FEU-IARFA / 2018 Second Semester

Design 02 Notes
Architectural Interiors Notes

Prelim Notes 01: Architectural Design Concepts Architecture concepts list

In short the 21 concept ideas are:

Reference Article – Credits to
 Typography
the Author / Publisher:  Vernacular
 Historic
https://www.archisoup.com/arch  Form & Volume
itectural-concept-ideas  Physical Features
 Views
 Public & Private
 Accommodation
How to come up with an architectural concept  Use
 Mass
Creating and developing architectural concepts is
something a lot of students and indeed many  Journey & Movement
architects struggle with. This may be due to project
 Adding & Subtracting
pressures, writers block, limited inspiration, or just the
fact that for many students their architecture schools  Materials
particularly in the first couple of years, don’t teach and  Atmosphere
stress the importance of them.  Grid
 Culture & Society
As we discuss here in “How to develop an  Protection & Shelter
architecture concept”, the best conceptual  Structure and Technology
approaches should always aim to provide the  Users
backbone and foundation to a new project, and form
 Light
part of the initial process as much as your site
 Orientation
analysis should do.

Types of Architecture Concepts…

There are many methods of coming up with a
concept, and by following the process’s described in
the above articles, they can be derived from almost
anything; personal experiences and influences,
emotions, perceptions, research, analysis …there are
many
Here we provide a list of 21 concept ideas that can be
used as starting points for your conceptual
development and help steer you in the right direction
as your project develops. Note though, that to create
a meaningful approach these listed ideas must be tied
back to your own thought processes, interpretations
and analysis, in order for them to be bespoke to your
project …there is not a one size fits all.
Typography
The typography of your site can be used to develop
many different conceptual approaches such as the
environment the building provides (shelter /
exposure), its structural approach (cantilevering /
subterranean), how it is perceived (public / private),
and how it utilises its context (views / features).
For example, a steep site calls for a strong structural
concept from the outset, whereas a flat site may want
to address its exposure and how the building interacts
with its north, east, south and west facing aspects.

Following each description we provide a Pinterest link Concept Examples:

to a list of examples that demonstrate how each
concept can be used in a real world scenario, or how https://www.pinterest.co.uk/archisoup/typography-
it can be explained through concept sketches and architectural-concepts/
models.

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FEU-IARFA / 2018 Second Semester
Design 02 Notes
Architectural Interiors Notes
Vernacular
Buildings need to relate to their context and if your
site has a moderate to strong vernacular, then based
on the research from your site analysis; this can be
used to your advantage during your conceptual
development.
For example a strong pitched roof typology, can lead
to study of how to adapt and push its form forward.
Take The Dune House by Norwegian
Architects Jarmund/Vigsnæs, one simple sketch
quickly explains their concept and demonstrates how
it is rooted back to the site.
Concept Examples:
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/archisoup/vernacular-
architectural-concepts/
Form & Volume
You may want to start with a simple form and volume
study, where you can experiment and study into how
to manipulate positive and negative spaces. An
excellent set of books that explains this very method
is the Spacial verbs series listed here and featured at
the end of this article.
It’s worth noting however that this method will not be
enough to successfully create and ground a
meaningful architectural proposal, and should be
accompanied with at least one other approach.
Concept Examples:
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/archisoup/form-
architectural-concepts/
Historic
Using the historical research of your site and its
surrounding context can open many types of various
avenues to use and explore. Every site has a history
and quite often a story to tell that perhaps leads into
an investigation into how to modernise past
construction techniques or how a new housing project
should be master planned based its towns original
plan.
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Connecting and using past influences and methods
will severely strengthen your conceptual approach.
Concept Examples:
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/archisoup/historic-
architectural-concepts/
Physical Features
Physical features generally refers to the site elements,
such as water bodies, trees, vegetation, rock
formations, manmade structures etc.
Take 6a’s architects “tree House’ project that uses the
sites natural elements (in this instance a tree) to
inform and shape the proposed building, or Carmody
Groakes Burgh Island house and Adalberto Libera’s
Casa Malaparte that both use their sites coastal cliffs
to support themselves.
Further Examples here:
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/archisoup/site-specific-
architectural-concepts/
Views
Utilising the views from your site can help to define
and shape your building in levels of importance and
priority. Key spaces will want to take advantage of
them and utilitarian areas should be set aside.
Equally, if your site does not have views out, then you
will need to create views in, and start to build a
concept based on internal views.
Where there are views however you may also want to
draw site lines out and across your site to create a
lattice like diagram that may lead to the grid concept
described below, or simply further exploration.
Additionally, your concept could be based around how
and where the views are revealed, and how your
building opens up to them.
Concept Examples:
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/archisoup/view-
architectural-concepts/
FEU-IARFA / 2018 Second Semester
Design 02 Notes
Architectural Interiors Notes
Public & Private
Through your site analysis you should be able to
quickly establish were the public and private areas
are, and depending on the building type and the
nature of your context, establishing this concept early
on can be a great project driver.
For example in an urban context, the private spaces
may need to provide a complete detachment from its
soundings to create its own micro environment.
However within a rural setting the private spaces
could still have a strong connection to their
surroundings but be set away from the public areas.
An excellent example of this is OMA’s Maggie Centre
in the heart of Glasgow
https://www.maggiescentres.org/our-centres/maggies-
glasgow/architecture-and-design/
A few more here also:
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/archisoup/public-private-
architectural-concepts/
Accommodation
Taking the design briefs specified accommodation
and mapping it out to represent separate squares and
rectangles to the required floor areas, can help to
develop and visualise the spaces that should be
connected, separated or be within close proximity to
one another.
This can create a spacial concept where the areas are
arranged in order of use, requirement, orientation,
views, shelter, served and servant, public and private
etc
Use
This is very similar to the above, where the
arrangement of your buildings spaces and
accommodation are based purely on their category,
and how the user will interact within that space as
they enter and move through it.
Supermarkets for example are purely based on this
strategy where the fruit and vegetables are always
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found at the front of the store. This is a conscious
decision to provide your brain with the impression that
you’re entering a natural and fresh environment …a
pleasant oasis apart from the rest of your working
day, this then sets you upon your journey throughout
the rest of the store.
The same can be said for museums and art galleries
where the user is purposely guided through the
building and exhibition spaces.
Mass
Using massing to form a conceptual approach is
essentially taking the planned areas you may have
created for an accommodation study and extruding
them into 3D forms for arrangement.
A simple example of this might be Bjarke Ingles'
LEGO
House https://www.designboom.com/architecture/lego
-house-bjarke-ingels-group-big-museum-billund-
denmark-09-28-2017/
Further examples of this concept here:
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/archisoup/massing-
architectural-concepts/
Journey & Movement
This masterplan proposal by Swedish architects
Jagnefalt Milton for Åndalsnes in Norway, is a really
good example of using journey and movement to
create a concept.
Through site analyse, current, old and disused train
tracks were used as a foundation to create this
sustainable response, where the sizes and weight
limitations of the tracks went onto also help create the
living pods\carriages.
Concept examples:
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/archisoup/movement-
architectural-concepts/
Adding & Subtracting
FEU-IARFA / 2018 Second Semester
Design 02 Notes
Architectural Interiors Notes
For this method you need to start off with a solid
volume that exceeds the requirements set out by the
design brief but also sits comfortably within the given
site. Elements of this mass are then removed and
shaped according to site factors, design brief
requirements, accommodation placements etc.
A good example of this can be found here
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/f9/fb/03/f9fb031d16d8c7
45886d837598a2a1fe.jpg
…and further ones here:
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/archisoup/subtraction-
architectural-concepts/
Materials
The type of materials you propose can be used to
form the foundation of a design concept by utilising
their properties in terms of their type, size and
limitations.
For example a two story building, may have a stone or
masonry base, and then a lighter material could be
used to form the second floor, say timber. The
conceptual strategy is a light object sitting upon a
heavy one, the properties of the materials dictate this
arrangement, as it would not work the opposite way
around.
Similarly the material choices may be a play on the
local vernacular of your site, or the construction
techniques originally used. You can investigate how
these can be modernised and improved upon.
Grid
Site grids can be taken and created from almost
anything, and for this reason they can be incredibly
diverse in their use. The purpose of site grids is to
provide strategic and justified areas and separations
on what could be a completely blank canvas.
Mapping views that pass through or overlook the site,
can help to located areas of exposure or desire. Or
mapping and pulling through the local street
typologies into your site can again divide the site up
and provide a grounded take on the local context.
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Examples:
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/archisoup/grid-based-
architectural-concepts/
Culture & Society
This is largely generated from the design brief and the
use and occupancy of the proposed building. Take a
monastery for example, where the monks living within
and using the building follow very strict rules and day
to day activities. They live extremely simply with
limited possessions, and this instantly starts to map
out and define the proposed spaces.
There is a lot to be said for really scrutinising your
design brief, and breaking it down into its separate
parts.
Protection & Shelter
Stemming from your site analysis, this works
particularly well in exposed areas where the concept
plays with open and closed spaces to create different
environments and experiences. This can be done by
controlling how your building interacts with light,
shadow, wind, rain and general weather patterns.
Equally this method could tie into a public and private
design concept, where the protection and shelter
elements form the required divides.
Atmosphere
Peter Zumphor does this very well and talks about it in
both his two books “Atmospheres”(amazon link) and
“Thinking Architecture” (amazon link).
Playing with atmosphere is about the use and
adaption of light, shadow and space to provide the
buildings users with the experience of feeling and
emotion as they move through and occupy its spaces.
Special attention should be made to orientation and
seasonal variations of your site, where the light and
weather patterns should be mapped in order to
assess how they pass through and over the building.
Concept examples:
FEU-IARFA / 2018 Second Semester
Design 02 Notes
Architectural Interiors Notes

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/archisoup/atmosphere- important, could be located on its northern side and/or

architectural-concepts/ centrally.

Users Equally, this will also assist in the positioning of

openings and outside spaces …the orientation will
Again taken from the design brief and the help to map out and organise the programme.
requirements for the project, Architecture is created
for and around people, and so why shouldn’t they be Concept examples:
used to create a concept. An infant school for
example, needs to provide for very small humans as https://www.pinterest.co.uk/archisoup/orientation-
well as fully grown ones. This often results in single architectural-concepts/
storey zonal planning, with strong connections to the
outdoors. Structure and Technology

Light
Light can used in a number ways to shape, create and
define spaces, however with natural light in particular,
it can only be used once you have (again) carried out
your site analysis. The size, orientation and shape of
your site will help to determine how it can help
conceptually.
For example, a narrow rectangular site may struggle
to bring light into its core, and so this opens up the
option of creating courtyard spaces. Or there may be
a certain period of the day where the light casts a
particular ray or shadow, and the massing of your
building may want to work with or around this.
Concept examples:
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/archisoup/light-shadow-
architectural-concepts/
Knowing how you wish to build your proposal from the
beginning can heavily influence your conceptual
development. This can be an investigation into local
vernacular methods of construction, through to
techniques and technologies that are in the very early
stages of development and not yet widely available.
Equally, structural features such as a large cantilever
or span can also create inspiration, for example
London based architects HAL’s design for a
suspended swimming pool aptly named “sky pool”
calls for a transparent structure free proposal. The
proposal itself is simply a glass rectangle, the magic is
all in how it is suspended.
Concept Example:
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/archisoup/structural-
architectural-concepts/

Orientation

Again established from your site analysis, the Reference Article – Credits to
orientation is key factor to consider in every
architecture project and using it to help define the
the Author / Publisher:
conceptual development of a design project, can
provide vital information for the siting your building https://www.archisoup.com/arch
and accommodation within it.
itectural-concept-ideas
Mapping out how the light enters and affects the site
will provide key information on how the building can
be used and arranged.

For example, in the northern hemisphere with the sun

rising and setting from east to west, a buildings
utilitarian spaces where natural direct light is less

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