divisions between friends

The genesis of graphic language used in architectural and engineering drawing is often taken for granted. It derives from a system of orthographic projection in which any form might be mapped onto a plane according to a series of parallel projections from any point on the surface of the form, providing elevations and plans of the form in space. It is a system or model of representation which presumes an infinitely distant point of sight so that the projections are parallel and perpendicular to the plane (the effect of aerial photography). This is in contrast to one point perspective in which these projections converge at a single vanishing point and point of view (their diagonal trajectories converge at a certain ideal point of view in relation to the form). Thus orthographic projection produces a point of view within a two dimensional rendering which is omnipresent in relation to the form. …

The floor plan or aerial view, as one of any number of such projections of a form in space, retains this quality in a point of which dissipates evenly across the entire surface of the plan. One is, as it were, above every point of the map; that most privileged vantage point, of God, of the pantheon; a point from which to perceive your own participation in the work. This is the inherent democracy of maps; a point of view (or rather encompassing plane) germane to the notion of a public audience. — Stuart Koop, p. 50