Historically many of the great books which have been written, particularly pertaining to the fields of Arts and Architecture, contained a "frontispiece." The frontispiece is typically understood as a drawing which gives some indication of the contents of the book. It often combines a series of graphic images which serve to foreshadow the descriptions formed by the written word that follows it. Often the images serve to direct the mind of the reader in very literal ways. Sometimes the images of a frontispiece seem obtuse, indicating messages which are obscure or encrypted. While the place of the frontispiece has been greatly eroded in modern times, it remains a vestige of both the literate and pre-literate worlds.
We researched historical examples of the frontispiece in the villa library, in books such as Alberti's Ten Books of Architecture, Palladio's Four Books of Architecture, and Spiro Kostoff's The City Shaped. Drawing on these examples and ideas of our own, we eached produced our own frontispiece that attempted to foreshadow the experience we imagine we will have on our semester abroad.
The results showed a range of expectations and drawing styles. Some used featherweight pencil strokes while others went for bold pens. Some focused on the idea of traveling, and exploring new worls while abroad. Others saw our time in Italy as an opportunity to bring the things we've learned about in books to life. Some look forward to expanding technical architectural skills, while others look forward to enjoying these new experiences with new friends.
Here is a small selection of the frontispieces from our pin-up. Some of the quality is lost in the scanning process, but they still manage to showcase the range of results our class produced.
by Chris Lambka
by Ryan Sutherland
by Erica Morrison
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