It's All About the Basics

The age old question continues - Which came first? The chicken or the egg? Depending on who you ask, you will get different answers with different sets of reasoning. This question represents our wonder at the beginnings of life and our longing to know how it all began.

In the built environment, there are basic parts of form known as the PRIMARY ELEMENTS - but unlike the chicken and the egg, we know for sure the order in which these elements occur.

POINT

The first primary element of form is POINT. By definition, a point is a static position in space that has neither shape nor form. Below is a diagrammatic example of a point.

While a point is directionless it can serve to mark the beginning and end of a line, the intersection of two lines, the meeting of lines at the corner of a plane or volume, and the center of a field. Below is a photo of a built-in wall unit in a kitchen that is serving as a wine rack.

Looking back at our formal definition of point, we know that a point can serve to mark the intersection of two lines. Take a look below at how point is illustrated graphically in relation to this photo.

In this photo with graphic overlay, the points where the lines intersect in the wall unit are shown.

LINE

The next Primary Element is LINE. Line is an important element for visual construction. It's like the old saying "connect the dots". At its most basic a line is the connecting of two points. Lines are one dimensional but can have varying degrees of thickness and can serve to join, link support surround or intersect other visual elements. Take a look at Line in diagram.

The orientation of a line can affect its role in visual construction. A vertical line expresses a state of equilibrium with the force of gravity. A horizontal line represents stability, the ground plane, the horizon, or a body at rest. A diagonal line is dynamic and is visually active. Let's take a look at a photo from an interior space and look at line.

Line can be seen in many places in this photo. A graphic overlay highlights some of the strongest lines in this space.

The horizontal edge of each stair along with the vertical lines in the stair handrail show two orientations of line mentioned earlier.

PLANE

The third primary element of form is PLANE. A plane is two dimensional with length and width, but no depth and it's primary identifying characteristic is its shape. A diagram of plane is as follows.

The three types of plane in the built environment include Overhead (roof or ceiling), Wall Plane, and Base Plane (ground or floor). A photo of an interior below shows a wall plane.

In this interior space, the second floor continuation of the stair rail and serves as a wall.

Even though this railing is not totally solid and can be seen through, it is a plane as shown in the overlay of the photo above.

VOLUME

The last basic element of form is VOLUME. Volume is a three dimensional element and can be a solid or an enclosed void. All volumes consist of of POINTS where planes connect, LINES where planes connect, and PLANES that determine its limits.

Form is the primary identifying characteristic of volume. In architecture, a volume can be seen to be either a portion of space contained and defined by wall, floor, ceiling or roof planes, or a quantity of space displaced by the mass of a building.
The photo below shows the exterior of a home and is a great example of volume.

In this photo, the exterior wall and roof planes can easily be seen as well as points and lines where they meet. In the overlay below the outlines of these planes are highlighted and can show where two wall planes meet.

So there they are - the four pieces that serve as the primary elements of form. These elements of POINT, LINE, PLANE and VOLUME when joined together visually form our built environment. Without them we would have no place to keep the chicken or the egg!