I knew, of course, that for the students, the reference to such ancient legends had little to
do with their final project of producing, by semester's end, a well- documented 30" x 40"
elevation drawing of a Roman site -- done in computer CAD software. But all the same,
we all brought along a 1930's version of Homer's ODYSSEY -- by T. E. Lawrence -- as sort
of trip companion, and devoted a number of class discussions during the semester to see
just what Odysseus's homecoming journey after the Trojan War, his encounter with the
one-eyed Cyclops, or his overcoming of the enchantress Circe had to do with things
"architectural."
do with their final project of producing, by semester's end, a well- documented 30" x 40"
elevation drawing of a Roman site -- done in computer CAD software. But all the same,
we all brought along a 1930's version of Homer's ODYSSEY -- by T. E. Lawrence -- as sort
of trip companion, and devoted a number of class discussions during the semester to see
just what Odysseus's homecoming journey after the Trojan War, his encounter with the
one-eyed Cyclops, or his overcoming of the enchantress Circe had to do with things
"architectural."
| The but, as it turns out, to capture with the charcoal medium two poses of our human model, which are as much about composition, architectural stacking, line weights, and expressiveness or feeling as the views of the two Roman buildings. |
In August 2008, I asked a small group of graduate students from an American
university studying in Rome to read and think about the thread of Ariadne and other
myths while they studied architectural drawing and design here in the City. The
class also received lessons in one- and two-point perspective and sketching from the
live human model in order to improve their freehand drawing skills. While by most
accounts, it was the world's first architect, Daedalus, who designed the famous
Cretan labyrinth, Hungarian scholar Karl Kerenyi (1897-1973) assures us that a
series of dance steps performed by Ariadne in front of Theseus gave Theseus the
"thread" he needed to follow to enter and exit from the maze, in order to defeat the
Minotaur -- a half bull, half human creature who lived inside it.
university studying in Rome to read and think about the thread of Ariadne and other
myths while they studied architectural drawing and design here in the City. The
class also received lessons in one- and two-point perspective and sketching from the
live human model in order to improve their freehand drawing skills. While by most
accounts, it was the world's first architect, Daedalus, who designed the famous
Cretan labyrinth, Hungarian scholar Karl Kerenyi (1897-1973) assures us that a
series of dance steps performed by Ariadne in front of Theseus gave Theseus the
"thread" he needed to follow to enter and exit from the maze, in order to defeat the
Minotaur -- a half bull, half human creature who lived inside it.
Now, for the modern architecture student, the process of designing a form inside the
empty drawing space or page may also start with a quick and continuous, "gestural"
recording of the overall event or configuration he sees inside that spatial extension,
based on conditions and specifications previously understood. Sure, the task at hand
might be as non-mythological as the floor plan and elevation views of a beach house or
lawyer's office, but perhaps the trick is to understand the two views of the desired space
as hinged and essentially interrelated as are the actual figure of the dancing Ariadne
moving in "elevation" and the trail her feet leave on the ground to articulate the path or
plan. Although the correct representation on paper of a town square or building façade
depends on the accurate expression of its measures or numerical proportions, there is
something about what HAPPENS in that space, the spirit that MOVES in it, which, if
seen as a dance, may help the design process.
empty drawing space or page may also start with a quick and continuous, "gestural"
recording of the overall event or configuration he sees inside that spatial extension,
based on conditions and specifications previously understood. Sure, the task at hand
might be as non-mythological as the floor plan and elevation views of a beach house or
lawyer's office, but perhaps the trick is to understand the two views of the desired space
as hinged and essentially interrelated as are the actual figure of the dancing Ariadne
moving in "elevation" and the trail her feet leave on the ground to articulate the path or
plan. Although the correct representation on paper of a town square or building façade
depends on the accurate expression of its measures or numerical proportions, there is
something about what HAPPENS in that space, the spirit that MOVES in it, which, if
seen as a dance, may help the design process.
| Toroazul Painting and Fine Arts |
| Drawing from Homer's ODYSSEY |
| Well, for most of the class members, such a mythological conversation was perhaps as entertaining as posing for a Facebook photograph in front of Bernini's fountain in Piazza Navona, but otherwise irrelevant to contemporary architectural design. However, one of the same class-members' so-called "gesture drawings" (see image on the right) done from the live human model in one of our sessions, probably comes very close to the sort of figure that Theseus saw when Ariadne danced for him. In fact, when a figure occupies or moves across a space, it has, in architectural terms, an elevation and a floor plan not unlike those of the dancing girl of our mythology. After all, as her upright figure might represent the elevation, the path of her feet are hinged to that elevation. They are its ground. |
| The four images surrounding this text reflect some of our class efforts during the Rome semester to depict, on the one hand, in pen & ink, the Arch of Janus in 2-point perspective and the elevation of a tower from the Circus of Maxentius. |