ABSTRACT
Orthographic projection produces the objectified surface – fixed in Cartesian space and endlessly reproducible. What cannot be easily reproduced is the perception or experience of the environment that is always transient, always unique. Defining the surface does not define the environment. We traditionally design to create an image or sequence of images rather than a visual response; we design to replicate interior conditions rather than for a thermal experience. Perception becomes incidental, and yet we presume to design experience through the avatar of the surface. A discussion about light in an architectural work will focus on the materials and their placement. Any discussion about heat will revolve around the façade. When phenomena are foregrounded, they are described as the preternatural results of carefully designed architectural artifacts. Essentially, we have assigned environmental causality to an image on a picture plane.
