Subject Code & Name: AR25101 – Introduction to Architecture
Regulation: R-2025
Semester: I (First Semester)
Branch: B. Arch. (Arch)
Credits / L-T-P: 3 Credits | L-T-P: 3-0-0
Course Objectives
- To give understanding of architecture as an outcome of the act of design by human society across history and region.
- To give an introduction to the discipline of architecture and its various facets.
- To introduce importance of form and its relation to design through study of nature and manmade environment.
- To introduce the vocabulary of form and space in terms of elements, principles, attributes and organisation as giving cognitive experience in the realm of architecture.
Full Unit-wise Syllabus
Unit I – Introduction to Architecture
Origin and definitions of architecture as need based, cultural, environmental, social, psychological response of human society. Architecture as phenomenological mediation of nature. Components of architecture: use, means, site, shelter, relation to nature, structure, skin, materials, services, circulation, typology, aesthetics, expression, character, symbolism, experience, etc. History and types of design in architecture unself-conscious/self-conscious design, design through craft/design through drawing, pragmatic/iconic/canonic/analogic design.
Unit II – Form in Nature and Manmade Environment
Understanding form in all its attributes as the basis of creating architecture. Characteristics of form and its relationship with use/function/evolution as manifested in first hand examples from nature and everyday manmade environment including artefacts, objects, buildings, cityscapes. Human body and sensory environment. Cognitive experience of form – ideas of Gestalt, visual perception, proxemics. Tactile, auditory, olfactory senses and human environment.
Unit III – Form as Geometric Elements and their Effects
Form as embodied in and/or constituted by geometric elements such as point, line, plane, volumes. Attributes, generation and interrelationships among elements. Perceptual effects and use of specific manifestations of the elements – planes as shapes and volumes as geometric forms/space such as sphere, cube, pyramid, cylinder, cone and their sections/derivatives. Architectural use of elements. Exercises and architectural case studies.
Unit IV – Attributes and Principles of Form
Form as manifesting attributes such as pattern, light, colour, surface, texture. Effects of these attributes. Form in its basic state, in combinations, composite organisations and configurations as manifesting characteristics such as proportion, scale, balance, symmetry, asymmetry, rhythm, axis, hierarchy, datum, unity, harmony, dominance, climax, focus. Characteristics acting as principles to generate architectural design. Exercises and architectural case studies.
Unit V – Organisation of Form and Space
Cognitive experience of form and space in architecture – enclosure, internal and external spaces, continuous spaces, hierarchy of spaces, spatial organisation (centralised, linear, radial, clustered, grid), built form–open space relationships. Relationship of movement/circulation/path with reference to architectural form and space. Haptic experience. Exercises and architectural case studies.
Course Outcomes (COs)
- CO1: Ability to recognise different facets of architecture.
- CO2: Basic understanding of form and design in all aspects and scales.
- CO3: Ability to discern the relationship between manifestations of form and its effects on humans.
- CO4: Ability to perceive basic geometric elements as components of form.
Assessment Pattern (Quick Note)
- Weightage: Continuous Internal Assessment 40% | End Semester Examinations 60%
- Internal methodology: Two Assessments with equal weightage Internal written Test/Examination (50%), Assignment (50%) of any mode such as study, seminar, and or a combination of modes, etc.
Source: Official Anna University – B. Arch. R-2025 Syllabus
Last Updated: September 2026
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