Abstract: The influence of minimalist art on the design field is profound. Element restoration is one of its main means. Through substantive evideuce analysis and philosophically and logically mental analysis, three kinds of element restoration phenomena in contemporary architecture design and urban planning were analyzed deeply, which were aesthetic styles, operational strategies and urban management modes. And its internal mechanisms and common features were deeply anatomized and refined, it could be summarized into four aspects, that was purified structure, self-disciplined space, integrated technology and intuitive conception. Based on that opinion, a restoration methodology of essentialization and materialization was discussed, which would be a framework design program, spatial system and formal language of openness and generation oriented towards possibilities, with basic relation construction as the core. Finally, combined with local practices, the theory be verified. The exploration aimed to return to its roots, improved and expanded the core and boundaries of the planning and design disciplines.