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Form, space and drawing: free practice, theory and problems
All architecture is built from a few basic elements combined according to a few principles. Once you know them, you can both read and make spaces.
Contents
1. Form and composition
What is it about?
All architecture is built from a few basic elements combined according to a few principles. Once you know them, you can both read and make spaces.
Key points
- Basic elements: point (a column, a tower), line (a wall, an avenue), plane (floor, roof, wall) and volume (the room or the building mass).
- Axis: a line that orders elements – often with symmetry about the axis.
- Symmetry gives calm and dignity. Asymmetry gives movement and tension.
- Hierarchy: something is made more important by size, shape or position – the main entrance, the largest room.
- Rhythm and repetition: columns, windows and beams in a repeated pattern.
- Contrast: light and dark, heavy and light, open and closed – differences make us perceive the space.
Example
A long row of identical windows (rhythm) with one larger opening in the middle (hierarchy) tells you at once where the entrance is – without a sign.
2. Proportion and scale
What is it about?
Proportion is the relationship between the parts. Scale is the relationship between the drawing and reality.
Key points
- The golden ratio: . A rectangle with sides in the ratio 1 : 1.618 has been used since antiquity.
- Le Corbusier's Modulor is a system of measures based on the human body and the golden ratio.
- A paper sizes have the ratio . Halve the sheet and you get the same shape. A0 is 1 m².
- Scale 1:50 means that 1 cm on the drawing is 50 cm in reality.
- Common scales: 1:500 (site plan), 1:100 (plan, section, elevation), 1:50 (rooms and details), 1:20 and 1:5 (details).
- From drawing to reality: multiply by the scale number. From reality to drawing: divide.
Example
A wall is 6 m long. At 1:50 it becomes mm = 12 cm on the drawing.
3. Architectural drawing
What is it about?
Architects communicate with drawings. Each type of drawing is a section or a projection through the building, and they all follow fixed rules so others can read them.
Key points
- Site plan: the building seen from above on its plot, with neighbouring buildings, roads and a north arrow.
- Floor plan: a horizontal cut through the storey, about 1 m above the floor. You see walls, doors (with swing direction), windows and stairs.
- Section: a vertical cut through the building. It shows storey heights, stairs, roof and how rooms relate in height.
- Elevation: the building seen straight on, without perspective.
- Line weight shows what is cut: what is cut is drawn thick; what you see behind is drawn thin. Hidden parts are dashed.
- Axonometric and perspective drawings show the building in three dimensions.
Example
The door swing arc on the plan shows which way the door opens – important for furnishing and escape routes.
4. Light, space and movement
What is it about?
We experience architecture by moving through it. Light, materials and the sequence of spaces decide how a building feels.
Key points
- Daylight changes with time, season and orientation. In the Nordic countries south-facing rooms are bright and warm; north light is even and cool – good for studios.
- High light (rooflight, clerestory) reaches deep into the room. Light along a wall (a light slot) makes the wall's material visible.
- Spatial sequence: rooms are experienced in order. Compression and release – a low, narrow entrance before a tall room – makes the big room feel even bigger (Frank Lloyd Wright used this a lot).
- Threshold: the transition between outside and inside, public and private. A good threshold gives time to "arrive".
- Materiality: wood, concrete, stone and glass give different acoustics, temperature and mood.
- Views and orientation: windows that frame the landscape and make it easy to find your way.
Example
In many churches you go from a low, dark entrance into a tall, bright nave. The contrast turns the transition into an experience.
Example problems with solutions
Here are some of the problems in form, space and drawing. In the app, calculation problems get new numbers every time, so you can practise until it sticks – and take a graded practice exam before the real one.
Form and composition: Which basic element is a free-standing column?
Answer: Point
A column marks a point in space.
Proportion and scale: What is the golden ratio approximately?
Answer: 1.618
.
Architectural drawing: What is a floor plan?
Answer: A horizontal cut through the storey
The cut is about 1 m above the floor.
Light, space and movement: Why do many artists prefer north light in the studio?
Answer: It is even and changes little during the day
North light gives stable colours without sharp shadows.