Introduction

Architecture is one of the oldest arts and technical disciplines, having begun alongside human civilization, with a history spanning thousands of years. However, the forms and systems of architectural drawings that we are familiar with today were established relatively recently. Today, architects use advanced software such as CAD (Computer-Aided Design) and BIM (Building Information Modeling) to create precise drawings, which they print on high-resolution printers or review and revise in real time through electronic devices such as tablets and monitors. The development of these digital technologies has revolutionized the architectural design process, greatly improving the accuracy and efficiency of design.

However, looking back at the era before such technological advances, the creation and use of architectural drawings presented an entirely different picture. Until computer-based design software became widespread, architects had to draw all plans by hand, a task that required considerable time and effort. Moreover, in an era when reproduction technologies such as photocopiers and scanners did not exist, additional labor and time had to be invested to duplicate drawings, and there was always the possibility of errors occurring in this process.

In modern architecture, construction materials and components are strictly standardized according to industrial standards. Thanks to this standardization system, the dimensions and specifications of each component indicated on drawings are precisely defined, and the design intent can be faithfully realized during construction. Major building materials such as steel, concrete, and brick are all produced and distributed according to international or national standards, allowing architects to proceed with their designs based on these standard specifications.

However, the situation was entirely different in the pre-modern era before the Industrial Revolution. At that time, the concept of standardizing building materials did not exist, and most components were handcrafted by local artisans. Therefore, even components of the same type inevitably had subtle differences in size and shape, which imposed limitations on the accuracy of drawings. Architects and builders had to account for these uncertainties in their designs, and during actual construction, on-site adjustments and modifications were frequent. This meant that drawings served more as approximate guidelines rather than absolute standards.

Architectural drawings were not always created solely for the purpose of constructing actual buildings. The function and role of drawings have varied across different eras and contexts, sometimes carrying idealistic or symbolic meanings beyond practical purposes. Renaissance architects, in particular, sometimes created drawings to represent ideal architectural spaces that had little chance of actually being built. These drawings served as a means of visualizing the architect's creative ideas and theoretical explorations, and played a role in providing inspiration to later generations of architects. The drawings included in Andrea Palladio's I Quattro Libri dell'Architettura and the monumental architectural proposals of Etienne-Louis Boullee are representative examples, but they will not be covered in this text. Instead, we will use the plan of the Abbey of Saint Gall, estimated to have been created around the 9th century, as an example.

Furthermore, in eras when the creation and reproduction of drawings were technically difficult, drawings were also used as important documents for the management and maintenance of buildings. In particular, royalty and aristocrats commissioned and preserved detailed drawings to systematically manage the large-scale buildings they owned. These drawings went beyond mere design documents to also serve as property inventories, functioning as valuable records documenting the historical changes of buildings.

Architectural drawings have varied greatly in content and role according to the technological, social, and cultural conditions of each era. From simple floor plans drawn on Egyptian papyrus to medieval parchment drawings, precise Renaissance perspective views, and modern three-dimensional digital modeling, the forms and methods of expression in drawings have continuously evolved.

Because the available materials, tools, and levels of architectural technology differed in each era, the scope and complexity of architecture that architects could realize also changed over time. This inevitably influenced the content and methods of expression in drawings, and whenever new architectural techniques were developed, new drawing notations and conventions to express them developed alongside.

Nevertheless, the essential function of architectural drawings has remained consistent across the ages. Drawings have been a fundamental means for architects and spatial creators to express their spatial ideas and concepts in concrete and comprehensible forms, and this remains an unchanging truth today. The process by which abstract spatial concepts are transformed into concrete forms through drawings, and actual buildings are realized on that basis, is one of the most essential characteristics of the act of architecture.

In this text, we will briefly examine the development of architectural technology over time from this perspective, the consequent expansion of architectural possibilities, and how architectural drawings have changed and evolved in conjunction with these developments.