Blueprint into Existence

When has been the last time you have seen blueprints? We mean actual blue-colored prints. We bet it was way back in the late 90s; who are we kidding more like the late 1940s. Wow, it's been 80 years! Now it has become a pastime aesthetic of the way things were but with the retro-modern fit of how things can continue to be visualized. (Check out our unique new Project in Palm Springs, California, in the image above). Webster's Dictionary defines blueprints as a photographic print in white on a bright blue ground or blue on white ground used especially for copying maps, mechanical drawings, and architectural plans.

Although we don't use "blueprints" in the original sense, we refer to a blueprint as any detailed plan today. But what still baffles us all is where did the blueprint come from? In 1842, an English scientist, astronomer, and photographer, John Herschel, developed blueprints. He first discovered the "Cyanotype Process." Cyanotype is a photographic process when you take a drawn image on semi-transparent paper weighed down on a piece of paper; the paper needs to be coated using two chemicals: Ferric Ammonium Citrate and Potassium Ferricyanide. The cyanotype process is complete when the drawings are exposed to light, then the background becomes blue, and the lines become white. In the 20th century, cyanotype was used as an alternative process to produce copies of drawings. No need for continued hand-tracing of original drawings.

Throughout its evolution, blueprints transitioned to Diazo Prints or White Prints (blue lines on white paper) in the 1940s. Today, original drawings are digital files produced through computer-aided design (CAD) and printed on a plotter using toner and bond paper, or better yet, just PDF'd and emailed out to the rest of the team. With the advancement in modern technology in construction and architecture, blueprints continue to evolve digitally. We wonder if we will leap forward entirely to Virtual Reality (VR) and officially leave blueprints behind. Time will tell how the architectural design process will evolve; we shall continue to enjoy modern blueprints for now.