ABSTRACT

The art of architecture is based on imaginative representation. To create buildings that properly address the body–building relationship, however, architects need to employ representational techniques that bring synesthetic experiences to the forefront of their practice. In hindsight, with an understanding of the direction modernity has taken, it seems clear why the profession of architecture has focused on instrumental, rational and efficient representation at the expense of symbolic and meaningful representation. Instrumental representation is concerned with efficiency and production, and has become the dominant mode of architectural representation. In relation to architectural drawings and the use of color, Marco Frascari suggests that the use of non-factual colors helps stimulate the imagination, provocation and revelation of buildings that engage all the senses. In Frascari's interpretation of the classical and medieval relationship of drawing to building, in a very real sense the building preceded the drawing.