Beyond Architectural Illustration: One Point Perspective

Showing posts with label One Point Perspective. Show all posts

Sunday, May 18, 2014

Perspective - One Point Perspective - Portfolio & Comments

Over the years I have created quite a few one point perspectives. The following are samples of layouts, both hand and computer generated. Some illustrate an aspect of layout work, but most are simply here to show the range of projects that accommodate one point views.

This layout from the 1980’s shows a pedestrian way through the Harper and Row Headquarters Building in Manhattan. It is essentially an elevation with steps in the foreground, and a rectangular passage receding geometrically into the distance. It could have been worked out using a diagonal vanishing point alone, but was actually constructed from a measured plan which can be seem in light pencil under the passageway itself. The most difficult part was the lettering on the cylinder to the left of the opening, which was worked out by eye.

This view of an office hallway at the General Reinsurance Headquarters in Manhattan was typical for sketches in the ‘80s. The plan can be seen at the bottom of the column, and the picture plane line and horizon line are the same. The drawing was not done to “sell” the concept, but was merely a taste of the finished space. Such sketches were the “bread and butter” of rendering work 30 years ago, but are done by computer in no time now.

This executive office is more complex than the preceding layout, but was done with the same limited intension. In this case a blue print plan was placed under a sheet of vellum, and the position of various corners and objects were marked on the picture plane (the horizontal line near the top of the desk). It is interesting in that it has a diagonal wall on the far right, and has a mirror directly in front of the desk (which shows the reflection of the diagonal wall).

This view of a high end furniture headquarters is relentlessly orthogonal, but has enough going on to make it interesting. The plan can be seen ghosted on the foreground, and, again, the picture plane line is the same as the horizontal line. Perhaps the hardest part of this drawing was the figures (“designy”, but not outré).

As noted before, exterior views of buildings don’t often make sense for one point perspectives. When you are viewing a large exterior space, as with this urban development project in Glasgow by KPF, it can be very effective. The construction lines are not visible on this drawing, but I do remember that it was worked out from a blue print. Note, that the tower at the center of the image is essentially an elevation with minimal shifts to show depth.

The original conception for this apartment building lobby involved a polished marble floor of equilateral triangles. Once that grid was constructed the position of everything else was settled. This layout was the first step in a process that culminated in a finished color rendering, which became part of the rental brochure.

Greenwich Mews is a row of townhouses in the West Village of NYC. When it was originally proposed they needed a perfectly accurate rendering to sell the concept to both buyers and the city agencies. It too became a complete colored rendering, but all the colors and materials were closely controlled so as to avoid any blow-back from disappointed buyers. These townhouses go for about $5 million these days.

Pei Cobb Freed Architects developed plans for the Barcelona waterfront in the late 80’s. This is one sketch showing a gateway structure leading from the Placa de les Drassanes to the Moll de Barcelona, with a new World Trade Center at its tip. This was one of a number of sketches on trace paper that added new structures to an existing view.

Perhaps the best known of my renderings is that of Pei’s Louvre renovation/addition. I had heard of the project before, but had not understood the extent of the construction until I was called on to reveal the underground space in a single perspective. The final layout was a conglomeration of a dozen photos, a computer wireframe, and hand layout work. Most of the existing structure was under scaffolding, so even that had to be filled in by hand. The final airbrush and acrylic rendering can be seen HERE.

The Old AT&T Building was converted to general office space back in the 80’s. The magnificent lobby was cleaned and restored to its previous glory. This layout is mostly a tracing of a photograph with the reception desk added. It is however an interesting example of a one point perspective, including the distortion that is noticeable in the column capitols at the edges of the view.

Lower Manhattan is filled with old streets that are actually short narrow alleys, better suited to the 17^th century than today. Dey Street is one of these alleys that was going to be converted to a pedestrian way, but was never carried out. This view of the proposal is another layout that mixed a photo of existing conditions and a hand layout of the proposed use. The octagonal paving pattern was actually fun to work out (ahh, the joys of youth).

This view of an auditorium at Franklin Marshall College shows a halfway point in working out the viewpoint, people and stageset that might work best.

This proposal for the new Police Academy in New York City also shows a hybrid of computer and handwork. It was done at the time when computer rendering was still difficult and expensive, but wireframe hidden layouts were the norm. Shade and shadow, as well as any complex/natural object were always left to the person accustomed to hand rendering.

In this view of the Tokyo International Forum the trees, cars and people have been drawn onto a computer hidden line print, and the shade, shadow and general tones are being explored. I actually loved working with the computer at this point of my career; layouts can be boring and tedious, while working out the lighting and composition was always a pleasure.

The Philosophy building at Texas Tech is a heavily decorated building, but it pushed the wireframe business further along with surface textures, window detailing and general ornament. People, trees and the fountain’s water are still done by hand.

I am including this view of an auditorium at Columbia University as an example of a one point perspective that really is a highly complex layout. The stage proscenium and balcony seating vanish to the dot seen at the upper right, but everything else is either curved or has its own geometry. This rendering was done early in my career, and (believe it or not) was a really fun thing to layout.

The owners of this building on Fifth Avenue in New York City wanted to know what the new storefronts and entry would look like from across the avenue. It is only a perspective at the entry and the flags; an elevation would probably have done the trick just as well.

This proposal for a high end hotel in Manhattan was my single attempt at a “Paul Rudolph” ink rendering. It was a lot of fun to do, and may be one of the reasons I wear glasses today. It is a one point perspective, although much of the upper tower is using the diagonal vanishing points. Also, as noted before, it works as a one point because it is a section perspective with a large interior space.

Large auditoriums (auditoria?) are perfect for section perspectives. The Kansas City Auditorium illustrates this, being a large space for the audience and a large space for the performers. In this case the entry stairs and lobbies were to be featured, so the vanishing point (center of the green lines) is at the center of the main lobby. This drawing was created in Photoshop, starting with a section provided by the architect, Hugh Hardy.

The final art, above, was also done in Photoshop.

The next perspective posts will be about 2 point (yes, there is no hard line between 1 and 2 point, but you’ve got to cut the subject apart somewhere).

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Perspective - One Point Perspective - Distortions & Complications

Distortion is the principal cause of sorrow in hand layouts. A simple mistake at the initial marking of horizon and vanishing points can cause havoc in the final product. The following examples apply to both the cube examples of the previous posts, and to any layout, whether by hand or computer. It is a mixed bag of tips, so forgive the lack of order.

When creating a simple perspective using one point and a diagonal vanishing point, don’t stray far from the central point. The three cubes on the right are about as far from the central vanishing point as they can be. The cubes on the left are too far, and show some (or a lot of) distortion. Generally I try to stay within a circle whose center is the one point vanishing point, and whose radius is half way to the diagonal vanishing point.

In hand layouts or computer rendering, the closer your eye is to the object the more it will be like a wide-angle lens (see the plan and perspective on the right above). Distortion will start to occur at the edges the closer you get. Moving your eye away from the object will create a telephoto effect, flattening object (see the plan and perspective in the center above). You may need to get closer or further to see what you need to see, but keep in mind that this changes the aspect of the project.

The diagram above shows the distortion in both an exterior and an interior perspective when the eye is too close to the object or space; the object looks too long, and the space looks too deep.

This plan and layout shows that the distortion of the main room is acceptable, but the smaller room on the left is noticeably wrong.

So much for distortion. The final illustrations involve complications in layout. They are more for fun, but are good to keep in mind as you think about perspectives.

Here I’m taking the previous view of a large and small space, and showing how to make the large space into an octagon by slicing off the corners. The diagonal vanishing points are not very widely spaced, and so distortion is showing up.

If you have a plan that is rectangular you can use a diagonal “cross” to transfer the orthogonal plan onto a perspective shape. The green lines set up the transfer by directly moving lines to the perspective. In addition the green lines mark both the plan and the perspective with a diagonal “X”. The orange lines transfer all other lines to the perspective. Again, I’m not suggesting that it is the way to create a “perspectivized” plan since the computer does it in no time. But, it is something that is worth keeping in mind as you use the computer.

The illustration above shows that the grid can be used for the most non-rectilinear plan imaginable.

The photos above illustrate the perspective nature of stairs, ramps and escalators. If oriented the same way, they all will recede to vanishing points above or below the building’s vanishing point that is on the horizon.

The diagram and photo above address reflections in water in a perspective. Since water is generally below the ground level of a building, you have to plot the water’s level, and then mirror the building’s reflection from that point. Again, you will easily do this in the computer, but knowing what is going on keeps mistakes from happening.

Finally, a trick that computers can’t emulate. When drawing a perspective of a very small space like an elevator cab, you will find that the ceiling and floor will always look distorted. The easy answer to this problem is to create a “sliding” vanishing point. Instead of having a single vanishing point, use one vanishing point for the left wall (shifted toward the right), and another vanishing point for the right wall (shifted toward the left). The result is an elevator cab where the paneling joints look correct, but the vanishing points are actually shifting up (near the ceiling), and down (near the floor).

NOTE: These posts are NOT meant to be a tutorial on one-point perspective. There are plenty of websites that do that. I want to illustrate some of the interesting examples, and point out the major problems and opportunities out there.

Perspective - One Point Perspective - Using a Diagonal Vanishing Point

Constructing a perspective of a free-form object, or a bunch of misaligned objects is trouble, and should be done in a computer with a CAD and rendering program. If however you have a design that is regular and rectilinear, there are simple rules that will get you there without a lot of work.

A tiled floor of equal sized squares creates a repeating pattern across the width and depth of a room.

But, it also creates a regular diagonal pattern which establishes vanishing points to the left and right of the centered one point vanishing point. If the grid consists of squares, then you have set up a diagonal system that can be used to establish any floor plan shape.

A grid of regular lines on an elevation can be used in the same way.

In the photo above the grid is not made up of squares, so a number of diagonal vanishing points are possible. If you know the relative distances of vertical and horizontal spacing you can set up a measurable grid. In any case such a diagonal set of perspective lines will give you a grid to hang your design on.

Oh, alright. A short bit of graphic instruction would help here…

Draw a square, and then draw a horizon line 2 or 3 “squares” above. Draw lines from each corner of the square to the horizon line immediately above it. Strike a diagonal (dotted white line) to a vanishing point a reasonable distance to the side of the horizon line (You can do this by eye; a post on distortion will follow). By drawing a horizontal line where the diagonal crosses the lines connecting the square to the horizon line above you establish the top of the cube (white with cross inside). Carry vertical lines (green) down to the lower lines going to the horizon and you establish the bottom of the cube (red with cross inside). This last step can be done or checked by striking a line to the diagonal vanishing point from the lower right corner of the original square.

Fill in the cube with solid white and you have a cube facing you in one point perspective. Simple, dull, boring and surprisingly useful.

While a circle drawn in the front elevation is a true circle, a circle on the top (which is receding in perspective) is an ellipse. The cross helps to place the ellipse which I use a template when drawing in the ancient mode.

It is quite easy to multiply the cubes in any direction. The diagonal vanishing point defines all subsequent cubes.

As said before, the front face of the cube (or any multiple thereof) is a measurable surface easily marked with an elevation drawing.

More importantly, any front face is equally measurable and ready for an elevation marking.

The cubes can be extended left, right, up or down. The only limitation is distortion.

But here is the fun part of the endless cube. By striking diagonals to the vanishing point from the centers of each side you create a… cube seen in two point perspective! Yes, you will have to adjust the height to get it right, but practice will educate your eye.

Drawing elevations on the faces of this new cube is a little messy, but again, with practice and a good eye you can reproduce a two point perspective without doing a complete layout.

We’ve dealt exclusively with cubes up until now. What about cylinders? Well, we have already marked circles on the sides of a cube, so it is simple to consider the circles as the top and bottom of a cylinder.

Fill in the form, and voila!

Shade and shadow are useful to make the cylinder believable, but that is for another time and another post.

Caveats, caveats, and excuses…

Knowing the relationship between one point and two point perspective is very useful when working on something simple, or sketching an idea. If you want to produce a serious perspective, or want to see what a form looks like from all angles, go immediately to your computer. My reason for writing these post on perspective layout is not to replace the computer, but to supplement your knowledge about what is happening in the computer. Too many architects and designers have never worked out a perspective layout, but have gone straight to the computer. In my experience a little hands on work is necessary to make the most of the computer programs available.

Yes, I’m an old fuddy-duddy.