City Hall, project, North Canton, Ohio, Perspective sketch
Robert Venturi
American, 1925–2018
Venturi and Rauch
American, est. 1964–1979
John Rauch
American, born 1930
1965
A quick graphite perspective on tracing paper by Venturi and Rauch that imagines a curved, bowl-like civic plaza for a proposed City Hall in North Canton, Ohio, framed by a rhythmic row of stylized trees.
The sketch strikes you with its sense of motion: loose, overlapping circular strokes suggest tree canopies like musical motifs while a long, sweeping curve and a distant vanishing point draw the eye into an open, theatrical public space rendered on translucent tracing paper.
An early work by Venturi and Rauch, this drawing captures the mid-1960s shift away from strict modernist dogma toward a more expressive, context-aware approach to civic architecture and the evocative, idea-led sketches that helped define postmodern urban design.
Medium
Graphite on tracing paper
Dimensions
20 1/2 x 36" (52.1 x 91.4 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of Venturi, Rauch and Scott Brown, Inc.
Accession
120.1988
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
