Rappresentazioni ambigue: il disegno e i suoi potenziali fraintendimenti

Felice Romano

doi:10.26375/disegno.16.2025.14

Authors

Felice Romano Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Catania https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8179-3289

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26375/disegno.16.2025.14

Keywords:

architectural drawing, misunderstanding, graphic ambiguity, Jean-Jacques Lequeu, F.Ll. Wright

Abstract

Drawing, understood as a language, is inherently ambiguous: every mark can be misinterpreted, reinterpreted, or manipulated. Starting from Paul Ricoeur’s reflection on the link between interpretation and the possibility of misunderstanding, this essay investigates architectural drawing as a non-neutral device, shaped by cultural conventions, biases, and social contexts. Through the analysis of historical examples –from the accusations of espionage against Aleksandr Alekhine, triggered by the misunderstanding of chess score sheets, to the controversial reception of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Masieri Memorial project– it highlights how drawing can become a tool for ideological misinterpretation. A close reading of Jean-Jacques Lequeu’s drawings further reveals how seemingly geometric inaccuracies disclose a more complex rhetorical and symbolic intention. The article proposes a classification of ambiguities into four categories: technical, epistemic, rhetorical, and perceptual. The latter is illustrated through the phenomenon of multistable images (Kippbilder), which underline the inherent instability of human perception. In conclusion, the essay argues that the ambiguity of drawing, far from being a mere source of error, constitutes a vital element of its creative and hermeneutic potential, encouraging a more critical and conscious reading of architectural representation.

References

Ainswort, T.M. (2005). Modernism contested: Frank Lloyd Wright in Venice nd the Masieri memorial debate. PhD dissertation in Land–use Planning, Management and Design. Lubbock: Texas Tech University.

Arnheim, R. (2009). Arte e percezione visiva. Milano: Feltrinelli Editore. [First ed. Art and visual perception. A psychology of the creative eye, Oakland 1954].

Benjamin, W. (2007). Il compito del traduttore. In aut aut, vol. 334, pp. 7-20. [First ed. Die Aufgabe des Übersetzers. In Gesammelte Schriften, vol. IV, Frankfurt 1921, pp. 9-21].

Boeri, E. (2018). Jean-Jacques Lequeu. Un atlas de mémoires. Paris: Édition des Cendres.

De Turris, G. (2006). Esoterismo e fascismo. Storia, interpretazioni, documenti. Roma: Edizioni Mediterranee.

Diéz Medina, C. (2004). El memorial Masieri en el Canal Grande. Cronica del proyecto/The Masieri memorial on the grand canal. Story of the project. In R. Moneo (a cura di). Frank Lloyd Wright Memorial Masieri. Venecia 1953, pp. 19-43. Madrid: Editorial Rueda.

Duboÿ, P. (1986). Lequeu. An architectural enigma. London: Thames and Hudson.

Eco, U. (1975). Trattato di semiotica generale. Milano: Bompiani.

Gay, F. (2020). A ragion Veduta. Immaginazione progettuale, rappresentazione e morfologia degli artefatti. Alghero: Publica.

Gillam, A.J. (2014). Mannheim 1914 and the Interned Russians. Nottingham: The Chess Player.

Goodman, N. (2017). I linguaggi dell’arte. Milano: Il saggiatore [First ed. Languages of Art: An Approach to a Theory of Symbols, Indianapolis 1968].

Gombrich, E.H. (1964). Arte e Illusione. Torino: Einaudi.

Gregory, R.L. (2000). Ambiguity of ‘ambiguity’. In Perception, vol. 29, no. 10, pp. 1139-1142.

Guareschi, G.; Minardi, A. (13 December 1953). Candido, no. 50. Milano: Rizzoli.

Hersey, G. (1998). The Lost Meaning of Architecture. Speculations on Ornament from Vitruvius to Venturi. Cambridge: Mit press.

Kahneman, D., Tversky, A. (1979). Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision Under Risk. In Econometrica, vol. 47, no. 2, pp. 263-291.

Kasparov, G. (2003). I miei grandi predecessori. Da Steinitz ad Alekhine, vol. 1. Verona: Edizioni Ediscere.

Kircher, A. (1664-1678). Mundus subterraneus, quo universae denique naturae divitiae. Amsterdam: Jansson & Weyerstraet.

Lequeu, J.-J. (1777-1825). Architecture civile de Jean Jacques Le Queu contenant nombre d’édifices de diférents peuples disséminés sur la terre, et au vu desquels sont les élémens des ombres, leurs éfets diférents produits par la lumière solaire ou de corps enflammés sur leurs plans, élévations et profils. On y a joint des notes et l’explication des termes consacrés à cet art. Tome 1er Donné par lui-même à l’honneur de la Bibliothèque Royale. BNF RESERVE FOL-HA-80 (1)-(2).

Mallet, A.M. (1702). La geometrie pratique divisée en quatre livres. Paris: Anisson.

Monterroso, A. (2013). Opere complete (e altri racconti). Roma: Omero.

Pareyson, L. (1954). Estetica. Teoria della formatività. Torino: Edizioni di filosofia.

Ricoeur, P. (1981). Hermeneutics and the Human Sciences - Essays on Language, Action and Interpretation. Edited, translated and introduced by J.B. Thompson. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Romano, F. (2021). Nouvelle Méthode di Jean-Jacques Lequeu. Ridisegno, analisi grafica e rilettura critica. Milano: FrancoAngeli.

Sdegno, A. (2011). Il Masieri Memorial di F. Ll. Wright, 1953-54. In C. Mezzetti, M. Unali (a cura di). Acqua e Architettura. Rappresentazioni, pp. 391-399. Roma: Edizioni Kappa.

Summers, D. (2003). Real Spaces: World Art History and the Rise of Western Modernism. New York: Phaidon Press.

Trinajstić, N. (1993). The Magic of the Number Five. In Croatica Chemica Acta, Vol. 66, N. 1, pp. 227-254.

Trubiano, F. (1995). Jean-Jacques Lequeu, Orthograph(i)e and the ritual drawing of l’Architecture Civile. McGill School of Architecture, master’s thesis in History and Theory Program, supervisor Prof. A. Perez-Gomez. Montreal: McGill University Libraries.

Szambien, W. (1990). L’inventaire après décès de Jean-Jacques Lequeu. In Revue de l’art, no. 90, pp. 104-107.