Review article

On the example of art graphics by G. Quarenghi (copies from graphic and painting works by J. B. Piranesi and B. Bellotto) and demonstration graphics by Ya. G. Chernikhov (contest project of construction of chemical institutes of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR in Leningrad), there has been carried out a comparative analysis of compositional thinking of architects expressed in the construction logic within the boundaries of limited images. Geometric structural analysis was performed using the Corel PHOTO-PAINT software. At analysis of copies made by G. Quarenghi from painting and graphic works of XVIII artists, there becomes clear the pictorial logic of designing a new architectural and spatial image on the basis of the original composition system, and relationships between elements of composition and the pictorial principle (technique) of forming the volume on the plane become distinct. The role of geometric structural relations between the elements and format boundaries in formation of limited, integral composition and image of space is specified. When considering the architectural project of Ya. G. Chernikhov, where a new visual language of graphics of the XX century is applied, there is revealed a logic of constructing a limited composition based on the classical methods of organizing the «impression» from architectural space on the plane.