Tokyo International Forum, Tokyo, Japan (Exterior perspective)

Rafael Viñoly

1991

A crayon-on-paper architectural perspective by Rafael Viñoly that imagines the exterior of the Tokyo International Forum, using bold, gestural strokes to convey the building’s sweeping glass-and-steel concourse and civic presence.

You’d first notice the dramatic, elongated perspective and luminous sweep of a curved glass ‘ship’ rendered in layered crayon—rhythmic columns, taut steel lines, and tiny figures lend instant scale and a sense of movement and public life.

The drawing captures a pivotal 1990s civic commission and demonstrates how expressive hand drawing could translate complex engineering and large-scale public ambition into an iconic cultural landmark that influenced contemporary approaches to urban and institutional architecture.

Art Terms

Architectural drawing Architecture Drawing Perspective Gestural Built environment Commission

Exhibitions

Visionary Architecture

1960

Architecture and Imagery: Four New Buildings

1959

Architecture of Museums

1968

Architectural Models from the Collection

1974