There are some key words relating to drawing that can be interpreted in different ways. It may be useful here to provide a broad definition of the more important terms used in this book.
Axonometric
Axonometric projection is one of the most frequently used drawing types to create three-dimensional images in architecture. Isometric, dimetric and trimetric projections are types of axonometric drawings and together they form a group of drawing types called parallel projections or ‘paraline drawings’. Axonometric is the term used in architecture to describe a projection from a plan drawn to scale: plan elements are projected vertically and to the same scale as the plan, which is first rotated to provide the intended view. Walls that appear at the front of the plan can be omitted or only partially projected to create a ‘cutaway’ axonometric, which reveals the interior that would otherwise be obscured with uniform projection.
Collage
Collage techniques can be used in architecture to visualize interiors or exteriors or, most often, to represent a building proposal in a new context. In their simplest form they are cut or torn images or drawings glued onto a surface. More often they are done in Photoshop, using layers to visualize different images in the same plane. A collage can also be used to illustrate a design proposal, perhaps exploring context, light and materiality, but also as a key device in the development of a design.
Elevation
Elevations are orthogonal drawings, usually parallel to the surface in question (which may be internal or external). Elevations are like vertical sections of a building that illustrate wall articulation frontally. Architects use the term to mean the same as façade. An elevational drawing may be effectively used to define relief using shadows, colour and textures.
Isometric
Isometric projections are types of axonometric drawings and together with isometric and dimetric drawings form a group of drawing types called parallel projections or ‘paraline drawings’. Isometric drawings are formed when the object is turned so that all three axes make the same angle with the picture plane, making the angles between the edges of the building or space 120 degrees. In architectural drawings one axis is usually vertical and the other two are, therefore, at 30 degrees to the horizontal. Most architectural drawings are shown looking down (although details and ceilings may be best shown looking up), and view a plan that appears to be ‘opened up’ in the direction of viewing from 90 to 120 degrees. This is advantageous if the drawing reveals an interior, but otherwise is a relatively rigid projection that requires all three visible planes to be emphasized equally.
Linocut
A linocut is a simple but effective form of relief printing. First the drawing is transferred onto a piece of linoleum (lino). The lino is then carved to take away those areas that are not to appear in the final print. It is then inked with a roller or brush. Even pressure is applied to a piece of paper placed on top of the carved lino (by using a printing press or burnisher), thus transferring the ink onto the paper and creating the print.
Monoprints
The simplest form of monoprinting, called trace printing, is a useful technique for architects: ink is first spread evenly onto a surface and then a piece of paper with the drawing printed in reverse is laid (face up) onto the ink. By re-applying pressure over the lines of the reversed drawing, that same drawing will be transferred onto the other face of the paper, but the correct way round. This simple process gives a more individual quality to a line drawing.
Orthogonal
Term used to describe a drawing or projection that is made up of or involves right angles.
Perspective
The technique of perspective drawing is a representational tool to depict distance, or spatial depth on a two-dimensional plane. Today the persuasive power of mathematical perspective persists: the computer-generated perspective has become the singular most powerful tool to communicate a project. There are two fundamental observations embodied in perspective. First, that objects appear smaller in the distance than they do close up. Second, that objects appear to become foreshortened along the line of sight. Only two kinds of perspective – single-point and two-point perspective – are described in this book, but the number of vanishing points in any perspective will depend on the different orientations of the configuration.
Photomontage
A collage constructed from photographic images.
Pigment
Pigment is the substance or powder that, once dissolved in a medium, makes up the colour of paint. The magical character of pigments is their transparency: each pigment varies in the degree to which it is transparent. The basis of traditional rendering techniques is an understanding that depth of colour is created from layers of transparent glazes, laid one over the other. In architecture we see this most often in watercolours, but raw pigments are flexible and it can be interesting to work with them directly, using other mediums.
Plan
A plan is a fundamental architectural drawing type. It is a primary organizing device and as a consequence it is the central drawing to a great many projects, and is the drawing through which buildings can be most easily read. Technically a plan may be described as an orthogonal projection from the position of a horizontal plane. The position of this plane and the scale of the drawing can produce a wide variety of plan types, ranging from landscapes to details.
Scale
The standard metric units used on most architectural drawings are the (SI) units millimetres (mm) and metres (m). In France centimetres (cm) and metres are most often used and in the United States drawings are also done to non-metric scales.
Common metric drawing scales are 1:1 (e.g. full-size fabrication drawings); 1:5 (e.g. construction drawings); 1:20/1:10 (e.g. technical sections); 1:50 (e.g. detail plans or sections); 1:100 (e.g. arrangement plans, sections); 1:200/1:500 (e.g. overall arrangement drawings) and 1:1250/1:2500 (e.g. context drawings).
Sciagraphy
This is a technique of projecting shadows in drawings and is useful to illustrate surface relief and spatial depth.
Scripted drawing
Scripted drawings are images that are produced by so-called ‘generative software’. These drawings represent formal solutions to complex design parameters, understood mathematically, where the design process can be broken down into an algorithm or set of instructions.
Section
Like a plan, a section is an orthogonal projection, but from the position of a vertical plane. Sections can be cut anywhere through a building, but tend to be taken where there is a significant spatial condition to describe. Internal elevations will appear between floor plates and an external elevation appears in a section where the vertical plane is taken from outside, or partially outside, of the building.