Introduction

An architectural drawing or architect's drawing is a technical drawing of a building (or

building project) that falls within the definition of architecture. Architectural drawings are
used by architects and others for a number of purposes: to develop a design idea a
coherent proposal, to communicate ideas and concepts, to convince clients of the merits of
a design, to enable a building contractor to construct it, as a record of the completed work,
and to make a record of a building that already exists.
 Architectural Drawing

Architectural Drawings are drawn according to a set of conventions, which include

particular views (floor plan, section etc.), sheet sizes, units of measurement and scales,
annotation and cross referencing. Conventionally, drawings were made in ink on paper or
a similar material, and any copies required had to be laboriously made by hand. The
twentieth century saw a shift to drawing on tracing paper, so that mechanical copies could
be run off efficiently.

Size and Scale

The size of drawings reflects the materials available and the size that is convenient to
transport rolled up or folded, laid out on a table, or pinned up on a wall. The draughting
process may impose limitations on the size that is realistically workable. Sizes are
determined by a consistent paper size system, according to local usage. Normally the
largest paper size used in modern architectural practice is ISO A0
(841 1,189 mm/33.1 46.8 in) or in the USA Arch E (762 1,067 mm/30 42 in),
although there is a Large E size (915 1,220 mm/36 48 in) which does not have an ISO
equivalent.

Architectural drawings are drawn to scale, so that relative sizes are correctly represented.
The scale is chosen both to ensure the whole building will fit on the chosen sheet size, and
to show the required amount of detail. At the scale of one eighth of an inch to one foot
(1/96th) or the metric equivalent 1 to 100, walls are typically shown as simple outlines
corresponding to the overall thickness. At a larger scale, half an inch to one foot (1/24th) or
the nearest common metric equivalent 1 to 20, the layers of different materials that make
up the wall construction are shown. Construction details are drawn to a larger scale, in
some cases full size (1 to 1 scale).
Standard views used in architectural drawing
Floor plan
A floor plan is the most fundamental architectural diagram, a view from above showing the
arrangement of spaces in building in the same way as a map, but showing the
arrangement at a particular level of a building. Technically it is a horizontal section cut
through a building (conventionally at three feet / one meter above floor level), showing
walls, windows and door openings and other features at that level. The plan view includes
anything that could be seen below that level: the floor, stairs (but only up to the plan level),
fittings and sometimes furniture. Objects above the plan level (e.g. beams overhead) can
be indicated as dotted lines.
Geometrically, plan view is defined as a vertical orthographic projection of an object on to a
horizontal plane, with the horizontal plane cutting through the building.

Principal floor plans of the

Queen's House, Greenwich (UK).

Site Plan

A site plan is a specific type of plan, showing the whole context of a building or group of
buildings. A site plan shows property boundaries and means of access to the site and
nearby structures if they are relevant to the design. For a development on an urban site,
the site plan may need to show adjoining streets to demonstrate how the design fits in to
the urban fabric. Within the site boundary, the site plan gives an overview of the entire
scope of work. It shows the buildings (if any) already existing and those that are proposed,
usually as a building footprint; roads, parking lots, footpaths, hard landscaping, trees and
planting

Site plans are commonly used to represent a building proposal prior to detailed design:
drawing up a site plan is a tool for deciding both the site layout and the size and orientation
of proposed new buildings. A site plan is used to verify that a proposal complies with local
development codes, including restrictions on historical sites. In this context the site plan
forms part of a legal agreement, and there may be a requirement for it to be drawn up by a
licensed professional: architect, engineer, landscape architect or land surveyor.
 Site plan of the proposed Chicago
Spire by Santiago Calatrava.

Elevation
An elevation is a view of a building seen from one side, a flat representation of one faade.
This is the most common view used to describe the external appearance of a building.
Each elevation is labeled in relation to the compass direction it faces, e.g. the north
elevation of a building is the side that most closely faces north. Buildings are rarely a
simple rectangular shape in plan, so a typical elevation may show all the parts of the
building that are seen from a particular direction.
Geometrically, an elevation is a horizontal orthographic projection of a building on to a
vertical plane, the vertical plane normally being parallel to one side of the building.

Architects also use the word elevation as a synonym for faade, so the north elevation is
literally the north wall of the building.

Cross section
A cross section, also simply called a section, represents a vertical plane cut through the
object, in the same way as a floor plan is a horizontal section viewed from the top. In the
section view, everything cut by the section plane is shown as a bold line, often with a solid
fill to show objects that are cut through, and anything seen beyond generally shown in a
thinner line. Sections are used to describe the relationship between different levels of a
building. In the Observatory drawing illustrated here, the section shows the dome seen
from the outside, a second dome that can only be seen inside the building, and the way
the space between the two accommodates a large astronomical telescope: relationships
that would be difficult to understand from plans alone.
A sectional elevation is a combination of a cross section, with elevations of other parts of
the building seen beyond the section plane.
Geometrically, a cross section is a horizontal orthographic projection of a building on to a
vertical plane, with the vertical plane cutting through the building.
Isometric and Axonometric Projections
Isometric and axonometric projections are a simple way of representing a three
dimensional object, keeping the elements to scale and showing the relationship between
several sides of the same object, so that the complexities of a shape can be clearly
understood.
There is some confusion about the terms isometric and axonometric. Axonometric is a
word that has been used by architects for hundreds of years. Engineers use the word
axonometric as a generic term to include isometric, diametric and trimetric drawings. This
article uses the terms in the architecture-specific sense.
Despite fairly complex geometrical explanations, for the purpose of practical draughting
the difference between isometric and axonometric is simple (see diagram above). In both,
the plan is drawn on a skewed or rotated grid, and the verticals are projected vertically on
the page. All lines are drawn to scale so that relationships between elements are accurate.
In many cases a different scale is required for different axes, and again this can be
calculated but in practice was often simply estimated by eye.

Detail drawings

Detail drawings show a small part of the construction at a larger scale, to show how the
component parts fit together. They are also used to show small surface details, for
example decorative elements. Section drawings at large scale are a standard way of
showing building construction details, typically showing complex junctions (such as floor to
wall junction, window openings, eaves and roof apex) that cannot be clearly shown on a
drawing that includes the full height of the building. A full set of construction details needs
to show plan details as well as vertical section details. One detail is seldom produced in
isolation: a set of details shows the information needed to understand the construction in
three dimensions. Typical scales for details, are 1/10, 1/5 and full size.

In traditional construction, many details were so fully standardized, that few detail drawings
were required to construct a building. For example, the construction of a sash
window would be left to the carpenter, who would fully understand what was required, but
unique decorative details of the facade would be drawn up in detail. In contrast, modern
buildings need to be fully detailed because of the proliferation of different products,
methods and possible solutions.
 Conclusion

Upon completion of this work I have learned that development of the computer has had a
major impact on the methods used to design and create technical drawings, leaving the
Manual delineation almost obsolete, and opening new possibilities of form using organic
forms and complex geometries. Today, the vast majority of the drawings are created
using CAD software.
 Infography

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Architectural_drawing

http://drawingarchitecture.tumblr.com/

http://architecture.about.com/od/greatbuildings/tp/architecturaldrawings.htm