B.Arch CurriculumFree, forever
A tribute to Amogh N P
Architectural Graphics II
Drawing is how a building is thought before it is built. This course teaches the graphic language architects actually use — the three drawing systems (multiview, paraline and perspective) and the choices behind each; the building drawings that carry a project, from floor and ceiling plans through sections to elevations, read through poché and a disciplined hierarchy of line weights; the pictorial drawings that show form in the round; the rendering of tone, light, shade and shadow that gives a drawing depth; the people, furniture and landscape that give it life and scale; and, finally, the craft of putting a persuasive presentation on the sheet and of sketching freely from observation. Where Architectural Graphics I trains the hand at the instrument, this course trains the eye and the argument.
Course byAmogh N P· Architect & interior designer
Drawing & Representation · Course by Amogh N P · Studio Matrx Academy
Five units, from the drawing systems to the finished sheet.
5 units · 5 liveHow architects draw and communicate a building, unit by unit. 5 of 5 units are live — each a full interactive lesson with original animated diagrams, worked techniques, a self-assessment quiz and a studio task. This course is the representation companion to Architectural Graphics I.
Unit 1 — Drawing Systems — The Language of Representation
LiveThe central task of architectural drawing: showing three-dimensional space on a flat sheet. The three projection systems — orthographic, oblique and perspective — and the three drawing systems they produce: multiview, paraline and perspective. What each reveals and conceals, and how the choice of system shapes design thinking. The line as the basic mark: line types, the hierarchy of line weights, and line quality.
Unit 2 — Multiview Drawings — Plans, Sections & Elevations
LiveThe orthographic building drawings that carry every project. Floor plans and the horizontal cut; reflected ceiling plans; site plans, topography and orientation. Building and site sections and the poché of the cut. Building and interior elevations. Reading depth through line weight, poché and the conventions of the cut.
Unit 3 — Paraline & Perspective
LivePictorial drawing — showing a form in the round in a single view. Paraline drawings: isometric, plan oblique and elevation oblique, and the expanded, cutaway and phantom views they allow. Linear perspective: the station point, picture plane, horizon line, vanishing points and measuring points; one-point and two-point perspective, perspective grids and section perspectives.
Unit 4 — Rendering Tone, Light & Context
LiveGiving a drawing depth and life. Tonal values and the value scale; modelling form with graded tone; conveying light and the direction of illumination. Shade and shadows — the geometry of casting shadows in plan, elevation and paraline views. Rendering context: people for scale, furniture, vehicles, landscaping and reflections.
Unit 5 — Presentation & Freehand Drawing
LivePutting the argument on the sheet. Presentation drawings and their elements; forming visual sets and drawing relationships; graphic symbols, lettering and titling; sheet formats and layout. Freehand drawing from observation — contour and analytical drawing, composition, travel sketching — and diagramming: diagram elements, relationships, issues and the parti.
Course outcomes
What you will be able to doDistinguish the three drawing systems — multiview, paraline and perspective — and the projection principles behind them, and choose the right system to communicate a given design idea.
Produce readable multiview building drawings — floor and reflected ceiling plans, building and site sections, and elevations — using poché and a disciplined hierarchy of line weights.
Construct paraline drawings (isometric, plan oblique, elevation oblique) and one- and two-point linear perspectives using the station point, horizon line, vanishing points and measuring points.
Render tonal value, model form with light, cast accurate shade and shadows, and populate a drawing with convincing context — people, furniture, vehicles and landscape.
Compose an architectural presentation — visual sets, hierarchy, lettering, graphic symbols and sheet formats — that communicates a design clearly and persuasively.
Draw freehand from observation, use diagrams and the parti to explore and explain ideas, and combine drawing systems into a coherent account of a design.
The author
Amogh N P
Architect, interior designer, and creative polymath. Studio Matrx began in his notebooks — his vision of design made honest, useful, and open to everyone. Its Academy is written and taught in his memory, and free, forever.
More about Amogh →The author
Amogh N P
Architect, interior designer, and creative polymath. Studio Matrx began in his notebooks — his vision of design made honest, useful, and open to everyone. Its Academy is written and taught in his memory, and free, forever.
More about Amogh →Learn to draw what you design.
The graphic language of architecture, from the first projection line to the finished presentation sheet. Read the units in order, study the diagrams, then test yourself.
The curriculum is free, forever