Amogh N P
✦ In loving memory of Amogh N P — Architect · Designer · Visionary ✦
B.Arch Curriculum · Semester 5 · Elective

Set Design

Architecture builds the world we live in; set design builds the worlds we watch. This elective — scenography — is the architect's craft turned to the stage and the screen: the space of a performance, where a ground plan, an elevation and a scale model serve not a client but a story. Learn the discipline and its history; the stage types and the design process; how a set is built and painted; how light conjures mood; and how the same skills make exhibitions and themed environments. The most architectural of the arts, and the most theatrical.

5Units
6Outcomes
4Credits
FreeForever
Start with Unit I All student courses
Unit I · The most architectural of the arts

Introduction to Scenography

Set design — scenography — is the design of the physical world of a performance, and it is far more than painting backdrops. Pamela Howard calls scenography the synthesis of space, text, light, performers and audience into one creation. Learn the difference between designing for theatre, film and exhibition; the art department behind a film; and the long history from the Greek skene through Renaissance perspective and the proscenium arch to Appia and Craig, who made three-dimensional space and light the heart of the modern stage.

ScenographyTheatre & filmArt departmentSkene to AppiaHistory
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The syllabus

Five units, from the stage to the gallery.

Transcribed from the official B.Arch syllabus. All 5 units are live as full interactive lessons, each with original diagrams, a self-assessment quiz and a studio task.

1

Unit 1 — Introduction to Scenography

Live

The definition and scope of set design and scenography; set design for theatre versus film versus exhibition; the production designer and the art department; and a history from the Greek skene through Serlio and the proscenium to Appia, Craig, the Bauhaus and Brecht.

CO1
2

Unit 2 — Stage, Space & Process

Live

The stage types and the actor–audience relationship — proscenium, thrust, arena, black box and traverse; stage geography (upstage/downstage, wings, flies, apron); and the design process from script to ground plan, elevation and scale model.

CO2CO6
3

Unit 3 — Set Construction & Materials

Live

The scenic vocabulary — the flat, the platform, the cyclorama, the gauze, the wagon and the revolve; materials and scenic painting (texture, trompe-l'oeil, ageing); rigging, flying and safety; and the set model and technical drawings.

CO3
4

Unit 4 — Stage Lighting & Atmosphere

Live

The functions of stage lighting and the McCandless method; the lantern types — fresnel, profile, PAR, flood, followspot, LED and moving heads; colour, gels and gobos; and how angle, colour and intensity build mood; plus sound and projection.

CO4CO6
5

Unit 5 — Exhibition & Event Design

Live

Exhibition and museum design — the visitor journey, display systems, interpretation and immersive environments; signage, wayfinding and environmental graphics; and the crossover of scenography back into architecture and interior design.

CO5CO6

Course outcomes

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

1
Understand

Understand the scope and history of set design and scenography.

2
Apply

Apply the stage types, stage geography and the design process.

3
Understand

Understand set construction, materials and scenic techniques.

4
Apply

Apply stage lighting to create visibility, form and mood.

5
Analyse

Apply scenographic skills to exhibition, event and graphic design.

6
Create

Create and present a set or exhibition design concept.

Topics follow the published B.Arch elective syllabus (L1 · T0 · S5; 200 marks) — the most architectural of the arts, sharing space, light and circulation with the core. Every diagram is original Studio Matrx work; named figures and the McCandless angles are verified. We flag the myths — set design is not just painted backdrops, stage left/right are from the actor's view, and the set serves the story, not itself.

Architecture builds the world; set design builds the worlds we watch.

Scenography, the stage types, set construction, stage lighting and exhibition design. Read the five units, study the diagrams, then test yourself.

Open Unit I Back to Students

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