Architectural Perspective Between Image and Building

Perspective is an important example of “cultural heritage” in Western figurative culture. This issue provides an overview of the applications of perspective to architecture and their current validity in design. The sequence of topics underlines the relationships between historical literature and coeval realisations, and the connection with other applications, such as cartography. The affirmation of a shared rule of perspective was the result of a long process of practical experimentation. The starting point was the classical principles of optics in the applications to the wall paintings of Pompeii, where the fascinating story of architectural perspective began. Thus, in this context, the term ‘architectural perspective’, also refers to the set of perspective constructions realised on the surfaces of a wall or room to simulate a different space than those actually built. Several “real scale” examples document the broad experimentation of projective devices in which the image interacts with the space and representation becomes architecture, offering suggestions are still valid today for its possible applications in design.