Cornell Campus Transects

"The sectional transect constitutes our main mode of visual communication."

Transects, also known as "section elevations", are key drawings in describing the vertical dimension of landscapes; they are used to illustrate changes in topography, the height of buildings and plantings, etc. Sectional transects also help convey the relationships between conditions above and beneath the ground.

While crisp physical features (buildings, hard surfaces, steps, etc.) can be clearly measured and represented with crisp lines softer, fuzzier elements (lights, vegetation, rustling leaves, rain, etc.) call on a different set of skills and graphic qualities.

This project features a series of spatial transects surveyed by students around the Ag Quad at Cornell's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.