7 design elements in architecture that you should know

The dining hall at the Eythrope Penang Hill heritage bungalow shows an orchestra of line, shape, colour, texture, pattern and lighting design elements. Photos: W Space Creatives

In our last article, we unearthed the top five principles of design – emphasis, contrast, hierarchy, unity and repetition. Using this set of rules is key to achieving an immaculate result in interior design.

This week, I would like to talk about design elements in interior design.

What is the difference between principles and elements? My students often shoot this question in my class.

Principles of design are the rules, the “how” in design, while design elements are the basic components or the “ingredients” to use in achieving the outcome of selected rules.

In architecture or interior design, the idea is to carefully combine the right “ingredients” to pair up with the right principles. Sounds fun? It is!

The design process in architecture and interior design is similar to any creative journey in graphic design or fine arts, albeit involving the additional complexity of building services and structural coordination.

Here are the seven design elements that can help you in your own home design journey.This bathroom is given a second life with a harmonious play of texture, colour and light elements.

1. Line

Everything in design begins with a single dot. When you connect one dot to another, you’ll get a single line. Lines are the fundamental ingredients that create a sense of perspective in our world.

Lines can be linear, wavy, thin, thick, vertical, horizontal, diagonal or criss-crossed. The beauty is in how different characters of lines evoke a different outcome. Horizontal lines make the room look wider. Vertical lines lend a heightened effect to a space. Wavy lines exude a sense of movement. If your intent is to disrupt the eyes, then use zig-zag lines. In short, lines are a simple yet very powerful magic ingredient.

2. Shape

When the two ends of a line meet, they form a shape. Imagine holding a single strand of string and glueing the edges to each other, forming a circle.

Play with it, and you form an oval shape. Hence, shapes can be geometrical when we connect straight lines. Think square, rectangle, triangle, pentagon and so on. Geometric shapes feature sharp edges that remind us of man-made qualities. When you connect wavy lines, you’ll create organic nature-inspired shapes.

Organic shapes are irregular and natural. See how the magic of simplicity grows in our daily lives? When you’re choosing furniture pieces for your home, weigh your options between organic shapes (lamps, sofas) and geometric shapes (rectangular table, stool, chair).The lounge area used line, shape, colour, texture, pattern and lighting design elements to create a calm and pleasing ambience.

3. Colour

Remember our earlier article on colour psychology? When we apply colour to a shape or form, it develops character and a personality of its own.

Which catches your eye, a white sofa or a bright red sofa? Extend the same understanding to a larger room or an entire building and we can see how colour is the essence of the interior experience in a home.

Designing is fun yet challenging at the same time. There is no linear process in architecture and interior design. I usually recommend choosing colours ahead of the design process. At least, we need to decide what vibe to create in every room. Colour is one of the core ingredients in design elements, just like how we can’t live without salt in cooking.

4. Light

Now that we’ve got character sorted out, we move on to the qualities of light on each object, form or space. We know that light can be natural or man-made. I’m a strong advocate of natural lighting in our interior spaces at home, at work or at school. I’ve spoken at length about the benefits and advantages of playing with light and shadow in my earlier article. Let’s understand that there are three classifications of light that we can design with.

First is task lighting, which usually defines the purpose clearly such as lighting for your study desk. Secondly, accent lighting is used when you want to emphasise selected objects like art paintings on the wall.

Mood lighting comes as the third category of light use. If we’re going for a cosy evening ambience in the living room, play with warm-coloured lighting. Every good interior designer knows the importance of lighting in defining colours, lines and shapes in the room.The bathroom of the Eythrope Penang Hill heritage bungalow is given a second life with the harmonious play of texture, colour and light design elements.

5. Pattern

Patterns bring a room to life. How do you create patterns in a room? Patterns are created when you use repetitive designs on wallpaper, soft furnishings, rugs and curtains. Think stripes, geometric shapes, motifs or animal prints. As a rule of thumb, it is best to keep to a maximum of three patterns in a room. Anything more usually makes the space feel overwhelmed.

Another tip is to use the right patterns to match the style of the room to your liking. For instance, floral patterns will work well in traditionally styled rooms but if you prefer a contemporary style, go with linear lines, abstract prints or geometric forms.

6. Texture

Previously, I’ve devoted a full article to the significance of playing with textures in your home design. As we unveil texture as one of the seven elements, I hope our dear readers will begin to understand the link to all my earlier articles. Texture can transform a room from ordinary to extraordinary.

Remember that we have two types of textures – visual texture and tactile texture. Visual texture refers to texture that is perceived by the eye while tactile texture can be felt by our sense of touch. When you feel something is missing in a room, try including elements of texture into the picture. Texture is the extra spice to jazz up any room!

7. Space

For interior designers, we break down space to ceiling, wall and floor. We work within a three-dimensional space comprising length, width and height. How is space an element in design? Well, space comes in two types – positive and negative space.

Positive space refers to areas where purposeful items, furniture and home decor objects are positioned as a group while negative space is the circulation space to navigate the room. It’s a fine balance to work towards.

Have more negative space if you want the room to feel spacious, grand and luxurious. But too much negative space in a room makes the room feel cold and unwelcoming.

Circulatory areas or thoroughfares in a home ideally should be at least 1m wide while the space in between your furniture pieces like sofa and coffee table should be from around 0.5m.

That wraps up our magic ingredients in design. I hope this helps all readers who are design enthusiasts. Cross reference against design principles that we discussed last week, and you’ll begin to differentiate elements from principles. Have fun designing your home!

Tan Bee Eu is a professional architect registered with Lembaga Arkitek Malaysia. She has two decades of working experience involving diverse local and international projects in architecture and design. Tan also teaches at Universiti Sains Malaysia, advocating passive design strategies, design principles and professional architectural practice. She can be reached at www.betadesignz.com/contact.