Architecture of Imagination

Orpbeus in Orlando. (1995) T.W. Schaller. Watercolor, 5lcm 76cm

Prix de Rome, Greniers Publics. (1797) Artist/Designer: Louis-Ambroise Dubut. Watercolor; Courtesy of Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris. This superlative piece is surprisingly representative of much of the student efforts at the Ecole in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The image successfully explains and illuminates its subject with equal measures of subtle interpretive skill and technical brilliance; furthermore, shades of Romanticism can be seen through the light of Rationalist formality.

Private Residence, Naples, Florida. (1995) T.W. Schaller. Architects: Richard Meier & Partners. Watercolor, 70.2cm 96.3cm. Lush tropical form and color juxtaposed with tectonic formality is the essential idea of both this design scheme and the image representing it.

U.S. Federal Courthouse Competition, Foley Square, New York City, final design aerial view. (1994) T.W. Schaller. Architects: Kohn Pedersen Fox and BPT Development. Watercolor, 117cm 156cm Though context was an important factor, this record image of a winning design was completed as a celebration of a signature view of a realized design concept. As such, the values and color modulation in the painting were geared to showcase the new structure.

National Air and Space Museum, Washington, D.C., sectional perspective view. (1996) T.W. Schaller. Architects: Hellmuth Obata & Kassabaum. Watercolor, 100.2cm 257.4cm Since a great deal of specific information needed to be conveyed in this work, strong tones of sky and ground plane helped to establish and visually organize, in reverse silhouette, the light cool tones of the vast interior space.

LIFE Magazine, Dreamhouse. (1995) T.W. Schaller. Architect: Dennis Wedlick. Watercolor, 70.2cm 70.2cm A deeply residential effect was sought here by the use of clear, flat wash, which offset the composition to maximize pastoral landscaping elements, muted color palette, and crepuscular light of evening.

Whitehall Ferry Terminal Competition, New York City, plaza view. (1994) T.W. Schaller. Architects: Venturi, Scott-Brown, Anderson /Schwartz-Philadelphia/NYC. Watercolor, 61cm 92cm A sense of movement, activity, and access was the intention of this image, which utilizes a warm evening sky to maximize the transparency of the glazing and to complement the cool tones of the design scheme.

Proposed Plaza: Olympics 2000, Istanbul. (1994) T.W. Schaller. Architects: Stang and Newdow Atlanta with T.W. Schaller AIA. Watercolor, 92cm 61cm Though framed in both foreground and background by structure, the real focus of this piece is spacethe proposed plaza in the mid-ground. The challenge was to establish the perception of great depth by value modulation and to prevent the image of the famed Hagia Sophia in the distance from overwhelming the work.

Spark Park, Houston, Texas. (1992) Joyce Rosner. Architect: Robert Morris. Watercolor, Calligraphy by Brody Neuenschwander, Bruges/Belgium, 51.2cm 82cm Objective elements of planar, elevational, and celestial information are combined by this thoughtful and skilled architect/artist to create an image of surprisingly subjective and emotive content.

LA 2015. (1987) Artist/Designer: Syd Mead. Gouache, 76.9cm 51.2cm This remarkable visualist's theatrical sense of composition and color as well as his understanding of emphasis and perspective effect by value range manipulation is displayed to great advantage in this work, intended for use by the motion picture industry.

St. Nicholas, McKenna Square, New York City. (1992) Artist/ Designer: Lee Dunnette. Ink and airbrush, 117cm 156cm This artist's versatility with and appropriate usage of various media is especially impressive. Notice the subtle gradations and overall sobriety of the composition and color scheme here, which was rich with information and in keeping with the sophisticated tone of the proposed subject.