Symposium

Indeterminate drawings
Nat Chard
University of Manitoba
http://www.umanitoba.ca/architecture/arch/people/chard.php

Summary
In trying to develop an indeterminate condition in the city there appear to be two clear methods of working. One is to develop ways of taking possession of the city on ones own terms and the other is to make architecture that is available for each person to take possession of it. In trying to develop this architecture there is a problem with the way architects make drawings. Architectural drawings are so developed to carry certain meanings that when proposing an indeterminate architecture the drawing tends to bring closure rather than the openness that might be needed. This paper proposes that to develop an indeterminate architecture through indeterminate drawings, one way to overcome this problem is to make drawings that rely on a phenomenal and spatial engagement and rely less on interpretation. Two techniques are discussed to achieve this, anamorphism and folding the picture plane. Both of them implicate the viewer on account of their position in space with respect to the drawing. Seventeenth century Dutch peep shows and natural history diorama peepshows demonstrate the potential of combining the two. The lessons from studying these examples are revealed in an analytical camera and a folding picture plane drawing instrument.

Biography
Nat is currently working on a research project titled “Drawing indeterminate architecture, indeterminate drawings of architecture”. He is professor and head of architecture at the University of Manitoba. Prior to this he held a professorship at the Royal Danish Academy in Copenhagen for five years and before that taught in London at the Bartlett, University College London as well as North and East London universities. He has lectured and run workshops internationally and spent many years practicing as an architect.