Isometry means 'equal measures' because the same scale is used for height, width, and depth. The popular acceptance of axonometry came in the 1920s, when modernist architects from the Bauhaus and De Stijl embraced it. De Stijl architects Theo van Doesburg and Cornelis van Eesteren used axonometry for their architectural designs, which caused a sensation when exhibited in Paris in 1923. Despite its importance to modern architects, engineers, and graphic designers, the history of axonometry has been somewhat obscured. The reason may well be the mathematical treatment axonometry has received in Europe.
Orthographic projection is of Greek origin.
However, it is important to distinguish between three-dimensional geometry and axonometry. The former is a mathematical, theoretical space, while the latter is a pictorial space. But axonometry illustrates that optical perspective is not the only, and not always the best, method to create pictorial space. Moreover, axonometry may have a bright future in the artificial world of visual computing. Instead of optical input, digital artists can use either linear perspective or axonometry, and even a combination of both systems.