Perspicio: the perspective drawing as unlocker in the Proto-Renaissance art painting, a development of painted spatialities

The technique of perspective, one of the (re)inventions of the Renaissance, has undergone an immense evolution over the centuries. However, all this time it has mostly been made use of as an instrument for two-dimensional reproduction and representation, in search to come closer to the reality of the world. This research aims to explore the untouched potential of this technique. And in particular how this technique could play an active role in generating new spatialities and reflecting on different ways we look at space.

How can the perspective be deployed as an instrument for creating (or revealing?) new spaces, a mechanism used for three-dimensional production? The cases for this project are found at the source; Proto-Renaissance paintings, meticulously selected for their architectural depiction. What is hiding behind the canvas may be found via the projection method and these decors can be constructed to serve for further investigation. By continuing an endless interaction between drawing plans and drawing perspectives, an empiric process of narrowing down to find a new spatial design tool is started.

These new spatialities get the status of looking machines.
The architecture, constructed on historically paintings and threedimensionally reconstructed in a contemporary context, is not instantly reconcilable with the perception of the visitor. The visual relation with architecture is being questioned in this research. The drawn spatialities that take shape before our eyes can tell us something about how space reveals itself to us and about the way we look at it.

The time-consuming act of drawing by hand allows a self-reflection, where physical involvement results in insight. The analogue architectural drawing, and the concomitant spatial experience, is disappearing in the contemporary education and profession, but what are its implications in a design process?

A phd project by Eva Beke
Supervised by: Thierry Lagrange
Co-supervised by: Jo Van Den Berghe