accommodate every pos-
sible activity under the sun. With little exception, home is the place we go
to sit and to lie around at the end of each day. There will also most likely be
some cooking, eating, hygiene, working and playing going on, but none of
these activities needs to occupy a palace. Remember, “half a mat to stand,
one mat to sleep.”
97
Alignment
Gestalt psychologists have shown that compositions with long, continuous
lines make more sense to us than those with a lot of little broken ones. Con-
tinuity allows us to read a composition as a whole. The principle of alignment
is just one part of what some psychologists have termed the “simplicity” con-
cept. This states that simple patterns are easier for us to comprehend than
complex ones. This will come as no surprise to vernacular architects, who
have been putting the concept to work for quite some time now. Common
sense has always been the folk designer’s greatest asset.
Alignment entails arranging the elements of a design along a single axis or
arc whenever possible. When a group of columns is required, a savvy de-
signer will not just put one over here and arbitrarily plop the next two down
wherever chance or ego dictates. The designer will line them up in a row. The
geometry of alignment may contain some real lines, like the kind produced
by a solid wall, and it may have some implied ones, like the axis that runs
through a row of well-ordered columns.
Hierarchy
Good home design entails a lot of categorizing. The categories we use are
determined by function. In organizing a home, everything that is used to
prepare food would, for example, most likely go into the “kitchen” category.
If something in the kitchen category functions primarily to wash dishes, it
would probably be placed into the subcategory of “kitchen sink area.” The
categories proposed by our predecessors usually serve as pretty good tools
for organizing a home. Ideas like “kitchen,” “bathroom,” and “bedroom” stick
around because they generally work. But these ideas cannot be allowed to
dictate the ultimate form of a dwelling; that is for necessity alone to decide.
98
Sacred Geometry
Organizing the tops of windows
and doors along a horizontal axis
and deliberately spacing porch
posts in a row are examples of the
ways alignment and proportion can
be consciously used to create a
structure that makes visual sense.
Less obvious examples become
apparent when regulating lines are
drawn on photos of a building’s fa-
cade. These lines are stretched
between significant elements, like
from the peak of the roof to the
cornerstones, or from a keystone
to the baseplates. When geom-
etry has been allowed to dictate
the rest of the design, the lines will
almost invariably intersect or align
with other crucial parts of the build-
ing. The intersections are often
unexpected, their appearance the
unintended biproduct of the cre-
ative process described on these
pages.
99
Do not think that, just because our shared idea of “bathroom” includes a bath,
a sink and a toilet, that these things must always be grouped together behind
the same door. The needs of a particular household may determine that each
be kept separate so that more than one can be used at a time. What is more,
if the kitchen sink is just outside the door to the toilet, then a separate basin
may not be necessary at all. The distinctions made between the categories
of “living room,” “family room” and “dining room” might well be combined into
the single category of “great room” for further consolidation.
Vernacular designers do not thoughtlessly mimic the form of other buildings.
They pay close attention to them, use what works in their area, and improve
upon what does not.
Along with all the categorizing that goes on during the design process, there
is a lot of prioritizing that has to be done as well. The relative importance of
a
sible activity under the sun. With little exception, home is the place we go
to sit and to lie around at the end of each day. There will also most likely be
some cooking, eating, hygiene, working and playing going on, but none of
these activities needs to occupy a palace. Remember, “half a mat to stand,
one mat to sleep.”
97
Alignment
Gestalt psychologists have shown that compositions with long, continuous
lines make more sense to us than those with a lot of little broken ones. Con-
tinuity allows us to read a composition as a whole. The principle of alignment
is just one part of what some psychologists have termed the “simplicity” con-
cept. This states that simple patterns are easier for us to comprehend than
complex ones. This will come as no surprise to vernacular architects, who
have been putting the concept to work for quite some time now. Common
sense has always been the folk designer’s greatest asset.
Alignment entails arranging the elements of a design along a single axis or
arc whenever possible. When a group of columns is required, a savvy de-
signer will not just put one over here and arbitrarily plop the next two down
wherever chance or ego dictates. The designer will line them up in a row. The
geometry of alignment may contain some real lines, like the kind produced
by a solid wall, and it may have some implied ones, like the axis that runs
through a row of well-ordered columns.
Hierarchy
Good home design entails a lot of categorizing. The categories we use are
determined by function. In organizing a home, everything that is used to
prepare food would, for example, most likely go into the “kitchen” category.
If something in the kitchen category functions primarily to wash dishes, it
would probably be placed into the subcategory of “kitchen sink area.” The
categories proposed by our predecessors usually serve as pretty good tools
for organizing a home. Ideas like “kitchen,” “bathroom,” and “bedroom” stick
around because they generally work. But these ideas cannot be allowed to
dictate the ultimate form of a dwelling; that is for necessity alone to decide.
98
Sacred Geometry
Organizing the tops of windows
and doors along a horizontal axis
and deliberately spacing porch
posts in a row are examples of the
ways alignment and proportion can
be consciously used to create a
structure that makes visual sense.
Less obvious examples become
apparent when regulating lines are
drawn on photos of a building’s fa-
cade. These lines are stretched
between significant elements, like
from the peak of the roof to the
cornerstones, or from a keystone
to the baseplates. When geom-
etry has been allowed to dictate
the rest of the design, the lines will
almost invariably intersect or align
with other crucial parts of the build-
ing. The intersections are often
unexpected, their appearance the
unintended biproduct of the cre-
ative process described on these
pages.
99
Do not think that, just because our shared idea of “bathroom” includes a bath,
a sink and a toilet, that these things must always be grouped together behind
the same door. The needs of a particular household may determine that each
be kept separate so that more than one can be used at a time. What is more,
if the kitchen sink is just outside the door to the toilet, then a separate basin
may not be necessary at all. The distinctions made between the categories
of “living room,” “family room” and “dining room” might well be combined into
the single category of “great room” for further consolidation.
Vernacular designers do not thoughtlessly mimic the form of other buildings.
They pay close attention to them, use what works in their area, and improve
upon what does not.
Along with all the categorizing that goes on during the design process, there
is a lot of prioritizing that has to be done as well. The relative importance of
a
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