Douglas Seidler / Educate

In order to draw and interpret two-dimensional construction details, students need a strong understanding of the detail’s spatial properties. In foundation design studios, interior design students explore the relationship between three-dimensional design ideas and two-dimensional drawings such as plan, section, and elevation through a combination of built models and two-dimensional design drawings. This paper details how the Author introduces construction detailing to interior design students through the virtual assembly of custom details using Google SketchUp, a three-dimensional modeling program. In following the foundation design studio’s pedagogical approach of connecting the three-dimensional object to two-dimensional drawings, the Author created a new learning environment where students form a strong understanding of detailing and assembly. 

The use of three-dimensional models to create dynamic two-dimensional drawings has increased in recent years with industry adoption of building information modeling (BIM) software like Revit and ArchiCAD.  The ‘act of drawing’ with BIM software is conceptually similar to the teaching methods implemented by the Author in that students must first draw in three-dimensions before the software can output traditional two-dimensional drawings. While this paper’s primary focus is the pedagogy of teaching detailing through virtual three-dimensional construction using SketchUp, the Author also explores and compares the strengths of BIM software as a tool to understand detailing in the design profession.

The Author teaches both Furniture & Detailing Studio and Advanced Materials and Methods Studio to undergraduate and graduate Interior Design students.  This presentation will focus on the Author’s work with the students enrolled in his section of both studios. In both studios, students form an understanding of detailing and assembly by working through the detailing process from two-dimensional drawings to three-dimension models and from three-dimensional models to two-dimensional drawings.  

In early exercises, students create three-dimensional models from traditional two-dimensional furniture drawings. (Figure 1)  By virtually modeling and assembling the furniture’s individual components in SketchUp, students can question and better understand what each drawn line represents in a typical construction detail. The virtual assembly is dynamically sliced to reveal traditional detail drawings that help students understand the relationship between the three-dimensional construct and the two-dimensional drawing.  Students import the dynamic sliced plan and section details into AutoCAD to add dimensions and notes typically found in a construction detail. 

In advanced exercises, students demonstrate their understanding of detailing and assembly by creating multi-step assembly drawings that communicate the order of assembly in a custom detail. (Figure 4) When combined with traditional construction detail drawings, these assembly drawings provide additional insight into the student’s understanding of detailing and material assembly. This understanding is typically not apparent when students only present traditional construction details. 

While traditional two-dimensional construction details communicate scope and sequence of construction, the Author has identified that new learners were successfully producing graphic representations of these details but struggled to understand and communicate the individual components in these drawings.  By introducing three-dimensional modeling as an integral component of the detailing process, the Author created a new learning environment where students visualize and understand the materials, assembly, design, and documentation of construction details.