Drawing, design, and new images of the ephemeral architecture in Paris in 1739

Abstract

Since the most recent European provisions on the enhancement of Cultural Heritage, much emphasis is being placed on the preservation of the identity values of places, the recovery of local traditions, the virtualization of contexts and their inclusive use. Within this panorama, the work presented here is situated within the study of ephemeral architectures that took place in the city of Paris during the 18th century: a theme of immaterial connotation, whose ideas and testimonies are preserved exclusively through written texts, iconographic apparatuses, and archival drawings. Specifically, the majestic eighteenth-century event held in Paris under the rule of Louis XV and described in the volume entitled Festes donneés par la ville de Paris A L’occasion du Mariage de Madame Louise Elisabeth de France […] (1739) is examined here. Through the discipline of Drawing, as a medium of cognitive investigation as well as narrative and technical representation, this study analyzes the ways in which the project images attached to the text are graphically represented and, through the use of digital modeling, proposes to give form to ephemeral architectures (otherwise described only in orthogonal and perspective projection) and to place them virtually in coeval urban environments. The goal is to return ‘unseen images’ geared toward a renewed and more inclusive enjoyment of Cultural Heritage, whose sources are intangible.DOI: https://doi.org/10.20365/disegnarecon.31.2023.5