The construction of drawings and movies : new models for architectural design and analysis

The architectural imagery that you create is most effective when it examines your project in an abstract manner. Most students and practitioners understand linear perspective and cinema to be examples of architectural presentation tools. This book asks you to consider drawings and movies to be analytical tools that give you the capacity to engage all phases of the design process, from parti to presentation. The ways in which spaces relate to each other and how materials connect to each other in your projects are as important as your building’s appearance. As digital tools increasingly allow you to simulate the experience of built and unbuilt environments, it is essential that you scrutinize the nature of architectural imagery and resist the lure of virtual reality. Though pure simulation may be appropriate for your clients, your design process requires abstraction and analysis. Author Thomas Forget demonstrates how to construct analytical drawings and movies that challenge the alleged realism of linear perspective and cinema. These demonstrations expose you to underlying principles that will allow you to understand the broader implications of these methods. In addition, historical surveys of drawings and movies provide you with insight into how architects and architectural historians have understood the role of linear perspective and cinema in their fields. Finally, examples of drawing and moviemaking strategies illustrate how you can apply the lessons of the book to precedent analyses and design projects. "Here, clearly demonstrated, are principles for constructing linear perspective drawings and experimental works of cinema that will help you use digital tools in the design studio. As an architect, your drawings need to examine how parts or spaces connect and relate in abstract, or analytical ways. These approaches to drawing and modeling will let you see the information that analytical graphics show. And you'll learn to use film in the same way. Author Thomas Forget explains how to construct linear perspective drawings and illustrates experimental movie-making strategies. By combining these two methods you can analyze and improve your drawings and increase your graphic literacy. He includes case studies of recent drawing, movie-making, and architecture created by practicing architects, such as Mies van der Rohe and Lewis Tsurumaki Lewis; by filmmakers, such as William Whyte and Thom Andersen; and by students, to show you the best of what's been done. And he presents the theory behind how to represent buildings that will inspire and get you thinking"-- Provided by publisher Front Cover......Page 1 The Construction of Drawings and Movies......Page 4 Copyright Page......Page 5 Contents......Page 7 Preface......Page 8 Introduction: Analytical and Pictorial Imagery Introduction......Page 11 Part I—Construction Logic ......Page 30 1. The Demystification of Linear Perspective......Page 31 2. The Making of a Movie......Page 90 Part II—Matters of History ......Page 129 3. The Non-linear Progression of Linear Perspective......Page 130 4. The Extents (and Limits) of Architecture–cinema......Page 175 Part III—Indeterminate Projections ......Page 212 5. Architectural Drawings......Page 213 6. Architectural Movies......Page 230 Epilogue: The Reflexivity of Architecture and Projection......Page 253 Notes and Credits......Page 256 Index......Page 264 Taylor & Francis Ltd Front Cover 1 The Construction of Drawings and Movies 4 Copyright Page 5 Contents 7 Preface 8 Introduction: Analytical and Pictorial Imagery Introduction 11 Part I—Construction Logic 30 1. The Demystification of Linear Perspective 31 2. The Making of a Movie 90 Part II—Matters of History 129 3. The Non-linear Progression of Linear Perspective 130 4. The Extents (and Limits) of Architecture–cinema 175 Part III—Indeterminate Projections 212 5. Architectural Drawings 213 6. Architectural Movies 230 Epilogue: The Reflexivity of Architecture and Projection 253 Notes and Credits 256 Index 264 978-0-415-89839-3,(hbk),9780415898409,(pbk),ISBN:,978-0-203-10013-4,(ebk) 978-0-415-89839-3 (hbk),9780415898409 (pbk),ISBN: 978-0-203-10013-4 (ebk) Here, Clearly Demonstrated, Are Principles For Constructing Linear Perspective Drawings And Experimental Works Of Cinema That Will Help You Use Digital Tools In The Design Studio, Get You Thinking-- Introduction: Analytical & Pictorial Imagery -- Logics Of Construction. The Demystification Of Linear Perspective -- The Making Of A Movie -- Matters Of History. The Non-linear Progression Of Linear Perspective -- The Extents And Limits Of Architecture-cinema -- Indeterminate Projections. Architectural Drawings -- Architectural Movies -- Epilogue: The Reflexivity Of Architecture And Projection. Thomas Forget. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.