Published 2025-06-09
Keywords
- Axonometry,
- Architectural Representation,
- Spatial Abstraction,
- Geometric Modelling,
- Cognitive Processes in Design
How to Cite
Copyright (c) 2025 Stefano Chiarenza
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Abstract
The hybridisation of physical and virtual reality, along with the myriad software available today for representing or even sensorially reproducing three-dimensional space, has defined new ways to present and test architectural projects. The validation of design choices increasingly relies on such tools, which, thanks to their ability to create interactions between subjects and space, are becoming integral to decision-making processes in design. However, in a context dominated by hyper-realistic simulation and perspective as the prevailing visual paradigm, axonometry still stands out as a relevant geometric model. By prioritising abstraction and interpretation, it becomes a bridge between thought and representation. In other words, its ability to translate abstract concepts into coherent, analysable, and measurable configurations makes this method a form of thought that transcends a merely illustrative role. It enables the tackling of spatial complexity and contributes to the development of both design and cognitive processes.
This essay explores the value of axonometry as a tool for analysing, modelling, and communicating forms, demonstrating how it represents a method that, by privileging the homogeneous space of geometric operations over the psycho-physiological space,
allows for the representation and interpretation of reality – even if only in a design phase – as a projection of thought.
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