.back to list

.Anamorphic Tectonics
Author: Sara Shafiei

'The spectator makes the picture.'
Marcel Duchamp

Anamorphosis is ‘a distorted projection or representation of an image on a plane or curved surface, which, when viewed from a certain point, or as reflected from a curved mirror, appears regular and in proportion; a deformation of an image.’ (Webster’s Dictionary)

Anamorphosis can be seen to use perspective constructions to create a "trick". The viewer is presented with something that does not make sense when viewed conventionally, and so they must seek out the unconventional viewpoint in order to resolve the “trick”. Therefore, anamorphosis becomes a secret, in which the search and discovery of images became an act of magic.

In order to unravel an anamorphic image, the subject’s relationship to the object of vision much be altered. As Dan Collins suggests in Anamorphosis and the Eccentric Observer, ‘For the viewer to observe anamorphic image they must become an "eccentric observer," an observer who is willing to sacrifice a centric vantage point for the possibility of catching the uncanny’.

From a traditional point of view, sculpture and architecture ‘implicitly endorse an observer willing to link conventional profiles of an object into a flawless and harmonious progression.’ There are very few designs, which break away from this mould. Borromini's Colonnade in the Palazzo Spada in Rome, and Palladio's Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza represent the inverse of the norm, as their architecture insists on establishing a hierarchy of views that favor a specific vantage point. This form of design allows the viewer to become part of the process of creating an image, therefore becoming an inherent part of the final product.

It is for the possibility of this outcome, that anamorphosis is used as a tool of illusion in the architectural proposal.

Here, anamorphosis is used on the façade of the theatre. The façade holds the distorted anamorphic image, and the cone (which intersects the façade) becomes the plane, which reveals the true image.

As there are no traditional signs around the site to navigate visitors, visitors must explore the landscape and architecture before them to unravel its secrets. The anamorphic cone within the façade reflects the words BOX OFFICE, when the cone is viewed from the correct vantage point. In this case the “secret perspective” is positioned at the top of the grand stone staircase.