Lecture – 04, 05 & 06

ELEMENTS OF DESIGN

•The elements of Design are its alphabets.

•In itself a square, circle etc has no meaning unless it is in a composition.

•All these forms speak a language in that composition.

•Each artwork has its own specialty, the expression which can be created in the
music, cannot be created in literature.

•Each artwork has its own elements to create its expression.

The Primary Elements of form are:

❑ Point
❑ Line
❑ Plane
❑ Volume

❑ Space
❑ Direction
❑ Shape
❑ Size
❑ Texture
❑ Value
❑ Color, etc.
POINT:

•A point marks a position in a space.

•Conceptually, it has no length, width or depth.
•And thus it is static, directionless and centralized.

A point can serve to mark:

❑The two ends of a line

❑The intersection of two lines.

❑The meeting of lines at the corner.

❑The center of a field.

POINT:

• At the center of its environment, a

point is stable, at rest, organizing
surrounding elements and dominating
its field.

•When moved off centered, its field

becomes aggressive, a visual tension is
created between the point and its field.
LINE:

A point extended becomes a line, with

properties,

❑Length
❑Direction
❑Position.

•Conceptually a line has length but no

width or depth.

•It is capable of visually expressing

direction, movement and growth.

•A line is an important element in the

formation of any visual construction.
It can serve to:

•Join, link, support, surround or intersect

other visual elements.

•Describe the edges of and give shapes to

planes.

•Articulate the surface of planes.

• Vertical line can express a state
of equilibrium with the force of
gravity.

• Horizontal line can represent

stability, the ground plane, the
horizon, or a body at rest.

• An oblique line is a the vertical or

horizontal.

• Vertical line falling or a horizontal

line rising.

• It is dynamic and visually

active in its unbalanced state.
• Vertical linear elements, such as columns,
obelisks, and towers used to commemorate
significant events and establish particular
points in space.

• Vertical linear elements can define a

transparent volume of space.
• Express movement across space
• Provide support for an overhead
plane
• Form a three-dimensional
structural frame for architectural
space
• At a smaller scale, lines articulate the edges
and surfaces of planes and volumes.
• Curved lines do vary in meaning……fluidity, flexibility, smoothness, so on

• Soft, shallow curves suggest comfort, safety, familiarity, relaxation.

LINEAR ELEMENTS
DEFINING PLANE:
A line extended (in a direction other
than its intrinsic direction) becomes a
plane, with properties of

• Length and width

• Shape
• Surface
• Orientation
• Position.

• Two parallel lines have the ability to

visually describe a plane.

• A series of parallel lines, through their

repetitiveness, reinforces our
perception of the plane they describe.
• A row of columns supporting is often
used to define the face or facade of a
building.

• A colonnaded facade can offers a

degree of shelter from the elements
• The linear members can provide a
moderate degree of definition and
enclosure for outdoor spaces.

• Vertical and horizontal linear elements

together can define a volume of space.

• The form of the volume is determined

solely by the configuration of the linear
elements.
PLANE:
• Conceptually plane has length and width but no depth.

• Shape is the primary identifying characteristic of a plane.

• The supplementary properties of a plane—its surface color,

pattern, and texture—affect it visual weight and stability.
• In the formation of a visual construction, a plane serves to
define the limits or boundaries of a volume.

• Since architecture, as a visual art, deals specially with the

formation of three-dimensional volumes of forms and space,
the plane becomes key element in the vocabulary of
architectural design.
In architectural design, we manipulate three generic types of planes:

Overhead Plane:
The overhead plane can be either the roof plane that spans and shelters
the interior spaces of a building from the climatic elements, or the ceiling
plane that forms the upper enclosing surface of a room.

Wall Plane:
The wall plane, because of its vertical orientation, is active in our normal
field of vision and vital to the shaping and enclosure of architectural space.

Base Plane:
The base plane can be either the ground plane that serves as the physical
foundation and visual base for building forms, or the floor plane that forms
the lower enclosing surface of a room upon which we walk.
Dolmen, a prehistoric monument Robie House, Chicago,

Schröder House, Utrecht, 1924–25,

Gerrit Thomas Rietveld.
Falling water (Kaufmann House),
Pennsylvania ,1936–37, Frank Lloyd Wright
VOLUME:

A plane extended (in a direction other than

its intrinsic direction) becomes a volume,
with properties of,

❑Length, width, depth

❑Form/ space
❑Surface
❑Orientation
❑Position.
VOLUME:
•Conceptually a volume has three dimensions, length, width, and depth.
•All volumes cab be analyzed and understood to consist of:

Points (vertices), where several planes come together.

Lines (edges), where two planes meet.

Planes (surfaces), the limits or boundaries of a volume.

•Form is the primary identifying characteristic of a

volume. It is determined by shapes and interrelation
ships of planes.

•As the three dimensional element in the vocabulary of

architectural design, a volume can be either solid (space
displayed by mass) or void (space contained or secured
by planes.
• Architectural form is the point of
contact between mass and space …
Architectural forms, textures, materials,
modulation of light and shade, color, all
combine to inject a quality or spirit that
articulates space.

• The quality of the architecture will be

determined by the skill of the designer
in using and relating these elements,
both in the interior spaces and in the
spaces around buildings.
Shape The characteristic outline or
surface configuration of a particular
form. Shape is the principal aspect by
which we identify and categorize forms.

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.

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.

Texture The visual and 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.
SPACE:

•Form and space are inseparable.

•We create form to create space.

Form
•In modern architectural concept, creation
of form is secondary and creation of space
with the help of forms is more important.

Space
SPACE:

•A space may be defined by two

types of element of form:

a) Horizontal
b) Vertical.

•Architecture deals with three

dimensional volumes. So the spaces
within the volumes or the spaces
enclosed by the volumes, both are
very much emphasized by the
architects of modern concept.
SHAPE:

•Shape is the principle identifying characteristic of form.

•Shape results from the specific configuration of a form’s surface and edges.

•From geometry, the regular shapes are, the circle and the infinite series of
regular (having equal sides meeting at equal angles) polygons that can be
inscribed within it.

•But the most significant are the primary shapes:

❑ The Circle
❑ The Triangle
❑ The Square.
PRIMARY SHAPES

The Circle:
A series of points arranged
equally and balanced about a
point.

The Triangle:
A plane figure bonded by the
three equal side and having three
equal angles.

The Square:
A plane figure having four equal
sides and four right angles.
 PRIMARY SHAPES:
Circle

neutral stable unstable equilibrium

stable self-centered dynamic fixed in place

• The circle is a centralized, introverted figure that is

normally stable and self-centering in its environment.

• Placing a circle in the center of a field reinforces its

inherent centrality.

• Associating it with straight or angular forms or

placing an element along its circumference, however,
can induce in the circle an apparent rotary motion.

Compositions of circles and circular segments

Plan of the Ideal City of Sforzinda, 1464,
Antonio Filarete

Roman Theater
PRIMARY SHAPES:
Triangle

• The triangle signifies stability. When resting on one of its

sides, the triangle is an extremely stable figure.

• When tipped to stand on one of its vertices, however, it can

either be balanced in a precarious state of equilibrium or
be unstable and tend to fall over onto one of its sides.
 Modern Art Museum, Caracas,
Venezuela, 1955, Oscar Niemeyer

Great Pyramid of Cheops at Giza,

Egypt, c. 2500 B.C.
PRIMARY SHAPES:
Square

Compositions resulting from the rotation and modification

of the square

• The square represents the pure and the rational.

• It is a bilaterally symmetrical figure having two equal

and perpendicular axes.

• The square is stable when resting on one of its sides

and dynamic when standing on one of its corners.

• When its diagonals are vertical and horizontal, however,

the square exists in a balanced state of equilibrium.
 Bathhouse, Jewish Community Center,
Trenton, New Jersey, 1954–59, Louis Kahn

Agora of Ephesus, Asia Minor,

3rd century B. C.
PRIMARY SOLIDS
Platonic Solids:
Primary shapes extended or rotated to generate volumes which are distinct,
regular, and easily recognizable are referred to as the platonic solids.

Sphere:

• A solid generated by the revolution of a

semicircle about its diameter, whose surface
is at all points equidistant from the center.

• A sphere is a centralized and highly

concentrated form.

• Like the circle from which it is generated, it is

self centering and normally stable in its
environment.

• It can be inclined toward a rotary motion

when placed on a sloping plane.
Cylinder :

• A solid generated by the revolution of a rectangle

about one of its sides.

• A cylinder is centralized about the axis passing

through the centers of its two circular faces.

• The cylinder is stable if it rests on one of its

circular faces; it becomes unstable when its
central axis is inclined from the vertical.
Cone:

• A solid generated by the revolution of a right

triangle about one of its sides.

• The cone is a highly stable form when resting

on its circular base, and unstable when its
vertical axis is tipped or overturned.

• It can also rest on its apex in a precarious

state of balance.

Pyramid:

• A polyhedron having a polygonal base and

triangular faces meeting at a common point or
vertex.

• The pyramid can rest in a stable manner on

any of its faces.

• While the cone is a soft form, the pyramid is

relatively hard and angular.
Cube:

• A prismatic solid bounded by six equal

square sides, the angle between any two
adjacent faces being a right angle.

• Because of the equality of its

dimensions, the cube is a static form that
lacks apparent movement or direction.

• It is a stable form except when it stands

on one of its edges or corners.

• Even though its angular profile is affected

by our point of view, the cube remains a
highly recognizable form.
SIZE:

•The real dimensions of form.

•The length, width and depth of a form.

•The dimensions determine proportion of a

form and its scale is determined by its size
relative to other form in its context.
TEXTURE:

•Surface characteristics of a substance or form

•Texture affects both the tactile and light reflective qualities of a form’s
surface.
•Texture is determined by the size of the constituent parts of any substance.
•Course surface generally exhibits strong tonal contrast.
•Finely textured smooth surface appears some what glossy.
Color:
•Value denotes tonal quality
•A visual effect produced by varying intensities of illumination, determined
by the amount of light absorbed or reflected by a particular substance.

❑Pure Black --------------- total absorption of light.

❑Pure white --------------- total reflection of light.