Martin Nerurkar has posted some interesting thoughts about level design and architectural principles:

… Before I get into level design, I’ll first have to talk a bit about architecture. Thousands of years ago, the roman architect Vitruvius identified what he called the three “qualities of architecture”. They are as follows:

• Firmitas, stability. The building stands stable on it’s own
• Utilitas, usability. The spaces created by the building are suited for their intended use
• Venustas, beauty. This building has a beautiful aesthetic

They do make sense, right? Admittedly categorizing things is often arbitrary and can be argued for or against but I kinda liked that setup, where each layer is building on one another. If your building isn’t standing safely, it doesn’t matter much if your kitches is perfectly laid out. And if your doors are too small for people to get in properly, then it doesn’t help that the aesthetics are wonderful – the building itself is still a failure.

Now I tried transporting this divide over to level design, and this is what I got:

• Firmitas, stability. The level runs well without any technical or performance issues
• Utilitas, usability. The space does a good job at leveraging the game mechanics
• Venustas, beauty. The environment creates an atmosphere and provides affordances.

I’ll elaborate a bit on these three qualities and how I think they relate to level design as a discipline ….

– Martin Nerurkar: “The three Qualities of Level Design” @ Game Architecture

Via Gamasutra.