Foundations of Design : REPRESENTATION, SEM1, 2017 M2 JOURNAL - FLATNESS vs PROJECTION James Urlini
(921240) Anastasia Sklavakis - Studio 27
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WEEK 3 READING: LEGER, LE CORBUSIER AND PURISM
Question 1: What is Pictorial Space according to Le Corbusier? (Maximum 100 words) According to Le Corbusier, pictorial space is space that is not able to be entered or circulated through. He understood pictorial space to be purely frontal and therefore was bound to eternal frontality with the only option of viewing to be from a distance without interaction with the space.
Question 2: The Flatness of Le Corbusier’s painting’s are attributable to two properties. What are they? And what are these pitted against?(Maximum 100 words) The first property that gave Le Corbusier’s paintings a sense of flatness was his use of shapes that didn’t break from the frontality that dictates flatness, therefore suggesting an absence in curvature and depth in the shapes. The second property was way in which Le Corbusier composed his paintings. The shapes that alluded to a flatness were placed against each other without breaks in their edges, creating a large complex network of lines that enforced two dimensionality. These properties were pitted against Le Corbusier’s use of tonal variation to indicate form. It is this indication of form that contradicts the flatness and creates an ambiguity in the visuals of his works.
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MARIO’S WORLD
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1ST MARIO’S WORLD Appropriately labelled ‘top ground’ and ‘bottom ground’, these drawings represent the top and bottom halves of my Mario world. Combined, these individual drawings form the full axonometric of my Mario world. Whilst the bottom ground is partially hidden in the final work, here, we can see its layout entirely.
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COMBINED MARIO’S WORLD
Here is the final iteration of my Mario world in hand drawn form. Through erasing the intersection between the top and bottom grounds, I have been able to place the top ground in front of the bottom, establishing the perspective from which the axonometric is viewed. I have added pipes that extend from areas within the grounds into the worlds, augmenting the notion of the worlds’ coexistence within the one space. To further emphasise this, I have created areas within the top ground that are cut out, allowing the viewer to see a glimpse into the hidden world of the bottom ground. Additionally, I have added an underground area to the bottom ground to hint at the existence of an extra area below the world and outside of the boundaries of the given map that the audience does not yet know about. Similarly, I have added pathways between the clouds. These were made with both the gameplay of a Mario world in mind and again, the idea of an extra dimension to the provided world map.
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WEEK 4 READING: AXONOMETRIC PROJECTION: NEW GEOMETRIES AND OLD ORIGINS FROM PRACTICE: ARCHITECTURE, TECHNIQUE AND REPRESENTATION Question 1: Explain the difference between Pictoral (in this case perspectival) space and Projection? (Maximum 100 words) Pictorial / perspectival space is space that delineates from a single viewing point and is always linked to this single point of perspective. Objects that inhabit perspectival space exist in the same field. Projection, on the other hand, creates an illusory space that is irrational in nature as there is a coexistence of both a view point and vanishing point and objects are victim to perception by both points.
Question 2: Where did Axonometric projection first arise, and why? (Maximum 100 words) Axonometric projections date back to ancient visual practices and were used when measurable, quantitative empirical data was required to accurately depict objects and space. Due to this, axonometric projection was often used in a military context.
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ILLUSTRATED MARIO’S NEW WORLD With my final illustration of the Mario world, I decided to create a ‘before and after’effect, adding a blue tint that extends from the top ground over the bottom ground, giving the illusion of a water-filled environment.
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APPENDIX
Using a .5 HB mechanical pencil to draw the axonometric with the aid of a t-square and 45 degree set square.
Laying the top ground drawing over the bottom ground drawing in order to be able to trace the axonometric in its entirety using 0.1 and 0.5 fineliners.
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