Mapping
the
Intangible
Stan
Allen
Architect,
Stan
Allen,
discusses
Nelson
Goodmans
philosophies
regarding
the
ways
in
which
architectural
drawings
function
in
a
contemporary
city.
He
begins
by
describing
architectural
drawings
in
a
conventional
sense
as
representational
scaled-down
images
of
the
building,
but
notes,
more
importantly,
that
architectural
drawings
can
be
approached
through
diagrams
and
notation.
Two
related
fields
he
cites
that
use
notation
are
math
and
time-based
art
forms
(ie.
music
and
dance).
He
draws
parallels
between
all
three
areas
and
suggests
that
drawings
as
notation
can
express
the
experience
of
a
building
better
than
any
representational
drawing.
A
differentiation
between
autographic
and
allographic
art
forms
are
defined
and
Allen
determines
that
architecture
is
neither
one
or
the
other,
but
a
combination.
The
term
autographic
is
defined
with
the
assumption
that
there
is
value
in
the
original,
and
that
authenticity
depends
on
the
direct
contact
with
the
author.
An
example
of
this
would
be
with
paintings
or
sculpture.
Allographic
arts
are
capable
of
being
reproduced
at
a
distance
from
the
author
by
means
of
notation
(Allen,
2000).
An
example
of
this
would
be
in
music.
Notation,
which
musicians
interpret
and
understand
through
a
learned
convention
can
be
performed
and
create
new
realities
(Allen,
2000).
Allen
then
continues
to
differentiate
between
diagrams
and
notation,
and
describes
notation
as
a
system
that
operates
under
learned
conventions,
while
diagrams
can
be
open
to
many
interpretations.
You
might
be
asking,
what
does
this
have
to
do
with
architectural
drawings?
Allen
continues
his
essay
into
a
discussion
about
The
Illegible
City,
and
the
need
to
develop
a
new
vocabulary
to
describe
the
text
of
the
city.
He
states
that
because
we
are
at
a
point
of
transition
to
a
new
kind
of
city,
the
conventions
of
representation
need
to
be
rethought
(Allen,
2000).
The
essay
concludes
by
suggesting
that
the
use
of
diagramming
and
notation
as
an
additional
field
of
representational
techniques
is
Allens
suggestion
to
start
to
understand
the
contemporary
city.
Stan
Allen,
Notations
+
Diagrams:
Mapping
the
Intangible,
in
S.
Allen
and
D.
Agrest,
Practice:
Architecture,
Technique
and
Representation,
2000,
41-61.
Questions:
Who
is
the
audience
for
these
diagrams
and
notations?
Will
people
not
trained
to
read
diagrams
understand
them?
Would
you
not
need
to
express
the
experience
of
a
building
to
a
potential
client?
Or
are
these
strictly
for
architects
and
those
in
the
industry
to
understand?
What
is
the
importance
of
reading
a
city?
(The
language
of
its
inhabitants
and
the
space
of
the
street).
(I
imagine
it
is
important,
but
I
dont
know
why.)
What
if
cities
have
changed
so
much
that
they
can
not
be
legible?
