Elevation

An elevation is a view of a building seen from one side, a flat representation of one faзade. 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 faзade, so the north elevation is literally the north wall of the building.

Cross section

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.

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.

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.

Digital morphogenesis

Digital morphogenesis is a process of shape development (or morphogenesis enabled by computation). While this concept is applicable in many areas, the term "digital morphogenesis" is used primarily in architecture.

In architecture, digital morphogenesis is a group of methods that employ digital media for form-making and adaptation rather than for representation, often in an aspiration to express or respond to contextual processes. "In this inclusive understanding, digital morphogenesis in architecture bears a largely analogous or metaphoric relationship to the processes of morphogenesis in nature, sharing with it the reliance on gradual development but not necessarily adopting or referring to the actual mechanisms of growth or adaptation. Recent discourse on digital morphogenesis in architecture links it to a number of concepts including emergence, self-organization and form-finding."