Architectural Design & Planning Flashcards
7 cards from real CMA practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Architectural Design & Planning flashcards as text
The 'golden section' (approximately 1:1.618) is used in architectural proportion primarily to:
Answer: Create aesthetically harmonious relationships between dimensions
The golden ratio has been employed since antiquity to produce proportional relationships that are perceived as visually balanced and harmonious.
In urban planning, a 'setback' requirement most directly controls:
Answer: The minimum distance a structure must be placed from a property line or street
Setbacks establish a mandated open space between a building and property lines, streets, or other features, shaping the urban street wall and yard areas.
Which of the following best describes the primary purpose of a 'site analysis' in the early design phase?
Answer: Documenting existing site conditions, constraints, and opportunities to inform design decisions
Site analysis systematically inventories natural, cultural, and regulatory site factors so the architect can make informed design choices that respond to context.
In the AIA project delivery method known as Design-Build, the architect's primary contractual relationship is with:
Answer: The design-build contractor or design-build entity
In Design-Build, the architect typically contracts with the design-build entity (often a contractor), consolidating design and construction under a single point of responsibility to the owner.
A 'parti' in architectural design refers to:
Answer: The central concept or organizing idea that drives an architectural scheme
The parti is the essential generative idea—often expressed as a simple diagram—that gives a design project its fundamental order and character.
According to ASHRAE 55, thermal comfort standards primarily address which environmental variables? (Choose the best grouping.)
Answer: Air temperature, radiant temperature, humidity, air velocity, clothing, and metabolic rate
ASHRAE 55 defines thermal comfort through six primary factors: air temperature, mean radiant temperature, relative humidity, air velocity, clothing insulation (clo), and metabolic rate.
In programming a healthcare facility, 'functional adjacency' diagrams are used primarily to:
Answer: Show which departments need to be located near each other for operational efficiency
Adjacency diagrams map the relative proximity needs between functional areas so that the architectural layout supports operational workflows and minimizes travel distances.