Friday, 16 December 2011

TELEVISION EFFECTS ON CHILDREN


TELEVISION EFFECTS ON CHILDREN

Television is one of the most prevalent media influences in children lives. How much impact TV has on children depends on many factors sample how much they watch, their age and personality, whether they watch alone or with adults, and whether their parents talk with them about what they see on TV. Television also can affect learning and school performance if it cuts into the time kids need for activities crucial to healthy mental and physical development. Most of children's free time, especially during the early formative years, should be spent in activities such as playing, reading, exploring nature, learning about music or participating in sports. Television may influence the social, moral, ethical, social, intellectual and personality development of the children. This is because the influence of television, such as violence, horror, sex, love and cartoons. So parents should be to control the use of TV and to teach the children that it is for entertainment.

SMOKING CIGARETTES


SMOKING CIGARETTES

Cigarette smoking is harmful to health and cigarette smoke is harmful to the surrounding. Cigarette smoking is a habit that favored some people in this modern era, but it is becoming essential to young people who think smoking supposedly symbolizes manhood and maturity. In Malaysia, hardcore smokers among Malaysians are teenagers, including primary school students. This because the cigarettes are available everywhere and the prices are cheap. They do not realize the action smoking can cause problems for the circulatory system. In addition, smoking may cause smokers lose your sense of smell and taste and the effects on the teeth yellow tobacco smokers because tar is in cigarettes. In fact, smoking will also be leaving the discomfort to those who are adjacent to a smoker as a child, his wife and other people smoke exhaled by smokers. The measures taken by the government to prevent the ban on the sale to the age of eighteen years and under and raise cigarette prices and anti-smoking campaign. So we must help the government to stop the smoking cigarettes.

Wednesday, 14 December 2011

MY UNFORGETTABLE CHILDHOOD MEMORIES..


UNFORGETTABLE CHILDHOOD MEMORIES

I would like to share my unforgettable childhood memories, everyone have their own unforgettable childhood memories, me also have, I have a sweet memories and bad memories that I always reminisce it.

My bad memories, is stared when I was eight years old in my home town there is a rever, we call the rever is “sungai lembaga”. After school many children or students went there and swam, but my parents didin’t allow me swam there. One reason was every year almost one or two people died in the river. The second was I cannot swim, my parents worried about that. One afternoon, I didin’t have class, my friends and I went to the river and they swam in the river, there was very happy, I just stood in the stem, I really wanted to swam, but I was afraid, at the moment one friend talked to me, “the water is shallow” you can swim in here I can teach you. I walked down in the river suddenly i slip  and I’m drowning and i sank in the water. I was afraid of the time, my heart is dub-dub. My friend came and save me. My friends send me home, my parents was every angry to me, and the incident made me locked up for a month.

My favourite sweet memories is when i was selected for a study tour organized by the school. I am so excited and very spirited. I got up early in the morning, then go to school early and i was the first person came school. This study tour brought us to the Airport, Museum and last place in Taman Tun Fuad. We were brought to office and briefed about the operating system at the airport, the we were brought to the meteorology department, located and same building. Then we rest and have lunch.  After lunch we continue our trip to Museum Sabah. We were told about history about the people in sabah and history about sabah. Our last trip was Taman Tun Fuad, there we have a lotof activities like watercycling and swimming. We take a lot of pictures during that time.

As conclusion these all my childhood memories growing up which shape me now.

WHAT IS LOVE?


What is love?

For me love is beautiful. And love is love is not just for couples but for families, friends, animals, environment, country, nation and God. Love can make us happy and the people around us happy. Love also can make peace and harmony, without love life would be meaningless. So let us learn to love what is around us.

Love Language: The Original Short Film & Fundraiser


This is the story of a boy who meets a girl and falls in love. This is start when a boy meets the girl in the park. A boy was fall in love in first sight. A boy was trying to talk with the girl with borrow a pen but the girl just silent, then a boy want to hear what a song that a girl hear with give a note and  a girl was embarrassed. So they communicate using a note pad. Next day, their still communicate using note and started make a joke and close.  Until one day a girl decided to let a boy hear to what she listens to. A boy was excited and also confused, as he hear he heard nothing and at that moment he realized that she's deaf and a boy still thinks she's beautiful.
My opinion about this video is has opened the eyes of the hearts and minds of the audience to which we must accept and appreciate the lack of respect for them.

Tuesday, 27 September 2011

Life Is Like A Cup Of Coffee



Life is like a cup of coffee

My opinion,

Life is not easy or hard really. People always complain with life is the person who does not know how grateful and not be able to enjoy what he has now. To live is not necessarily as we pursue only wealth and comfort we must pursue something meaningful in our lives and the quality of life must be there, where we will not soon regret it later.
For a successful life, we should be open-minded and positive thinking. Do not just pursue wealth and comfort, because wealth and comfort that does not necessarily ensure good quality of life and happiness.
Everyone has different ways to organize their lives. Organizing this life depends on the properties of a person whether he wants the quality of life or merely pursuing wealth and comfort in life. People who pursue wealth and comfort  that's always got problem and pressures in life.
Life is luxurious and rich life usually does not have any meaning because life is short so we must think rationally. Life is like a cup of coffee, we need not, but the coffee cup, there poselin cup, crystal, plastic, glass, some are expensive, cheap and common.  Sample delicious coffee and poured into a different cup Sure many people will choose the expensive and the quality, the usual would not be taken. But in fact it is the same coffee taste. Not the glass that determines the taste, but coffee will determine the taste.
So you own that will select and define their lives, wealth and comfort and lifestyle is not to say that if the quality of life found there. And enjoy the life that I have and be thankful.

Thursday, 22 September 2011

Architectural model making


Architectural rendering


how to drawing buildings


References


References

  1. ^ Gary R. Bertoline et al. (2002) Technical Graphics Communication. p.12.
  2. ^ GLOSSARY The Rooms Provincial Archives. Accessed 10 Feb 2009.
  3. ^ [1]
  4. ^ Richard Boland and Fred Collopy (2004). Managing as designing. p.69.
  5. ^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2009/mar/08/architecture-exhibition%7CLe Corbusier's sketch design for his Cabanon
  6. a b Rendow Yee (2002). Architectural Drawing: A Visual Compendium of Types and Methods. 2nd Edition. Wiley, 2002.
  7. ^ Ellen Yi-Luen Do†& Mark D. Gross (2001). "Thinking with diagrams in architectural design". In: Artificial Intelligence Review 15: 135-149, 2001.
  8. ^ Andreas C. Papadakis (1988). Deconstruction in Architecture: In Architecture and Urbanism. p.65.
  9. ^ David Byrnes, AutoCAD 2008 For Dummies. Publisher: John Wiley & Sons; illustrated edition (4 May 2007). ISBN 0470116501
  10. ^ Department of Building and Development Land Development. Loudoun County Government. Accessed 11 Feb 2009.
  11. ^ Frequently Asked Questions Miami Township. Accessed 11 Feb 2009.
  12. ^ Site Planning Process Chesterfield County, Virginia Planning Department. Accessed 11 Feb 2009.
  13. ^ Ching, Frank (1985), Architectural Graphics - Second Edition, New York: Van Norstrand Reinhold, ISBN 0442218621
  14. a b Alan Piper, Drawing for Designers. Laurence King Publishing 2007. ISBN 978-1-85669-552-6 Page 57, definition of axonometric drawing
  15. a b W. B. McKay: McKay's Building Construction. Donhead Publishing 2005. ISBN 978-1-873394-72-4 A new reprint of the combined three volumes that McKay published between 1938 and 1944. Heavily illustrated textbook of architectural detailing.
  16. ^ http://www.donhead.com/Look%20Inside/Mckay2.pdf Sample pages of isometric drawings from McKay's Building Construction
  17. a b Arthur Thompson, Architectural Design Procedures, Second Edition. Architectural Press: Elsevier 2007. ISBN 978-0340719411
  18. ^ Thomas W Schaller, Architecture in Watercolour. Van Nostrand Re9inhold, New York 1990. ISBN 0-442-23484-8
  19. ^ The Great Perspectivists, by Gavin Stamp. RIBA Drawings Series, published by Trefoil Books London 1982. ISBN 0-86294-002-8
  20. ^ Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2008-09 Edition: Drafters dated: 18 December 2007. accessed: 24 September 2008.

Drafting


Until the latter part of the twentieth century, all architectural drawings were manually produced, either by architects or by trained (but less skilled) draughtsmen (or drafters), who did not generate the design, although they made many of the less important decisions. This system continues with CAD draughting: many design architects have little or no knowledge of CAD software programmes and rely upon others to take their designs beyond the sketch stage. Draughtsmen may specialize in a type of structure, such as residential or commercial, or in a type of construction: timber frame, reinforced concrete, prefabrication etc.
The traditional tools of the architect were the drawing board or draughting table, T-square and set squares, protractor, compasses, pencil and drawing pens of different types. Drawings were made onvellum, coated linen, and on tracing paper. Lettering would either be done by hand, mechanically using a stencil, or a combination of the two. Ink lines were drawn with a ruling pen, a relatively sophisticated device similar to a dip-in pen but with adjustable line width, capable of producing a very fine controlled line width. Ink pens had to be dipped into ink frequently. Draughtsmen worked standing up, and kept the ink on a separate table to avoid spilling ink on the drawing.
Twentieth century developments include the parallel motion drawing board, and more complicated improvements on the basic T-square. The development of reliable technical drawing pens allowed for faster draughting and stencilled lettering. Letraset dry transfer lettering and half-tone sheets were popular from the 1970s until computers made those processes obsolete.


Computer-aided design

Computer generated perspective of the Moscow School of Management, by David Adjaye
Computer-aided design is the use of computer software to create drawings. Today the vast majority of technical drawings of all kinds are made using CAD. Instead of drawing lines on paper, the computer records similar information electronically. There are many advantages to this system: repetition is reduced because complex elements can be copied, duplicated and stored for re-use. Errors can be deleted, and the speed of draughting allows many permutations to be tried before the design is finalised. On the other hand, CAD drawing encourages a proliferation of detail and increased expectations of accuracy, aspects which reduce the efficiency originally expected from the move to computerisation.
CAD programmes, for example the worldwide market leader AutoCAD, are complex and require both training and experience before the operator becomes fully productive. Consequently skilled CAD operators are often divorced from the design process. There are other more basic programmes such as SketchUp that allow for more intuitive drawing and are intended as a design tool.
CAD is used to create all kinds of drawings, from working drawings to photorealistic perspective views. Architectural renderings (also called visualisations) are made by creating a three-dimensional model using CAD. The model can be viewed from any direction to find the most useful viewpoints. Different software (for example Autodesk 3ds Max) is then used to apply colour and texture to surfaces, and to represent shadows and reflections. The result can be accurately combined with photographic elements: people, cars, background landscape.
An architectural animation is a short film showing how a proposed building will look: the moving image makes three-dimensional forms much easier to understand. An animation is generated from a series of hundreds or even thousands of still images, each made in the same way as an architectural visualisation. A computer-generated building is created using a CAD programme, and that is used to create more or less realistic views from a sequence of viewpoints. The simplest animations use a moving viewpoint, while more complex animations can include moving objects: people, vehicles and so on.

Types of architectural drawing


Types of architectural drawing

Architectural drawings are produced for a specific purpose, and can be classified accordingly. Several elements are often included on the same sheet, for example a sheet showing a plan together with the principal façade.


Presentation drawings

Drawings intended to explain a scheme and to promote its merits. Working drawings may include tones or hatches to emphasise different materials, but they are diagrams, not intended to appear realistic. Basic presentation drawings typically include people, vehicles and trees, taken from a library of such images, and are otherwise very similar in style to working drawings. Rendering is the art of adding surface textures and shadows to show the visual qualities of a building more realistically. An architectural illustrator or graphic designer may be employed to prepare specialist presentation images, usually perspectives or highly finished site plans, floor plans and elevations etc.


Survey drawings

Measured drawings of existing land, structures and buildings. Architects need an accurate set of survey drawings as a basis for their working drawings, to establish exact dimensions for the construction work. Surveys are usually measured and drawn up by specialist land surveyors.


Record drawings

Historically, architects have made record drawings in order to understand and emulate the great architecture known to them. In the Renaissance, architects from all over Europe studied and recorded the remains of the Roman and Greek civilizations, and used these influences to develop the architecture of the period. Records are made both individually, for local purposes, and on a large scale for publication. Historic surveys worth referring to include:
  • Colen Campbell's Vitruvius Brittanicus, illustrations of English buildings by Inigo Jones and Sir Christopher Wren, as well as Campbell himself and other prominent architects of the era.
  • The Survey of London, founded in 1894 by Charles Robert Ashbee and now available through English Heritage. A record of notable streets and individual buildings in the former County of London.
  • Historic American Buildings Survey, records of notable buildings drawn up during the 1930s Depression, this collection is held by the Library of Congress and is available copyright-free on the internet.
Record drawings are also used in construction projects, where "as-built" drawings of the completed building take account of all the variations made during the course of construction.


Working drawings

A comprehensive set of drawings used in a building construction project: these will include not only architect's drawings but structural and services engineer's drawings etc. Working drawings logically subdivide into location, assembly and component drawings.
  • Location drawings, also called general arrangement drawings, include floor plans, sections and elevations: they show where the construction elements are located.
  • Assembly drawings show how the different parts are put together. For example a wall detail will show the layers that make up the construction, how they are fixed to structural elements, how to finish the edges of openings, and how prefabricated components are to be fitted.
  • Component drawings enable self-contained elements e.g. windows and doorsets, to be fabricated in a workshop, and delivered to site complete and ready for installation. Larger components may include roof trusses, cladding panels, cupboards and kitchens. Complete rooms, especially hotel bedrooms and bathrooms, may be made as prefabricated pods complete with internal decorations and fittings.
  • Traditionally, working drawings would typically combine plans, sections, elevations and some details to provide a complete explanation of a building on one sheet. That was possible because little detail was included, the building techniques involved being common knowledge amongst building professionals. Modern working drawings are much more detailed and it is standard practice to isolate each view on a separate sheet. Notes included on drawings are brief, referring to standardised specification documents for more information. Understanding the layout and construction of a modern building involves studying an often-sizeable set of drawings and documents.

Architectural perspective


Architectural perspective

Two point perspective, interior of Dercy House by Robert Adam, 1777.
J M Gandy's aerial view of the Bank of England, as rebuilt by Sir John Soane, 1830.
Perspective in drawing is an approximate representation on a flat surface of an image as it is perceived by the eye. The key concepts here are:
  • Perspective is the view from a particular fixed viewpoint.
  • Horizontal and vertical edges in the object are represented by horizontals and verticals in the drawing.
  • Lines leading away into the distance appear to converge at a vanishing point.
  • All horizontals converge to a point on the horizon, which is a horizontal line at eye level.
  • Verticals converge to a point either above or below the horizon.
The basic categorization of artificial perspective is by the number of vanishing points:
  • One-point perspective where objects facing the viewer are orthogonal, and receding lines converge to a single vanishing point.
  • Two-point perspective reduces distortion by viewing objects at an angle, with all the horizontal lines receding to one of two vanishing points, both located on the horizon.
  • Three-point perspective introduces additional realism by making the verticals recede to a third vanishing point, which is above or below depending upon whether the view is seen from above or below.
The normal convention is architectural perspective is to use two-point perspective, with all the verticals drawn as verticals on the page.
Three-point perspective gives a casual, photographic snapshot effect. In professional architectural photography, conversely, a view camera or a perspective control lens is used to eliminate the third vanishing point, so that all the verticals are vertical on the photograph, as with the perspective convention. This can also be done by digital manipulation of a photograph taken with a normal camera.
Aerial perspective is a technique in painting, for indicating distance by approximating the effect of the atmosphere on distant objects. In daylight, as an ordinary object gets further from the eye, its contrast with the background is reduced, its colour saturation is reduced, and its colour becomes more blue. Not to be confused with aerial view or bird's eye view, which is the view as seen (or imagined) from a high vantage point. In J M Gandy's perspective (see illustration above) of the Bank of England, Gandy portrayed the building as a picturesque ruin in order to show the internal plan arrangement, a precursor of the cutaway view.
A montage image is produced by superimposing a perspective image of a building on to a photographic background. Care is needed to record the position from which the photograph was taken, and to generate the perspective using the same viewpoint. This technique is popular in computer visualisation, where the building can be photorealistically rendered, and the final image is intended to be almost indistinguishable from a photograph.

Standard views used in architectural drawing


Standard views used in architectural drawing

Standard views used in architects' drawings.
This section deals with the conventional views used to represent a building or structure. See the Types of architectural drawing section below for drawings classified according to their purpose.

[edit]Floor plan

Principal floor plans of the Queen's House, Greenwich (UK).
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 metre 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.

[edit]Site plan

Site plan of the proposed Chicago Spireby Santiago Calatrava.
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. For a construction project, the site plan also needs to show all the services connections: drainage and sewer lines, water supply, electrical and communications cables, exterior lighting etc.
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 licenced professional: architect, engineer, landscape architect or land surveyor.

[edit]Elevation

Elevation of the principal façade of thePanthéon, Paris
An elevation is a view of a building seen from one side, a flat representation of one façade. This is the most common view used to describe the external appearance of a building. Each elevation is labelled 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 façade, so the north elevation is literally the north wall of the building.

[edit]Cross section

Section drawing of the Observatorium at Potsdam.
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 Observatorium 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.

[edit]Isometric and axonometric projections

18th century axonometric plan, Port-Royal-des-Champs.
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 purposes 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.
  • An isometric uses a plan grid at 30 degrees from the horizontal in both directions, which distorts the plan shape. Isometric graph paper can be used to construct this kind of drawing. This view is useful to explain construction details (e.g. three dimensional joints in joinery). The isometric was the standard view until the mid twentieth century, remaining popular until the 1970s, especially for textbook diagrams and illustrations.
  • Cabinet projection is similar, but only one axis is skewed, the others being horizontal and vertical. Originally used in cabinet making, the advantage is that a principal side (e.g. a cabinet front) is displayed without distortion, so only the less important sides are skewed. The lines leading away from the eye are drawn at a reduced scale to lessen the degree of distortion. The cabinet projection is seen in Victorian engraved advertisements and architectural textbooks, but has virtually disappeared from general use.
  • An axonometric uses a 45 degree plan grid, which keeps the original orthogonal geometry of the plan. The great advantage of this view for architecture is that the draughtsman can work directly from a plan, without having to reconstruct it on a skewed grid. In theory the plan should be set at 45 degrees, but this introduces confusing coincidences where opposite corners align. Unwanted effects can be avoided by rotating the plan while still projecting vertically. This is sometimes called a planometric or plan oblique view,and allows freedom to choose any suitable angle to present the most useful view of an object.
Traditional draughting techniques used 30-60 and 45 degree set squares, and that determined the angles used in these views. Once the adjustable square became common those limitations were lifted.
The axonometric gained in popularity in the twentieth century, not just as a convenient diagram but as a formal presentation technique, adopted in particular by the Modern Movement. Axonometric drawings feature prominently in the influential 1970's drawings of Michael Graves, James Stirling and others, using not only straightforward views but worms-eye view, unusually and exaggerated rotations of the plan, and exploded elements.
The axonometric view is not readily generated by CAD programmes, which work best by generating a view from a three dimensional model. Consequently it is now little used except to illustrate relatively simple construction details.

[edit]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 standardised, 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.

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).
Scale drawings enable dimensions to be 'read' off the drawing, i.e. measured directly. Imperial scales (feet and inches), while lacking the simple logic of the metric system, are equally readable using an ordinary ruler. On a one-eighth inch to one foot scale drawing, the one-eighth divisions on the ruler can be read off as feet. Architects normally use a scale ruler with different scales marked on each edge. A third method, used by builders in estimating, is to measure directly off the drawing and multiply by the scale factor.
Dimensions can be measured off drawings made on a stable medium such as vellum. All processes of reproduction introduce small errors, especially now that different copying methods mean that the same drawing may be re-copied or copies made in several different ways. Consequently dimensions need to be written ('figured') on the drawing. The disclaimer "Do not scale off dimensions" is commonly inscribed on architects drawings, to guard against errors arising in the copying process.

Sketches and diagrams


Sketches and diagrams

Sketch of a building.
Diagram of an arch.
A sketch is a rapidly executed freehand drawing, a quick way to record and develop an idea, not intended as a finished work. A diagram may also be drawn freehand but deals with symbols, to develop the logic of a design. Both may be worked up into a more presentable form and used to communicate the principles of a design.
In architecture, the finished work is expensive and time consuming, so it is important to resolve the design as fully as possible before construction work begins. Complex modern buildings involve a large team of different specialist disciplines, and communication at the early design stages is essential to keep the design moving towards a coordinated outcome.Architects (and other designers) start investigating a new design with sketches and diagrams, to develop a rough design that provides an adequate response to the particular design problems.
There are two basic elements to a building design, the aesthetic and the practical. The aesthetic element includes the layout and visual appearance, the anticipated feel of the materials, and cultural references that will influence the way people perceive the building. Practical concerns include space allocated for different activities, how people enter and move around the building, daylight and artificial lighting, acoustics, traffic noise, legal matters and building codes, and many other issues. While both aspects are partly a matter of customary practice, every site is different. Many architects actively seek innovation, thereby increasing the number of problems to be resolved.
Architectural legend often refers to designs made on the back of an envelope/napkin/cigarette packet.Initial thoughts are important, even if they have to be discarded along the way, because they provide the central idea around which the design can develop.Although a sketch is inaccurate, it is disposable and allows for freedom of thought, for trying different ideas quickly. Choice becomes sharply reduced once the design is committed to a scale drawing, and the sketch stage is almost always essential.
Diagrams are mainly used to resolve practical matters. In the early phases of the design architects use diagrams to develop, explore, and communicate ideas and solutions. They are essential tools for thinking, problem solving, and communication in the design disciplines. Design is ultimately about the configurations, connections, shape, and orientations of physical forms. Diagrams can be used to resolve spatial relationships, but they can also represent forces and flows, e.g. the forces of sun and wind, or the flows of people and materials through a building.
An exploded view shows component parts dis-assembled in some way, so that each can be seen on its own. These views are common in technical manuals, but are also used in architecture, either in conceptual diagrams or to illustrate technical details.
In a cutaway view parts of the exterior are omitted to show the interior, or details of internal construction. "The convention of the rough architectural cutaway can be used to create a more intense dialogue between exterior and interior."(this kind of drawing may be more visually interesting than the building it describes). Although common in technical illustration, the cutaway is in fact little used in architectural drawing. It is used mainly as 3D sketches to illustrate and expand on formal construction details.