Drawing for the Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Axonometric Color Study for Cambridge and Quincy Street Elevations c. 20th century

Editor: This is James Stirling’s "Drawing for the Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Axonometric Color Study for Cambridge and Quincy Street Elevations." It’s a drawing of the museum, rendered in pencil and what looks like colored pencil. I’m really struck by how simple the composition is. What’s your take on it? Curator: Well, it feels both futuristic and somehow ancient at the same time, doesn't it? The axonometric projection gives it that otherworldly quality, as if we're seeing an architect's dream. And those candy-cane stripes! Editor: Candy-cane stripes, I like that! Curator: They bring a playfulness to what could otherwise be a very severe, modernist structure. It's like Stirling is winking at us, daring us to take architecture too seriously. What do you think of that? Editor: That’s a great perspective. I hadn’t thought of the playfulness amidst the seriousness. Thanks!