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Relationship of Plan, Elevation & Section: Radhika Nagpal

Plan, section, and elevation are the key components of architectural drawings that are used to communicate design ideas. They have both physical and conceptual relationships. Physically, they must align accurately in dimensions. Conceptually, plans define spaces, sections show structure, and elevations depict external form. Effective design requires considering all three together in three dimensions rather than separate two-dimensional representations. While technical drawings, plan-section-elevation can also develop individual stylistic qualities and sometimes a design concept emerges from one component influencing the others in intangible ways.

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275 views

Relationship of Plan, Elevation & Section: Radhika Nagpal

Plan, section, and elevation are the key components of architectural drawings that are used to communicate design ideas. They have both physical and conceptual relationships. Physically, they must align accurately in dimensions. Conceptually, plans define spaces, sections show structure, and elevations depict external form. Effective design requires considering all three together in three dimensions rather than separate two-dimensional representations. While technical drawings, plan-section-elevation can also develop individual stylistic qualities and sometimes a design concept emerges from one component influencing the others in intangible ways.

Uploaded by

ABHINAV SEHGAL
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Relationship of Plan,

Elevation & Section

Radhika Nagpal
RELATIONSHIP OF PLAN, SECTION AND ELEVATION

Introduction
• Designing happens in a studio/office of an architect.
• This however has to be transferred to the site for execution. In any
case the design idea has to be recorded.
• For all these activities a language is required.
• This language has to be graphic as the information to be
transferred is of that nature.
RELATIONSHIP OF PLAN, SECTION AND ELEVATION
Architectural communication
• A language is used for communication.
• Like English, Hindi etc. there is also the graphic communication
language.
• This language is used for communicating data that has three
dimensions.
• Like the noun, verb, adjective etc. the graphic language has plan,
section and elevation as its components.
• As in the case of grammar there is a relationship between these and
this language has to follow these rules to make sense.
Language of architecture
• Architecture is placing designed objects in space to organize space for an envisaged activity.
• The design and placement of these objects are born out of thoughts that have to be crystallized.
• The design and placement of these objects needs to be transferred on a recordable format for
which it has to be drawn instead of written as is done in other languages for transferring a
thought.
• The thought process happening in an architects mind has to be put on a readable format and
sent to the site where the thought can be executed.
• Architects use drawings that comprise plans, sections and elevations to communicate specific
ideas to the executing agency for the actual conversion of the idea into a built form.
• There are other drawing formats like isometric, axonometric, perspective etc., but these are
normally not used for construction activities.
RELATIONSHIP OF PLAN, SECTION AND ELEVATION
Their individual identity
• Plan, Section and Elevation while maintaining their interrelationships for
making sense also their independent identities.
• A plan is a horizontal top view or a horizontal section of the object or the
organization.
• A section is a view of the object or organization when cut by a vertical
plane to show the internal construction of the object or organization.
• An elevation is a two dimensional view of the external vertical facade of
the object or organization.
RELATIONSHIP OF PLAN, SECTION AND ELEVATION
Their meaning
As drawing:
• As explained in the previous slide as drawings, the plan, section and elevation have a specific
information to provide to the reader.
As a statement:
• The drawings of an office represent the standard of an office.
• The plan as the representation of the division of spaces in a spatial organization , placement
of furniture, placement of furniture etc. representing the workability of space can be seen as
the manifestation of the element of function in architecture.
• The section as the representation of the components that support the structure like walls,
slabs, beams etc. can be seen as the manifestation of element of strength in architecture.
• The elevation that represents the external look albeit in two dimensions can be seen as the
manifestation of the element of beauty in architecture.
RELATIONSHIP OF PLAN, SECTION AND ELEVATION

The plan helps in defining


the spaces for the
envisaged function
RELATIONSHIP OF PLAN, SECTION AND ELEVATION
Their relationship beyond the physical
• Plan, section and elevation are related to each other by the physical dimensions and are drawn
by the principles of architectural or graphic drawing.
• There are, however intangible relationships between these also.
• Often the plan ‘says’ that it wants to be something special.
• Plan has been called the generator of the third dimension.
• Often the section or elevation may play the determining role.
• Exciting design solutions emerge when the composition of these components of the language is
done more like poetry than prose.
• A design may emerge from an exciting section or an elevation and not necessarily a plan.
• Designing in any case needs to be done three dimensionally and the plan, section and elevations
are to be used only as the representation for communication specially for the stages of execution.
The exact dimensional relationships of the
plan and elevation have to be there for the
accurate communication and readability of
the idea.
RELATIONSHIP OF PLAN, SECTION AND ELEVATION

Let us try an experiment. Try drawing an


elevation for the built mass that has a plan
form as shown in the adjacent figure.
RELATIONSHIP OF PLAN, SECTION AND ELEVATION

This spatial organization that required interrelationship of spaces in the vertical


plane demanded that the section be worked out in the first instance. The
situation here is that the section is saying something for the design to happen.
The section in this case is building an intangible relationship with the plan.
RELATIONSHIP OF PLAN, SECTION AND ELEVATION
•The elevation above is an outcome of
the exact requirements of the planning
Situation.
•It, however, looks so drab that it is
‘asking’ for a change.

•The elevation below has been


generated to make it more exciting
visually by a slight manipulation
of the plan form.

•This is how the intangible relationship of the plan and elevation can be realized.
RELATIONSHIP OF PLAN, SECTION AND ELEVATION

Such spatial organizations can not be


generated by two dimensional thinking
and require conceiving space in totality.
RELATIONSHIP OF PLAN, SECTION AND ELEVATION
Their interrelationship
• Plan section and elevation are intrinsically related as each by itself cannot make a
statement just as a noun by itself does not make a sentence.
• The design can not be conveyed if any one of these is missing.
• To make a sentence, a paragraph, a story or an article certain sequencing and
grammatical rules are required. The same can be seen in the use of plan section and
elevation in architecture.
• Like poetry whence, certain liberties can be taken with grammar to project a thought
more sensitively, here too the order can change at least in terms of importance or first
representation. For example a design may start by representing a section first.
• Normally, however, the design process would follow the lines of resolving the
function, strength and form that are represented by plan, section and elevation on the
intangible front.
RELATIONSHIP OF PLAN, SECTION AND ELEVATION
Complexity and contradictions in expressing 3-D in 2-D
• While designing needs to be done in 3-D, the representation has to
be in 2-D to make the representation accurate and correct.
• 3-D representations can have numerous distortions and can not
communicate the exact dimensions.
• 2-D representations do not project the exact look of the built mass
but are meant to communicate the exact information to the site for
execution of the design idea.
• Nobody sees the plan or an elevation but these are used to
represent the design idea in its technical exactness.
RELATIONSHIP OF PLAN, SECTION AND
ELEVATION

Notice the difference in the feel of the


elevation and the actual view of the
built mass.
RELATIONSHIP OF PLAN, SECTION AND ELEVATION
Drawing as a mode of expression-of a style
• While architectural drawing is governed by a specific
technique that is the rules of drawing, there can be a style
of drawing.
• Most architects develop a unique style of their own that
can be compared to people having their own handwriting
or signature.
• While the drawings have to be technically accurate and
correct these can be stylized to become specific to an
organization.
RELATIONSHIP OF PLAN, SECTION AND ELEVATION

The feelings generated by these pictures can not be expressed


in technical architectural drawings.
RELATIONSHIP OF PLAN, SECTION AND ELEVATION

Such spatial organizations and built


masses can not be conceived by drawing
Plan section and elevation . The plan
section and elevation can be drawn later
to record and communicate the idea.
RELATIONSHIP OF PLAN, SECTION AND ELEVATION
Conclusions
• Plan, Section and Elevations are components of
architectural drawing.
• These are required to communicate the design.
• These are related by the rules of architectural drawing.
• These three also have a relationship beyond the physical.
• These are interdependent and individually can not
communicate the complete design.
Thank You…….

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