Space is an essential element of architecture, as it refers to the areas within and around a structure. Space includes both interior and exterior areas, and it determines the layout and functionality of a structure.

When designing physical space, architects carefully consider zoning, circulation, hierarchy, and flexibility. Zoning involves dividing a building into distinct functional zones or areas such as living spaces, bedrooms, kitchens, etc. Effective zoning creates logical adjacencies between related spaces and separates public and private rooms.

Space and mass are the raw materials of architectural form; from them the architect creates an ordered expression through the process of composition. Composition is the organization of the whole out of its parts—the conception of single elements, the interrelating of these elements, and the relating of them to the total form.