ARCHITECTURE IS CONTINGENT Architecture is not art. It is a largely untapped medium for exploring the potential of human interactions and contributing to the texture of the urban world around us. Architectural knowledge should be used to make social and spacial sense. Architecture is the art of giving form to a building or space that is contingent upon a wide swath of information, forces, and flows. And while it is formal, it is impregnated with and layered upon by dozens of systems that ideally work together in a harmonic assemblage. From a technical standpoint, art is simple when compared to architecture. We complexify art in our mind's eye, but the making of architecture is complex.
ARCHITECTURE IS SHAPED BY IT'S LIMITATIONS Economics, site, context, budget, labor, available materials, and sustainability are just a few of the constraints that affect architecture through the process from beginning to end. Architecture should leverage its various constraints in an effort to subvert, seduce, transgress, and wow those that rely upon it every day. Otherwise, they are just dumb buildings.
ARCHITECTURE IS NOT LINEAR The napkin sketch that results in a skyscraper is a silly notion at best. Buildings are complicated, and the path to produce it does not follow a linear or rigid path. From conception to construction & through its multiple life cycles, architecture is a vibration that is never finished.
PERFECTION IS A SILLY NOTION There is no such thing as a perfect piece of architecture. Architecture is a phyiscal manifestation of a problem, or rather a series of problems at a given point in time. In order to solve the problem, decisions must be made in an established order of priority. Prioritization implies limitations. Not every problem will be solved, and even if they could be, these problems will change over time.
TIME NEVER STOPS Much to the chagrin of architects, time never stops. As soon as a building is built, it begins falling apart. Over the course of a building life cycle, a substantial portion of the building will be incrementally replaced. This means that we architects have a moral obligation to consider the building after it is completed. We must consider how to extend the life of the building, and anticipate ways to facilitate both maintenance and upgrades. Why? Because building and operating a building accounts for nearly half of gross annual carbon emissions worldwide. Sustainablity is not building new LEED buildings, it's sustaining the buildings we have, and adapting them as needed.
CLIENTS AND USERS ARE NOT ALWAYS THE SAME Compared to art, architecture is expensive. Few architects have patrons; most have clients. However clients, are not necessarily the end users. Despite the codependent relationship between architects and their clients, architects must keep the end users in mind. This is the only way to facilitate actual use, reduce waste, and give back to our fellow humans in a truly meaningful way that is devoid of ego & vanity.
THE WORLD IS CHANGING Making typological assumptions about what your office, your house, or your roof deck should be before you have examined how you live and work in this rapidly changing society is a mistake. Just because your parents or friends live and work one way doesn't mean you must follow suit. Design should work for you, not against you.
A GOOD ARCHITECT IS ON YOUR SIDE Spending hours watching HGTV or tagging a thousand images on Pinterest may sound like a great idea when you decide to embark on a new project, but it will only lead to confusion and disappointment. It is good to have an idea of what types of things you are drawn to, but expecting an architect to stitch them all together into a monster is ill-advised. We are all familiar with stories of cape wearing narcissistic architects convincing you of things you don't want, don't need, or can't afford. This is a practice of yesteryear, and any good architect today knows that the best architecture is produced with the end user and the budget in mind. Architects have an ability to absorb, sort, and use what works and what doesn't to make a cohesive design for the program you have agreed upon. It's what they go to bed thinking about at night, so try not to suffocate them and let them do their job.
ARCHITECTURE SHOULD BE CONTEMPORARY We do not leave the house in powdered wigs or platform shoes anymore. Not only is it impractical, it is out of step with the times. Architecture should reflect the society and lifestyle in which we live, not serve as a nostalgia machine. It should reflect the advancements in materials, technology, communications, and engineering. It is only by moving forward that we can head into the future.
ARCHITECTURE IS NOT LIMITED TO BUILDINGS Architecture is a door to the world of design all around us. This includes not just "machines for living" but the guts of those machines, as well as the larger urban context in which they reside. The color and material of the couch is as important as the placement of the windows, the type of shower head in the bathroom, or the relationship to the street. All things must be considered.
