8. Concept

Concept

Concepts are the ideas proposed for a design being brought together into a single form that can be recognized as architecture. Wanting a wide veranda on the front of a house is an idea but drawing it out with the house and how it might interact with other aspects of the house is a concept. A concept can be in any form, two-dimensional or three-dimensional. The top left image is a conceptual sketch showing the idea for a roof shape in the building’s context as a whole, where the roof is intended to look as if it is floating with a ramp, indicated by the dotted line, moving away from the house. This shows the idea of the roof shape in its larger context and thus makes it a conceptual sketch for the completed house on the right. The dowel model in the bottom right is an example of a three-dimensional concept. The initial idea is the tartan grid at the base with a varying distance between all of the lines. What makes it conceptual is that that grid is then coupled with the larger model, where the space inside is decided by the density of the initial grid lines. Both twodimensional and three-dimensional concepts can give us an idea about a design’s forms that could be finalized from a compiling of different ideas.

Clockwise from the top right:

The Dune House ine Thorpeness, U.K by Jarmund Arkitekter. Photo by Nils Petter Dale.

A wooden dowel composition I made showing the levels that rise above the grid.

A conceptual sketch for the Dune House. Photo from Jarmund Arkitekter.

The Dune House ine Thorpeness, U.K by Jarmund Arkitekter. Photo by Nils Petter Dale.

A wooden dowel composition I made showing the levels that rise above the grid.

A conceptual sketch for the Dune House. Photo