at the most basic are flattened views of the walls of a building.

Elevation drawings are used by architects to give the viewer or buyer a better sense of what the space will look like when a person is looking directly at the walls. An elevation can be interior or exterior, however for this class’ purposes, when we refer to an elevation we will be talking about an exterior elevation. When an architect creates an elevation he or she has a lot of free reign over the drawing. The placement of doors and windows are already decided based on the floor plan, but the style, the size, and the materials used can vary greatly and should be shown at this time. Various materials, styles, and sizes are shown here.

Examples of different exteriors from various buildings:

Note the different shapes and sizes of roofs, windows, and doors. Materials can lend a different style, color, or shape to a builiding. All of these items should be considered in elevation design.

When creating an elevation, one must keep in mind that in order to simplify, architects do not create these in perspective. In other words, the image should not recede into space. An elevation will not inform the viewer how close the walls are to the road or how far. If the front of the building goes recedes and goes forward, the only way to tell based on an elevation will be the vertical line used to separate the differences in depth. Flattened view of a building as depicted by the artist Egon Schiele. (Haus Trocknen der Waesche)

In these renderings of homes, the flatness depicted is similar to that of an elevation. These drawings show how even though an elevation may flatten things out, it can give a good idea of placement, style, and materials.

Creating an Elevation: is easiest when one simply projects lines from their floor plan down rather than measuring the distance between every window and door. By placing a clean sheet of vellum over top of one’s floor plan, and using the drafting machine to create straight verticals and horizontals, the elevation becomes easier. One can simply trace the edges of doors and windows and carry those lines downward to the ground line on one’s elevation in order to create the edges of walls, doors, & windows.

After all lines have been projected, one can begin designing the look of the exterior based on the standard measurements as listed in the book.

The next step is to erase all unnecessary lines so that one has a clean page to work from. At this point one may than use the handouts to choose a roof design.

After deciding on a roof, you can begin to fill in such details as materials for a more finished appearance.

Examples from past students: