ABSTRACT
Hidden lines are a feature of many axonometric drawings. This chapter addresses the implied and the deliberately elided line—that which is present through our knowledge of a convention, but absent from the page.
In this project, John Hejduk frustrates our expectations by giving us views of his scheme which only reveal small amounts at a time. Whilst one of the key principles of axonometric drawing shown in textbooks and manuals is their capacity to show a great deal of a design at one time, a totality and immediacy, Hejduk teases the viewer in a manner akin to the detective story, holding back information from one drawing rather than giving everything at once. The joy is in the narrative and the process of making sense rather than having the truth presented to you in an instant.
In this chapter, the ‘missing’ drawing is shown—with the building presented in clarity as a way of interrogating the manner with which Hejduk is thinking about architecture: the wall-ness of the building is crucial to understanding it, despite the difficulty in reading the drawings at times.
