The reading of plans is a vivid, very real, architectural experience. For example, let us look at [figure 39], a simple one-room cabin. The cabin is entered through one of the doors—doors are indicated by a break in the contour line. The heroic character of the great fireplace is sensed—the fireplace and masonry walls are shown by heavy lines. Opposite the fireplace is found a window—windows are shown by a thin segment of contour line. As one walks up the stairs, turning at the corner, the lines fade away as the level of another floor is approached.
FIGURE 39.
FIGURE 40.
FIGURE 41.
The above experience began with lines on paper and ended by “seeing” the house in three-dimensional space. This happens in reverse when a house is actually visited. As the rooms through which one moves become more familiar, gradually the floor plan takes shape. This plan can be retained in the mind and can easily be drawn on paper. When the plan is known, much thinking and talking about a building can be done.
SIMPLE FLOOR PLANS
Figures [39] to [45] show a number of first floor plans found in North Carolina colonial homes. [Figure 39], which we have already “visited,” begins the series with the simplest one-room plan. It is something like the Blair cabin, already seen ([figure 20]), except for the chimney built inside the house in the earlier example. Both plans have stairs, but another cabin might have only a ladder leading to the loft.