4
Multiview Drawings

Multiview drawings comprise the drawing types we know as plans, elevations, and sections. Each is an orthographic projection of a particular aspect of a three-dimensional object or construction. These orthographic views are abstract in the sense that they do not match optical reality. They are a conceptual form of representation based on what we know about something rather than on the way it might appear to the eye. In architectural design, multiview drawings establish two-dimensional fields on which we are able to study formal and spatial patterns as well as scalar and proportional relationships in a composition. The ability to regulate size, placement, and configuration also makes multiview drawings useful in communicating the graphic information necessary for the description, fabrication, and construction of a design.

Plans

If we enclose an object within a transparent picture-plane box, we can name the principal picture planes and the images projected orthographically onto these planes. Each orthographic view represents a different orientation and a particular vantage point from which to view the object. Each plays a specific role in the development and communication of a design.

  • In depicting width and length but not height, plans emphasize horizontal arrangements and patterns of function, form, or space. Note especially that plans are unable to provide precise information about the vertical dimensions of forms and spaces.
  • All planes parallel to the picture plane maintain their true size, shape, and proportions. Conversely, all planes that are curved or oblique to the horizontal plane of projection are foreshortened.
  • In architectural drawing, there are distinct types of plan views for depicting various horizontal projections of a building or site: floor plans, reflected ceiling plans, site plans, and roof plans.

Floor Plans

A floor plan represents a section of a building as it would appear if cut through by a horizontal plane with the upper portion removed. The floor plan is an orthographic projection of the portion that remains.

  • Floor plans typically show the configuration of walls and columns, the shape and dimensions of spaces, the pattern of window and door openings, and the connections between spaces as well as between inside and outside.
  • The plane of the horizontal cut is usually located about 4 feet above the floor, but this height can vary according to the nature of the building design.
  • The horizontal section cuts through all walls and columns, as well as through all door and most window openings.
  • Beyond the plane of the cut, we see the floor, counters, tabletops, and similar horizontal surfaces.

Digital Plans

In 3D modeling programs, “front and back” or “hither and yon” clipping planes, perpendicular to a vertical line of sight, can be employed to create a floor plan from a digital model.

Drawing a Floor Plan

This series of drawings illustrates the sequence in which a plan drawing is executed. Although this sequence can vary, depending on the nature of the building design being drawn, always try to proceed from the most continuous, regulating elements to those that are contained or defined by the elements.

  • First, establish the major lines that regulate the position of structural elements and walls.
  • A grid of centerlines is a convenient and effective means of indicating a structural or modular system.
  • Next, give proper thickness to the major walls and other structural elements such as posts and columns.
  • Proceed by drawing such elements as windows, doorways, and stairways.
  • Finally, delineate such details as doors and door swings, stair treads and railings, and built-in furnishings.

Defining the Plan Cut

Critical to the reading of a floor plan is the ability to distinguish between solid matter and spatial void and to discern precisely where mass meets space. It is therefore important to emphasize in a graphic way what is cut in a floor plan, and to differentiate the cut material from what we can see through space below the plane of the cut.

  • To the left is the first floor plan of the Vanna Venturi House in Philadelphia, designed by Robert Venturi in 1962. It is drawn with a single line weight.


  • Drawing scale influences the range of line weights that one can use to convey spatial depth. Small-scale drawings use a tighter range of line weights than do large-scale drawings.

Poché and Spatial Depth

We can emphasize the shape of cut elements with a tonal value that contrasts with the spatial field of the floor plan. We refer to this darkening of cut walls, columns, and other solid matter as poché.

  • Poché establishes a figure-ground relationship between solid matter and spatial void.
  • It is typical to blacken the cut elements in small-scale plans in order to clarify their figures.
  • If only a moderate degree of contrast with the drawing field is desired, use a middle-gray value to emphasize the cut elements. This is especially important in large-scale plans, when large areas of black can carry too much visual weight or create too stark a contrast.
  • If such plan elements as flooring patterns and furniture give the field of the drawing a tonal value, a dark gray or black tone may be necessary to produce the desired degree of contrast between solid matter and spatial void.

Digital Floor Plans

When using drawing or CAD software to create floor plans, distinguishing between solid matter and spatial void remains important. As with hand drafting, we should use a range of contrasting line weights to distinguish the profile of the elements that are cut in plan from the elements seen below the plane of the cut.

  • This floor plan uses the same line weight throughout. At a glance, it is difficult to discern what is cut in plan.
  • This floor plan uses the heaviest line weight to profile the plan shapes of cut elements; intermediate line weights to delineate edges of horizontal surfaces that lie below the plane of the plan cut but above the floor; and the lightest line weight to represent surface lines.
  • This floor plan emphasizes the shape of cut elements with a tonal value or poché that contrasts with the spatial field of the floor plan.

When using drawing or CAD software to create floor plans, avoid using colors, textures, and patterns to make the drawings more pictorial than they need to be. The primary emphasis should remain on articulating the plan cut and the relative depth of elements below the plane of the cut.

  • A dark gray or black tone may be necessary to produce the desired degree of contrast between solid matter and spatial void in a floor plan, especially at small drawing scales.
  • An advantage of digital drawing programs is the relative ease with which they can create large areas of tonal value. This can be useful when contrasting a floor plan with its context.
  • This last example illustrates how the tonal value scheme can be reversed, with the cut elements being assigned the lightest value and the space being rendered with a range of darker values.

Doors and Windows

We are not able to show the appearance of doors in a plan view. For this information, we must rely on elevations. What a floor plan does show, however, are the location and width of door openings, and to a limited degree, the door jambs and type of door operation—whether a door swings, slides, or folds open.


As with doors, we cannot show the appearance of windows in a plan view. A floor plan does disclose the location and width of window openings, and to a limited degree the presence of window jambs and mullions.

  • Window sills are not cut through in a floor plan. They should therefore be drawn with a lighter line weight than walls, window mullions, and other cut elements.
  • The operation of a window is usually indicated in an elevation drawing.

Stairs

Plan views are able to show the run of a stairway—its horizontal treads and landings—but not the height of the vertical risers.


  • The common convention is to use long dashes to signify elements that are removed or above the plane of the plan cut, and shorter dashes or dots for hidden elements below the plan cut.

Scale and Detail

Floor plans are normally drawn at a scale of 1/8" = 1'-0" or 1/4" = 1'-0". Large buildings and complexes may be drawn at a scale of 1/16" = 1'-0" to fit the size of the drawing paper or illustration board.

Digital Scale

In computer graphics, a small-scale drawing that contains too much data can result in an unnecessarily large file as well as a printed or plotted image that is too dense to read.

Large-scale plan drawings are useful for the study and presentation of highly detailed spaces, such as kitchens, bathrooms, and stairways. The larger scale enables information about floor finishes, fittings, and trim work to be included.

Conversely, the larger the scale of a floor plan, the more detail we should include. This attention to detail is most critical when drawing the thicknesses of construction materials and assemblies that are cut in a plan view.

  • Pay careful attention to wall and door thicknesses, wall terminations, corner conditions, and stair details. A general knowledge of how buildings are constructed is therefore extremely beneficial when executing large-scale floor plans.

Ceiling Plans

A ceiling plan is a plan of a room as seen from above but having its ceiling surfaces and elements projected downward upon it. For this reason, we usually call this view a reflected ceiling plan.

Reflected Ceiling Plans

  • A reflected ceiling plan has the same orientation as the floor plan to which it relates.
  • Ceiling plans show such information as the form and material of a ceiling, the location and type of lighting fixtures, exposed structural members or mechanical ductwork, as well as skylights or other openings in the ceiling.
  • We typically draw a ceiling plan at the same scale as the floor plan. As with floor plans, it is important to profile all vertical elements that rise to meet the ceiling.

Site Plans

  • Graphic scale designates the scale of the site plan and a north arrow indicates the orientation of the site.

Site Topography

The response of a building design to its context includes consideration of the physical characteristics of its site, especially the surface configuration of the terrain. On a site plan, however, it is difficult to describe the vertical aspect of an undulating ground surface. Contour lines are the graphic convention we use to convey this information.


The horizontal distances between contour lines are a function of the slope of the ground surface. We can discern the topographical nature of a site by reading this horizontal spacing.

  • Note that contour lines are always continuous and never cross one another. They may coincide in a plan view only when they cut across a vertical surface.

Digital Sites

  • 3D CAD and modeling programs have the capability of creating three-dimensional site models. One method produces a stepped model that preserves the visibility of contour lines and intervals. Another creates a warped plane or mesh for shading, consisting of polygonal, usually triangular, faces.

Site Scale and Orientation

Depending on the size of the site and the available drawing space, site plans may be drawn at an engineering scale of 1" = 20' or 40', or an architectural scale of 1/16" = 1'-0" or 1/32" = 1'-0".

  • The orientation of a building site is indicated by a north arrow. Whenever possible, north should be oriented up or upward on the drawing sheet or board.
  • If a major axis of the building is less than 45° east or west of north, we can use an assumed north to avoid wordy titles for the building elevations, such as “north-northeast elevation,” or “south-southwest elevation.”
  • To make the relationship between a site plan and floor plans clear, they should have the same orientation throughout a presentation.

Site Plan Drawings

There are two principal ways to relate a building to its site and context.

  • The first is to draw the building as a darker figure against a lighter background. This approach is especially appropriate when the way in which the roofing material of the building is indicated will establish a tonal value and texture against which the surrounding context must contrast.
  • The second approach defines the building as a lighter shape against a darker background. This technique is necessary when rendering shadows cast by the form of the building, or when landscaping elements impart a tonal value to the surrounding context.
  • This drawing illustrates a building whose exterior walls encompass the site; it is therefore a composite floor plan and site plan drawing.
  • This drawing combines a floor plan with the site plan. The shape of the floor plan and the poché of the cut plan elements provide a figural quality that contrasts sufficiently with the surrounding field of outdoor space.

Sections

A section is an orthographic projection of an object as it would appear if cut through by an intersecting plane. It opens up the object to reveal its internal material, composition, or assembly. In theory, the plane of the section cut may have any orientation. But in order to distinguish a section drawing from a floor plan—the other type of drawing that involves a slice—we usually assume the plane of the cut for a section is vertical. As with other orthographic projections, all planes parallel to the picture plane maintain their true size, shape, and proportions.

We use section drawings to design and communicate the details of a building's construction as well as the assembly of furniture and cabinetry. In architectural graphics, however, the building section is the premier drawing for revealing and studying the relationship between the floors, walls, and roof structure of a building and the dimensions and vertical scale of the spaces defined by these elements.

Building Sections

A building section represents a vertical section of a building. After a vertical plane slices through the construction, we remove one of the parts. The building section is an orthographic projection of the portion that remains, cast onto a vertical picture plane parallel or coincident with the cutting plane.

  • Building sections reveal the shape and vertical scale of interior spaces, the impact of window and door openings on these spaces, and the vertical connections between the internal spaces as well as between inside and outside.
  • Beyond the plane of the cut, we see elevations of interior walls, as well as objects and events that occur in front of them but behind the vertical plane of the section cut.
  • The conventional symbol for indicating the location of the section cut in a plan drawing is a broken line of long segments separated by short dashes or dots.
  • It is not necessary to draw this section line across an entire floor plan, but it should at least overlap the exterior boundaries of the building.
  • An arrow at the end of each line points in the direction of view.

Digital Sections

3D-modeling programs use “front and back” or “hither and yon” clipping planes to create section drawings.

The Section Cut

Building sections should be cut in a continuous manner, parallel to a major set of walls. Use jogs or offsets in the cutting plane only when absolutely necessary.

  • For buildings having a symmetrical plan, the logical location for a section cut is along the axis of symmetry.
  • In all other situations, cut building sections through the most significant spaces and look in a direction that reveals the principal features of the spaces.
  • A single section is usually not sufficient to illustrate these qualities unless a building is extremely simple. Remember, too, that the building section is only part of a series of related orthographic views.

Defining the Section Cut

As with floor plans, it is critical to distinguish between solid matter and spatial void and to discern precisely where mass meets space in a building section. In order to convey a sense of depth and the existence of spatial volumes, we must use a hierarchy of line weights or a range of tonal values. The technique we use depends on the scale of the building section, the drawing medium, and the required degree of contrast between solid matter and spatial void.

  • This is a building section drawn with a single line weight. It is difficult to discern what is cut and what is seen in elevation beyond the plane of the cut.
  • This drawing uses a hierarchy of line weights to convey a sense of spatial depth.

Poché and Spatial Depth

To establish a clear figure-ground relationship between solid matter and spatial void, we can emphasize the shape of cut elements with a tonal value or poché that contrasts with the spatial field of the building section.

  • We typically blacken or poché the floor, wall, and roof elements that are cut in small-scale building sections.
  • If only a moderate degree of contrast with the drawing field is desired, use a middle-gray value to illuminate the shape of the cut elements. This is especially important in large-scale sections, when large areas of black can carry too much visual weight or create too stark a contrast.
  • If vertical elements, such as wall patterns and textures, give the field of the drawing a tonal value, a dark gray or black tone may be necessary to produce the desired degree of contrast between solid matter and spatial void. In this value scheme, use progressively lighter values for elements as they recede into the third dimension.
  • Remember that the supporting soil mass is also cut in building and site sections. Any tonal value given to cut elements should therefore continue into this mass.
  • If we wish to show a building's foundation system in a section drawing, we should be careful to delineate the below-grade portion as an integral part of the surrounding soil mass.
  • This section drawing illustrates how the cut elements can be given a tonal value to heighten their contrast with elements seen in elevation beyond the plane of the cut.
  • This drawing shows how the value system can be reversed by toning what is seen in elevation along with the background of the drawing. In this case, the section cut can be left white or be given a fairly light value to contrast with the drawing field.

Digital Poché

When using drawing or CAD software to create section drawings, avoid using colors, textures, and patterns to make the drawings more pictorial than they need to be. The primary emphasis should remain on articulating the section cut and the relative depth of elements beyond the plane of the cut.

  • These two examples illustrate the use of graphics software to create section drawings. The upper building section uses a vector-based drawing program while the lower drawing uses a raster image to convey the character of a site as well as serve as a contrasting background for the white section cut.
  • A series of section cuts taken in sequence can often reveal changes in complex and irregular forms better than a single sectional view.
  • Arrange this sequence of section drawings either vertically or along parallel diagonal lines. This alignment makes horizontal relationships easier to read and understand.

Scale and Detail

  • Building sections are normally drawn at a scale of 1/8" = 1'-0" or 1/4" = 1'-0".
  • Including human figures in section drawings establishes a sense of scale and reminds us of patterns of activity and use.
  • Larger scales of 3/8", 3/4", or 1 1/2" = 1'-0" are used only for detail sections illustrating such conditions as wall assemblies, corner conditions, and stair details. A general knowledge of how buildings are constructed is therefore extremely beneficial when executing large-scale sections.
  • For larger buildings and complexes, the scale may be reduced to 1/16" = 1'-0".

Site Sections

Section drawings often extend outward to include the context of a building's site and environment. They are capable of describing the relationship of a proposed structure to the surrounding ground plane and disclosing whether a proposed structure rises from, sits on, floats above, or becomes embedded within the ground mass of the site. In addition, section drawings can effectively illustrate the relationship between the interior spaces of a building and adjoining exterior spaces, as well as the relationships among a number of buildings.


  • Whenever possible, but especially in urban settings, building sections should include adjacent structures, either cut through simultaneously in the section or seen in elevation beyond the plane of the cut.

Elevations

An elevation is an orthographic projection of an object or construction on a vertical picture plane parallel to one of its principal faces.

Unlike a plan, an elevation mimics our upright stance and offers a view that closely resembles the natural appearance of the object. Even though elevation views of vertical surfaces are closer to perceptual reality than either plans or section views, they cannot represent the spatial depth of a perspective drawing. When we draw objects and surfaces in elevation, we must rely on graphic cues to convey depth, curvature, or obliqueness.

Building Elevations

A building elevation is the image of a building projected orthographically onto a vertical picture plane. Building elevations convey the external appearance of a building, compressed onto a single plane of projection. They therefore emphasize the exterior vertical faces of a building parallel to the picture plane and define its silhouette in space. They can also illustrate the texture and pattern of cladding materials, as well as the location, type, and dimensions of window and door openings.

Arrangement and Orientation

We can logically relate a series of building elevations to one another by unfolding the vertical picture planes on which they are projected. They can form a horizontal sequence of drawings, or be related in a single composite drawing around a common plan view.

  • Whenever possible, we align related orthographic views so that points and dimensions can be transferred easily from one view to the next. This relationship will not only facilitate the construction of the drawings but will also make them more understandable as a coordinated set of information. For example, once a plan is drawn, we can efficiently transfer the horizontal dimensions of length vertically on the drawing surface to the elevation below. In a similar manner, we can project the vertical dimensions of height horizontally on the drawing surface from one elevation to one or more adjacent elevations.

In architectural graphics, the orientation of a building to the compass points is an important consideration when studying and communicating the effect of sun and other climatic factors on the design. We therefore most often name a building elevation after the direction the elevation faces: for example, a north elevation is the elevation of the facade that faces north. If the face is oriented less than 45° off the major compass points, an assumed north may be used to avoid wordy drawing titles.

  • When a building addresses a specific or significant feature of a site, we can name a building elevation after that feature. For example, Main Street Elevation would be the elevation facing Main Street, or Lake Elevation would be the elevation seen from the lake.

Scale and Detail

We usually draw building elevations at the same scale as the accompanying floor plans—1/8" = 1'-0" or 1/4" = 1'-0". We may use a smaller scale for large buildings and complexes.

  • The larger the scale of an elevation, the more detail we must include.
  • This attention to detail is most critical when drawing the texture and pattern of cladding and roofing materials, door and window units, and how materials meet at corners. A general knowledge of how buildings are constructed is therefore extremely beneficial when executing large-scale building elevations. Refer to manufacturers' catalogs for information on building materials.
  • As always, including human figures in elevation drawings helps establish a sense of scale and reminds us of the intended patterns of activity and use.

Representing Materials





Spatial Depth Cues

In orthographic projection, the projected size of a line or plane remains the same regardless of its distance from the picture plane. To convey a sense of depth, therefore, we must use a hierarchy of line weights or a range of tonal values. The technique we use depends on the scale of the building elevation, the drawing medium, and the technique for depicting the texture and pattern of materials.

In a line drawing, discernible differences in line weight can aid in suggesting the relative depth of planes.


In an elevation drawing, we try to establish three pictorial zones: the foreground space between the section cut and the facade of the building; the middle-ground that the building itself occupies; and the background of sky, landscape, or structures beyond the building.


Spatial Depth Cues

The examples on the previous two pages illustrate the use of varying line weights and detail to convey a sense of spatial depth in the drawing of building elevations. This series of drawings illustrates in a more discrete and abstract way how visual cues can enhance the sense of depth in any orthographic projection.

  • Continuity of Outline: We tend to perceive a shape as being in front of another when it has continuity of outline and disrupts the profile of the other shape. Since this visual phenomenon relies on nearer objects overlaying or projecting in front of objects farther away, we often refer to this depth cue simply as overlap.
  • By itself, overlap tends to create relatively shallow intervals of space. However, we can achieve a greater sense of intervening space and depth if we combine overlap with other depth cues, such as by varying the line weights of a pure-line drawing. Darker and thicker profile or contour lines tend to advance and appear to be in front of lighter and thinner outlines.
  • Atmospheric Perspective: A progressive muting of hues, tonal values, and contrast occurs with increasing distance from the observer. Objects seen up close in the foreground of our visual field typically possess more saturated colors and sharply defined contrasts in value. As they move farther away, their colors become lighter in value and more subdued, and their tonal contrasts more diffuse. In the background, we see mainly shapes of grayed tones and muted hues.
  • Perspective of Blur: This depth cue reflects the fact that we normally associate clarity of vision with nearness and blurring of outlines with farness. The graphic equivalent of perspective blur is a diminishing or diffusion of the edges and contours of more distant objects. We can use either a lightly drawn line or a broken or dotted line to delineate these edges of shapes and contours of forms that exist beyond the focus of a drawing.
  • Texture Perspective: The density of the texture of a surface gradually increases as it recedes into the distance. The graphic technique for depicting the visual phenomenon of texture perspective involves gradually diminishing the size and spacing of the graphic elements used to portray a surface texture or pattern, whether they be dots, lines, or tonal shapes. Proceed from identifying units in the foreground to delineating a textured pattern in the middleground and finally to rendering a tonal value in the background.
  • Light and Shade: Any abrupt shift in brightness stimulates the perception of a spatial edge or profile separated from a background surface by some intervening space. This depth cue implies the existence of overlapping shapes and the use of contrasting tonal values in a drawing. See Chapter 7 for more information on the use of tonal values in architectural graphics.

Interior Elevations

Interior elevations are orthographic projections of significant interior walls of a building. While normally included in the drawing of building sections, they may stand alone to study and present highly detailed spaces, such as kitchens, bathrooms, and stairways. In this case, instead of profiling the section cut, we emphasize the boundary line of the interior wall surfaces.

  • We normally draw interior elevations at the same scale as the accompanying floor plans—1/8" = 1'-0" or 1/4" = 1'-0". To show a greater amount of detail, we may use a scale of 3/8" or 1/2" = 1'-0".


  • To orient the viewer, we label each interior elevation according to the compass direction toward which we look in viewing the wall.
  • An alternative method is to key each interior elevation to a compass on the floor plan of the room.