Plan & Section

Sectional Drawing of Princes Street, Edinburgh, Scotland

Plan of Segment of Princes Street, Edinburgh, Scotland

In addition to the figure ground plan mentioned in yesterday's post, additional tools in the designer's tool kit are the plan and section. The plan and section are the most common drawings utilized by designers to communicate ideas. The plan deals with the horizontal elements, and the section vertical.

Similar to a map, a plan shares orientation in that the viewer is looking downward from above the particular area shown; however, unlike a map, a plan is draw from a vertical plane approximately 4 feet from the ground, hence objects below this plane are shown, and objects above are omitted.

A section is similar to a plan, however it deals with the vertical elements of a drawing. The section can be a powerful tool to illustrate the topographical changes of a city or project site as well as the interior spaces within a building.

Further posts will include additional techniques and tools to assist viewers in future posts.