Technical Drawing

Technical drawing is a modality of expression or graphic representation of different types of objects . Its main objective is to facilitate the analysis of the most important information and characteristics of these objects, helping in later design, construction or manufacturing and maintenance processes.

Nowadays, technical drawing professionals use, mainly, computer means to elaborate their representations, with the help of programs like AutoCad and Revit . And thanks to technological advances and the diversification of design resources, we can currently count on greater precision and richness of detail. In addition to simplifying the daily lives of these specialists, of course…

However, the ‘classic’ technical drawing on sheets of paper is still in force, mainly in the areas of Architecture, Engineering and Civil Construction, where the ‘physical’ plans/sketches continue to be important support documents (although they are increasingly replaced by for their digital versions).

How is it done and what is the technical drawing for? 

The great pillar of technical drawing is descriptive geometry , because, using orthogonal projections, technical draftsmen are able to “predict” and graphically represent what the different views or perspectives of an object will look like.

What kind of object are we talking about? Without exaggerating, several!!! From products and parts of different sizes, to machines, buildings and urbanization plans … And that’s why technical designers can collaborate on projects in different areas or segments.

Another important point, to understand exactly what technical drawing is, is to know that this type of graphic representation focuses on highlighting three characteristics of the object (whatever it may be): shape, position and dimension . It is up to the technical designer to apply his knowledge and skills to adapt the “how” to represent each of these variables, giving rise to cuts, views and scales , according to the object to be represented and the needs of each project.

What are the types of technical drawing?

There are two types of technical drawing:

Projective drawing: these are the drawings that result from object projections in one or more projection planes and correspond to orthographic views and perspectives. We can cite as examples: floor plans, geometric drawings and freehand sketches, from memory or observation.

Non-projective design: these are schematic graphic representations that do not follow orthogonal cylindrical projections. Diagrams, graphs, schematics and flowcharts are some examples.

What is the difference between technical drawing and artistic drawing?

An artistic drawing portrays the feelings of the designer. It can have different interpretations according to the observer, that is: there is no information that determines its meaning.

A technical drawing, on the other hand, needs to have symbols, numbering and other elements that help the person who will carry out the project to understand what must be done.

The technical drawing has to accurately convey the characteristics of a work to be built. For this reason, the subject of technical drawing is one of the most important subjects in the architecture course.

To better understand the subject, there are some basic points that we will see throughout the post, starting with descriptive geometry.