Maison de la Publicité Project, Paris, France (Plan of mezzanine-level theater)
Oscar Nitzchke
American, born Germany. 1900–1991
1936
A precise, hand-drawn mezzanine floor plan for Oscar Nitzchke’s proposed Maison de la Publicité in Paris, rendered in ink, colored pencil, gouache, and graphite on spiral-bound card stock to show the layout of a small theater and adjoining public spaces.
The eye is drawn to a compact, vertically centered plan: a crisply ruled grid and dark circular column marks sit beside soft colored washes and an elegant curving partition, all set against the warm, slightly aged background of the spiral notebook page.
This sheet captures 1930s modernist design thinking and the craft of architectural drawing—communicating how public, theatrical, and advertising functions could be organized—and represents the hand-rendered precision architects relied on before digital drafting reshaped the discipline.
Medium
Ink, color pencil, gouache, and graphite on sprial-notebook card stock
Dimensions
28 x 20 1/2" (71.1 x 52.1 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of Lily Auchincloss, Barbara Jakobson, and Walter Randel
Accession
424.1976.7
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
