PRINCIPLES OF ARCHITECTURE-1

SEMESTER I
LECTURE 2
• This lecture will cover:
–Introduction to Basic Design
–Basic Design and Architectural
Design
–Elements, Principles and
Objectives of Design.
–Design and Creativity

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Introduction to Basic Design

• Design, for the purpose of this course

should be appreciated as any art form or
any artistic activity that results in a
creative product.
• “Basic” art forms should be understood as
art forms ‘different’ from architecture, as
this art form is also known as the mother
of all art forms
– By ‘mother’ it is implied that architecture
encompasses most art forms in elements and
spirit.

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Painting

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Sculpture

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•Music

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DANCE
• Painting, sculpture, music, dance, drama,
literature can be seen as the ‘other’ creative art
forms.
• While anything done creatively, differently,
attractively is art: as in the art of walking, talking,
living; all these activities are also ‘designed’ to
become art forms.
• A day well planned, an attire well chosen, a
dining table laid out excitingly are all “designs”
and need the elements, principles and objectives
of design to be effective.

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Architectural Design and ‘other’
design forms
Architectural design can be seen as an amalgam
of the essence of all other design forms and is
aptly addressed as “mother of all arts”.
While other design forms possess the
theoretical elements of beauty and strength of
expression and the strength of being,
architecture needs to be also functional and
meaningful for human activities.

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It would also be worth
noting that human
beings and all art forms
survive and grow in
architectural creations.
Legislation

Shopping and Recreation

Living 10
Art Public Life

Culture Education 11
Elements, Principles and Objectives.

• Elements are the basic units of anything.

– These can be physical or abstract

• Principles are basic rules or guidelines for any action, idea,

reasoning or thought.
– These are applicable in all aspects of life

• Objectives are things aimed at or an end or the purpose for

which anything is done.
– Normally all acts end in the meeting of an objective.

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Creativity and Design
• Creativity is the process that after intensive mental activity
yields a beautiful and useful act or product. (Not necessarily
“useful” in some art forms)
• Creative people generally have an open mind, capacity for
intensive thinking, flexible mind but are focused and work
towards a target.
• Creative people will also try to do or produce something
new.

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• It must be understood that creativity does not always produce an
original act or product but will of necessity produce something new,
else it would be not creativity but reproduction.
• Normally a new act or product will be the remodeling of what
already exists but is assembled in a new way.
• Building a capacity to see and observe relationships and
interconnection which others do not, is the basis for developing one’s
ability to think creatively.

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• With minor differences, the creative process for
different kinds of a fields is normally quite
similar.
• The design process needs to be appreciated as a
problem solving process - the problem may be of
aesthetics or function- but needs to be
approached understood and resolved in a
systematic manner.
• Initially the designer will need to consciously
follow the systematic design process but
gradually with experience the process will
become a sub conscious methodology.
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• It is imperative that a designer learns to experiment and create a
series of stages that would help in improving and polishing a
resolution of the problem.
• In any field a creative individuals success will be evaluated by the
ability to think anew, to value mistakes, to learn from such mistakes
and use these as experiences for future growth.
• Creativity and design are thus intrinsically related.

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• The effectiveness of the end product of design and creativity
will be borne from the body of knowledge of the designer
and how effectively it is used or the capacity of the designer
to effectively use the existing body of knowledge.

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 Hopefully you are now
comfortable with the words
design, art and creativity.

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Elements of Visual Design
• An object is perceived by the viewers by their five sense
organs – eyes, ears (music), tongue (food), nose
(perfume) and skin (surfaces).
• All man made objects are designed.
• Our concern will, however, be primarily related to visual
perception as that is how we perceive architecture.
• The Elements and Principles of design are the building blocks used
to create a work of art.

• The Elements of design can be thought of as the things that make up

a painting, drawing, design etc.

• Good or bad - all designs will contain most of if not all, the elements
of design.
• An element is one of those most basic visible things. In
science, the elements are on the periodic chart (hydrogen,
iron, oxygen, gold, sulfur, etc.). All the complex chemicals
are simply combinations of these (H2O).
An artistic product is created by a
combination of visual elements. All
that is visible is made up of visual
elements. An element will be a single
entity and can not be called an
element if combined with anything
else.

In reality rarely if ever would an

element exist in isolation. It will be
present as a part of a combination of
elements.

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 DOT

LINE

SHAPE
FORM

COLOUR

TEXTURE

DIRECTION

MOVEMENT

DIMENSION

SCALE
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Elements of Design

• Visual composition starts with the basic elements: dot, line,

shape, color and texture and subsequently the extended
aspects of direction, movement, dimension and scale.
DOT
• The Dot is the simplest irreducible
minimum unit of visual
communication.
• Any dot has strong visual power to
attract the eye wherever it exists
naturally or is placed by artists in
response to a purpose.
• Dots connect, and therefore are
capable of leading the eye.
• In great profusion and juxtaposed,
dots create the illusion of tone or
color.
 POINT

.It has no length, width and depth and is therefore static,

centralized and directionless.

• It indicates position in space

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 DOT
• It begins to begin its presence felt when placed within
visual field
• At the centre of its environment, a dot is stable and at
rest, organizing surrounding elements about itself and
dominating its field.

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 DOT

• When the dot is moved off centre its field becomes more
aggressive and begins to compete for visual supremacy.
• Visual tension is created between the dot and its field.

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 DOT
• Any dot has strong
visual power to attract
the eye wherever it exists
naturally or is placed by
artists in response to a
purpose.
• Dot connect, and
therefore are capable of
leading the eye.
• In great profusion and
juxtaposed, dot create the
illusion of tone or color.

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Pointillism is a technique of painting in which a lot of tiny dots are
combined to form a picture.
Optical mixing

A pointillist impressionist painting by Seurat – a French painter.

Boats on lake
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Artists have taken the advantage of the qualities of points to create beautiful
paintings – as these in a large number create tones.
 Line
• A dot extended becomes a line.
• When points are so close to one another that they cannot be
individually recognized the sensation of direction is increased
and the chain of dots become a distinctive Line.
• Paul Klee, the Swiss Expressionist painter, described a line as a
dot out for walk.

• Although line has one dimension but it has some degree of thickness
to become visible.
• It is seen as line because it’s length dominates it’s thickness.

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Line
• Line can also be seen as a mark on a surface that describes a shape
or outline.

Describe the edges of and give shape to planes

• A line can also be seen as a form that has length and width but no
depth. Lines are used to create edges and outlines of objects but by
themselves can also be suggestive of visual expression. A line is
created by the movement of a pen, pencil or brush.

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• It can create texture and can be thick and thin. Types of line can
include actual, implied, vertical, horizontal, diagonal and contour
lines.

Articulate the surfaces of plane

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 PATTERNS

A line can define the outside

contours of a shape, multiple
lines can create value
repeated lines can produce
patterns.

VALUE

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Line
• A line is the critical element in formation of any visual
construction.
• It can serve to:

Join, link, support, surround or intersect other visual elements

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A line can be

•Taut or limp
•Bold or tentative
•Graceful or ragged

The character of a line is determined by our perception of it’s

length-width ratio, contour and degree of continuity.
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The orientation of a line affects its role in visual construction.

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• A line can be: Stable, placid, Represents
dignity, formality and
strength.

Regressive

Unstable, restless,
ambitious- calm, peace action, activity,
and relaxation. excitement and
movement.

Progressive

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•Lines represent order and give the eye explicit directions about
where to look and how to interpret what it sees.
•Lines can be straight or curved.
•Lines can be thick and thin.
•Just straight lines can be expressive by their direction.
•Horizontal – stability
•Vertical – ambition
•Angular - direction
•Combination of lines can generate discernable or suggestive
shapes.
•Lines can make a statement by their direction

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Even the simple repetition of like or similar elements, if
continuous enough can be regarded as line.

This type of line has significant textural qualities.

Visual lines and implied lines.

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Characteristic of Line: Line has direction

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• Line defines the position and direction of the design. If you have
lines or shapes that seem to be running horizontally, then the
design would seem like it's running in a left and right line.
• Make sure your design identifies some sort of line so that the
human eye can recognize which side is the top of the design or
on which side the design is suppose to start with interest.

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VERTICALITY
HORIZONTALITY

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DIAGONAL

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VERTICAL
HORIZONTAL
DIAGONAL
Lines are basic to all of the visual arts. Drawing is more
or less based on using lines. 4
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• The odd thing about lines is that they do not occur in nature.
• Line in art is an artificial device that we have learned to interpret as
representing something. You have learned to read drawings with lines since
childhood. The usual meaning of a line is that it represents an edge. 4
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Tips on using lines:

• Decide which part of your display is the most important,

and direct attention to it by judicious use of line.
• Do not scatter lines about at random.
• Remember that margins are an invisible line.
• Attention to line does not mean that all elements in the
design have to be lined up.

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 Light and dark lines

Straight lines at random

A combination of straight lines can convey different feelings.

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Monochromatic parallel Multi-chromatic parallel
thick lines thick lines

Feel the difference

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Straight lines can be modulated to create optical illusions
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A few lines can generate associative mental images. Here,
however, the line by itself loses its intrinsic meaning, as the
‘shape’ becomes more prominent.

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• By now you would have understood the strength
and value of lines in design.
• Remember all your future work will be based on
your appreciation of this element.
• Each line that you draw will have a meaning.
• So, do not waste or misuse this powerful element of
visual design.

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Life…..L…..I……N…….E…….

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Assignment-2
• What are elements of design and describe their
importance in design. Discuss with examples.

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