Unit summary 1

The principles and elements of design are pretty much the first thing we notice about a building. We see the contrast in color and building materials, the shape and form of the building, wither it is balanced or not, and if there is emphasis. When we look at a structure we see all of this but we often don’t see them individually but rather as a whole. The principles and elements are what make a structure a building, they are in every building wither we notice it or not.

While every building has the principles and elements they do not always have all of the principles and elements. A building can exist without having contrast or emphasis but it can still be analyzed for the lack of these elements. Design has to be analyzed using the principles and elements, they are the bases for the design. When describing a building we looked to the principles and elements, we say thing like “the big square building” or “the red brick one with the white trim”. These are the very apparent aspects of a building and the thing that most people will notice right off the bat because they are so basic.

The Hunt-Morgan house is a perfect example of how we use the principles and elements to describe and analyze a building. If we were to give someone a very basic description of the house we would say it’s the square one with the triangle like roof (shape &form), it has got one chimney on each side (balance), the front doors are right in the center and has fancy glass around it (emphasis).