The Manhattan Transcripts Project, New York, New York, Episode 3: The Tower (The Fall)
Bernard Tschumi
French and Swiss, born Switzerland 1944
1979
An ink-on-tracing-paper drawing that pairs a central vertical sectional silhouette of a tower with small axonometric vignettes, an attempt to translate movement, action, and narrative (here, a fall) into architectural representation.
On pale, translucent paper a single precise black profile runs down a narrow central column like a sectional spine, set against a faint grid and accompanied on the right by compact, angular isometric clusters that read like choreographed scenes or accidents.
As part of Tschumi’s Manhattan Transcripts, this sheet helped redefine architectural drawing by making events, time, and cinematic sequencing as crucial to design as form, influencing how architects depict occupation and movement.
Medium
Ink on tracing paper
Dimensions
48 x 24" (121.9 x 61 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Purchase and partial gift of the architect in honor of Lily Auchincloss
Accession
7.1995.7
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
