Amogh N P
✦ In loving memory of Amogh N P — Architect · Designer · Visionary ✦
B.Arch Curriculum · Semester 2

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.

5Units
6Outcomes
10Credits
FreeForever
Start with Unit I All student courses

This is the second studio. It assumes Architectural Design I — what studio is, the design loop, the brief, precedent and concept-to-form — and goes further: the standards and anthropometrics that size real spaces, the methods designers use to generate form, and two graded sets of exercises that take you from a single room to a simple building.

Unit III · The heart of the studio

Design Strategies & Methods

How do designers actually arrive at form? This lesson surveys the generators — nature and geometry, music and mathematics (proportion), precedent, and the site — and Broadbent's four mechanisms for generating form. Then the method that organises them: J. C. Jones's three-stage process of divergence, transformation and convergence, and how to choose a strategy for the problem in front of you.

Generators of formBroadbent's fourDiverge → convergeProportionModulorQuiz
Open the lesson

The syllabus

Five steps, from the process to a small building.

Transcribed 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.

1

Unit 1 — The Design Process & Communication

Live

Basics — 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.

CO3CO6
2

Unit 2 — Space Standards & Anthropometrics

Live

Anthropometry 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).

CO1CO4
3

Unit 3 — Design Strategies & Methods

Live

Designing 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.

CO2CO5
4

Unit 4 — Design Exercises I — Single Spaces

Live

Horizontal 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.

CO1CO3
5

Unit 5 — Design Exercises II — Multiple Spaces

Live

Simple 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.

CO4CO5

Course outcomes

What you should be able to do after completing all five units (CO1–CO6, from the syllabus).

1
Understand

Understand the functional aspects of a simple building type and its spatial organisation.

2
Understand

Sensitise the design and concept to its environment, developing design skill on a real project.

3
Apply

Transform theoretical ideas into a tangible, drawn design output.

4
Understand

Understand space organisation and the space–volume design approach.

5
Analyse

Research, analyse and deliver a resolved architectural design.

6
Apply

Communicate the design idea effectively, in multiple media.

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.

Keep going

The studio's neighbours

Architectural Design I (Studio)

The prerequisite studio — what studio is, the design loop, the brief, precedent and concept-to-form. Start there.

Architectural Graphics & Computer Studio

Draw and document your design to standard — the CAD studio.

Design Drawing course

The freehand thinking-by-hand that powers exploration and the desk crit.

Building Materials & Construction I

The building anatomy and materials your design is made of.

Room programming worksheet

Turn a brief into a sized room-by-room programme.

Bubble-diagram planner

Work out adjacencies and zoning before you draw a plan.

Topics and outcomes follow the published B.Arch syllabus (L0 · T0 · S10; 500 marks). Every diagram and the explorer are original Studio Matrx work; the facts, standards and dimensions are cross-checked against the cited sources (Neufert, Panero & Zelnik, Ching, Jones, Broadbent, and India's Harmonised Guidelines, NBC and RPwD Act). Photographs are illustrative.

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.

Open Unit I Back to Students

Studio Matrx is a tribute to Amogh N P. The curriculum is free, forever.