Nguyen, Thi Phuong-Trâm;
(2025)
Anamorphosis – Drawing Spatial Practices.
Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).
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Abstract
From the Greek ana (again or back) and morphe (shape or form), anamorphosis is a projection technique requiring a specific vantage point to reconstitute the appearance and opening up of a space for discovery in the physical encounter with an image. This thesis studies the delineation and experience of anamorphic images in the work of the friars belonging to the Order of Minims in seventeenth-century Italy – more specifically, the work of Jean-François Niceron (1613–1646). I am interested in how the Minims explored theoretical concerns about invisible phenomena of light and vision through physical experimentation. Their work, I suggest, resonates with contemporary architectural practice-based research, where the emphasis resides on the situatedness of the process. By challenging the gaze and opening towards the space of perception, anamorphic images actively question the role of representation in architecture. This thesis aims to bring forth the anamorphic construction explored by the Minims as a methodology to shift the conversation in architectural practice from what drawing represents to how it makes space present. Through a series of projects that follow the logic that a change of position provokes a shift in perception, I re-enact Niceron’s experiments in three cycles. The first cycle studies the history of the technique by creating an optical table as a model of the anamorphic construction to scale. In the second cycle, the table serves as a tool to re-perform Niceron’s drawing instructions on site, introducing the researcher’s body into the space of representation. The encounter with anamorphosis becomes fictionalised through scriptwriting for a play. For the third and final cycle, I return to the Roman convent where Niceron developed his interest in the anamorphic transformation. By re-activating and inhabiting the historical practice of anamorphosis, this thesis enables an embodiment of the past into the present, proposing a possible future of architectural representation.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | Ph.D |
| Title: | Anamorphosis – Drawing Spatial Practices |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © The Author 2025. Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms. Access may initially be restricted at the author’s request. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10209201 |
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