Lau, C. 2026. Perspective of Meaning: Drawing ‘out’ the allegorical stories of and in the National Portrait Gallery, London, UK. Critic|all: Grapho-Logics. pp. 330-340.
| Title | Perspective of Meaning: Drawing ‘out’ the allegorical stories of and in the National Portrait Gallery, London, UK |
|---|---|
| Type | Journal article |
| Authors | Lau, C. |
| Abstract | This discussion focuses on two drawings that were utilised to procure planning permission for alterations to the 1896 Gallery. The construction drawing is a conservation instruction for the preservation of existing windows beneath the new walls while the other employs allegory to present the roofscape of Trafalgar Square as an imagined Tuscan landscape, as a mode of persuasion to planning objections. These original drawings translated architectural ideas at vastly different stages and were necessary for the new building to be realised. This approach to understanding the architecture of the Gallery continues from a history of narrative techniques underpinned by theoretical understandings concerning the notions of ‘perspective of meaning’, employed to address the meaning of the work. This is applied to critically evaluate the material, spatial, social and cultural aspects of the architecture. Hence these drawings are not isolated pieces of work but embedded within the history of the Gallery and in particular, the layers of meaning that are apparent. This paper explores critical and reflective drawing practices in design through questioning assumptions of architecture as static and complete entities. Archival research through drawings reveals the design strategies adopted and the consequent response of each shift to specific situations. These notions of sites within sites advocate for the intertwined architectural narratives to be further devised as dialogues with users to enhance the reading, meaning and experiential qualities of the Gallery. The drawings serve to confront, place and integrate chronological shifts to initiate the notion of multiple interpretations, furthered as means to mediate and reinterpret research and design processes. Architectural drawings as historical markers and catalysts for transformation are further employed to interpret buildings and spatially reinterpret research material. Consequently, events that would otherwise be consigned to memory or totally forgotten are retold and given new readings and meanings through these drawings. |
| Keywords | Interpretation, Conservation, Perspective of Meaning, Archival Research, Allegory |
| Journal | Critic|all: Grapho-Logics |
| Journal citation | pp. 330-340 |
| ISSN | 9788409816842 |
| Year | 2026 |
| Publisher | Critic|all Press and Departamento de Proyectos Arquitectónicos (ETSAM-UPM) |
| Publisher's version | License CC BY-NC-ND 2.5 File Access Level Open (open metadata and files) |
| Web address (URL) | https://criticall.es/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/2026_ACTAS-DIGITALES_Criticall-VI.pdf |
| Publication dates | |
| Published | 28 Jan 2026 |
| Supplemental file | File Access Level Open (open metadata and files) |