ELEMENTS & PRINCIPLES OF

ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN

INTRODUCTION TO
ARCHITECTURAL DRAWINGS
VISUAL DESIGN ELEMENTS
Six integral components used in the creation of a
design:

Line Space

Color Texture

Form and Value

Shape
LINE TYPES
Vertical – represents dignity, formality,
stability, and strength

Horizontal – represents calm, peace, and

relaxation

Diagonal – represents action, activity,

excitement, and movement
Curved – represents freedom, the natural,
having the appearance of softness, and
creates a soothing feeling or mood
VERTICAL LINE

Manila Post Office

The Empire State AT&T Long Lines

Building Building
HORIZONTAL LINE

Robie House Building in Osaka,

Japan

Wangjing SOHO
DIAGONAL LINE

Pyramids of Louvre, France HARPA Concert Hall, Iceland

Leaning House
CURVED LINE

Heydar Aliyev Centre

St. Mary Axe Building

Cloud House
COLOR
Color is broken down white light. It is a dissection of light
at different wavelengths and each wavelength is perceived
as a separate color.
Warm Colors
Reds, oranges, yellows
Cool Colors
Blues, purples, greens

Color has an immediate and profound effect on a design. It

can affect how humans feel and act.
PSYCHOLOGY OF COLORS
Red
• Associated with energy, war, danger, strength, power,
determination as we ll as passion, desire, and love.
• Enhances human metabolism, increases respiration
rate, and raises blood pressure.
• It attracts attention more than any other color, at times
signifying danger.

Orange
• Combines the energy of red and the happiness of yellow.
• Associated with joy, sunshine, and the tropics.
• Represents enthusiasm, fascination, happiness, creativity,
determination, attraction, success,
encouragement, and stimulation.
PSYCHOLOGY OF COLORS
Yellow
• Associated with joy, happiness, intellect, and energy.
• Produces a warming effect, arouses cheerfulness, stimulates mental
activity, and generates
muscle energy.
• Bright, pure yellow is an attention getter, which is the reason taxicabs
are painted this color.
• When overused, yellow may have a disturbing effect.
• It is known that babies cry more in yellow rooms.
• Yellow indicates honor and loyalty. Later the meaning of yellow was
connected with cowardice.
PSYCHOLOGY OF COLORS
Green
• Color of nature. It symbolizes growth, harmony,
freshness, and fertility.
• Strong emotional correspondence with safety.
• Dark green is also commonly associated with money.
• Has great healing power.
• Green suggests stability and endurance.
• Color of the sea. It is often associated with depth and
stability.
• Symbolizes trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence,
intelligence, faith, truth, and heaven.
• Considered beneficial to the mind and body.
• Slows human metabolism and produces a calming
effect.
• Strongly associated with tranquility and calmness.
• Used to symbolize piety and sincerity.
PSYCHOLOGY OF COLORS
Purple
• Combines the stability of blue and the
energy of red.
• Associated with royalty. It symbolizes
• power, nobility, luxury, and ambition.
• Conveys wealth and extravagance.
• Associated with wisdom, dignity, independence, creativity, mystery,
and magic.
White
• Associated with light, goodness, innocence, purity, and virginity.
• Considered to be the color of perfection.
• Signifies safety, purity, and cleanliness.
• Usually has a positive connotation.
• Can represent a successful beginning.
• Depicts faith and purity.
PSYCHOLOGY OF COLORS
Black
• Associated with power, elegance, formality, death, evil, and mystery.
• A mysterious color associated with fear and the unknown (black
holes).
• Usually has a negative connotation (blacklist, black humor, ‘black
death’).
• Denotes strength and authority; it is considered to be a very formal,
elegant, and prestigious color.
• The symbol of grief.
FORM & SHAPE
Form (3D) - The
shape and structure
of something as
distinguished from its
substance or
material.

Shape (2D) - The

two-dimensional
contour that
characterizes an
object or area.
FORM & SHAPE
©iStockphoto.com

Microsoft Office clipart

Marie-Elisabeth-Lüders-Haus, Berlin, Germany

Oriental Pearl Tower Shanghai

SPACE
The incorporation of space in design can enlarge or
reduce the visual space.

Type 3:
Unused vs.
good use of
space

Type 1: Open, uncluttered spaces

Type 2: Cramped, busy spaces

TEXTURE
The surface look or feel of something.
Smooth Surface – Reflects more light and
therefore is a more intense color.
Rough Surface – Absorbs more light and
therefore appears darker.
VALUE
The relative lightness or darkness of a color.
Methods:
Shade – Degree of darkness of a color
Tint – A pale or faint variation of a color
PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN
- describe the ways an artist uses different elements of
design in a composition

• Balance
• Rhythm
• Emphasis
• Contrast
• Movement
• Harmony
• Proportion and Scale
BALANCE
It pertains to the concept of visual equilibrium and
relates to our physical sense of balance. A visually
stable composition results from a reconciliation of
opposing forces. The visual weight created by size,
color, texture and number of objects are considered to
achieve balance.

Balance can be achieved in one of two ways:

Symmetrical or Asymmetrical
BALANCE
Symmetrical or Formal balance – having equal weight
on equal sides of a centrally placed fulcrum.

Bilateral symmetry

Radial Balance

Inverted symmetry
BALANCE
Asymmetrical or Informal balance – involves the
placement of objects in a way that will allow objects of
varying visual weight to balance one another around a
central point. There are no mirror images in the
composition.
BALANCE
Balance can be
established
through:
Texture
Color
Shape
Space
RHYTHM
It pertains to visual tempo or beat
which is achieved by the regular
repetition of elements to produce
the look and feel of movement.

In architecture, the repetitive use of

a group of visual elements should
at least be three times to establish a
recognizable pattern.
RHYTHM BY REPETITION
Rhythm created by duplicating
shapes, colors, patterns, lines or
textures.
RHYTHM BY GRADATION
Rhythm created by a gradual
change in size or color.
RHYTHM BY RADIATION
Rhythm created by identical
objects coming from a
central axis.
RHYTHM BY OPPOSITION
Rhythm created by direct
placement of lines, shapes
or colors to create
opposition through abrupt
visual change.
RHYTHM BY TRANSITION
Rhythm created by curved lines that carry your eye
across a straight surface.
EMPHASIS
Creating a focal point in a design composition – how
attention is brought to what is important.
It is the feature that command attention and makes a
design visually interesting.
EMPHASIS
How to create emphasis?
• Make it bolder
• Make it brighter
• Change the style
• Add special visual effects
• Add a border or frame
• Add more negative or positive
space
• Add shadow or lights
The point of emphasis
• Change the color
should command
• Change the position
attention but not
• Create focal points dominate.
CONTRAST
It refers to the difference between elements or subjects
within a work of art or composition. It can be created
through variety within the elements of art and can be
used to create a focal point or area of interest in an
artwork. It is closely related with variety.
Color, texture, size and shape, and space
can be used to establish contrast.
MOVEMENT
It refers to the visual flow or path that you intend your
viewer’s eyes to follow. It can be created by
purposefully placing elements in a way that creates a
path for the eye to follow.
HARMONY
It means all parts of the visual image relate to and
complement each other. Harmony pulls the pieces of a
visual image together and can be achieved through
repetition and rhythm.
2 Types of Harmony: Unity and Variety
PROPORTION & SCALE
Scale refers to the size of an object in relationship to
another object. It relates to the size of a design in
relation to the height and width of the area in which it is
placed.
Relates to the actual and relative size and visual weight
of the design and its components.
PROPORTION & SCALE
GROUP ASSIGNMENT:
Form 7 groups of 5 members. Each group will
be assigned a particular building within the
HAU Campus. Take photos of the assigned
building and assess which elements and
principles of design were applied.
On bond paper/s, discuss your assessment
using both photos and texts. Use the same
margin specifications but in portrait
orientation. The title block should be 1 inch
high from the bottom border line.
GROUP ASSIGNMENT:
Group 1: Main Building
Group 2: SFJ or Library Building
Group 3: PGN Building
Group 4: SJH Building
Group 5: APS Building
Group 6: Chapel
Group 7: IH Gym
GROUP ASSIGNMENT:
The Holy Rosary Parish
Church

CL
ARCHITECTURAL DRAWINGS
Architectural drawings are a way of representing a
three-dimensional space on a flat piece of paper. They
are essential to the design process by representing the
space available to design within, displaying how the
space will look like before and after construction, and
giving you framework on how to construct it.

Architectural drawings play a vital role in architectural

design and it is important to have an understanding of
the various types.
ARCHITECTURAL DRAWINGS
Architectural Plan
– the most basic
architectural
drawing. It is a type
of “cut” through the
walls of a space,
generally 1.20
meters above the
floor, showing the
view of the floor
and the related
rooms from above.
ARCHITECTURAL DRAWINGS
Before actually drawing architectural plans, it is a good
idea to create simple architectural bubble diagrams for
the floor plans. This will allow the designer to play around
with the locations of rooms and how they interact with one
another.

A bubble diagram is a freehand diagrammatic drawing

used for space planning and organization at the
preliminary phase of the design process.
ARCHITECTURAL DRAWINGS
Before actually drawing architectural plans, it is a good
idea to create simple architectural bubble diagrams for
the floor plans. This allows the designer to play around with
the locations of rooms and how they interact with one
another.

A bubble diagram (or adjacency

diagram) is a freehand diagrammatic
drawing used for space planning
and organization at the preliminary
phase of the design process.
BUBBLE DIAGRAMS

Bubble Diagram for a House

BUBBLE DIAGRAMS

Bubble Diagram for a Garden Bubble Diagram for a House

BUBBLE DIAGRAMS

Bubble Diagram for a House

BUBBLE DIAGRAMS

Bubble Diagram for a House