The Parameters of the Figure: Drawing as a Diagram of Figural Forces

Authors

  • Fabrizio Gay Dipartimento di Culture del Progetto, Università Iuav di Venezia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26375/disegno.17.2025.4

Abstract

The drawings preserved in the Moretti-Magnifico Archive reveal an approach to architectural design based both on the evocation of mythical buildings and on the calculation of precise functional parameters. The three preparatory sketches for the Imperial Theatre at E42, made by Luigi Moretti in 1937 and published here, are merely rough drafts of a solution later discarded: private notes, rapid and fragmentary, yet revealing of Moretti’s method, which uses drawing as a diagram of forces to record the interweaving of structural, spatial, and perceptual tensions within which the project develops. [read more]

References

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Lyotard, J.-F. (1971). Discours, figure. Paris: Éditions Klincksieck.

Moretti, L.W. (1951). Struttura come forma. In Spazio. Rassegna delle Arti e dell’Architettura, n. 6, pp. 21-30.

Moretti, L.W. (1957). Forma come struttura. In Spazio. Rassegna delle Arti e dell’Architettura, special monographic issue.

Moretti, L.W. (1963). Strutture di insiemi. In Spazio. Rassegna delle Arti e dell’Architettura, special monographic issue (subsequently published as: (1964). Strutture d’insiemi. In Moretti, L., Tapié, M., Bayl, F. Musée-Manifeste. Structures et Styles autres. Torino: edizioni Fratelli Pozzo).

Saarinen, E. (1948). Search for Form. A Fundamental Approach to Art. New York: Reinhold Publishing Corporation. <https://dn721704.ca.archive.org/0/items/searchfun00saar/searchfun00saar.pdf> (accessed 20 December 2025).

Thompson, D’A.W. (1917). On Growth and Form. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Whyte, L.L. (1951). Aspects of form. A Symposium on Forms in Nature and Art. New York: Pellegrini & Cudahy.

Published

2026-04-01

How to Cite

[1]
F. Gay, “The Parameters of the Figure: Drawing as a Diagram of Figural Forces”, diségno, no. 17, pp. 23–26, Apr. 2026.