Axonometric projection

Axonometric projection is a type of parallel projection used for creating a pictorial drawing of an object, where the object is rotated along one or more of its axes relative to the plane of projection.

There are three main types of axonometric projection: isometric, dimetric, and trimetric projection.

"Axonometric" means "to measure along axes". Axonometric projection shows an image of an object as viewed from a skew direction in order to reveal more than one side in the same picture. Whereas the term orthographic is sometimes reserved specifically for depictions of objects where the axis or plane of the object is parallel with the projection plane, in axonometric projection the plane or axis of the object is always drawn not parallel to the projection plane.

With axonometric projections the scale of distant features is the same as for near features, so such pictures will look distorted, as it is not how our eyes or photography work. This distortion is especially evident if the object to view is mostly composed of rectangular features. Despite this limitation, axonometric projection can be useful for purposes of illustration.

In German literature, oblique projection is also considered an axonometric view, per Pohlke's theorem, the fundamental theorem of axonometry.

In some English literature, axonometric projection is considered a sub-class of orthographic projection.

The concept of an isometric projection had existed in a rough empirical form for centuries, well before Professor William Farish (1759–1837) of Cambridge University was the first to provide detailed rules for isometric drawing.

Farish published his ideas in the 1822 paper "On Isometrical Perspective", in which he recognized the "need for accurate technical working drawings free of optical distortion. This would lead him to formulate isometry. Isometry means "equal measures" because the same scale is used for height, width, and depth".

From the middle of the 19th century, according to Jan Krikke (2006) isometry became an "invaluable tool for engineers, and soon thereafter axonometry and isometry were incorporated in the curriculum of architectural training courses in Europe and the U.S. The popular acceptance of axonometry came in the 1920s, when modernist architects from the Bauhaus and De Stijl embraced it". De Stijl architects like Theo van Doesburg used axonometry for their architectural designs, which caused a sensation when exhibited in Paris in 1923".

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