DESIGN STYLES

Module 3

A.    Find an image of a cool space. With your knowledge thus far, explain how you can change this space into a warm and intimate environment. Remember your changes don’t need to be drastic, they can be subtle.

B.    Find an image where the windows and doors are, or are not, in harmonious alignment to each other and explain why you feel this way drawing on the elements and principles of design again. This can be an indoor or an outdoor shot.

C.    Find an image of a room with something wonderful about it that you feel isn’t given enough emphasis. Explain how you would emphasize it more. For example, a fireplace.

A way to add warmth to this rather cool space is to add a splash of warm colour (red, yellow, orange). Added colours will bring life to the space.  The floors of the space is made up of wood and marble, both of which create a very cool and sophisticated space — to counteract that, adding a soft carpet in the middle of the room will bring a sense of warmth and welcome to the space.

The space has very precise furniture (both in placement and shape), and another way to add warmth to the space is to add a softer and more enveloping furniture. Warmth can also be added to the room by adding more patterned fabric for the furniture as well as the curtains, walls, and window finishes.

In terms of lighting, there is a gracious amount of natural light through the large windows, and when natural light is unavailable, the light source comes from the lamp in the corner. Adding more soft and incandescent lighting will create a more warming environment.

This modern house design in harmonious in the way that everything is symmetrical and look visually balanced. The two windows on the second level placed side by side mirror the way the way the two garage doors are paralleled on the first level. This creates a sense of balance and harmony throughout the entire aesthetic.

There are no curved edges throughout the design. The edges of the roof meet in a triangle, and the panels on the garage doors and windows are all straight (both horizontal and vertical panels).

The colours also create a harmonious setting. This design has more elements of cooler colours used, but the added splash of orange and brown add some warmth to the building (without these added colours, the design would look very uninviting and cold). 

The ratio between the first and second level of the house is also balanced, with not one being far higher than the other.

The piece of decoration I would like to emphasise on in this modern design is the piece of art hanging above the couch. Despite having a nice patterned texture, it seems to get lost against the white coloured walls. A suggestion I would give to emphasising the piece would be to add a frame to the panel (the colour of the frame would be a dark grey to match the couch, or a deep purple to match the cushions). 

I would also suggest adding a set of lights above the painting to put more focus on it (much like that in an art gallery). Because of where it is placed, there is no natural light that will shine on the panel, so by adding artificial light, it would create more emphasis and make it more eye catching.

The entire design of the room has a very balanced feeling, and the continuous use of the colour white creates a nice sense of rhythm.