Abstract:
The subject of this thesis is the architectural section. The sectional drawing examined is the vertical (rather than the horizontal section), although in the examination of the vertical section other related drawings (plan, elevation, site plan, internal elevation) are discussed. The thesis employs theoretical approaches from post-structuralist, cultural studies and psychoanalytic theory to investigate the architectural section drawing as a theoretical and representational device. The thesis argues that the section is a production of hybridity. It points to the role of the elevation in the development of the architectural section as elevational section and explores the metaphors of cutting and anatomical dissection which are associated with the sectional drawing. The thesis also considers how the section depicts notions of construction, space, and surface.
