rather the introduction of new technologies to build upon what already exist is. As a result this would pave the way for greater interaction of the architect with other professions, disciplines and the city as a whole.

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Final drawings

A final A1 sheet was composed using the notated isometric drawing and two perspective scenes. Combined, they tell the story of Cities and Eyes 3: Baucis.

Cities & eyes 3: BauCis

Key

0

1m

Perspective 1—Arrival

2.5m

5m

Slow lingering step

Person

Regular step

Crowd of people

Tentative step

Climbing upwards

Glance

Opening up of space

Long stare

Perspective 1

Earth/ Baucis

Perspective 2

Passage of time

Perspective 2—The observatory

Georgia Griffiths, 837010

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