B.Arch CurriculumFree, forever
A tribute to Amogh N P
Architectural Design II
The second design studio — where method meets the human body and the real brief. Work and communicate the design process; learn the space standards and anthropometrics that size every room, including barrier-free design for wheelchair users and the elderly; study how designers actually generate form — from nature, geometry, music and precedent — and the three-stage process of divergence, transformation and convergence; then apply it all to two graded sets of exercises, from a single well-made room to a simple multi-space building. The applied sequel to Architectural Design I.
Course byAmogh N P· Architect & interior designer
The syllabus
5 units · 5 liveTranscribed from the official B.Arch syllabus. All 5 units are live as full interactive lessons — with original diagrams, a live space-standards explorer and a self-assessment quiz.
Unit 1 — The Design Process & Communication
LiveBasics — drawing skills, conventions, abstraction and expression; the working cycle of analysis, exploration, discovery and verification; communicating the design as an individual, in a team and in public; representing the process graphically.
Unit 2 — Space Standards & Anthropometrics
LiveAnthropometry and ergonomics; designing to a percentile range, not the ‘average’ person; the standard reference works; space standards by function; and barrier-free / universal design for wheelchair users, the elderly and children (India's Harmonised Guidelines, NBC Part 3).
Unit 3 — Design Strategies & Methods
LiveDesigning in context; the constituents of design; the generators of form — nature and geometry, music and mathematics, precedent and the site; Broadbent's four mechanisms; traditional vs new methods; and the three-stage process — divergence, transformation, convergence.
Unit 4 — Design Exercises I — Single Spaces
LiveHorizontal movement, single-bay, passive-energy spaces; designing one functional unit well with universal access — an accessible toilet, a hostel room, a kitchen, a shop, a workshop, a pavilion, a snack bar.
Unit 5 — Design Exercises II — Multiple Spaces
LiveSimple space organisation and inter-relationships — a residence, a petrol pump, a fire station, a police station, a cottage for an elderly couple — with zoning, circulation and adjacency, plus a primer on building anatomy from foundation to parapet.
A live space-standards explorer
Pick a space — an accessible toilet, a kitchen, a bedroom, a ramp — and see the clearances that size it, on a scaled plan, with the governing dimensions from India's Harmonised Guidelines. In Unit II.
Course outcomes
What you will be able to doUnderstand the functional aspects of a simple building type and its spatial organisation.
Sensitise the design and concept to its environment, developing design skill on a real project.
Transform theoretical ideas into a tangible, drawn design output.
Understand space organisation and the space–volume design approach.
Research, analyse and deliver a resolved architectural design.
Communicate the design idea effectively, in multiple media.
The studio's neighbours
The author
Amogh N P
Architect, interior designer, and creative polymath. Studio Matrx began in his notebooks — his vision of design made honest, useful, and open to everyone. Its Academy is written and taught in his memory, and free, forever.
More about Amogh →From method to the made room.
The process, the standards, the methods and the exercises — read the five units, try the space-standards explorer, and test yourself.
The curriculum is free, forever