The elevation

Where plans show horizontal surfaces, elevations show vertical ones. In other respects they are very similar; they represent a record of height and width, and are drawn to scale. As with other technical drawings, they do not represent the space as we see it in real life, but they are an ideal way to assess the proportions of elements such as walls, windows, doors, fireplaces. They give a good understanding of spaces when used together with plans. The conventions employed when drawing elevations are similar to those used for plans. The vertical cut is taken one meter in front of the wall to be depicted, and all furniture and objects that sit closer to the wall than this line are shown in the elevation.

Once again, the furniture is not shown as if it has been cut in two; the complete piece is shown even when parts of the piece extend further from the wall than the one-meter cut line. As with the plan, there is some flexibility in what is shown and how it is depicted. Clarity is the key. Unlike the plan, an elevation does not show walls, floors and ceiling structures. Instead, the elevation ends at the face of the boundary building element. There must be a total absence of linear perspective in the elevation. This is relatively easy to understand when looking at a completed elevation, but oft en difficult to master when drawing one. Many people experience the temptation to add illicit glimpses of perspective to their elevations, many more so than feel the need to do the same to their plans. It is not clear why this should be so, but it may have to do with the fact that we naturally feel disconnected from the plan (it is only very occasionally going to be a view that we come close to seeing in real life), but we have a natural affinity with the elevation (a view we think we see almost all the time).