Image Sub-Products over Time
BCE—1250 CE
Ancient Sumerian and Egyptian carved stone tablets show diagrammatic building plans which were created after the building to explain its use. In The Ten Books of Architecture by Vitruvius, the oldest surviving copies from the middle ages included rendered architectural drawings in both plan and elevation along with diagrams to explain proportional systems of orders.
1200—1850
Early Rennaisance builders used renderings to communicate their design ideas, but it was not until mathematical perspective that renderings became typical architectural imagery.
1850—1980
The invention of the camera quickly leads to an explosion of its use for documenting architecture.
1980—2010
The Cornell Box experiments blur the lines between computer rendering and photography. Meanwhile, the diagram obsessed SuperDutch become a dominant force in global architecture.
2010—2020
The rise of Instagram increases the demand and audience for architectural images, mainly photographs. New rendering software and digital tools allow the moving image to emerge through animations and immersive virtual reality.
BCE—1250 CE
Ancient Sumerian and Egyptian carved stone tablets show diagrammatic building plans which were created after the building to explain its use. In The Ten Books of Architecture by Vitruvius, the oldest surviving copies from the middle ages included rendered architectural drawings in both plan and elevation along with diagrams to explain proportional systems of orders.
1200—1850
Early Rennaisance builders used renderings to communicate their design ideas, but it was not until mathematical perspective that renderings became typical architectural imagery.
1850—1980
The invention of the camera quickly leads to an explosion of its use for documenting architecture.
1980—2010
The Cornell Box experiments blur the lines between computer rendering and photography. Meanwhile, the diagram obsessed SuperDutch become a dominant force in global architecture.
2010—2020
The rise of Instagram increases the demand and audience for architectural images, mainly photographs. New rendering software and digital tools allow the moving image to emerge through animations and immersive virtual reality.
