Architectural Design

How to design a Duplex? | Architectural Design

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Guide to designing a Duplex

Duplex is a term used for a household with different unit configurations. This term is used in different countries to convey different meanings. In densely populated areas such as Manhattan and Downtown Chicago, it refers to a single household unit spread over two floors. This is the category of Duplex design we will focus on in this article.

There are two major steps in designing a Duplex

  1. Conducting a casestudies of Duplexes
  2. Designing

Designing can be further split into three phases:

  1. Conceptual Sketching
  2. Developing Single line plans
  3. Developing Double line plans

Four things you would need for the design of Duplex:

  1. Willingness to do the live casestudies of duplexes
  2. Online research
  3. Paper, Pencil for conceptual sketching
  4. CAD software

We need to conduct case studies of individual duplexes or apartments that house duplexes. You might wonder, why is that required? Let me remind you that case studies are the backbone of our design. When we design, we begin with listing out requirements. For example, if we are designing a building and have no clue about its requirements, we might have difficulty getting the functional aspect of the design right.

Following aspects have to be studied whilst conducting a case study of a Duplex:

  • study the circulation,
  • the requirements,
  • calculate the number of people it caters to;
  • calculate the areas of individual spaces such as bedroom, bathroom, Hall, Dining, Kitchen, Utility etc.

Studying the above mentioned aspects will help you with understand the requirements for Duplex design.

Also, the study of connectivity of the spaces is very important and has to be done in order to get the functional aspect of the design right.

“Efficient connectivity is the soul of any design”.

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Restoration Architecture and Design

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Architectural Restoration and Design

It is an Architecture design theory which deals with the process of reviving the material, historical design integrity of the heritage structure.

Restoration of the structure will help in prolonging the life of the structure and also make it functionally usable for the future. This can only be done through planned interventions.

The aim of Restoration Architects is to revive the age old Architecture and make it functional to be used in the future.

The external facade of the historic structure is the functional value of the structure which is very important to be restored to maintain the aesthetical integrity of the structure.

Krnov Castle | Before restoration
Krnov Castle | Before restoration

What is the first thing to be done when working on “restoration of a structure”?

Assessment of the building is to be done in terms of its historical significance as well the structural technology used in those days.

Why is “Building Assessment” important?

Every heritage building has its own historical importance, its own character. Studying the character of the building makes the designer get involved into designing. It helps strengthening the imagination of the designer to achieve the results.

The knowledge of the life of the building is essential with architectural point of view. If the life of the building is studied carefully, you would get a complete idea of its features and problems of the building.

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Journey from Ancient to Modern Architecture!

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Architecture | Ancient and Modern World!

Architecture is a science itself. Although, it does not fall under the category of sciences, it can still be called as “Architectural Science”.

Architecture is something that cannot be learnt or memorized… You have to feel it to understand the essence of design.

Designing in a specific architectural style gives a special meaning and feel to the space/structure/place (town, city etc).

Something that is so intriguing about Architecture is the fact that the lines, shapes and forms you draw on paper are actually transformed into a live structure on the ground.

What could be more fascinating than this particular fact!

When a kid makes a craft model by following the instructions from a craft book, he feels tremendously happy about his creation.

From the above example, if we are to replace the kid with an Architect and the craft model of paper replaced with the real structure on earth; how much more amazing does that sound!

 Have a look at the video below. It covers the wide range of Ancient and Modern Architectural styles…

Also, check out the other video on Amazing Structures.

 

Design elements to focus on in Cafeteria Design

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How to design a Cafeteria? | Architectural Design

In our previous article “Guide to design of Cafeteria“, we had a stepwise discussion as to how you should proceed with the design project of Cafeteria.

In this article, we will discuss all the possible design considerations you could take to make the Cafeteria design interesting.

Creation of a cool and peaceful environment. Cafeteria is a place where people come to relax and have a small chat with their friends. The soft music in the background is good enough to serve the purpose. It is completely unnecessary to give it a dramatic disco effect or have loud music.

Try and create thematic interiors. It could be anything. It all depends on how far creative you can get.

Contemporary theme for Cafeteria Design
Contemporary theme for Cafeteria Design

For example:

Contemporary theme

To incorporate this theme, you will have to have modern furniture design, funky colours used, paintings on the walls of the cafe that would depict a sense of modernism when a person steps in; also instead of just having 2D painting on the walls, you could go for 3D art work which is more intriguing and brings some life to the interior space.arrangement of tables and chairs, ceiling design, design pillars in the cafe to give a contemporary look etc.

Choice of a good colour scheme is very important in this case. It makes a whole lot of difference to the feel of the space.

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