![From left] Harlan Cleveland, Paul Ehrlich, and George Mitchell at the Third Woodlands Conference, 1979. Schmandt, v.](https://d33dlv5jzgs7pp.cloudfront.net/api/file/jgmEsR1zToCmPLEZ2gQq/convert?fit=max&format=jpg&h=&quality=95&w=408&compress=true&fit=max)
Student Work
Title
The Nine-Square Grid: History, Exemplars, and Interrogation
Project Description
In his Six Memos for the Next Millennium, Italo Calvino defines exactitude as “(i) a well-defined and well-calculated plan for the work in question, (ii) an evocation of clear, incisive, memorable visual images,…(iii) a language as precise as possible both in choice of words and in expression of the subtleties of thought and imagination” (Calvino, page 55-56). I believe the study of the nine-square grid is an appropriate embodiment of the goals of this course because it represents a lucidity of intention and exactness of construction that transcends the divide between classicism and modernism via its repeated utilization throughout history. Beyond that, I would like to suggest that, in a way, the lineage of this simple grid’s implementation and interpretation is a microcosm of architectural history at large. I will examine nine examples of this plan organization in an attempt to formulate this argument.