Elements of Great Design – Creating a beautiful, functional and energy-efficient home or commercial building

If you’re designing your new home or commercial building, be sure to consider some of the fundamental elements of good design that are so crucial to creating a great building. This class illustrates and explores numerous design concepts that can be incorporated into any new construction project. Using slides from around the world, we will familiarize you with important design principles, showing how mass and massing, layering of space, light and shadow, texture, color, and indoor-outdoor spaces all contribute to achieving architecture that is efficient, functional and aesthetically pleasing.

We also briefly review the basics of passive solar design, which allows you to use the free power of the sun to heat your home or commercial building with a well proportioned balance of thermal mass and insulating building techniques. Good passive solar design creates a pleasant, comfortable living or work environment. These smart and simple design strategies lead to energy efficiency in your home or work place that create a more comfortable environment and reduces your utility bills.

Note: Another class provides an in-depth review of Passive Solar principles. For a more in-depth review of this topic, see our “Introduction to Passive Solar Class”.

Instructor: Robin Dorrell