Drawing a Neo-plastic building in perspective

When tackling any type of design project that is rectangular in nature, I find looking at Neo-plasticism is often a very good place for students to start. These principals which were the hallmark of the De Stijl art and design movement provide not only a good starting point for discussion, but also a framework from which students can gain confidence in creating their own designs. Such was the case when my Grade 10 Environmental Design students began to investigate our modern cities and the influence that De Stijl continues to have upon them.

They were given the task of designing and drawing a city building that followed Neo-plastic principles (the use of vertical and horizontal line and a limited colour scheme of primary colours plus black, white and grey) and presenting their idea as a two point perspective drawing. This provided them with an opportunity to not only explore their own building ideas within a defined set of perametres, but also demonstrate their ability to use perspective on a large scale.

With the initial line work completed in black pen on paper, the student then set about the task of using a knife to cut out the various coloured panels. Each colour was tackled one at a time in order to avoid confusion. When the various holes were cut, the drawing sheet was then turned over and coloured paper was taped or glued onto the back. The end result was very clean and consistent and the students certainly liked the overall scale of their presentation.