1 Contemporary Concept and Significance of Visualization of Architectural Space

Spatial visualization specifically reflects “iconized media” in architectural and spatial representation. The significance of visualization consists in its visual recording, presentation, analysis and communication of artificial space where people live and all activities they conduct in that space. Regardless of recording spatial events on rock paintings or porcelains in the period of prehistoric civilization or today’s visual representation of virtual heritages and space, human beings have been closely integrating visualized images with architectural space.

Nevertheless, cognition about visualized images of architectural space is a little vague. In other words, architectural visualization is a visual tool or a visual method of spatial cognition afterall. Has it gone through a relatively clear and identifiable development process in human development history of visual images? Have new pertinent practices and theories emerged with the development of times. In this paper, an attempt is made to conduct the research based on perspectival consciousness.

2 Using Perspective as Image Tool or Spatial Consciousness

2.1 Utilizing Perspective as Spatial Image Tool

Traditionally, perspective is understood as a terminology of image drawing theory for three-dimensional space on two-dimensional space. As a product of the renaissance era, narrow perspective (i.e. linear perspective) means that actual spatial location of objects is represented by basic geometric perspectival drawing. Leone Battista Alberti, an Italian painter of the 15th century, illustrated mathematical foundation of painting and importance of perspective in his work titled On Painting. As a German painter, Albrecht Durer applied geometrics in arts, so that the discipline theoretically developed. Up till now, perspectival painting has become a watershed of architectural images. By now, such linear perspectival painting based on vanishing points is still applicable to expressing most spatial images.

2.2 Considering Perspective as Spatial Consciousness

In the mean time, the German thinker Jean Gerser summed up three stages for the development of human consciousness, including pre-perspectival, perspectival and aperspective. Although these three stages are neither chronological nor have any clear boundaries of time, they have distinct characteristics of times. Jean Gerser didn’t reckon perspective as a drawing method, but summarized it as a methodology for reflecting on space. From the perspective of this methodology, it may be found that human beings’ abilities to perceive images of architectural space have been always in a stage of compound and progressive growth of being educated and guided by represented media. Some of their abilities like cognition of directions have come into being in the prehistoric times. However, their abilities have been mostly trained throughout the development of image-related means. For instance, three-dimensional space is observed from perspectival images.

3 Analysis on Historical Stages of Visualizing Architectural Space and Pertinent Characteristics

3.1 Pre-perspectival Visualization Stage

After a case analysis of Yunnan Cangyuan rock paintings and paintings of the ancient Egypt, it may be discovered that human beings made original records of space-related information such as architectural construction and residence by visual means in the period of prehistoric civilization. As shown in Fig. 1, prehistoric human beings visualized production, life and living processes of their villages through intuitive perception. There is an oval circle in the center of the picture that represents the aboundary of a village or possibly a wall or moat for defense. All buildings above and beside are depicted by inverted or lateral painting. Size of objects isn’t defined by vertical space representation of perspectival painting that objects are small in distant places, but large nearby. In contrast, it is arranged pursuant to importance of people or buildings. This drawing method is pretty consistent with “law of frontality” (Fig. 2). Non-perspectival features of the planes are evident. In form, location of architectural space could be reflected from representation of image space in the pre-perspectival era to certain extent. Nevertheless, space is rendered by an empirical two-dimensional method with graphic and non-perspectival visual characteristics on the whole.

Fig. 1.
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Zhaofu Chen, Xueming Wu, Cangyuan petroglyphs, 《Complete Works of Chinese Fine Arts Painting series》, People’s Fine Arts Publishing House, P11 [1].

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Fig. 2.
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Rudolf Arnheim, Art and visual perception [J]. University of California Press, 2001 [2]

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3.2 Perspectival Visualization Stage

The perspectival method developed and systematized by Leone Battista Alberti in the period of Renaissance is used for constructing space of graphic painting. It includes some basic hypotheses, assuming a scene as a window, and hypothesizing that the standpoints are separate and fixed that project a view cone to the world, where the scene deemed as a window is a section that perpendicularly cuts the cone. It has a visual characteristic that corresponding two-dimensional sections of three-dimensional space are geometrically and homogeneously obtained.

In Albrecht Dürer’s prints, methods of Rennaisance painters for studying perspectival painting techniques for space were depicted in detail (Fig. 3). The painters determined position of points of three-dimensional space on a two-dimensional glass panel by connecting lines. Ropes connected three-dimensional objects with two-dimensional scenes. Once the ropes are removed, the power of such mapping may be clearly felt through scenes. With the maturity of such spatial visulization technique that “looks” through “windows” via interpretation of geometric paintings, frames have become corresponding two-dimensional sections of three-dimensional space, developed into a new cognitive spatial consciousness and formed a sharp epoch-making contrast with pre-perspectival spatial consciousness.

Fig. 3.
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(Source: https://maitaly.wordpress.com/2011/04/28/brunelleschi-and-the-re-discovery-of-linear-perspective/).

Filippo Brunelleschi Peephole device authentication perspective relations

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In opinions of Rennaisance painters, space was orderly, homogeneous and fixed. It could be best described by techniques of geometric analysis. They converted perceptual space into geometric space based on visual observations and geometric foundations.

3.3 Aperspective Visualization Stage

If preperspectival visible spatial painting techniques draw space intuitively and perspectival painting techniques mean fragmented representation of two-dimensional to three-dimensional space, scientific progress of the early 20th century has been reviewed and a new advance has been achieved in people’s spatial consciousness known as aperspective consciousness. After the launch of Einstein’s theory of relativity and quantum mechanics, people have regarded time and space to be static and absolute. The space people face is so-called four-dimensional space composed by three-dimensional space and time. Thus, aperspective consciousness is the consciousness upgraded after people’s understanding of four-dimensional time-space where they are.

Gebser considered that time and space were divided by perspective. In their opinion, time dimensions are concealed that purely static sense of space was created, and visual perception thus became a dominant way of spatial experience. The newly emerged aperspective wasn’t an opposite of perspective, but revealed a new attitude. Time became the fourth dimension to supplement original dominating spatial conciousness. The time and space consciousness thereby combined over again updated previous spatial consciousness.

Zaha Hadid attempted to reflect multi-dimension and superposition of time-space in her architectural images. Such image visualization technique presenting numerous languages of lens such as wide angles, slow motions, closeups and quick connection fully reflected her spatial design ideas of ignoring morphology, order and gravity (Fig. 4).

Fig. 4.
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(Source: http://www.zaha-hadid.com/design/the-world-89-degrees/).

Zaha Hadid, the world (89 degrees)

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Without attaching importance to center of gravity and stability like traditional architecture, Greg Lynn created buildings by simultaneously considering time, motion and combined multi-directional forces. He designed buildings according to detailed topographical and environmental materials by procedures of automotive design and animated movies. It seemed as if motions of fields could be felt in these buildings. Having become a type of flowing digital media, buildings are filled with rhythms. The new visual techniques explored by him have played critical roles in architecture and modern urban communications (Fig. 5).

Fig. 5.
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(Source: http://static.digischool.nl/ckv2/ckv3/kunstentechniek/lynn/greglynn.htm).

Greg lynn embriological housing

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4 Conclusion

Above all, changes to human beings’ space representation are attributed to the evolution of their spatial consciousness and improved abilities to understand space. The appearance of perspective tools is a critically important technical variable that has led to their changes. It is worthy of efforts to constantly explore how paradigms of image generation, representation and analysis for architectural space have evolved and developed with the rapid advancement of informatization and digital technologies in the post-industrial times.