All perspectives images are taken from a particular view or standpoint. The standpoint will determine everything about the view that is described. It is usually taken at a standard eye-level height, but it can be manipulated so that the view is altered. A bird’s-eye view, for example, is a standpoint from above, producing a perspective that reads as if one is flying over the scheme. A worm’s-eye view produces a contrasting perspective, looking at the scheme from underneath.
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Project: Amnesty International head offices Location: London, UK Architect: Witherford Watson Mann Date: 2003 |
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This is a single-point perspective drawing of a proposed entrance to Amnesty International’s Human Rights Action Centre in London. The drawing shows the visual relationships between the street, exhibition and campaigns offices and the education rooms. The drawing deliberately foregrounds Amnesty’s self-representations, leaving the architecture as the frame for a set of relationships and activities. |
A picture plane is the imaginary flat surface located between the viewer’s standpoint and the object being viewed. Ordinarily, it is a vertical plane that is perpendicular to the horizontal projection of the line of sight to the object’s point of interest. The nearer the picture plane is to the object, the larger the image will be. If the picture plane is further away, the resulting image will be smaller.
The picture plane is a concept borrowed from fine art. Albrecht Durer (1471-1528) developed a grid through which a three-dimensional scene could be depicted with accuracy on a flat plane.
By positioning the grid close to the subject matter, drawing a similar grid pattern onto the paper and using the lines on the grid and the corresponding lines on the paper as a sort of ‘map’, the artist could transfer what they saw onto the paper surface. Using the grid helped ensure that all aspects of the subject remained in proportion.