From Minimal Storytelling to Surreal Richness: Sectional Primers
- Daniel Ho
- Sep 13, 2019
- 2 min read
I believe the Section is a peculiar convention in Architecture. At its fundamentals – illustrating a building that can been cut almost surgically – a Section does not literally translate into a final building. Yet simultaneously, the Section succinctly conveys a building’s ‘nature’ in ways no other convention does: Typologies, spatial proportions and relationships, inhabitation etc.
Danish National Maritime Museum | BIG
Immediately, one aspect that appeals to me in BIG’s Section Drawings is their focus on the built structure. Due to the underground nature of the building, the architects use basic traces of inhabitation and context; using them sparingly to not draw away from the design. The adjacent dock accentuates the Museum’s underground nature; the blue water being the major focal point in the section, with the docked ship specifying this ‘area’s’ context. More minor elements – the outlined Kronborg Castle, and the car driving over the circulation bridge – further supplement the design’s siting. By controlling contextual detail down to what is necessary, BIG has produced a clean, straightforward sectional drawing that expresses the building: Nothing more, nothing less.
Manhattanism Castizo | Archipelago Lab
Contrary to BIG’s minimal aesthetic, a Section Drawing can also be vibrant. Some Sectional drawings like Archipelago Lab’s ‘Manhattanism Castizo’ embrace inhabitation details; making the ways people inhabit space into Architecture. The Section Line in Manhattanism Castizo is indiscriminate; cutting through not only the walls and floors of the architecture, but also machinery, cars, seating, cabinetry etc. Not only does the Section reveal the spatial relationships of the architecture, but also the inner workings of the objects that make inhabitation evident. While a drawn hierarchy between architecture and inhabitation is still evident, it is much more blurred compared to BIG’s Sections. I am allured by Archipelago Lab’s treatment of architecture not as a building practice, but as authors to a vibrant ‘built’ story. The Manhattanism Castizo Section’s intricate detailing is a testament to this philosophy; treating the building and the many objects it contains as one.
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