Building program diagram architecture how to#
Building program diagram architecture series#

Typology, climate, orientation, views, access, context, history, boundaries, shape, features When looking at your sites characteristics and elements, the below can provide key influences to your concepts development: We have written extensively about the various stages of the site analysis process, and recommend that you start here with our introduction. There are many strands to a well-structured and conceived concept that can make up a singular or group of key principles, however most can be summarized and broken down into just three main categories the Site, Design Brief and Narrative.Ġ1 Site The site in our opinion should always be the initial starting point to any conceptual process, but in order to do this correctly you firstly need to have completed and assessed your analysis of the site. These drive the project forward and are referred to throughout the process and used to help answer questions and make decisions.Ī design concept therefore no matter how large or small is the catalyst for a projects inception and development, its purpose is to represent the heart and core of the scheme by providing the answers and explanations to the questions asked of it.

Building program diagram architecture series#

Its purpose is therefore to provide clarity and a framework to the design process and presentation of a building.Īs explained above, a concept however does not have to be a singular “big idea”, but can also be a series of smaller conceptual scenarios, that could be based on organization, materiality or structure for example. Generally speaking, a weak piece of architecture is a result of an ill-conceived and developed concept. There does not however need to be one singular idea, a building or structure can have many different concepts that guide its individual parts to form the whole.įor example, the materiality maybe based on the local vernacular, or where its structural arrangement may be a response to the land formation.Ī concept is a way of generating and justifying design decisions that are almost always a combination of:Īn excellent example of how a concept works to drive a project forward is the work of Bjarke ingles (BIG), where the strength of his concepts and the explanations behind them have enabled him to explain and justify even the most outlandish of projects, that without their grounding would have never come to fruition.Īs mentioned, architectural design decisions are shaped and defined via their concepts and for this reason architecture is strongly judged on their strength. However, in short the purpose of an architectural concept (also known by the French word parti) is to help generate a response to a given design based scenario, by addressing the projects brief, context, restrictions, issues, use and structural requirements.Īll projects should start with a concept, as it is this that underpins its development and guides the design process. We explain this here and recommend that you read this article in tandem to this one…

So this can be related to a book, car, item of furniture, a phone …absolutely anything, including architecture. They play an important role in all aspects of a subjects understanding. Therefore a concept can be an idea, notion, theory, object, opinion, representation or process that provides the fundamental building blocks to the thoughts and beliefs behind an idea. “An abstract idea / a plan or intention / an idea or invention to help sell or publicize a commodity.” When defining a concept literally, a concept is:

How do you create an architecture conceptīefore we delve into architectural concepts and their development, we should firstly understand what exactly the term concept means, and what it is generally there to do.

Building program diagram architecture how to#

In this post we will look at how to develop an architecture concept and the routes that can be taken to create one, covering:

There are many ways to develop quick off-the-cuff concepts, but generating one with meaning and depth that will help to support the development of your project can be difficult, and whilst there is a process we believe can be followed (outlined below), it does take invested time, research and development. As it is due to this importance, that a concepts substance and meaning is often the first aspect of a building to be scrutinized, and can therefore be held responsible for whether a scheme is won or lost based on its strength and ability to be relevant. We receive a lot of questions about how to generate and develop an architectural design concept, and how to generally create and justify a design response, and so here we will look at where the design process starts …with the conceptĮvery architecture project should start with a concept that put simply is an idea that provides the foundation and backbone to your design process and decision making.įor this reason, it hopefully goes without saying that this aspect of a projects inception is vitally important to the scale of its success.