What Is Good Architectural Design and How Do You Get It?

By David Dussair, AIA - (Design Build Team, Inc.)

The saying that beauty is in the eye of the beholder is a good way to prevent disputes, but the trouble is, it just isn't true. Relativism is popular currently and absolutes out of fashion but there is such a thing as good and bad design. In architecture there are determined proportions and relationships that result in good design.

Architecture may be the least appreciated of all the arts as we need it to live and see it around us all the time. However brilliantly painters, sculptors, and furnishers might embellish the architect's work after completion, the beauty that they create is essentially decorative. The architect's basic structure is being used as a canvas or frame. Yet true architectural beauty is something quite different and more abstract. It must be inherent in the lines, proportions and perspectives of the building itself. It must reveal to the responsive mind, an inner logic in which every individual feature has its own specific relationship with every other one and with the whole. (Great Architecture by Norwich)

The inner logic - proportion - speaks of math, and 90% of people in this country feel uncomfortable with their math abilities. Yet math is the common thread which runs through all design and construction work. (Math to Build On, by Hamilton)

To equate good design with math seems an oxymoron yet there is one equation constant in good design from the beginning of time - the Golden Section or "phi". "Phi" as the Greeks called it, is considered the constant of design, "the world's most astonishing number". As cited by Werstien's Golden Ratio, the pervasive appearance of "phi" in all we experience creates a sense of balance, harmony and beauty in the world around us and it is no surprise that man would use this same proportion to achieve balance, harmony and beauty in architecture, design, composition, space and even music. This ratio is also known from centuries past as the Golden Mean, the Divine Proportion, and the Signature of God.

The golden section is expressed mathematically as 1:1.618. The number 1.618 is actually the rounded-off value of an irrational number that mathematicians named "phi", so as not to confuse it with "pi". To see how the golden section works, consider a simple line C: Divide the length by 1.618. The resulting shorter section A relates to the longer section B by the same proportion that the longer leg B relates to the whole C. In other words, A/B= B/C. That means that C/1.618=B and B/1.618=A. (Fine Homebuilding, 11/04)

Nature's proportions are an amazing study in the preciseness of "phi". The chambered nautilus shell is perhaps the most common example of how the golden section is expressed in nature. Wherever there is growth, the sea creature in the nautilus shell pushes out the same amount as the last growth in one direction and 1.618 times that amount in another. That could indeed be called "Divine Proportion"! Also known as logarithmic spirals, "phi" is also found in elephant tusks, pine cones, and sunflowers. (Fine Homebuilding, 11/04)

The human body, relationships of fingers with knuckles to the hand and forearm, reflect the same golden ratio. Leonardo Da Vince discovered the "phi" proportion of the human body and made use of it in all his work, from paintings to architectural design. That's why things designed using the golden section register in our brains as pleasing or beautiful as we see ourselves reflected back to us. (Fine Homebuilding, 11/04) We are made in the image of God - "phi" - truly the "signature of God".

Going back in history, designs from bronze age Celtic sites though the Greeks and Egyptians, all reflect the principle of dividing a line, plane or box so that the ratio of the lesser part to the greater part is 1:1.618. The relationships of the triangles in the pyramids are based on the golden rectangle (another name for the golden ratio). The Greeks mastered the system as the Parthenon reveals with "phi" relationships from the height and width of the façade to the scale of the frieze. (Fine Homebuilding, 11/04)

How do we flesh out the above mathematical equation in designing a home, an addition, or even interior remodeling? Following are some principles from Taste for Makers, by Paul Graham.

Good design is simple, depending on a few carefully chosen structural elements rather than a profusion of superficial ornament. (Ornament is not bad in itself, only when it's camouflage on insipid form.) When you are forced to be simple, you're forced to face the real problem. When you can't deliver ornament, you have to deliver substance.

Timelessness is imperative in good design. In math, every proof is timeless unless it contains an error. Therefore if it is ugly, it can't be the best solution. Aiming at timelessness is also a way to evade the grip of fashion. If something is designed to appeal in the future and/or the past then it is designed more on merit than on fashion.

An architect must solve the right problem. Creative listening and observation of human behavior point out what design problems need to be solved. In an article in Metropolis, Bill Stumpf relates his relationship with Julia Child and his study of her kitchen. He analyzed the tasks Julia Child performed and how the design of her work space "worked" for her.

Good design leaves room for future discoveries. The best teachers are those who leave room for experience and thought by their students. A good building will serve as a backdrop for the life people will lead in it instead of making them live an executed program. In math it means a proof that becomes the basis for a lot of new work is preferable to a proof that was difficult but leads to no new discoveries. Windows can be placed so as to carry the eye to a distant vista. The perspective of a colonnade leaves unsaid what is at the end.

Humor and humility go hand in hand in good design. The pure joy of living and delight in the creation around us are evident in the balance and harmony of good design. One part in the "phi" ratio is dependent on the other. Good design does not overwhelm the human form. Nor does one part appear out of balance with the other. As stated in Taste for Makers, humor is related to strength. To have a sense of humor is to shrug off misfortunes and to lose one's sense of humor is to be wounded by them. The prerogative of strength is not to take oneself too seriously.

Good design can copy. A novice imitates without knowing it; next he tries consciously to be original; finally, he decides it's more important to be right than original. The greatest masters of design go on to achieve a kind of selflessness. They just want to get the right answer, and if part of it has already been discovered that's no reason not to use it.

Good design is hard work. Through the centuries those who produce good design work very hard. An architect who has to build on a difficult site or a small budget will find he is forced to produce an elegant design. However, good design is redesign. "Back to the drawing board" is real life. On the flip side, good design looks easy. But the designer is entitled to say to the observer, "Why didn't you think of it?"

Symmetry and repetition, or recursion, are all around us in nature. Recursion means repetition in sub elements like the pattern of veins in a leaf - similar to the chambered nautilus shell. The danger of symmetry and repetition is that it can be used as a substitute for thought and analysis.

How do you get good architectural design? First of all you must want good design for your home or have intolerance for ugliness. Be proactive in the design process.

Lack of training rarely produces good design. The fact that good design often looks easy is because of the years of education in architecture and design. The "golden section" principle is taught in schools of architecture. In fact the logo for Kansas State University's College of Architecture is the chambered nautilus shell. Students draw and draw and draw until they get it right and then are critiqued without pity.

A community of talented people working on related problems brings about the best of design solutions. The team effort of architect, interior designer and client bring together their personality, expectations, ideas, and education. It is a rewarding and fun experience to work as a team.

Familiarity with great design places broadens ones perspective and "feel" for good design. As you experience being in well designed spaces, you develop a sense of good design. Travel with an eye to architecture - not just what you see, but the shapes, proportions and how you relate to it. Analyze and study great architecture here in Kansas City.

Today we have access to so much information about good design. Make a trip to Borders or Barnes and Nobel bookstores. The Nelson Art Gallery, the Kemper Museum, or even Powell Gardens serve up great architectural books, posters, and other design examples.

Trust the architect/designer you have chosen. You may not always be able to visualize as he/she can. Don't hesitate to question but generally the professional architect can "see" the whole project - how all the spaces relate to one another. Along with trust is decision making. It may not be time/cost effective to have the architect draw every single possible solution. Let him/her guide you and as you have worked out what he/she thinks is the best solution, go with it!

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