How To: Speak the Language of Design

Let’s consider a handful of architectural terms that are especially useful when talking about the forms of buildings.

Symmetry.  The dictionary tells us that the word symmetry describes a “correspondence in size, form, and the arrangement of parts on opposite sides of a line or plane.” In practice, that means that if you draw a horizontal line and then a vertical one that intersects the first at its center point, you will have a symmetrical figure, with one side balancing the other. In the same way, if you begin with a rectangle and bisect it, it too is symmetrical. Let’s add some openings to a four-sided box—windows on either side of the central axis, perhaps a door at the center. All in a rush, a house begins to emerge. All we need to do is add a roof and a couple of chimneys, and we have a two-dimensional representation, an elevation they call it in drafting class, of a recognizable Georgian House (or the Classic Colonial, as this configuration can also be described). Needless to say, the place is symmetrical.

Asymmetry.   Again, we start with a line, but this time we consciously divide it into two asymmetrical (uneven) parts. We make it a box, add a couple of openings, then put on a gable end (centered on our perpendicular). After adding a few details, we have a Gothic Revival Cottage.

Mass. This talk of symmetry may seem to imply that houses exist only in two dimensions, and that by looking at an elevation drawing of a structure, we can understand it. In fact, thinking how the facade of a house appears on a piece of paper is helpful, but other angles of approach are essential, too.

Instead of a piece of paper, think about a small waxed-cardboard milk or juice carton, the kind that holds a ½-pint of liquid. It’s a three-dimensional object, meaning it has width, height, and depth. It takes up space, just as people, books, and bricks do. And, for that matter, just like buildings.

Unless you stand very far away and align yourself precisely with the center of a building (or a milk carton), you will see it as a three-dimensional object. From an angled view, a simple, shoebox shape is recognizable as a three-dimensional mass and, in short order, it becomes a house.

A one-and-a-half-story house has a full ceiling on the first level and enough height on the upper floor that portions of it can be used as living space. Lower the pitch of the roof and you have a ranch house, a one-story home, in which living areas are found only on one level. The Cape Cod is a popular compromise, because living quarters on the upper floor are to be had for virtually no additional expense over the cost of a one-story house. To some, however, the built-in limitations on ventilation, light, and head room make it less of a bargain than at first it seems. For them, perhaps, the two-story house is the answer. In this configuration, the roof stands a story higher, atop a full second story. Thus, the same footprint can accommodate houses of radically different mass.

In order to have a ranch house with an equivalent amount of interior space to a two-story house, however, the ranch will need to have a footprint twice as large as the two-story house. That makes the ranch best suited to larger lots, while two-story homes are well adapted to in-town plots or small suburban settings.