May 2011 - THIS week's PICTURE

Augie and Brian in front of the Rotunda, UVA: Joiner photograph by Malcolm Aslett

This might not look like much but it was a monster to do. A lot of ill fitting parts that needed solutions. The most obvious is the fact that those steps are in reality straight lines. There is no angled section at the left edge as this one shows. The ground needed to be repaved to allow for this illusion. Railings are also a nightmare as they are so thin and liable to show parallax issues (the things behind the rail vary from viewpoint to viewpoint). I do get a kick out of taking the classical pediment and giving it new angles. I love classical design but it also irritates me, particularly here in the US where it has been and still is a failsafe for architects not to use their own imaginations. Yeah, Jefferson was talented but he was still a copy-cat. The sky is mostly painted in too and left simple as a sketch in parts. I'll stick a detail of the pediment below. It will show you what sort of liberties have been taken and maybe give you an idea of how big the actual picture is.