Contextualisation

more closely to their context. This I feel makes better use of the axonometric as a mode of representation, because through it one can test and relate plan, section and elevation to existing structures all at once. Whilst my drawing is still very rough, I feel it enabled me to better visualise and relate spaces and forms to pre-existing structures.

a drawing done genuinely in the spirit of working out an idea, with all the doubts, hesitations and uncertainties intact, will always be better than one done self-consciously, after the fact, to prove a point.14

As discussed, the axonometric drawing, and the manner in which architecture is depicted through this form of representation has significant bearings on my own project. However, not only are Moneo’s methods of representation highly significant to my project, to help translate the core theory of my design onto paper. But so too is the manner in which he executes this representation. Crucially, Allen notes that whilst he worked for Moneo, working drawings created as part of the process of realising the design were seldom redrawn for presentation to contractors or clients. That it was Moneo’s belief that the tares in the tracing paper, construction lines, smudges and rubber marks were all intrinsic to the creation of the drawing and thus the architecture. That the client should be able to see and appreciate the skill and effort that went into creating the drawing.15

This ethos is one that resonates particularly strongly with my own theories around design, as well as with my intentions for what the Centre for Preservation will try to achieve. Where normally the final