Concept
Orthographic limit — where it appears
2 essays name this object, across 2 fields. What follows is each of them, and the objects they name alongside it.
The eye taken to infinity
A parallel projection is a photograph from infinitely far away with the lens lengthened to match. That is not an analogy — it is the limit, it can be watched happening, and it explains why a long lens flattens a scene and why an isometric drawing has no viewing distance to state.
Each system answers its own question
A comparison in which every system wins its own column proves nothing if the columns were chosen after the systems. The test that makes it a result is whether any system wins something it was not designed for — and two of them do.
Named alongside it
The objects these essays reach for when they reach for this one.
Axis scaleConformalCross ratio testDemonstrationDepth compressionDrawing systemFree parameterinstrument limitIsometricnecessary, not sufficientOrthographicOverfitting