Chat. IV.

GEOMETRICAL DRAWING.
dhawings necessary in composition.
/
^
2490a. For tlie tliorough compreliension of a projected edifice, at lenst tlirce drawings
Jre necessary, the plan, tlie section, and tlie tievation. The first is a horizontal section of it,
the second the vertical section, which shows tlie building as if it were cut in half, that h;ilf
nearest the spectator being removed from its plan, so as to permit the inner parts to heeonie
visible, and the third is the geoirjetrical appearance of the front represented as if viewed
from an infinite distance, in which no comergence of the lines would be seen.
2490/>. In making a design, it is always better to put
the general idea together on a single sheet of paper, and
consequently, in most cases, on a small stale. This,
in afterwards making the drawings, is, as may be ne-
cessary, increased in size. The tliree parts being drawn
under one another, as shown in
fi<).
9,95a., wherein tlie
middle diagram is the plan, the lower one the section,
and the upjjcr one the elevation. By thus beginning on
a single slieet, in which the whole is before the eye, the
corresponding liies are more readily transferred from
one iiart to another. I laving drawn through the middle
of the paper the vertical A A, cut at right angles by
the horizontal line BB, draw the required centres or
axes of the walls CC and DD, and supposing the build-
ing is to be stjuare, with the same opening of the com-
passes set out the axes of the return walls EE and
FF. Having determined the thickness of the walls,
one half may be set out on each side the axes, as in
ee,
ff,
CC, and dd, and then the lines showing the thick-
nesses of the walls may be drawn. The width of
openings in the walls riiay be next set out, half on each
side the axes BB and A A, first drawn towards bb and
aa, and the lines drawn to their places. Having thus
proceeded, we shall discover that not only has the plan
been drawn, but at the same time a considerable portion
of the section and elevation. 'i'o distinguish the voids
from the solids, the latter should be coloured or
hatched, and then the next step will be as follows:

I'arallel to the principal axis BB, draw the ground lines

GO and GG. From these lines the heights of the
building, its cornice and openings, may he set up in the
section and elevation ; and afterwards, the height of the
roof and projection of the cornice having been de-
termined, they may be sot out and drawn. In the
section, as in the ))lan, it is usual either to colour or
hatch tiie solid parts, as we have done in the figure.
2490f. Simple as the above process maybe, it contains
the wh^le elementary part of the mechanical process
necessary for making a design. It might have been
conducted on a more complicated mass, but had we done
so, it would not have been so well understood, and we
therefore deprecate any observations on the simplencss
of our process by those who have been brought to know
these things by practice and experience. We do not,
however, feel we should discharge our duty before
closing this section, without a censure on the attempt
to convert drawings of geometrical elevations and sec-
tions into picturesque representations, because such
practice is not only injurious to the art, but is dishonest, and has a tendency to mislead
the architect's employer; and we are sorry to say that it is not unfrequently done with
such a view. We denounce it, and without hesitation aver that the casting of shadows
on a design is only admissible for the purpose of showing the relative depths of projecting
parts; and when so admitted, the medium should be confned to Indian ink or sepia, ai.d
thrown in merely in masses, the apertures being just slightly filled in witli the same
3olour.
rig..^nrt.