“The time came to build a permanence, for which was sought an architect, who formed all forms first in the mind. But which? To understand each form, another was needed: the lines of a blueprint.” — Walter Ancarrow
The name “blueprint” comes from the process of cyanotyping — a cheap, easy way to replicate drawings on a large scale. The chemicals used in cyanotyping (ammonium iron citrate and potassium ferrocyanide, if you were curious) turned the paper blue and thus the catchy name was born.
Nowadays, most technical drawings printed by construction companies are no longer blue. The copy paper is white, yet we still call them “blueprints,” because origins tend to stick around even when we outgrow them.
For the Blueprint B-Side, I asked writers to think about origins and the creative process. All art comes from somewhere, and I want to know where that is and why it matters. Foundations are fascinating, so I come to you with a pressing question: What’s your blueprint?
Senior Arts Editor Siena Beres can be reached at sberes@umich.edu.
