What is a section?

1. A section typically describes a cut through the body of a building. It reveals

simultaneously its interior and exterior profiles, The interior space and material,
membrane or wall that separates interior from exterior, providing a view that is not
usually seen.
a. Difference from a sectional perspective?
Contextually how is a section perceived now? In the past?
1. More than ever with the complexity of form aided by computers, the way to read a
building becomes more pertinent through the understanding of section, where you can
begin to grasp the relationships to how the form informs the design of the space.
a. Zaha (Obvious example) but Morphosis Cooper Union building is an interesting
example as well.
2. Past views of the section (context?)
a. Origin of section as a representational mechanism has typically been associated
with its capacity to reveal the hidden works of an existing building or boy- often
as a retrospective or analytical technique
b. Rise of the section attributed to observation of archaeological ruins and the
biological description of the human body.
i.
Drawing techniques (what kind) derived from both archaeological and
anatomical practices strongly indicate that section originated as a
retrospective rather than prospective tool, an analytical device rather than
a generative instrument. Why is that? Whats the context?
c. Renaissance building-form follows function (EX?)
d. Viollet le duc (context?)
i.
Poche challenged through new materials and technology. In this context
the section gained more importance as a means to describe and analyze
form.
ii.
The reading of architecture couldn't be read through solely by plan. Does
the design now have to be from section? Or both? Is there an example?
e. With computer aided design. So what?
Why is there a lack of agency for the section?
1. Plans are typically argued to be the locus of design agency (What does this mean? The
articulation of the design), with the s ections understood as a means to m
anifest the
effects of plan through structure and enclosure
a. Where and how can the section be the locus of design agency? What are the
buildings that design from section? Do i mean the section is the place where the
architecture can be understood? S
o the spatial logic? Whether
programmatically or formally?
2. Lack of attention may come from the ambiguous position the section occupies. It is often
understood as a reductive drawing type, produced at the end of the design process
rather than as a means for investigation of architectural form. (Why?)

a. Discontinuous and incomplete, these moments reveal the potentials and

paradoxes of the section. Primary among these contradictions is the dual nature
of the term section itself. When we speak about the section we mean both a
representational technique and a series of architectural practices pertaining to
the vertical organization of buildings and related architectural and urbanistic
constructions. These conditions are interrelated both historically and
professionally. Although the two meanings of the term are often used
interchangeably and fluidly
3. Designing through section requires the building of a discourse about section, recognizing
it as a site for invention.
4. Form follows function/ form does not follow function. Is it a change in the context of our
times where technology has allowed for us to break away from thinking of things
orthographically?
What kinds of buildings are only read through section? (From the section architectural
effects are seen clearly. It communicates the concepts which drive the building,
technically and spatially)- It is in the process of design of how the project is conceived
and how that translates into the architecture.
1. FOA - Yokohama terminal (1995) (The Yokohama Projects/ Foreign Office Architects)
a. The Yokohama Ferry terminal design proposed a series of three continuous
undulating planes, intersecting with each other on many levels. All the passenger
connections form one continuous flow through the building. (Diagram)
i.
The method of using flows for creating a scenic route is practiced in
landscape architecture as a sequencing of composed views which has
more in common with FLWs notion of plasticity and spatial continuity. (in
a way goes beyond the architectural organization in section and plan of
other modern spatial concepts such as Corbs Libre or Adolf Looss
Raumplan)
ii.
Influenced by the folding waves for structural design. The main planes
integrate the bearing system, so no columns and walls to do the
horizontal

to vertical loads. (look up F

olding in Architecture (Gregg Lynn))
b. The design of the terminal was made possible by advances in computer aided
(Need to look up how CAD changed architecture. Greg Lynn? )design. It was
conceived primarily in section,with an incredibly complex series of surfaces that
gently curve and fold into a navigable, inhabitable architectural topography.
c. Steel frame structure (materiality - how the material is fabricated to produce the
form) - column free- pleated roof and girder system- unlike how structure is
traditionally in the 5 points by corbs where you can understand clearly structure
through plan
d. In plan the understanding of the fluidity of the space is articulated by the
composition of the form, The lack of bearing structures in the plan designates it to
be read as a reflection of the flow diagram. Although the understanding of the
spatial composition is clear from the plan, the understanding of how the buildings

programs relate to each other (the roof plaza, the car park, the terminal etc) to
create a fluidity through the space cant be read well through plan but through a
series of sections.
2. Toyo Ito - Sendai mediatheque (2001) (Look up the e
l croquis)
a. The section reveals the hidden technical features of the building. This articulates
the idea of floating/ weightlessness which the project tries to capture
i.
Infrastructure tubes
1. Ventilation, circulation, structure, daylighting
ii.
Floating floor plates
b. The Sendai Mediatheque was designed to allow complete visibility and
transparency to the surrounding community. It uses six steel ribbed slabs, that
appears to float from the street, supported by thirteen vertical steel lattice
columns that stretch from the ground plane to the roof. (Trying to achieve this
idea of weightlessness/ floating, this is how architecturally it is achieved)
c. Each plan is free from, as the structural column lattice are independent of the
facade and fluctuate in diameter as they stretch from floor to floor.
d. The interrelations between the three elements, floor plate, column and skin. Even
though the elevation is a cut through the city it does describe what robin evans
describes of a typical orthographic section.
i.
The typical orthographic section combines in one image two types of
representation, the objective profile marking the cut and the interior
elevation beyond, describing the inhabitable space made possible by the
inscribed wall.
1. The floor plates
a. Signifies the transience and a struggle for adaptability
within this new information age. The plates are integral to
the creation of a sense of freedom within the plan. The
presence of the plates and the tectonic structure is obvious
from the exterior, especially at night when the undulating
tubes are seen fully penetrating the building
2. The columns
a. It embodies the ideal role of tectonics according to
frampton, which is successful construction that allows for
usable spaces within.
3. The skin
a. Allows for visual and physical movement from inside to
outside. With the lack of internal walls allows for deep
reading of the interior which allows for the columns to be
read. The physical impermanence of the wall and the
unobstructed visual access into the building allows to
contribute to a sense of transiency
3. James Sterling - A Queens college, Oxford (1966) (Theoretical anxiety and design
strategies)/ or B Leicester engineering building (Which is better example hmmm)

 The section assumes command, as the U shape is made to come from the
A
meeting of the familiar vertical and slanted glass surface. The U scheme
produces a rather forced consciousness of communal life, as illustrated by room
interiors exposed to view, since glass is really not the solid material stirling
wished it to be. A close look reveals numerous details in which the architects
painstaking penchant for elaborating the section comes to the fore, as in the
spouts and gutters that serve to articulate the meeting of glass planes.
i.
A relation to a specific view - the inner courtyard. How the architecture
tries to bring attention to it. As is evident from the neglection of the rear
facade.
b. B Importance through the elaboration of the section.
i.
Tower
1. Geometry of the windows
ii.
Entrance platform
1. The rai is not just an instrument with functional value, but an
element with full formal value in defining the overall space.
iii.
Connection of 2 surfaces
1. How the joins come together- all designed
iv.
Large areas
1. Corridors with exaggerated braces appropriating the space,
making for an intense architectural experience.
2. Main entrance, under the slanted floor of one of the lecture halls,
with the glass- encased spiral staircase taking possession of the
porticoed space like a huge pillar
a.

Why has it been heavily used today, given the lack of agency?
1. Rendered perspective section
a. Projects in developing countries (MDRDV, OMA etc as well especially the local
firms in China)

i.

ii.

Unlike the built reality of Chinas growing cities, renderings serve

as fantasies of urbanization rather than true reflections of the urban
condition. Whereas in the West architectural renderings for
proposed projects are most often shown in the true photorealistic
context of their surroundings, Chinese renderings invent their own
context.
http://www.chinaurbandevelopment.com/urban-fantasies-in-china-a
rchitectural-visualization/
http://www.lse.ac.uk/researchAndExpertise/units/TaiwanProgramm
e/Journal/JournalContents/TCP1Bernath.pdf

2. (Anecdotal evidence?) Every project seems to have a section.

a. Why? Is it because of planning permission? Self indulgence? Actual need to
communicate the design? Or the design process?