This paper explores the apprehension of meaning in architectural drawing afforded through each drawing’s structuring ‘diagram’. Rather than being confined to technique alone, the ‘diagram’ of an architectural drawing helps to inform its delivery of visual meaning. Through their diagram, architectural drawings, and more specifically presentation drawings, anticipate a response to the theoretical proposition of the architecture portrayed. In this manner, and in order to deliver meaning beyond technical representation, architectural drawings can anticipate a role for a viewing subject that frames the bodily interaction between viewer and viewed image.

This chapter was published in the book, This Thing Called Theory (ISBN: 9781315406251).