Basic design for first year design students.

1. Basic Design
AMBO UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE AND URBAN PLANNING
Urban Planning I
Wogen Taye_ tayeinnovative@gmail.com

2. Content
Proportion and scale
Proportioning system
Theory of proportion
Principles
Ordering principle
Axis
Datum

3. Proportion

4. Proportion
The creative use of color, texture, pattern, and furniture arrangement
can create proportioned space.

5. Proportion
The intent of all theories of proportion is to create a sense of order and harmony among the
elements of visual construction.

6. Proportion
In truth, our perception of the physical dimensions of
architecture, of proportion and scale, is imprecise.
It is distorted by the foreshortening of perspective and
distance, and by cultural biases and thus difficult to control and
predict in an objective and precise manner.

7. Proportion systems
Material proportion
Manufactured proportion
Structural proportion
Proportion systems go beyond the functional and technical determinants of architectural form
and space to provide an aesthetic rationale for their dimension.

8. Proportion, Structural
Structural proportion
The proportions of other structural elements, as bearing walls, floor and roof slabs, vaults and
domes, also gives us visual clues to their role in a structural system as well as the nature of
material.

9. Proportion, Structural
Structural proportion
As structure depends less on the weight and stiffness of a material
and more on its geometry for stability, as in the case of a membrane
structure or space frame, its elements will get thinner and thinner
until they lose their ability to give space scale and dimension.

10. Proportion, Structural
Structural proportion
A masonry wall, being strong in compression but relatively weak in bending, will be thicker than
a reinforced concrete wall doing the same work.

11. Theories of proportion
Golden Section
 Classical orders
Renaissance theories
 Modular
Ken
Anthropometry
Scale

12. Golden Section
Mathematical systems of proportion originate from the Pythagorean concept of “all is number”
and the belief that certain numerical relationships manifest the harmonic structure of the
universe.
 Golden section can be defined as the ratio= between two sections of a line, or the two
dimensions of a plane figure, in which the lesser of the two is the grater to the sum of both.
It can be expressed algebraically by the equation:
A/B=B/(A+B)
Fibonacci Series:1,1,2,3,5,8,13

13. Golden Section

14. Classical orders

15. Renaissance theories

16. Modular

17. Ken

18. Anthropometry

19. Scale
Of particular interest to designers is the notion of visual scale, which refer not to the actual
dimensions of things, but rather to how small or large something appears to be in relation to its
normal size or to the size of other things in its contexts.

20. Scale, Small scale
Small scale, when we say something is small-scale or miniature, we usually mean that things
appears to be smaller than its usual size. Large scale is perceived as being larger than what is
normal or expected.

21. Scale, Urban scale
Urban scale, when we refer to the size of the project in the context of city, or neighborhood
scale when we judge a building appropriate to its locale with in a city, or street scale when we
note the relative sizes of elements fronting road way.
,

22. Scale, Scale of building
Building have certain size. Its dimensions may predetermined by the manufacture or they may
be selected by the designer from range of choices. Nevertheless, we perceive the size of each
element in relation to the other parts or the whole of a composition,

23. Scale, Human scale
Human scale in architecture is based on the dimensions and proportions of the human body

24. What is the difference between
proportion and scale?

25. What is the difference between
proportion and scale?
While proportion pertains to and ordered set of mathematical relationships among the
dimensions of form or space.
Scale refers to how we perceive or judge the size of something in relation to something else.
In dealing with the issue of scale, therefore, we are always comparing one thing to another.
In drawing, we use a scale to specify the ration that determines the relationships between an
illustration to that which it represent. For example, the scale of an architectural drawing notes
the size of a depicted building in comparison to the relating.

26. Axis
A line established by two points in space about which forms and spaces can be arranged in
symmetrical or balanced manner.

27. Axis
A line established by two points in space about which forms and spaces can be arranged in
symmetrical or balanced manner.

28. Axis
The terminating elements of an axis serve to both send and receive its visual
thrust.
These culminating elements can be any of the following.
 POINTS IN SPACE ,established by vertical, linear elements or centralized
buildings forms.
VERTICAL PLANES, such as symmetrical buildings facades or fronts ,
preceded by a forecourt or similar open space.
WELL-DEFINED SPACES, generally centralized or regular in form
GATEWAYS that open outward toward a view or vista beyond.

29. Axis, POINTS IN SPACE
POINTS IN SPACE ,established by vertical, linear elements or centralized buildings forms.

30. Axis, VERTICAL PLANES
VERTICAL PLANES, such as symmetrical buildings facades or
fronts , preceded by a forecourt or similar open space.

31. Axis, WELL-DEFINED SPACES
WELL-DEFINED SPACES, generally centralized or regular in
form

32. Axis, GATEWAYS
GATEWAYS that open outward toward a view or vista beyond.

33. Axis

34. Axis

35. Axis

36. Datum
A line, plane or volume that, by its continuity and regularity, serves to gather, measure and
organize pattern of forms and spaces.

37. Datum
A datum refers to a line, plane, or volume of reference to which other elements in a composition
can related. It organizes random pattern of elements through its regularity, continuity, and
constant presence.

38. Datum
Fro example, the lines of a musical staffer serves as a datum in providing the visual basis for
reading notes and the relative pitches of their tones.

39. Datum
The regularity of their spacing and their continuity organizes, clarifies and accentuates the
differences between the series of notes in a musical composition.

40. Datum
A datum, however, need not be a straight line. It can also be planner or volumetric in form.

41. Datum
A datum, however, need not be a straight line. It can also be planner or volumetric in form.

42. Datum
A datum, however, need not be a straight line. It can also be planner or volumetric in form.

43. Datum
To be an effective ordering advice, a linear datum must have sufficient visual continuity to cut
through or bypass of all elements being organized.

44. Datum, Line
Given a random organization of dissimilar elements, a datum can organize the elements in the
following ways.
A line can cut through or form a common edge for the pattern., while a grid of lines can form a
neutral, unifying field for the pattern.

45. Datum, Plane
A plane can gather the pattern of elements beneath it or serve as encompassing background for
the elements and frame them in the field

46. Datum, Plane
Given a random organization of dissimilar elements, a datum can organize the elements in the
following ways.

47. Datum, Volume
A volume can collect the pattern of elements within its boundaries or organize them along its
perimeter.

48. Datum

49. Datum

50. Thank You!