Interior of the Café brasserie of the Aubette, Strasbourg, axonometry 1926

Theo van Doesburg made this axonometric drawing of the Interior of the Café brasserie of the Aubette, Strasbourg, with ink on paper. It’s a bit like a technical drawing, but somehow feels more like an abstract composition, more Mondrian than machine. Look at how he uses these precise lines to create the illusion of depth and space. It's a world rendered in pure geometry. The tables and chairs, almost like minimalist sculptures scattered across a stage, invite us to imagine the comings and goings of people, the clinking of glasses. That single curved line defining the banquette at the bottom is a beautiful counterpoint to all the sharp angles. Does it soften the overall effect, or does it accentuate the rigidity of the rest? Van Doesburg was interested in how art could be a total environment, and here he turns a simple cafe into a spatial experiment. This feels connected to other utopian visions, like El Lissitzky’s Proun room, where painting spills off the canvas and into the surrounding space. It’s an ongoing conversation, isn't it? Always pushing the boundaries of what art can be.