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Expanding the boundaries of architectural representation: Axonometric drawing and anti-perspective

Research Question: How does the oblique drawing technique of axonometry differ from perspectival techniques in terms of its key characteristics and impact on building design, and furthermore can it be of more benefit to the creative freedom and designs of the architect than perspective?

Rachel Elizabeth Ann Sexton Dissertation in Architecture BA (Hons) School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape 170032917 Tutor: James A Craig 23rd January 2020 Newcastle University

Word Count: 8046 (excluding footnotes, list of figures and bibliography)

Cover Image: Author’s own drawings of the Rietveld House and House VI collaged together with the axonometric drawings created of the houses by the architects

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Abstract Architectural representation has been dominated by linear perspective since the Renaissance, however there are many issues with the operation of this method in relation to the unconscious and nature of human vision. Creative processes are controlled by the unconscious, and many characteristics of linear perspective can be said to have limitations to creative freedom as arguably is not a true representation of how we experience space, for example its use of a monocular viewpoint. My dissertation aims to examine how an alternative representation method, the axonometric technique, differs to perspective in how it portrays space, and whether its characteristics can be more encouraging of unconscious creative decisions. I have explored this through the examination of two case studies- the Rietveld House by Gerrit Rietveld and House VI by Peter Eisenman, both of which have been designed and represented primarily through the axonometric technique. These buildings, and the abstract nature of their design techniques, has been discussed in depth in the literature of Desley Luscombe, which was a strong influence in informing the argument of this dissertation. My analysis of the axonometric drawings and their consequences on the realised buildings themselves have been demonstration for the conclusion that the axonometric can be regarded as a more useful technique than perspective. This is by encouraging creativity and allowing viewers to gain an understanding of a building. An example is the nature of the axonometric to be able to communicate complex architectural concepts of space and time through its enabling of the abstract use of colour, transparency and multiple dimensions. This leads to the argument that the use of the axonometric technique should be more widely encouraged in architectural education and the development of architectural computer software.

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Contents List of Images .....................................................................................................pg. 5 Acknowdgement..................................................................................................pg. 7 Introduction..........................................................................................................pg. 8 Chapter 1: A Brief History of the Axonometric.........................................pg. 11 Chapter 2: The Rietveld House by Gerrit Rietveld....................................pg. 14 Chapter 3: House VI by Peter Eisenman.......................................................pg. 24 Chapter 4: Conclusions on the axonometric.................................................pg. 32 Chapter 5: Counterargument...........................................................................pg. 35 Conclusion............................................................................................................pg. 36 Bibliography.........................................................................................................pg. 38

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List of Images Figure 1: Klee, Paul, 1921,‘Raum Der Haeuser’ in Mutual Art, <https://www.mu-

Figure 8a: Great Buildings Online, [no name given], digital copy of hand drawing,

tualart.com/Artwork/Raum-der-Hauser/261153DC9FEDCB96> [accessed on 04

ArchDaily, 29 December 2010, <https://www.archdaily.com/99698/ad-classics-ri-

October 2019].

etveld-schroder-house-gerrit-rietveld/5037f32328ba0d599b00061f-ad-classics-rietveld-schroder-house-gerrit-rietveld-image?next_project=no> [accessed 11 October

Figure 2: Duchamp, Marcel, 1912.’Nude Descending a Staircase, no,2’ in Wikipedia, <

2019].

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nude_Descending_a_Staircase,_No._2> [accessed on 04 October 2019]

Figure 8b: Great Buildings Online. [no name given], digital copy of hand drawing, ArchDaily, 29 December 2010, <https://www.archdaily.com/99698/ad-classics-ri-

Figure 3: Sanzio, Raphael. ‘The School of Athens’, in Jessica Stewart ‘The Story Be-

etveld-schroder-house-gerrit-rietveld/5037f32628ba0d599b000620-ad-classics-riet-

hind Raphael’s Masterpiece ‘The School of Athens’ My Modern Met. 2018. [online].

veld-schroder-house-gerrit-rietveld-image?next_project=no>

<https://mymodernmet.com/school-of-athens-raphael/> [accessed on 06 November 2019].

Figure 9: Duchamp, Marcel. ‘Nude Descending s Staircase, No. 2’ 1912. Oil on canvas painting. in Wikipedia, ‘Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2’ 2019. Digital reproduc-

Figure 4: Perret, Jacques, Des fortifications et artifices, architecture et perspective in

tion. < https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nude_Descending_a_Staircase,_No._2#/me-

Massimo Scolari ‘Oblique Drawing: A History of Antiperspective’ Online edition.

dia/File:Duchamp_-_Nude_Descending_a_Staircase.jpg> [accessed on 12 November

(London: The MIT Press, 2012) p. 10 <file:///C:/Users/rsext/AppData/Local/Pack-

2019]

ages/Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe/TempState/Downloads/+O%20 SCOLARI%20(OBLIQUE%20DRAWING)(FROM%20MENG%20CHAN)%20(1).

Figure 10: Wikimedia commons, [no name given], digital photograph, ArchDaily,

pdf>

29 December 2010, < https://www.archdaily.com/99698/ad-classics-rietveld-schroder-house-gerrit-rietveld/5037f33228ba0d599b000624-ad-classics-rietveld-schrod-

Figure 5: Walters, Evan, ‘Stout Man with Jug’ in Suzan Hamer, ‘Stout Man with

er-house-gerrit-rietveld-photo?next_project=no> [accessed on 11 October 2019]

Jug1936 by Evan Walters’ CURIATOR. 2016. [Online]. <https://curiator.com/art/ evan-walters/stout-man-with-jug> [accessed 07 November 2019].

Figure 11: Van Doesburg, Theo, Luscombe, Desley. Theo van Doesburg, Contra-constructie, 1923; reprographic print coloured with white, blue, red, grey, black and yel-

Figure 6: Wikimedia commons, [no name given], digital photograph, ArchDaily, 29

low paint (Van Moorsel donation to the Dutch State 1981, Kröller-Muüller Museum,

December 2010, <https://www.archdaily.com/99698/ad-classics-rietveld-schrod-

The Netherlands. KM 127.406), digital reproduction of painting, The Journal of

er-house-gerrit-rietveld/5037f2e428ba0d599b00060e-ad-classics-rietveld-schrod-

Architecture, 08 February 2013, < https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13

er-house-gerrit-rietveld-photo> [accessed 10 October 2019].

602365.2012.746048> [accessed 11 October 2019]

Figure 7: Rietveld, Gerrit, Luscombe, Desley. Gerrit Rietveld, Schröder house, ax-

Figure 12: Rietveld, Gerrit. Luscombe, Desley. Gerrit Rietveld, Schröder house, ax-

onometric; ink on tracing paper (Rietveld Schröder Archive, Utrecht. Inv. 004 A 059),

onometric; reprographic copy of 004 A 059, coloured with white, blue, red, grey, black

digital reproduction of drawing, The Journal of Architecture, 08 February 2013,

and yellow paint and pasted on grey cardboard (Rietveld Schröder Archive, Centraal

<https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13602365.2012.746048> [accessed

Museum, Utrecht. Inv. 004 A 104). Digital reproduction of drawing, The Journal of

10 October 2019].

Architecture, 08 February 2013, < https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13 602365.2012.746048> [accessed on 11 October 2019].

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Figure 13: Authors own, Exterior Perspective Drawing of the Rietveld House. Pen

Figure 20: Peter Eisenman, House VI, Cube Transformation, Studies 1-4 (axonomet-

drawing on paper. 2019

ric), Zipatone and laminated coloured paper with ink on paper, [n.d.], reproduced as digital image in Luscombe, Desley. ‘Architectural concepts in Peter Eisenman’s ax-

Figure 14: Authors own, Interior Perspective Drawing of the Rietveld House. Pen

onometric drawings of House VI’, The Journal of Architecture, 19,4 (2014)p.560-611

drawing on paper. 2019

<https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13602365.2014.951064> [accessed 18 November 2019]

Figure 15:[no author given], [no name given], digital photograph, ArchDaily, 04 June 2010, < https://www.archdaily.com/63267/ad-classics-house-vi-peter-eisen-

Figure 21: Peter Eisenman, House VI, Cube Transformation, Studies 5-8 (axonomet-

man/5037e0ec28ba0d599b000190-ad-classics-house-vi-peter-eisenman-image> [ac-

ric), Zipatone and laminated coloured paper with ink on paper, [n.d.], reproduced as

cessed 21 October 2019].

digital image in Luscombe, Desley. ‘Architectural concepts in Peter Eisenman’s axonometric drawings of House VI’, The Journal of Architecture, 19,4 (2014)p.560-611

Figure 16: Eisenman Architects, [no name given], digital photograph, Eisenman

<https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13602365.2014.951064> [accessed

Architects, [n.d.]. <https://eisenmanarchitects.com/House-VI-1975> [accessed 19

18 November 2019]

November 2019] Figure 22: Peter Eisenman, House VI, Axonometric Sketches 1971–1989, pen and ink Figure 17: Eisenman Architects, [no name given], digital photograph, Eisenman

on tracing paper, [n.d.], reproduced as digital image in Luscombe, Desley. ‘Architec-

Architects, [n.d.]. <https://eisenmanarchitects.com/House-III-1971> [accessed 20

tural concepts in Peter Eisenman’s axonometric drawings of House VI’, The Journal

November 2019]

of Architecture, 19,4 (2014)p.560-611 <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.108 0/13602365.2014.951064> [accessed 19 November 2019]

Figure 18: Peter Eisenman, House VI, Transformations XIII (axonometric), Zipatone and laminated coloured paper with ink on paper, [n.d.], reproduced as digital image in

Figure 23: Authors own, Exterior Perspective Drawing of House VI. Pen drawing on

Luscombe, Desley. ‘Architectural concepts in Peter Eisenman’s axonometric drawings

paper. 2019

of House VI’, The Journal of Architecture, 19,4 (2014)p.560-611 <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13602365.2014.951064> [accessed 18 November 2019]

Figure 24: Da Vinci, Leonardo. Sketch of a Winch for Lifting Weights. in Massimo Scolari ‘Oblique Drawing: A History of Antiperspective’ Online edition. (London: The

Figure 19: Peter Eisenman, House VI, Transformations XIV (axonometric), Zipatone

MIT Press, 2012) p. 4 <file:///C:/Users/rsext/AppData/Local/Packages/Microsoft.

and laminated coloured paper with ink on paper, [n.d.], reproduced as digital image in

MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe/TempState/Downloads/+O%20SCOLARI%20

Luscombe, Desley. ‘Architectural concepts in Peter Eisenman’s axonometric drawings

(OBLIQUE%20DRAWING)(FROM%20MENG%20CHAN)%20(1).pdf>

of House VI’, The Journal of Architecture, 19,4 (2014)p.560-611 <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13602365.2014.951064> [accessed 18 November 2019]

Figure 25: Pure Architect, Exploded Axonometric, digital drawing, Arch Daily, October 2017 <https://www.archdaily.com/880448/peak-office-pure-architect/59caf0b9b22e384e5a00001a-peak-office-pure-architect-exploded-axonometric> [accessed 28 November 2019]

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Acknowledgement I would like to thank James Craig, who has been an inspirational tutor and source of knowledge and support during my dissertation journey. I am dedicating this dissertation to my mother and father Sarah and Charles Sexton, who have both supported and encouraged me throughout my dissertation and university experience, and whose belief in me when things get tough inspires me to continue my passion for learning and the creative arts.

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Introduction As architecture has developed since the beginning of civilisation, so has the way in which architects choose/are able to represent their buildings. Pari Riahi writes that ‘the capacity of a distinct medium to carry ideas from conception to realisation persists as an integral part of architectural practice’1. Therefore, representation is as valuable to architectural knowledge as realised buildings themselves. The increased complexity of buildings in modern times, such as the use of intricate mathematical forms, has been possible as technology and representation techniques have developed and widened, for example computer-aided design, experimental video and virtual images, which have all subsequently developed our understanding of reality2. Figure 1- ‘Raum der Haeuser’ by Paul Klee, a painting in linear perspective However, since medieval times and through all these new developments, drawing has consistently remained the main method of rep-

around 19154 , although he had been practising ‘psychoanalysis’,

resentation, as a way of recording an architect’s process and ideas,

(the study of unconscious mental life) since around 18855. This

and ways of communicating their design. Since the Renaissance,

opened new lines of research into the unconscious human mind

the dominant mode of representational drawing has been linear

and its influence on everyday life and indeed architecture. Chris-

perspective, which flattens three-dimensional planes into an entire-

topher Bollas, in his article ‘Architecture and the Unconscious’, ar-

ly two-dimensional image, the composition ‘radiating’ towards a

gues that ‘building derives from the human imagination, in some

vanishing point, ‘eroding’ the spatial depth of the image3. Through

dialectic that is widely influenced by many contributing factors –

further investigation, it became clear that many problems exist in

its stated function, its relation to its neighbourhood, its functional

using linear perspective in relation to the architect’s unconscious

possibilities, its artistic or design statement, its client’s wishes…

mind and consequential creative freedom and decisions. The con-

and many other factors that constitute its psychic structure’6. This

cept of the unconscious was first ‘discovered’ by Sigmund Freud

highlights the importance of unconscious processes in architectur-

1 Pari Riahi, ‘Expanding the boundaries of architectural representation’, The Journal of Architecture, 22, 5 (2017), p. 815-824 2 Alberto Perez Gomez, ‘Architectural Representation and the Perspectival Hinge’. Paperback ed. (London: The MIT Press, 2000) pg.3 3 Lorens Holm, ‘Brunelleschi, Lacan, Le Corbusier’, (Abingdon: Routledge, 2010) p. 50

4 Sigmund Freud. ‘The Unconscious’. UK ed. Edn. (London: Penguin Books, 2005) 5 Wikipedia. ‘Sigmund Freud’. Wikipedia, 2019 < https://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Sigmund_Freud#Development_of_psychoanalysis> [accessed on 25 October 2019].   6 Christopher Bollas. ‘Architecture and the Unconscious’, International Forum of Psychoanalysis, 9, 1-2 (2000), pp. 28

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al design, as every decision we make regarding these factors passes through this function. Architectural design is a highly creative process and should attempt to embody one’s experience of the lived and seen world. Juhani Pallasmaa, in his essay ‘Encounters 2: In Praise of Vagueness’, responds to the work of Anton Ehrenzweig and discusses the nature of creative processes regarding the unconscious mind, and the nature of human vision and how this relates to perspective and representation7. Pallasmaa focuses his argument based on Ehrenzweig’s claim that rather than the precision and logical clarity that is so enforced in artistic and architectural practice from linear perspective, it is from ‘superior’ unconscious perception and vague and juxtaposed images that creativity arises- ‘any act of creativeness in the human mind involves the temporary paralysis of the [mental] surface functions and a longer or shorter reactivation of more archaic and less differentiated functions’8. Pallasmaa discusses how this can then be related and developed into the way an artist (or architect) must work- by them adopting a method of working that uses a ‘diffuse, scattered kind of attention’ with not only one ‘single line of thought’9. Since the unconscious has such control over our conscious awareness and creative decisions, Pallasmaa goes on to discuss the role that human vision plays in contributing to this. True visual perception is unconscious and vague- humans see a blur and only a fraction (1/1000th) of the visual field is in focus at any time, although our unconscious tricks us into believing we see everything in focus due to the eye constantly scanning.

Figure 2- Cubist painting responding to unconscious vision and vague, diffuse images ‘Nude Descending a Staircase’- Marcel Duchamp

This means vision is a ‘continuous plastic construct’, and not a static image10. Pallasmaa argues that through our unconscious vision, we ‘grasp overall entities…at the expense of precision and detail’. However, the world of architectural theory and representation has

spectival vision11. Perspectival space reduces the viewer to an ‘out-

consistently remained in favour of representing using focused, per-

sider’, while true haptic and simultaneous space of the real world

7 Juhani Pallasmaa, ‘Encounters 2: In Praise of Vagueness’ 2nd edn, (Finland: Rakennustieto Publishing, 2012) p.224-236 8 Anton Ehrenzweig, ‘The Psychoanalysis of Artistic Vision and Hearing: An Introduction to a Theory of Unconscious Perception’, (paperback) (Abingdon: Routledge, 2014)p. 35 9 ‘Encounters 2: In Praise of Vagueness’ p.225 10 Ibid, p. 226

makes us ‘participants’12. Some architects and artists have, over the last two centuries, attempted to create artworks and architectural drawings that are more representative of true human vision, by 11 Ibid, p. 229 12 Ibid, p.230

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rejecting the concept of perspective. They aim to create a more multi-sensory and embodied experience and sense of space. This dissertation examines how a specific anti-perspectival architectural representation method differs from perspective, in terms of how it operates and how its use impacts building design. Most importantly, it will examine whether it has a more positive impact on the creative freedom and designs of the architect. This focuses on how drawing itself can trigger the unconscious and create a more embodied and multi-sensory experience of space, rather than qualities of the building itself. The technique chosen is the oblique drawing technique of the axonometric, which has been used for hundreds of years to create geometrically accurate and holistic views of buildings. Although Pallasmaa writes that ‘absolute metric precision’ and ‘too precise visualisation’ of some techniques, particularly computer-aided design, negatively impact creativity13, and the axonometric is characterised by geometric accuracy, it has various other anti-perspectival and vague characteristics. These are things such as its depiction of spatial arrangement and sense of interiority make it interesting to explore in relation to Pallasmaa and Ehrenzweig’s work. This technique will be examined through an understanding of its historical context, and furthermore by researching two existing precedents of buildings both designed and principally represented by the architects solely by the axonometric techniqueGerrit Rietveld’s ‘Rietveld House’ and Peter Eisenmann’s ‘House VI’. The drawings and their consequences on the buildings’ designs will be analysed, reconceptualised through perspective drawing, and furthermore determined which of these characteristics, if successful, can be attributed to enhanced creative freedom from the unconscious. Once conclusions are drawn about the potential benefits of the axonometric, this research will be of great value to practitioners and architecture students in making the choice to use the axonometric technique in future work.

13 Ibid, p.228

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Chapter 1: A Brief History of the Axonometric Prior to the Western Renaissance, it was very rare for architects to create architectural drawings similar to those that are widely used today, in that ‘they did not conceive of a whole building and the notion of scale was unknown’14. During the 15th century, a change in attitude meant that architecture began to be seen as a ‘liberal art’, and represented using two-dimensional, orthogonal drawings15. Linear perspective has dominated visual representation since the Renaissance in Western culture, although the axonometric technique is still a respected technique taught in architectural schools and used by engineers and architects to represent in a geometrically accurate way. The axonometric, or parallel projection, has alternated with perspective at least twice in history, as can be seen in examples such as Greek pottery, the avant-garde, and Chinese visual

Figure 3- ‘The School of Athens’ by Raphael, painted during the Renaissance using linear perspective

representation16. Although there is evidence of linear perspective being used in Greek times, linear perspective was rediscovered by the Italian architect Brunelleschi around the beginning of the Ital-

angles on this plane are distorted, but rotated at a 45 degree angle

ian Renaissance . Brunelleschi worked with a single fixed view,

to clearly show the wall details19. The vertical plane is projected

with parallel lines converging at a single vanishing point in the

upward, meaning the plane is distorted, as the angle between the

distance18. He claimed this was the mathematically correct way to

walls and the ground plane is not true20. Lucas emphasises how

portray spatial depth and realistic objects, and this technique was

the axonometric is different from the isometric technique, as right

used by most Renaissance painters following this. The axonomet-

angles of a plan in an isometric drawing are drawn at 120 degrees

ric technique, however, functions very differently to this. Ray Lu-

rather than 90, meaning it is the horizontal plane that is distort-

cas summarises how the technique operates and differs from other

ed, rather than the vertical one21. Parallel projection has been used

oblique drawing techniques. He describes an axonometric drawing

since the 4th century BC and is still the dominant representational

as one where the ‘horizontal plane is true’, meaning none of the

method in China, which never had much contact with the Western

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14 ‘Architectural Representation and the Perspective Hinge’ p. 8 15 Ibid, p. 9 16 Massimo Scolari, ‘Oblique Drawing: A History of Anti-Perspective’ (London: The MIT Press, 2012) p. 1 17 maItaly, ‘Brunelleschi and the rediscovery of linear perspective’ MaItaly. 2011. <https://maitaly.wordpress.com/2011/04/28/brunelleschi-and-the-rediscovery-of-linear-perspective/> [accessed on 05 November 2019]. 18 Ibid.

understandings of representation or theories of vision22. 19 Ray Lucas, ‘Drawing Parallels: Knowledge Production in Axonometric, Isometric and Oblique Drawings’ (Abingdon: Routledge, 2019) p. 1 20 Ibid, p. 1 21 Ibid, p. 1 22 Massimo Scolari, ‘Oblique Drawing: A History of Anti-Perspective’ (London: The MIT Press, 2012) p. 1

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A significant use of the axonometric technique was by Da Vinci during the perspective-dominated Renaissance, in many of his sketches, seemingly used as it better represents the space of an object23. Da Vinci’s drawings go beyond pure representation, by emphasising ‘mechanical’ elements and straightening out the conical nature of perspective, such as through Vitruvian orthography24. Although the Renaissance architect Alberti developed a code for the perfect perspective drawing through the means of a grid to flatten three dimensional planes into a two dimensional image, axonometry still remained the only way to precisely work out ‘geometric proofs’25. Many other fields began to demand more accurate representation than Desargues’s projective geometry that brought back the oval as the ‘conic section’, and the most important of these was military architecture26. During the mid 1550s, the prospect of war meant that there was a need for rapidly building efficient bulwarks to defend kingdoms, and to do this accurate drawings to build from were needed quickly. Soldiers had no trust in perspective, and favoured the ‘geometric impenetrability’ of the axonometric27. The axonometric became known as the ‘common perspective’ in the military.

Figure 4- an example of the use of axonometry in military architectureJacques Perret, ‘Des fortifications et artifices, architecture et perspective’ (Paris, 1601)

Belluzi described it as being used over the monocular view of perspective because ‘we need to see the thing whole, distinct, clear; one can find the truth precisely with compasses… one single view

jects30. This played a role in the development of linear perspective

doesn’t serve’28. Pallasmaa writes that ‘the historical development

as the known ‘science’, and was a theory unknown in China, where

of representational techniques of space are closely tied with the

parallel projection dominated31. Parallel projection was rediscov-

history of architecture itself, as they reveal the concurrent under-

ered when measuring became a problem, and scientific theory de-

standings of the essence of space’29. Human’s spatial understand-

veloped to show that rays of light emanated from objects rather

ing has always responded to changing theories of vision. These

than the eyes and could therefore not have a converging point in

have existed since Ancient Greece, beginning with Euclid’s theory

the distance32. The theorist Plotinus later claimed that distant ob-

of the visual pyramid, where the eyes ‘send out’ visual rays to ob-

jects were ‘indeterminate and imperfect’; therefore all objects had to be represented in the foreground33. This meant parallel projection

23 Ibid, p. 1 24 Ibid, p. 2  25 Ibid, p. 2 26 Ibid, p. 2 27 Ibid, p. 6 28 Giovan Battista Belici (Belluzzi), ‘Nuova inventione di fabbricar fortezze’ (Venice: M. Meletti, 1598), p. 1-6 29 ‘Encounters 2: In Praise of Vagueness’ p. 229

was a better method of representing a view true to the eye. Some 30 ‘Oblique Drawing: A History of Anti-Perspective’ p. 11 31 Ibid, p. 11 32 Ibid, p. 12 33 Ibid, p. 12

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art movements in more recent times and certain artists have also attempted to reject perspectival principals carried forward from the Renaissance and communicate what they really saw and create a more embodied experience of space. For example, Piranesi’s ‘Imaginary Prisons’ series presents spatial incoherence and false geometries to the eye. Additionally, artists such as Evan Walters (see Figure 5) aimed to depict how their eyes really saw close objects and static objects when staring straight ahead, which they depicted as blurred and as two overlapping images. Axonometric drawing has clearly been in competition with linear perspective throughout Western architectural history. Both methods have their advantages of use and drawbacks, however the axonometric will always achieve a more measurable representation of an object, whilst also representing the space around it, which it is important not to neglect. Although an anti-perspectival technique,

Figure 5- an artist’s attempt to depict his true human vision by rejecting perspective- Evan Walters’ ‘Stout Man with Jug‘

it can initially seem to contradict Pallasmaa and Ehrenzweig’s theories of engaging the creative mind. However, once examined more closely, it has characteristics of vagueness that manage to do just that, which will be investigated in more detail through the case studies in the following chapters.

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Chapter 2: The Rietveld House by Gerrit Rietveld To explore the main research question, two buildings will be examined that were conceptualised and designed almost entirely using an axonometric method, rather than the perspectival technique. If one considers the physical and abstract properties of the drawings and buildings, it becomes clear that many of their aspects can be attributed to this use of the axonometric. It will then be investigated why these contributed to the success of the buildings and were possible due to the technique’s properties having benefitted the architect’s unconscious creativity. The first to be examined is Gerrit Rietveld’s ‘The Rietveld House’ (see Figure 6). The private family home in Utrecht, the Netherlands, was designed in 192534, and is regarded as a triumph of the Modernist Movement, and considered one of the only examples of a direct response to the ‘De Stijl’ Dutch modern art movement35.

Figure 6- photograph of The Rietveld House’s exterior

This movement is characterised by use of primary colours against monochrome, and the group members’ strong belief in ‘pure’ forms onometrics37. The axonometric is ideal for reflecting the movement

of abstract expression through the precision and geometry of only

and Van Doesburg’s/Rietveld’s different notion of spatiality, such

vertical and horizontal lines36. This movement is strongly associat-

as through experimentation with the 4th dimension. The manifesto

ed with the axonometric because of Theo Van Doesburg, who, as

states that De Stijl new architecture creates ‘plastic elements’ by

the driving force behind the movement, used the axonometric in

accounting for space and time38. Rietveld created two axonometric

his conceptual spatial configurations and artworks in the De Stijl

projections, a transparent ‘wire-framed’ drawing showing the entire

style. The link and friendship between Rietveld and Van Doesburg

structure and interior furnishings in ‘x-ray vision’ (see Figure 7),

is clear in Van Doesburg’s 1923 paintings ‘Counter Constructions’

and the second a copy of the first but with De Stijl colours on cer-

(see Figure 11), which have an obvious similarity to Rietveld’s ax-

tain internal elements(see Figure 12). The article ‘Illustrating architecture: the spatio-temporal dimension of Gerrit Rietveld’s rep-

34 Wikipedia, ‘Rietveld Schroder House’, Wikipedia, 2019 <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rietveld_Schröder_House> [accessed 09 October 2019]. 35 Centraal Museum Utrecht, ‘Rietveld Schroderhuis’, Centraal Museum Utrecht, 2019 <https://www.rietveldschroderhuis.nl/en> [accessed 09 October 2019]. 36 Hans Ludwig C. Jaffé, ‘De Stijl, 1917-193’ (Massachusetts: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1986)p. 3

resentations of the Schroder House’, by Desley Luscombe, proved 37 Gladys Fabre and Doris Wintgens Hotte, ‘Van Doesburg and the International Avante-Garde: Constructing A New World’ (London: Tate Publishing, 2009) p.g 36 38 Ibid, p. 59

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Figure 7- an image of Gerrit Rietveld’s original axonometric ink drawing of the building

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crucial to creating an understanding of the building, It provides an insight into the importance the axonometric technique had in creating the unique spatiality of the building, by communicating the complexity of the house and its concepts, as the drawings keep dimensional accuracy in this geometrically complex and re-positional space39. Contrasting to linear perspective, which imagines the viewer looking from a specific part of a building/room towards a vanishing point, this axonometric projection does not privilege any monocular aesthetic view and instead provides a holistic sense of the whole house. The ‘x-ray’ nature of this view enhances this, which communicates the important relationship between the well-balanced spatiality of the building and the domestic elements within. Luscombe writes that the wire-framed ‘x-ray’ drawing ‘avoids placing the viewer’s experience of an imagined atmosphere as the privileged interpretive paradigm’40. Perspective creates an image

Figure 8a- a ground floor plan of the Rietveld House

based on a viewer’s gaze, despite this image being warped and unrepresentative of what one would really be seeing, so by using the axonometric, Rietveld removed himself from this inhibition. The technique places his creativity and unconscious at the forefront of the design process, whilst being required to constantly reconsider the building in a geometric and holistic sense, being ‘aware of all directions of space without being inhibited by the impenetrability of materials’41. This nature of the axonometric’s visual dynamic can be argued to be reflective of one’s true view of the world; what Pallasmaa describes as ‘our visually acquired image of the world is not a single “picture” at all, but a continuous plastic construct’42 as humans constantly scan all areas of our vision to create an image. The first floor of the building (as shown in figure 8b), was intended as open plan, with internal walls able to be repositioned, creating 39 Desley Luscombe, ‘Illustrating architecture: the spatio-temporal dimension of Gerrit Rietveld’s representations of the Schroder House’, The Journal of Architecture, 18,1(2013)p.27 40 Ibid, p. 25 41 Ibid, p. 31 42 Juhani Pallasmaa, ‘Encounters 2: In Praise of Vagueness’ 2nd edn, (Finland: Rakennustieto Publishing, 2012) pp.226

Figure 8b- a first floor plan of the Rietveld House

16


a versatile space for the user with no ‘hierarchal arrangement of rooms’43, allowing living patterns to be created as one so chooses. The use of the axonometric technique over perspective was instrumental in designing this. Rietveld’s axonometric drawings use only rectangular planes, and solid lines as visible surfaces, and dashed lines as surfaces beyond view to show potential reconfigurations of partitions on the first floor. These interlocking perpendicular lines are only able to make sense on geometric axonometric drawings and create a dynamic and ‘unfinished’ feel to the work. Luscombe therefore suggests that perspectival representation would therefore only be useful if a building was ‘conceptually traditional and static in intent’44. This view is reinforced by Pallasmaa’s analysis that vision is not static, and if one’s gaze if forced to remain fixed on a static object, the object disintegrates45. Rietveld’s unconscious creativity was provoked when designing this building, by being able to easily imagine/sketch the building’s fluidity and potential through these changing lines, therefore inducing the vagueness of layered images and ‘several superimposed strands [of thought] at once’46. Figure 9- Marcel Duchamp utilises the 4th dimension- ‘Nude Descending a Staircase’

This potential repositions at different times create a temporal aspect to the drawing, aligning with the De Stijl concept of architecture taking ‘account of space and time’, and consequentially im-

than mathematical rigour49. Four-dimensional space is explained by

plying a 4th dimension47. Scientific developments around the time,

Hinton as a ‘higher’ space that was able to be comprehended from

such as from Albert Einstein48, led to more interest in the subject of

several directions at once, ‘a space which would give positions repre-

the 4th dimension- Van Doesburg and Rietveld were influenced by

sentative of four qualities [such as length and weight], as three-di-

this concept but chose to express it through creative freedom rather

mensional space gives positions representative of three qualities’50. The axonometric technique’s technical rigour shows ‘reversals in 43 Megan Sveiven, ‘AD Classics: Rietveld Schroder House / Gerrit Rietveld’, ArchDaily, <https://www.archdaily.com/99698/ad-classics-rietveld-schroder-house-gerrit-rietveld> [accessed 09 October 2019]. 44 ‘Illustrating architecture: the spatio-temporal dimension of Gerrit Rietveld’s representations of the Schroder House’ p. 44 45 Encounters 2: In Praise of Vagueness’ pp.227 46 Ibid, p. 224-225 47 Illustrating architecture: the spatio-temporal dimension of Gerrit Rietveld’s representations of the Schroder House’ p. 42 48 Albert Einstein, ‘Die Feldgleichungen der Gravitation’ (Königlich Preussische Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1915), pp. 844–847

spatial depth perception’51 and creates an implied 4th dimension, something impossible using perspective. The relationships creat49 Illustrating architecture: the spatio-temporal dimension of Gerrit Rietveld’s representations of the Schroder House’ p.42 50 Charles Hinton, ‘The Fourth Spatial Dimension’ (London: Swan Sonnenschein, 1904)p. 4-5 51 Illustrating architecture: the spatio-temporal dimension of Gerrit Rietveld’s representations of the Schroder House’p.30

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ed over these multiple dimensions generate a ‘temporal and spatial plastic effect’52. The 4th dimension is implied by extending planes into infinity and defying their vanishing point, ‘sporadically’ change and then a return to familiar patterns of line and shape53, something the eye is unconsciously inclined to follow. Pallasmaa writes that the “polyphonic” structure of profound artworks[are] appreciated through “multi-dimensional attention”’54. This implies that if creative processes when designing include thinking and drawing with more than just one dimension being imagined and created, the drawing or artwork will be more effective at provoking the mind. Ehrenzweig wrote of the importance of time in creating a ‘haptic’ and ‘plastic’ mode of working to create embodied space, with ‘scattered’ attention by focusing on different dimensions simultaneously55, and the unconscious ‘recalling eye’ is drawn to familiar and repeated patterns56. Anti-perspectival artists such as Marcel

Figure 10- photograph of The Rietveld House’s interior

Duchamp have also experimented with the 4th dimension by layering planes to create a haptic and embodied space, and a simulta-

‘open-ended, planar’ approach59. The exterior is made up of a series

neity of images to stimulate the viewer’s unconscious mind57. Riet-

of differently shaped panels, some repeated, with spaces or glass

veld’s drawings(see figures 7 and 12) allow for a unique exterior/

in between. The independent, vertical panels stop the spiralling of

interior spatial relationship. The interior geometric planes seem to

the interior’s ‘centrifugal force’60, creating interdependence between

be infinitely extending, yet limiting each other, while they ‘possess

the two planes. The vagueness and abstraction by the axonometric

no individual forms in themselves… thus it follows that the planes

of the two planes makes this possible, unlike perspective attempt-

possess a direct tensile relationship with open (exterior) space’58.

ing the depict the static solidity and clear endpoints of surfaces.

Traditionally, in a building, the interior is limited and controlled by

The unconscious mind requires an absence of complete focus and

the exterior walls. However, here the interlocking vertical and hori-

‘normal logical habits of thinking’61 in making creative decisions,

zontal planes are not enclosed by the exterior, through Rietveld’s

and without the assumed logic of planes being restricted by the corresponding exterior, more creative and complex forms develop,

52 Ibid,’p.42 53 Ibid, p. .44 54 Encounters 2: In Praise of Vagueness’ pp.225 55 Anton Ehrenzweig, ‘The Psychoanalysis of Artistic Vision and Hearing: An Introduction to a Theory of Unconscious Perception’, 1st ed. (paperback) (Abingdon: Routledge, 2014)pp. viii-xi 56 Illustrating architecture: the spatio-temporal dimension of Gerrit Rietveld’s representations of the Schroder House’p.40, 44 57 Marcel Duchamp, ‘The Writings of Marcel Duchamp’ New Ed edition (Massachusetts: Da Capo Press, 1989) p. 10-32 58 Translation in J. Baljeu. ‘Theo van Doesburg’, op. cit.,p. 185. Originally in De Stijl (6/7(1924), pp. 78–83;

such an paradigms of shape and colour. Especially if focusing on Rietveld’s original axonometric (again see Figure 7), the drawings depict the building ‘hanging in space’62, with a disassociation from 59 ‘Illustrating architecture: the spatio-temporal dimension of Gerrit Rietveld’s representations of the Schroder House’. p.39   60 Ibid, p. 39 61 ‘Encounters 2: In Praise of Vagueness’ pp.225 62 Illustrating architecture: the spatio-temporal dimension of Gerrit Rietveld’s representations of the Schroder House’ p.37

18


surrounding context and ground plane itself. The paper surrounding the delicate inked lines is left blank and rough, meaning the focus is brought, or even forced, onto the house and the empty space around it. This strengthens the sense of abstraction of the geometric planes extending into infinity and disconnecting the one from total reality; an ideal state for creative insight inspired by ‘formless and indeterminate’63 images, planes and spaces. Perspectival representation rejects this abstraction, by creating a static image of immediate space, with the viewer imagined inside, and a relationship with exterior space beyond. Arguably, the most defining characteristic of Rietveld’s drawings is the use of colour to render domestic elements on the upper floor, reflected in the building itself, with some domestic elements and walls painted in the same colours of black, blue, white, red and yellow. This technique is effective in this axonometric as greatly contrasts to the ‘wire-frame’ of the rest of the building and shows every coloured element in the same

Figure 11- Theo van Doesburg’s 1923 work in the De Stijl style- reduction of a spatial composition to panels of colour

view, strongly building from Theo Van Doesburg’s 1923 paintings. Rietveld identified with Van Doesburg’s manifesto that colour removes the certainty of a picture’s surface as it implies depth64. The

the unconscious. Pallasmaa states that ‘Maximum color interaction

flattening of natural colour to primary colour flattens and enclos-

in painting, in fact, calls for a weak formal gestalt that obscures

es it to create a unity with the rectangular planes65. This creates

the boundary of form, thus permitting an unrestricted interaction

a dissonance and abstraction of the only elements identifying the

of the color fields’67. The importance of the unconscious acknowl-

house as habitable architecture. The unconscious mind is strongly

edging the form and planes of the building is not disturbed by a

linked to the use of colour; Pallasmaa writes that in human vision

distracting high variety of colour, all focus on one depth of plane.

‘colour is perceived before form which is perceived before motion’66. Creative processes come from abstraction and diffuse images. By using colour, Rietveld unconsciously linked the domestic elements in different patterns and made decisions on the hierarchy of the elements’ importance, creating visual paradigms for viewers, as their eyes are drawn to different areas, before even acknowledging the whole building. The use of primary colours in De Stijl also links to 63 Encounters 2: In Praise of Vagueness’ pp.227 64 Illustrating architecture: the spatio-temporal dimension of Gerrit Rietveld’s representations of the Schroder House’p.47-48 65 ‘De Stijl, 1917-193’ p. 104 66 ‘Encounters 2: In Praise of Vagueness’ p.226

67 ‘Encounters 2: In Praise of Vagueness’ p.231

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Figure 12- an image of Gerrit Rietveld’s axonometric drawing- reprographic copy of 004 A 059, coloured with white, blue, red, grey, black and yellow paint

20


Lucas writes that ‘it is only by performing the [axonometric] drawing that hidden aspects are revealed’68. This has been interpreted as also being the case for redrawing the works of an architect in a different representational method to be able to reveal hidden/different aspects of a building. For the purpose of this dissertation, two perspectival drawings of the Rietveld House have been created, one interior and one exterior view, to see how these contrast to Rietveld’s axonometric drawings, in what they reveal about the building and its concepts. The house has been drawn with the typical shadows and depth shown in usual perspectival drawings, rather than just the outline used in ‘x-ray’ axonometrics, however choosing not to show the surrounding architectural concept in these drawings, to keep the focus on the perspectival technique’s influence just on the house itself. This was so it would be possible to draw clearer comparisons between the perspectival drawings and the axonometrics. It became obvious that if viewed without the axonometrics alongside, the perspectival drawings are not able to communicate the same concepts that Rietveld created for the house. It is impossible to understand how the house works as a whole from either drawing, and the nature of the relationship of the interior with the exterior is changed, as the interior is depicted more as an enclosed space defined by the exterior, as the sense of infinite planes are lost. Although a sense of colour is communicated, it does not have the same effect on the viewer’s unconscious mind as the colour is not experienced through the blocks of rectangular planes. Any sense of the 4th dimension through infinite planes is removed, rendering the drawing an average attempt at exploring the atmosphere of the house through the artificial depth created through shadow, but flattening it in a different way to the axonometric, with the viewer grounded in reality rather than the abstract and their unconscious.

68 Ray Lucas, ‘Drawing Parallels: Knowledge Production in Axonometric, Isometric and Oblique Drawings’ (Abingdon: Routledge, 2019) p. 1

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Figure 13- Author’s own linear perspectival drawing of the exterior of the Rietveld House

22


Figure 14- Author’s own linear perspectival drawing of part of the interior of the Rietveld House

23


Chapter 3: House VI by Peter Eisenman Peter Eisenman’s House VI, (see Figure 15), was built in Cornwall, USA, in 197569, the penultimate of a series of six houses designed from 1968 to 197570, a different architectural era to The Rietveld House. Designed as a private home, the house stands disassociated and alone on a flat site. Eisenman developed the house’s conceptual design with a unique use of the axonometric in two drawing series, the ‘Transformations’ (see Figures 18 and 19), and the ‘Cube Transformations’71 (see Figures 20 and 21). The ‘Transformations’ drawings develop interlocking planes into different surfaces and spaces, eventually resembling the final internal layout of the House. The ‘Cube Transformations’ are a series of coloured grids forming cubes reacting to the ‘Transformations’ series, eventually influencing the structural elements, a simple beam and post system, though

Figure 15- a photograph of Peter Eisenman’s House VI

some beams were not structural; simply an aesthetic reaction to the conceptual ideas of the house. For example, some columns seen to

‘wire-framed’ diagram of the building74. Here, its purpose was not to

float in mid-air72. House VI has similar aesthetic and conceptual

represent a technical near-final design as Rietveld also intended for

attributes to the Rietveld House, again attributed the axonomet-

his drawings, but for Eisenman to develop his ideas, with a focus on

ric technique. Perez Gomez argues that the tools of representa-

process, and to ‘reconfigure’ a drawing’s relationship with the view-

tion have a direct influence on a project’s ‘conceptual development’

er75, only possible in this way by using the vague, abstract nature of

and ‘form generation’73. In his House series, Eisenman favours the

the axonometric. Consequentially, the final transformations do not

axonometric to represent/design his buildings which have a cubic,

fully mirror the final building. Eisenmann’s ideas about architecture

planar form. However, House VI is ‘radically’ different in that it uses

and art continually reference themes of abstract ideas and process.

it in a conceptually sequencing and colourful style, rather than a

The process of a building’s form should be ‘primarily conceptual’,

69 Adelyn Perez, ‘AD Classics: House VI / Peter Eisenman’, ArchDaily, 2010. <https://www.archdaily.com/63267/ad-classics-house-vi-peter-eisenman> [accessed on 20/10/2019]. 70 Eisenman Architects. ‘Projects’. Eisenman Architects. [n.d.]. <https://eisenmanarchitects.com/Projects> [accessed 19 November 2019]  71 Eisenman Architects, ‘House VI’. Eisenman Architects. [n.d.]. <https://eisenmanarchitects.com/House-VI-1975> [accessed 19 November 2019]. 72 ‘AD Classics: House VI / Peter Eisenman’, , <https://www.archdaily. com/63267/ad-classics-house-vi-peter-eisenman> 73 Alberto Perez Gomez, ‘Architectural Representation and the Perspectival Hinge’. Paperback ed. (London: The MIT Press, 2000) pg. 3-8

and his grids only ‘idea lines’, without real thicknesses76. Eisenman claimed ‘‘The diagrams for House VI are symbiotic with its reality; the house is not an object in the traditional sense—that is, the result 74 Desley Luscombe, ‘Architectural concepts in Peter Eisenman’s axonometric drawings of House VI’, The Journal of Architecture, 19,4 (2014)p.561 75 Ibid, p. 561 76 Peter Eisenman, ‘Eisenman Inside Out: Selected Writings 1963-1988’ (Massachusetts: Yale University Press, 2004) pp. 11-14

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of a process—but more accurately a record of a process’77 His beliefs are reinforced by Ehrenzweig’s ideas of creativity. The abstract and ‘vagueness’ have very similar characteristics, with Ehrenzweig claiming that “any act of creativeness in the human mind involves the temporary paralysis of the [mental] surface functions and a longer or shorter reactivation of more archaic and less differentiated functions”78. The use of vague and abstract shapes and ‘idea lines’, such as Eisenman’s colours and axonometric grids, is important in the design process, to encourage the unconscious to make creative connections. Eisenman’s use of colour is instrumental in conveying his concepts. In the ‘Cube Transformations’, the grids are against a one tone grey background, contrasting against their bright colours. Lus-

Figure 16- photograph of the interior of the house

combe explains the importance of this in the axonometric as removing a sense of scale and depth communicated by shadow and tone79, a characteristic usually important in perspectival drawing to allow

ry of form, thus permitting an unrestricted interaction of the color

them to have meaning. The colours do not invoke viewers’ reactions

fields’, therefore Eisenman encourages examination of his concepts

from identifying scale, as in perspective, instead solely focusing on

rather than physical form. The axonometric’s nature of opening the

the matrix’s development. The unconscious identifies colour before

interior allows this over the whole building at once, without limiting

form80, and the bright red and blue shades instantly attract the eye

colour to partially seen perspectival elements. The building itself

to the abstraction of his grid and suggest ‘material thickness’ and

is coloured modestly, the interiors white and grey, and the exterior

‘solidity’ without actually implying a material81, inviting them to the

shades of grey and monochrome83. However, Eisenman’s use of col-

interiority and reversed spatiality. In the ‘Transformations’, the use

our is translated into the interior, with the two staircases, one upside

of white emphasises the hues’ vividness, and each colour is a ‘met-

down, coloured vivid red and green, reflecting how they are shown

aphor’ for the concepts of each space. For example, white suggests

in the ‘Transformations’. This is a reminder to inhabitants of the im-

a possible further transformation of the space82. Pallasmaa writes

portance of colour in Eisenman’s conceptual process and intended to

that ‘Maximum color interaction in painting…obscures the bounda-

be something for the client to adjust to84. The choice of axonometric clearly instigated this by allowing both staircases to be developed

77 ‘Architectural concepts in Peter Eisenman’s axonometric drawings of House VI’ p.560 78 Anton Ehrenzweig, ‘The Psychoanalysis of Artistic Vision and Hearing: An Introduction to a Theory of Unconscious Perception’, 1st ed. (paperback) (Abingdon: Routledge, 2014) pp. 18 79 Architectural concepts in Peter Eisenman’s axonometric drawings of House VI’, p. 595-596 80 Juhani Pallasmaa, ‘Encounters 2: In Praise of Vagueness’ 2nd edn, (Finland: Rakennustieto Publishing, 2012) pp.226 81 ‘Architectural concepts in Peter Eisenman’s axonometric drawings of House VI’ p.596 82 Ibid, p. 596

simultaneously, unrestricted by being of different spatialities. Eisenman’s use of colour can be compared to the Rietveld House. The use of colour by both architects was carefully considered and visible in the finished building on architectural elements such as staircases and walls, however this has been implemented in different ways.

83 Peter Eisenman House VI, ‘House VI’ . Peter Eisenman House VI. [n.d.] <https://house6.weebly.com/house-vi.html> [accessed 20 November 2019]  84 Ibid.

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Whereas Rietveld’s colour usage reflects the De Stijl style, and translated into both selected exterior and interior, the drawings only colour some domestic interior elements. Eisenman does not restrict himself to De Stijl colours, with a wider palette of bright colours, and not only uses colour on domestic elements but on his conceptual planes themselves. Nevertheless, both buildings have strong similarity in exterior planar aesthetics of structural and interlocking perpendicular planes, consequentially an external enclosure limiting the interior cannot Figure 17- Peter Eisenman’s House III

be identified. One can argue the axonometric technique is inclined to produce these characteristics, as it has a strong focus on depicting only rectangular planes, meaning realised buildings designed in this

covering a need to change their position…triggered by their precise

way tend to only use rectangular geometric planes and shapes and

size, shape, and juxtaposition.’90, allowing the brain to establish un-

therefore only vertical and horizontal columns as a structure. Ei-

conscious links between planes and different spatial inversions. The

senman’s other houses were also represented axonometrically and

series’ forms begin recognisably as architecture and as they develop

exhibit a planar style (see Figure 17)-seemingly the axonometric is

utilise transparency in the right-hand images in the same way as

suited to developing designs originating from being cubic in layout.

Rietveld allows viewers to see beyond surfaces91. The introduction of elements like staircases in the transparent images, paired with

As walls ‘extend and invert each other’ , the matrix of the ‘Trans-

the left-hand images create a system of indicating ‘exteriority on

formations’ fragments ‘the relationship between concept and per-

the left, and interiority on the right’92. The axonometric’s capacity

cept’86, an abstraction impossible through perspective. Eisenman

to communicate a spatial sense of the interior is vital to the viewer’s

places importance on the viewer’s experience by avoiding perspec-

unconscious mind to create meaningful relationships- Pallasmaa

tival ‘flattened imagery’ . Pallasmaa emphasises the importance of

writes ‘the experience of interiority and belonging is a merging of

multi-dimensional imagery as creating an ‘embodied and existen-

the outside and inside worlds…This is the unique, personal exis-

tial space’ for a viewer88. Rather than the perspectival tradition of

tential space that we occupy in our lived experience’93. The uncon-

viewers as outsiders, Eisenman attempts to ‘actively engage’ them

ventional design did not aim to achieve practicality or meet client’s

to evoke responses . The ‘Transformations’ axonometric planes

wishes, and the abstraction, although successful in the drawings,

appeal to the unconscious, as the drawing’s ‘juxtaposition of solids

led to problems from Eisenman’s lack of construction experience

and voids produces a situation that is only resolved by the mind dis-

and pure focus on detailing94. Eisenman’s client, Suzanne Frank,

85

87

89

claimed that despite the geometric accuracy of the axonometric,

85 House VI’ .] <https://house6.weebly.com/house-vi.html> 86 ‘Architectural concepts in Peter Eisenman’s axonometric drawings of House VI’ p.579 87 Ibid, p.579 88 Encounters 2: In Praise of Vagueness’ p. 230  89 Ibid.

90 House VI’. <https://eisenmanarchitects.com/House-VI-1975> 91 Ibid. 92 Ibid. 93 Encounters 2: In Praise of Vagueness’ p. 230   94 House VI’ .] <https://house6.weebly.com/house-vi.html>

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Figure 18- Transformation XIII

Figure 19- Transformation XIV 27


Figure 20- Cube Transformations

Figure 21- Further Cube Trasnformations 28


the focus on abstraction and communication of concept, combined with a lack of specification led to structural issues such as leakage95. This suggests that although the abstraction capacity of the axonometric can be very useful in drawing at communicating concepts, it can be less effective in realising a building if a design is allowed to become too complicated. The ‘Cube Transformations’ differ from the ‘Transformations’ and perspective by completely avoiding any reference to architectural pictorial representation96, instead emphasising geometric relationships formed between ‘layered matrices of grids’97, and this disassociation from reality generates creative vagueness in the work. To the viewer, the design process becomes the object in itself98. While the ‘Transformations’ respond more the concept of changing architectural pictorial representation, the ‘extended horizontality’99 of the cubes respond to geometry and proportion, and how these can be manipulated to unconscious vision. The ambiguity of layering them would have had the impact of engaging Eisenman’s psychoFigure 22- Eisenman’s axonometric view of the house as seen below a cut through of the topological axis

logical mechanisms of engaging with ‘haptic snapshots’ and mutli-layered images100, to provide better conditions for creative freedom.

producing spatial ambiguity. This axis introduces an alternative plane to X-Y-Z conventions, focusing on the surface of the frontal plane,

Eisenman’s interest in perspectival issues led to his creation of an

preventing symmetry and creating a new spatiality with no equiva-

additional sectional cut-through axonometric drawing of the in-

lent space in a realised building102. The axonometric can cut through

terior, along the hypothetical ‘topological’ axis (see Figure 22), an

any plane of a represented building to reveal the ‘oblique topogra-

oblique view only possible with axonometric drawing. This view

phy beneath’103. The topological axis is evident in the building itself

‘aimed to introduce distortion…and avoid traditional humanist

through ‘no unassimilable idiosyncrasies’- such as ‘no compositional

symbolism inevitable in normal orthographic representation’101,

uniformity, proportional congruencies, [and] a lack of balance’104.

95 Suzanne Frank. ‘Peter Eisenman’s House VI : the client’s response’. (New York: Watson-Guptill, 1994) p.54  96 ‘Architectural concepts in Peter Eisenman’s axonometric drawings of House VI’ p.586-587 97 Ibid. p. 589  98 ‘House VI’. <https://eisenmanarchitects.com/House-VI-1975> 99 ‘Architectural concepts in Peter Eisenman’s axonometric drawings of House VI’ p.589 100 ‘Encounters 2: In Praise of Vagueness’ p. 226 101 Architectural concepts in Peter Eisenman’s axonometric drawings of House VI’ p.599-600

Such an axis of distortion made possible by the axonometric can be argued to positively affect the viewer’s understanding. By providing something familiar, the interior of a house, with walls, stairs and 102 Ibid, p. 600 103 Ibid, p. 600  104 House VI’. <https://eisenmanarchitects.com/House-VI-1975>

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Figure 23- Author’s own perspectival pencil drawing of House VI’s exterior

30


floors, the unconscious links the building immediately to something

interior planes and spaces relate to the exterior, and this process of

familiar, in the words of Bollas, ‘something which we treasure’105,

development, as the spatiality would be too difficult to understand as

and this empathetic reaction combined with distortion and layering

it is distorted and not geometrically accurate.

of this image in an unfamiliar dimension is ideal ground for unconscious creatively-based reactions to the work. Similarly to the Rietveld House, a perspectival drawing of the exterior of House VI was created for the purpose of this dissertation. However, only a typical exterior perspective with shadow and depth included was chosen as in this case, it is most revealing of how Eisenman’s drawings differ from the final building, and rather communicate concept and interior spatial relationships, compared to the outer form. One can apply the previously mentioned theorist Plotinus’ ‘problem’ of depth to these perspectival drawings of both houses- the only view true to the true ‘sizes and tones of colour was the one very close to the eye’, so one could see detail and ‘correctly assess measurements and overall size’106. Distant objects were ‘indeterminate and imperfect’; therefore all objects should be represented in the foreground, with exact colour and no shadows, therefore avoiding depth107. With both drawings, a sense of the exterior form and atmospherics through the shadow and depth typical of perspectival drawings is communicated, however with artificiality and distortion. Perspective drawings only make sense if they have a sense of depth. If one removed this and only included the outline like the axonometric drawings, the drawing would be rendered useless as the lines would become jumbled and messy without shadow to enforce them. House VI’s form, especially the interlocking exterior, is determined by the interior perpendicular planes. As a consequence, from this method it is impossible to communicate, even with a potential perspectival ‘x-ray’ view, any sense of how the 105 Christopher Bollas. ‘Architecture and the Unconscious’, International Forum of Psychoanalysis, 9, 1-2 (2000) p.33 106 Massimo Scolari, ‘Oblique Drawing: A History of Anti-Perspective’ (London: The MIT Press, 2012) p. 16 107 Ibid, p. 16

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Chapter 4: Overall Conclusions on the Axonometric Since investigating two case studies in depth about how the use of the axonometric has impacted and benefitted the design of these buildings, similarities are now able to be seen in the use of the axonometric in the buildings, and it is possible to make a summary of some overall conclusions about how the axonometric differs to linear perspective and what differences in buildings can be afforded to its use. Conclusions can also be made as to how the architect can benefit from the axonometric technique providing richer ground for unconscious and creative insight. The method originating from Brunelleschi and Alberti of perspective flattening all 3D planes and dimensions into a two-dimensional

Figure 24- Da Vinci axonometric sketch of winch- used to represent the space around the object

image by use of a vanishing point108, assumes that one is looking toward this vanishing point with only one eye, and this is not how

the viewer into the image rather than keeping them ‘behind’ like in

unconscious human vision operates. The axonometric functions dif-

perspective, creating a superior ‘haptic’ and ‘embodied’ experience

ferently by rejecting a monocular view, instead encompassing the

of space that involves unconscious ‘gestalt’ vision111. The axono-

entirety of an object in the same view, and the space around it. This

metric technique therefore creates a different relationship with the

is evidenced in the Rietveld House and House VI, the drawings of

viewer than perspective. Contrasting to perspective, axonometrics

which encompass the whole house and its spatial sequences. Al-

prioritise showing the space around objects rather than the object

though human eyes cannot see in this ‘x-ray’ view or usually appre-

in space112. Both the Rietveld House and House VI exhibit this by

ciate a whole building, the unconscious constantly scans the visual

not showing the ground plane, a characteristic common in axono-

field and periphery, almost all of which is unfocused109, meaning

metric, but not in perspective as perspectival drawings often illus-

one’s mental images are comprised mostly of examining the spaces

trate surrounding context extending towards the vanishing point

around objects. The axonometric’s lack of a fixed view allows for

to show scale. By disassociating itself from this, the axonometric

imaginative freedom of different experiences and modes of move-

focuses on looking into the building and its interiority rather than

ment, light, and inhabitation110, reflective of true human experi-

into the distance, and although geometrically accurate, unlike per-

ence such as through peripheral vision. It simultaneously invites

spective there is no sense of scale. An abstraction and loss of scale

108 ‘Brunelleschi and the rediscovery of linear perspective’ <https://maitaly. wordpress.com/2011/04/28/brunelleschi-and-the-re-discovery-of-linear-perspective/>  109 ‘Encounters 2: In Praise of Vagueness’ p. 226 110 ‘Oblique Drawing: A History of Anti-perspective’ p.3

is stimulatory for the unconscious. By focusing entirely on the ab111 ‘Encounters 2: In Praise of Vagueness’ p. 228,230 112 ‘Oblique Drawing: A History of Anti-perspective’ p.1

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stract and layered lines and forms, the brain is encouraged to adopt the ‘diffuse mental attitude’113 necessary for creative insight. Providing a sense of interiority that is not considered a separate entity to the exterior but engaging both internal and external realms in relation to each other is a standard consequence of the axonometric. This contrasts to the perspectival method of only showing either on their own, or only a small part of both together. This highlights a key difference between the axonometric and perspective that makes the axonometric more beneficial to the viewer and designer to understand spatial relationships in regards to all types of space and planes in the building. Figure 25- Exploded axonometric of ‘Peak Office’ by Pure Architect

The axonometric’s dimensionally accurate trait contributes to various consequential uses for it that distinguish it clearly from linear perspective. Axonometric drawings’ use of exact measurements can

also reduces ‘static imagery’ by encouraging continuously viewing

be considered better representations of objects or buildings, as they

different images at once, as the eye is unconsciously roams the field

do not need context of surroundings to have meaning as perspective

of vision116. Simultaneously, this unpacking of process allows con-

does. The stretching of all objects in linear perspective consequen-

struction engineers and viewers to see inside the mind of the archi-

tially means that they lose their ‘semblance’114. This axonometric

tect and grasp their concepts and design.

characteristic also makes it possible to ‘explode’ different elements of the drawing out along the infinite planes. This means that prac-

Axonometric drawings also allow for use of colour in a different

tical or structural sequences or systems within can be understood

way to perspective. Rather than being used in just a ‘realistic’ sense,

while remaining at the same scale, something impossible in perspec-

as a way of communicating depth, scale and reality through vari-

tive, and often used by architect firms such as Pure Architects and

ous tones, shades and shadow, the abstract nature of the axonomet-

Fosters and Partners115 to show the structural system and interior

ric means it has the capacity for employing colour to communicate

sequences of their buildings. The diagrammatic form of axonomet-

different architectural concepts, as evidenced in the Rietveld House

rics enable them to be used in a developmental sense, or to record

and House VI. Use of colour here encourages unconscious percep-

a creative process itself, as is exemplified in House VI. This can be

tion- ‘all creative thinking begins with a state of fluid vision’117, and

considered to benefit architects creatively as it allows them to vis-

colour is perceived first in unconscious vision, before form itself.

ually keep track of their mental strands of thoughts and ideas, and In both houses, the axonometric technique provides necessary char113 ‘Encounters 2: In Praise of Vagueness’ p. 225 114 ‘Oblique Drawing: A History of Anti-perspective’ p.3 115 AD Editorial Team ‘The World’s 20 Largest Architecture Firms ‘ May 2017. ArchDaily <https://www.archdaily.com/870842/the-worlds-20-largestarchitecture-firms> [accessed 28 November 2019]

acteristics to explore multiple dimensions and spatialities, such as 116 ‘Encounters 2: In Praise of Vagueness’ p. 226 117 ‘The Psychoanalysis of Artistic Vision and Hearing: An Introduction to a Theory of Unconscious Perception’, p.35

33


the 4th dimension in the Rietveld House and the topological axis in House VI. This is possible from its ‘cubic’ quality and use of parallel lines and geometric perpendicular planes seemingly extending into infinity118. These spaces and concepts created are unique to oblique drawing as have no affiliation with reality, which is something that linear perspective tries hard to replicate. These concepts cannot be experienced in everyday life, however are beneficial to one’s unconscious despite being not unconsciously ‘familiar and known’119, as the multi-dimensional and illogical quality of these images promotes the ‘complex organisation’ of unconscious thought120. Considering all of these characteristics, this creates the overall stance that compared to perspectival drawing, conceptual abstraction is more evident and easier to communicate in axonometric drawing, with a lot more ground for creative insight.

118 ‘Drawing Parallels: Knowledge Production in Axonometric, Isometric and Oblique Drawings’ p.3 119 Architecture and the Unconscious’ p.33   120 ‘Encounters 2: In Praise pf Vagueness’ p. 225

34


Chapter 5: Counter Argument The axonometric method has been investigated as to how it can be

conscious decisions, the axonometric’s employment of mathemati-

regarded as more useful than perspective, however it is also impor-

cal rigour renders these obsolete.

tant to consider the counter argument to this. This is how some

Another factor to consider is ways House VI and The Rietveld

would claim that perspective is more valuable and therefore has re-

House’s realisation can be argued to be unsuccessful. Client Suzanne

mained the dominating method over oblique drawing. In the digital

Frank claimed House VI quickly revealed structural issues such as

imaging era, ‘contemporary digital software favours perspectival

leakage125, and the house ‘ignored the rules’126 of a normal house,

techniques’121. Some argue the reason for this is that as humans in

making living in a way chosen by the occupant difficult, by forcing

the modern world, we should aim to ‘close the gap’ of distance be-

them to inhabit it in a certain way127. This suggests that if one ful-

tween the body and the world122, so that representation techniques

ly utilises the full extent of the axonometric’s capability to create

engage with creating a fully constructed environment and ‘idea’123

abstract and complex spaces whose drawings communicate creative

of the building for viewers, before it is even built. It can be argued

concepts, in reality, the building considered as an occupied space

that perspective achieves this hyper-reality through creating an ‘at-

may become impractical and confusing. Regarding the Rietveld

mosphere’ and sense of depth, taken from the onlooker’s viewpoint.

House, it can be argued that although this house caters more to the

The axonometric’s lack of catering to the viewer, by not attempting

needs of the occupant than House VI through the utilisation of the

to show/recreate a building as they would view it, means it should

wire-framed axonometric to show how the space can be reconfig-

be less favoured in creating ‘reality’, despite being dimensionally

ured to suit their needs, the house’s dissociation in drawing means

accurate.

its distinctive style does not fit in with its architectural context. This can then be expanded to argue that both the Rietveld House,

Some of Pallasmaa’s writings could also be construed as reinforc-

House VI and the other houses in Eisenman’s series of houses were

ing why the axonometric does not, in fact, encourage creative free-

designed using the same technique and all have produced very sim-

dom any more than perspective. He claims ‘the use of the absolute

ilar aesthetic qualities of being open-ended, planar and ‘modernist’,

metric precision of computerized design both in architectural edu-

raising the supposition that if used in design itself, the axonomet-

cation and practice, has a negative impact on the innately shapeless

ric is only suited to producing buildings with these characteristics,

and measureless flow of images and ideas in human imagination’124

which does not fit in with popular and historic architectural styles.

. If one focuses only on this statement in relation to creative and unconscious decisions, regardless of any other characteristic pro-

All points considered, it can be argued that these do not sway the

moting a better understanding of space and enhancement of un-

thesis of the axonometric being useful than perspective, as all can

121 ‘Architectural concepts in Peter Eisenman’s axonometric drawings of House VI’ p.561 122 ‘Architectural Representation and the Perspective Hinge’ p. 11 123 Ibid, p. 8 124 ‘Encounters 2: In Praise pf Vagueness’ p. 228

be remedied by other points raised in previous chapters. 125 Peter Eisenman’s House VI : the client’s response’ p.54

126 House VI’, <https://house6.weebly.com/house-vi.html> 127 Peter Eisenman’s House VI : the client’s response’ p.54

35


Conclusion In conclusion, there is sufficient evidence from the analysis in this

being now seen as more of a commodity129. The findings of this

dissertation to conclude that the axonometric is a more effective

dissertation support the thesis made by Perez Gomez and Pelletier

method of representing and designing architecture, despite the

in that architecture should be again considered a ‘poetic translation’

dominance of linear perspective throughout history and in contem-

than ‘prosaic transcription’ of its representations130, something

porary practice. As summarised in chapter 5, the technique is more

both case studies have shown the axonometric has the capability to

representative of the abstract and complex nature of human vision

do. Therefore, in this worrying time, this dissertation’s research is

and is more proactive in triggering unconscious and therefore cre-

even more important in the context of applying it to future prac-

ative processes. Both the Rietveld House and House VI have used

tice. With the number of problems with linear perspective that have

the axonometric technique during the building’s design process and

been made evident by many theorists and architects, it should be the

as a separate work of art in themselves to create very successful

norm that architecture students, artists, and the general apprecia-

buildings. They convey characteristics and abstract concepts that

tive public are given this knowledge and made aware of these prob-

benefit both the creativity of the designers and the understanding

lems, and given the option to more freely explore other representa-

of the viewer through the means of the unconscious, in such a way

tion techniques such as the axonometric in their work. Such a shift

that would not have been possible through using linear perspective.

as this would also have to run parallel with a shift in attitude from digital software companies, and more choice and freedom should

However, despite this example of successful use of the axonometric

be available in programmes for oblique drawing representations of

over perspective, linear perspective has continued to dominate the

designs, rather than the default option of perspective.

contemporary world of representation, and this is partially down to the new digital age that has emerged after the time of these hous-

As for taking this research forward into one’s own work and prac-

es being built. As Luscombe writes, ‘constraints of new software

tice, it can now be appreciated that the axonometric is a more useful

have supported change in representation to photo-real depictions

technique in terms of enhancing one’s own creativity and commu-

rather than the conceptual and analytical inquiry of the axonomet-

nicating different concepts through appreciating architecture as a

ric’128. The axonometric, although still used by architecture practic-

poetic art, and also gaining a metrically accurate and holistic un-

es to provide a dimensionally accurate representation of a proposed

derstand of a building before even creating a digital model, due

building, by showing the metric relationship between the plan and

to previous struggles with having to heavily change designs volu-

section, the new obsession with virtual reality and proposed schemes

metrically after finding problems in later stages. This was due not

has somewhat pushed this into the background, with architecture

previously having only considered the plan and section/elevation

now playing less of a role in establishing and shaping culture, and

129 Dalibor Vesely, ‘Architecture in the Age of Divided Representation’ (Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 2004) p. 2 130 Alberto Perez Gomez, ‘Architectural Representation and the Perspectival Hinge’. Paperback ed. (London: The MIT Press, 2000) p.1

128 Architectural concepts in Peter Eisenman’s axonometric drawings of House VI’ p.561

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as very separate entities and not as working together, something the axonometric attempts to rectify. Therefore the axonometric technique will be utilised whenever considering a design proposal and favoured over, although still alongside, creating perspectival drawings.

37


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