Which drawing shows a horizontal cut through a building?

• A. A plan shows a horizontal cut through a building; elevations depict vertical faces; sections cut vertically to reveal interior relationships.
• B. A plan shows vertical faces; elevations show horizontal cut; sections show exterior elevations.
• C. A plan shows building massing from a distance; elevations show interior layouts; sections show roof plans.
• D. A plan shows electrical layouts; elevations show plumbing; sections show HVAC.

Answer: (C)

The key idea is that a horizontal cut through a building is shown by a plan. A plan is taken as a slice parallel to the ground, viewed from above, and it reveals the layout of walls, doors, rooms, and circulation. Elevations, on the other hand, are views of the exterior faces from the side, not a slice through the interior. A section represents a cut through the building as well, but that cut is typically vertical, used to show interior relationships along a vertical plane. Roof plans are also horizontal views, but they specifically depict the roof layout rather than the general interior plan.

So the drawing that shows a horizontal cut through the building is the plan, which provides the top-down view of the layout resulting from a horizontal slice.