Manual of Section establishes the first systematic framework for understanding architectural section — a representational technique debated intensely among architects and educators yet, until this book, never codified into a coherent critical language.
About This Book
Section is the cut that reveals how a building truly works: its spatial relationships, structural logic, and experiential character. Despite its centrality to architectural design, no rigorous taxonomy of section existed before this book. Paul Lewis, Marc Tsurumaki, and David J. Lewis identify seven categories — from simple single-storey volumes to complex configurations involving stacked forms, internal voids, inclined planes, and nested structures — and illustrate each through sixty-three meticulously constructed cross-section perspective drawings of built projects spanning the last century. Grounded in extensive archival research and accompanied by essays on the history and use of section, this is an indispensable reference for architectural education and practice.
Key Features
- 208 pages of analytical cross-section perspective drawings, categorical frameworks, and historical essays
- Edited by Annette Hillebrandt, Petra Riegler-Floors, Anja Rosen, and Johanna-Katharina Seggewies
- Sixty-three intricately detailed cross-section drawings of significant international built projects from the last one hundred years
- Published by Princeton Architectural Press
What You'll Discover
- A taxonomy of seven section types — including sheared planes, internal holes, inclines, and nested forms — that gives architects a shared critical vocabulary
- Cross-section perspective drawings of sixty-three major works of international architecture, constructed from archival research
- How section functions as both a design tool and a representational technique across a century of significant built projects
- Essays tracing the history and evolving uses of section in architectural thinking and practice
About the Author
The analytical content was developed by Paul Lewis, Marc Tsurumaki, and David J. Lewis, whose cross-section drawings form the core of the book. The volume was edited by Annette Hillebrandt, Petra Riegler-Floors, Anja Rosen, and Johanna-Katharina Seggewies.
Specifications
- Format: Softcover
- Pages: 208
- Dimensions: 280 x 190 mm
- Language: English
- ISBN: 9781616892555
- Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press
- Publication Date: [Details available upon request]
Perfect For: Architects and students seeking a rigorous analytical framework for section, educators developing design curricula, and practitioners engaged with spatial complexity and architectural representation.