ACC1 TOPIC 9: BASIC ELEMENTS OF DESIGN PLANE

“FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION” –Louis Sullivan 1. OVERHEAD PLANE

• The overhead plane can be either the roof plane
PRIMARY ELEMENTS OF FORM • The ceiling plane that forms the upper enclosing surface of
a room.
A. ELEMENTS OF FORM • The ceiling plane can symbolize the sky vault or be the
• POINT primary sheltering element
• LINEPLANE 2. WALL PLANE
• VOLUME • Vital to the shaping and enclosure of architectural space.
• The plane of an exterior wall can be articulated as the front
POINT or primary facade of a building.
• In urban situations, these facades serve as walls that
• point marks a position in space. creates a sense of place
• A point is dimensionless. 3. BASE PLANE
• Conceptually, it has no length, width, or depth, and is therefore static, • The base plane can be either the ground plane that serves
centralized, and directionless as the physical foundation and visual base for building
forms,
POINT CAN SERVE AS A LINE • The ground plane itself can be manipulated as well to
establish a podium for a building form.
a) Two-ends of a line • It can be elevated to honor a sacred or significant place
b) Intersection of a line
c) Meeting of lines at the corner VOLUME
d) Center of a field
• A plane extended in a direction other than its intrinsic direction
TWO POINTS becomes avolume.
• Volume has three dimensions: length, width, and depth.
• Two points describe a line that connects them. • Form is the primary identifying characteristic of a volume.
• Although the points give this line finite length, the line can also be • a volume can be either a solid OR void
considered a segment of an infinitely longer path
FORM
LINE
• It is not just simply the shape or configuration of a building, but it
o Extend a point to create line.
comprises of lot many elements be it a point, line, plane or a volume.
o Expresses movement, direction or growth.
• The manner of arranging and coordinating the elements and parts of a
composition so as to produce a coherent image
A line can serve to:

a) Joint, link, support, surround, or intersect other visual elements 5 Main Forms In Architecture
b) Describe the edges of and give shape to planes 1. Centralized form
c) Articulate the surfaces of a plane 2. Linear form
3. Radial form
Line has a single dimension with the properties of: 4. Clustered form
5. Grid form
a) Length
b) Direction CENTRALIZED FORM
c) Position
• Centrally located forms such as spheres, cones, cylinders usually
1. LINE: HORIZONTAL personify a sacred or honorific space.
-A horizontal line represents stability, rest, calmness, tranquility
2. LINE: VERTICAL LINEAR FORM
-Vertical line can express a state of equilibrium with the force
of gravity, symbolize the human condition, or mark a position in space. • This building has an elongated structure that emphasizes mainly on the
horizontal aspect.
-Vertical lines depict upliftment, power, might
3. LINE: OBLIQUE • Even the façade has vertical elements arranged sequentially in a row
-An oblique line is a deviation from the vertical or horizontal.
RADIAL FORM
-Oblique lines or diagonal lines translate to activity, Dynamicity,
unbalanced state
• A configuration of forms that extend outward from a center in a radiating
LINES AS LINEAR ELEMENTS manner

1. Vertical linear elements, such as columns, obelisks, and towers, have CLUSTERED FORM
been used throughout history to commemorate significant events and
establish particular points in space • Different blocks/houses are attached together in a unique way as one
whole unit.
Selim Mosque, Istanbul, Turkey
GRID FORM
• Define a transparent volume of space
• An ordinary square grid, when projected into the third dimension,
Salginatobel Bridge, Switzerland generates a spatial network of reference points and lines

• Perform structural functions.

• Expresses movement across space
FORM IS TO SHAPE
Caryatid Porch The Erechtheion, Athens
• shape refers more specifically to the essential aspect of form that
governs its appearance
• Provide support to the overhead plan
• the configuration or relative disposition of the lines or contours that
Katsura Imperial Villa, Kyoto, Japan delimit a figure or form

• Vertical lines form a threedimensional structural frame for

architectural space
VISUAL PROPERTIES OF FORM:

SHAPE
PLANE
Shape is the principal aspect by which we identify and categorize forms.
Extending a line creates a plane.
a) Floor, wall and ceiling shapes
A plane is a 2-dimensional object with the properties of: b) Door and window openings
c) Silhouettes and contours of building form
a) Length & Width
b) Shape Shape refers to the characteristic outline of a plane figure or the surface
c) Surface configuration of a volumetric form
d) Orientation
PRIMARY SHAPES
e) Position
CIRCLE
• Define three dimensional volumes of mass and space.
• Shape is the primary identifying characteristic of a plane. The circle is a centralized, introverted figure that is normally stable and self-
• The supplementary properties of a plane—its surface color, pattern, and centering in its environment.
texture—affect its visual weight and stability
TRIANGLE
THREE GENERIC TYPES OF PLANES:
The triangle signifies stability. When resting on one of its sides, the triangle is an
extremely stable figure
SQUARE TRIADIC

• The square represents the pure and the rational.

• It is a bilaterally symmetrical figure having two equal and perpendicular
axes

SPACE

• Space refers to the area around, above, below, or behind an object.

• Space is about creating the illusion of a third dimension on a flat
surface.

EMPHASIS

emphasis is the deliberate use of a particular design element to draw attention to a

particular feature or area. This can be done through the use of color, light, texture,
pattern, or scale.

SIZE

• The physical dimensions of length, width, and depth of a form

• While these dimensions determine the proportions of a form, its scale is
determined by its size relative to other forms in its context

TEXTURE

• The visual especially tactile quality given to a surface by the size, shape,
arrangement, and proportions of the parts.
• Texture also determines the degree to which the surfaces of a form
reflect or absorb incident light

COLOR

• A phenomenon of light and visual perception that may be described in

terms of an individual’s perception of hue, saturation, and tonal value.
• It also affects the visual weight of a form.
• It affects the viewer in a psychological perspective

Parts of a Color:

a) Hue: another word for color;

b) Value: describes how light or dark the color is;
c) Temperature: relates to the feeling of warmth or coolness the color
evokes;
d) Intensity: measures the range of a color from dull to vivid. Also called
Chroma and saturation

1. Primary Colors are the three colors on the color wheel that cannot be
formed by mixing any other colors.
2. Secondary Colors are simply the colors that are created when mixing
any two primary colors together.
3. Tertiary Colors are colors that are made when primary and secondary
colors are combined

TYPES OF COLOR:

1. Monochromatic
Varieties of one color; Having one color of exhibiting varying intensities
and values of a single hue
2. Analogous
Colors next to one another on the color wheel
3. Complementary
• Colors directly opposite one another on the color wheel
• One of a pair of opposing colors on a color wheel, perceived
as complementing or enhancing each other
4. Split Complementary
Two complementary color schemes that are next to one another on the
color wheel
5. Tetradic
Two complementary color schemes that are not next to one another on
the color wheel
6. Triadic
• Triadic: three colors that are evenly spaced apart on the
color wheel.
• a combination of three colors forming an equal equilateral
triangle on a color wheel.

MONOCHROMATIC

ANALOGOUS

COMPLEMENTARY

SPLIT COMPLEMENTARY

TETRADIC
 PALLADIAN ARCHITECTURE

Andrea Palladio, was the most influential architect of the Italian

Renaissance. He proposed the seven “most beautiful and
proportionable manners of rooms”, that guided his planning and
designing of his buildings, in what we called the Palladian Architecture.

MODULOR

Charles-Édouard Jeanneret or also known as Le Corbusier in the architecture world,

Developed his proportioning system, the Modulor, to order “the dimensions of that
which contains and that which is contained.

The Unité D'habitation, Marseille, Berlin

A modernist residential housing, with a design principle developed by

Le Corbusier. He applied the Modulor. Le Corbusier a diversity of panel
sizes and surfaces that could be obtained with the proportions of the
Modulor

KEN

• the ken, was introduced in the latter half of Japan’s Middle Ages
• Ken is the spacing of columns (center to center) based on the tatami
floor mat.
• Conversion: 1 Ken= 181.82 Centimeters

ANTHROPOMETRY

Concept of the ideal human body proportions, it refers to the measurements of the
size and proportions of the human body

ERGONOMICS

• Also called as Human Engineering.

RELATIONAL PROPERTIES OF FORM • Ergonomic Design is about designing the work environment to optimize
human well-being and overall system performance.
POSITION

The location of a form relative to its environment or the visual field within which it is
seen. Location relative to the orientation of form. CONTRAST

ORIENTATION The opposition or juxtaposition of dissimilar elements in a work of art to intensify

each element’s properties and produce a more dynamic expressiveness.
The direction of a form relative to the ground plane, the compass points, other
forms, or to the person viewing the form. The position of form relative to the axis: Contrast create visual variety, excitement and interest to the building and can be
whether it is situated on the north, east, south, or west. achieved by:

VISUAL INERTIA a) using different form, shapes, and sizes;

b) different material, texture, and colors;
• The degree of concentration and stability of a form. c) manipulating the light, shade, and shadow of masses.
• The visual inertia of a form depends on its geometry as well as its
orientation relative to the ground plane, the pull of gravity, and our line Movement - movement is how the design leads a viewer’s eyes through the exterior
of sight and interior of a building composition, guided by patterns or other design elements

PRINCIPLES OF COMPOSITION (DESIGN) Unity – the concept of all elements in a building or space working together
cohesively to create a harmonious and balanced movement
These principles of composition or design are ideologies guiding the form and space
manipulation: Topography – fonts are multifaceted. They communicate meaning thru words and a
mood thru its characteristics.
a) Proportion & Scale
b) Contrast Direction
c) Balance (Symmetry)
d) Rhythm (Repetition/Movement) • The flow of design
e) Hierarchy (Emphasis) • Direction of design is how lines and other elements of design combine
f) Unity (Harmony) to create a natural sense of movement
g) Character

BALANCE & SYMMETRY

A. PROPORTION & SCALE
• Simply an equal distribution of weight.
Proportion • A state of equilibrium between contrasting, opposing, or interacting
elements.
• is largely a matter of relationship. • A symmetrical condition cannot exist without implying the existence of
• It is evident by comparison which the eye makes between the size, balance.
shape, and tone of various objects or parts of composition. • A symmetrical condition requires the balanced arrangement of
equivalent patterns of form and space on opposite sides of a dividing
Scale line or plane, or about a center or axis

• refers to how we perceive or judge the size of something in relation to KINDS OF BALANCE
something else
a) Bilateral Symmetry or Symmetrical Balance:
THEORIES OF PROPORTION: - even distribution of visual weight on either side of an Imaginary axis
b) Asymmetrical Balance:
1. GOLDEN SECTION - produces an informal balance that is attention attracting and dynamic
2. CLASSICAL ORDER c) Radial Symmetry/Balance
3. RENAISSANCE THEORIES - arranged around a central element
4. MODULOR
5. KEN Hierarchy
6. ANTHROPOMETRY
• the arrangement of elements or form according to the importance,
THE GOLDEN SECTION purpose, design or value in a composition.
• hierarchy to visually explain what is most important element or visual
The Golden Section can be defined as the ratio between two sections of a line, or elements are manipulated to have an emphasis, called dominance.
the two dimensions of a plane figure, in which the lesser of the two is to the greater
as the greater is to the sum of both Rhythm

CLASSICAL ORDERS • Rhythm refers to any movement characterized by a patterned

recurrence of elements or motifs at regular or irregular intervals.
The Orders represented in their proportioning of elements the perfect expression of • The simplest form of repetition is a linear pattern of redundant
beauty and harmony. The basic unit of dimension was the diameter of the column. elements.

RENAISSANCE THEORIES Character

• The architects of the Renaissance, believing that their buildings had to • character is the external expression of internal qualities.
belong to a higher order, returned to the Greek mathematical system of • Character defines the elements include the overall shape of the
proportions. building, its materials, craftsmanship, decorative details, interior
• Renaissance Architecture theories places emphasis on symmetry, spaces and features, as well as the various aspects of its site and
proportion, geometry and the regularity of parts environment