PRECONCEIVED IDEAS

It is a design effort undertaken to provide opportunities to enhance and enrich exploratory techniques in developing design alternatives. It is not important to use each and every portion or detail of the
architectural feature. Exact replica­tion is not necessary. It is developed by “pretend­ing” that selected patterns of the architecture could be adapted to resemble landscape structures. Having completed this chapter, you should know the following about preliminary design:
• Definition and purpose of preliminary design
• Process of creating, information shown, and graphic style of a preliminary design
• Three primary design principles and their signifi­cance to design
• Definition of order and alternative ways to create it in a design
• Definition of unity and methods for establishing it in a design
• Definition of rhythm and techniques for creating it in a design
• Purpose and content of a character palette Design #N3600/N3601 (top) © Home Planners, LLC Wholly owned by Hanley-Wood, LLC. While the earlier steps gathered important site information and studied the general organization of the design, preliminary design emphasizes the visual and emotional aspects of design. It is based on all the previous steps, though it goes be­yond these in scope and detail. SUMMARY______________________
Preliminary design is the most realistic and comprehen­sive phase of the design process discussed to this point. The drawing below it is a “character palette.” It is a group of design ideas for patios, fences, and overheads that are developed based solely upon the architectural character of the house. The following chart shows the relationship between the design ideas in the character palette and the feature of the house each design idea was modeled after. The emphasis is to pretend and to explore ways that existing characteristics of the house can be blended into the character of the landscape. As the design process proceeds into preliminary design, where some realism takes ef­fect, a designer may have some preconceived ideas for design elements and their ma­terials, patterns, character, and so on.