P. Eisenman, "Visions Unfolding: Architecture in the Age of Electronic Media," in The Digital Turn in Architecture 1992-2012, ed., M. Carpo, Ed. England: Architectural Design(AD), 2013, pp.15.

1. Visions Unfolding: Architecture
in the
Age of Electronic
Media
By P. Eisenman, ed., by M.Carpo.
[1]

2. Peter Eisenman born in 1932
Pioneer Architect
Gilles Deleuze 1925-1995
French Philosopher, Cineaste and Writer.
Wilhem Gotfried Leibniz 1646-1716
German Polymath, arguably the father of
electronics.
In his paper Visions Unfolding: Architecture in the Age of Electronic Media. Ed by Mario
Carpo.
Peter Eisenman develops a manifesto about the paradigm shift in architecture. He is
heavily influenced and inspired by the book of Gilles Deleuze, namely “ the fold Leibniz
and the Baroque” which itself has been derived by Deleuze from various books and papers
originating from Wilhem Gotfried Leibniz; a prismatic figure of the Baroque era
significant writings include “Discourse on Metaphysics and The Monadology”.
INTRODUCTION
[2] [3]
[4]

3. Evolution of Duplicated Visual Data.
Printed bible copy.
Access to malleable means
of reproducing data.
Circa 1450.
Photographic images.
Circa 1830
Scanned and fax copies.
Circa 1900.
Digital Imaging.
Circa 1970.
Graphics Interface Format.
Circa 2000.
Peter Eisenman: “ The shift from the mechanical paradigm to the electronic one”.
“The notion that data should be malleable, tangible and that can
be morphed or refined”.
[6][5] [7]

4. Evolution of Drawn Data.
Paintings in the caves of
Lascaux.
Scanned and fax copies.
Circa 1900. Portable Document
Viewer.
Peter Eisenman states in his paper that the terms of vision and perspective are the dominant
discourses in Architecture. He notes that changes have been slow and rare, as planimetric
projection allowed the understanding of a 3dimensional space in 2 dimensions.
The development of the
perspective view by Brunelleschi
[8]
[9]
[10]

5. Vision as the sight/mind construct
Rationalised Vision: The organisation of elements in
space
Styles and orders, Renaissance and Spanish Baroque examples[11] [12]

6. Vision as the sight/mind construct
Rationalised Vision: The organisation of elements in
space
• Harmony
• Continuity
• Thematic
• Monocular
• Uniform
• Cartesian hierarchy
• Gridded and Formatted space.

7. Vision as the sight/mind construct
Alternative Vision: Different ways of organising
elements in space.
The solitary pagan column of
San Vitale church in Ravenna
Columns at the Wexner Centre. Cubism as an alternative form
of art.
[13]
[15][14]

8. Vision as the sight/mind construct
Alternative Vision: Different ways of organising
elements in space
• Non-stylistic
• Singular
• No Cartesian Hierarchy
• Diverse
• Tends to meaning and function
• Element to subject hierarchy
• Tends to break away from the Formatted and gridded space.
Eisenmann Architects,
Alteka Office Building
Tokyo, 1991..
[1]

9. Vision as the sight/mind construct
Alternative Vision: Folded Space
Peter Eisenman further exposes his ideas of
alternative visions by revealing his inspiration
from the book of Gilles Deleuze; thus
proposing his primitive beginnings in the
concepts of folding architecture through the
Alteka Tower.
Peter Eisenman explains the morphing from an L-shape to folded architecture.
[1][1]
[1]

10. Alteka Tower
Folded Architecture: The Alteka Tower
Office Building.
Peter Eisenman presents the Alteka Tower
Office proposed in 1990 as a primitive
prototype of the folded architecture and
proposes it as an alternative to gridded space.
The project was supposed to be implemented
in Tokyo.
Ground floor Level Typical Floor Roof plan
[1] [1] [1]

11. References
(images)
[1] P. Eisenman, "Visions Unfolding: Architecture in the Age of Electronic Media," in The Digital Turn in Architecture 1992-
2012, ed., M. Carpo, Ed. England: Architectural Design(AD), 2013, pp.15.
[2] Top 23 Quotes by Peter Eisenman. [Online]. Available: http://www.azquotes.com/author/31781-Peter_Eisenman
[Accessed: January 12, 2018]
[3] Wikipedia, Gilles Deleuze. [Online]. Available: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilles_Deleuze [Accessed: January
10, 2018]
[4] C. Atkins, Summary of Leibniz’s Philosophy, 2017. [Online]. Available:
https://neologikonblog.wordpress.com/2017/11/10/summary-of-leibnizs-philosophy/ [Accessed: February 15, 2018]
[5] B. Federer, Amazing story of America's first home-printed Bible, 2016. [Online]. Available:
http://www.wnd.com/2016/07/amazing-story-of-americas-first-home-printed-bible/ [Accessed: January 3, 2018]
[6] Saxon Photographic, Shop on Mobile. [Online]. Available: http://www.saxonphotographic.co.uk/mobile-services.php
[Accessed: January 1, 2018]
[7] Gif clip. [Online]. Available: https://www.gifclip.info/search.php?q=architecture [Accessed: January 2, 2018]
[8] B. Cosgrove, “Life at Lascaux First Color Photos From Another World,” TIME, 2014 [Accessed: January 5, 2018]
[9] Representation and Reproductions (Cont.).[Online]. Available: http://lte-
projects.umd.edu/arch170bl/Part_1__Representations_and_Reproductions/Linear_Perspective.html [Accessed:
January 10, 2018]
[10] BIMx BIM explorer, 2018. [Online]. Available: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.graphisoft.bimx
[Accessed: January 2, 2018]
[11] Diamantel lighting. [Online]. Available: http://www.diamantelighting.com/portfolio/fontana-di-trevi/ [Accessed:
January 13, 2018]
[12] J. Craven, “An Introduction to Baroque Architecture,” Thoughco., 2017 [Acceseed: January 12, 2018]

12. References
(images)
[13] J. Luiz, “Wikipedia,” Capital San Vitale Ravenna, 2016 [Online]. Available:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Capital_-_San_Vitale_-_Ravenna_2016.jpg [Accessed: January 10, 2018]
[14] P. Eisenman, “Wexner Center for the Visual Arts, The Ohio State University: Interiors,” Colombus-Ohio, pp. 4,
1989. [Online]. Available:
https://www.bluffton.edu/homepages/facstaff/sullivanm/ohio/columbus/wexner/eisenman4.html [Accessed:
January 12, 2018]
[15] M. Duchamp, Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2. Philadelphia: Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1912.