Architectural representation is often misunderstood as a precursor to building: images that illustrate the architect’s ideas before they are given physical manifestation or merely as a roadmap for the production of architecture. The 77 drawings, collages, prints, and paintings from the collection of Cynthia Davidson and Peter Eisenman, included in this exhibition, use various media to pursue, work out, and construct ideas independent of the material reality of buildings. The collection gathers ideas that both transcend time—from Piranesi to today—and once brought together a group of architects at a particular moment around the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies.

In order to draw multiple ideas and encouraage a variety of interpretations, the exhibition is not organized according to conventional organizational models—such as presenting works chronologically or by author. Bracketed by Piranesi, Le Corbusier, and Terragni, loosely defined underlying themes are overlaid with groupings of representational techniques. The authors in the collection are well-known and the subject of widely available scholarship; therefore, the show does not systematically describe each piece. Rather, we have used the exhibition as an opportunity to compile an oral history in danger of being lost; we use Eisenman’s own words to provide a broader context to the work on display, often describing concepts beyond each piece. The exhibition is intended to be understood in fragments and never as a cohesive totality.

Exhibition Credits:

Curator: Mónica Ponce de León
Assistant Curator: Courtney Coffman
Exhibition Management, Production, and Installation: Kira McDonald
Exhibition Design: Christina Huang, MPdL Studio, and Allison Wenner
Graphic Design: Christina Huang
Exhibition Fabrication: Marie Baretsky and John Hunter
Photography: Ian Byers-Gamber

Special Thanks to:

Cynthia Davidson and Peter Eisenman, the School of Architecture Staff, and Rago Arts and Auction House