This video shows some of my favorite architectural designs. After spending many years creating paintings and decorations for luxurious homes, clients began to ask me to create original architectural designs. Along with artist’s geometry and perspective, I have collected and studied many theories about classical proportion and architectural design and eventually developed an innovative proportioning technique. It was exciting for me to be able to put my theories to practical use on commissioned projects.
I initially spent a long time studying the history of perspective geometry from centuries-old treatises I found in different museum archives. It became clear to me that many of the perspective concepts used by artists stemmed from their pre-existing knowledge of sacred geometry. While books on perspective abound, there are far fewer treatises on geometry as used in design, architecture, and decoration. This subject is perhaps the most important single component of our European artistic heritage, but artists and architects have often shrouded it in mystery.
For my initial geometrical calculations, I only use a compass, straight edge, and triangles. I rarely even use a T-square. My sketches are almost always to scale, so I may also make myself a piece of graph paper on the computer. I sometimes need to work in meters and sometimes in feet and inches, depending on where the project will be. My architectural designs shown in this video also needed to be scaled to the viewing position and eye height, and real-life measurements remain essential to my plans.
My designs evolve from my studies of European classicism. They are original works of architecture in the sense that none of the elements are copies of existing models. I have also created unique proportional scales, which require me to design every detail from scratch. Some of my designs introduce concepts that are a response to a historical debate or question. This approach gives me satisfaction, although few people have the background to be able to understand the references.
The architectural design commissions shown in this video have all been for private patrons, and my clients to date have wanted the designs to be somewhat traditional, albeit whimsical. I often think it would be fun to do shockingly original designs within the classical tradition, but I would need to find the right patron for this sort of project. I already have ideas for such designs.
To read further, continue to my architecture page.
