Good architects tell a story and engage the senses. They understand the rules – and know when to break them
Every architect’s design process is extremely personal and nuanced. While each architect’s habits are individual and idiosyncratic, the broader architectural habits all architects share lay the foundations for good design. Here are eight (of the many) habits that help guide successful architects during the design process.
1. They tell a good story.
Our memories of places are inherently linked to stories. A home that tells the story of a specific client, in a specific place, at a specific time enriches the experience and gives it a reason for being. Architects are taught very early in design school to conceptualize projects by inventing a narrative, which is traditionally referred to as a parti. A parti is like a rulebook, in a way, and a good one allows architects to refer back to it when they’re stuck wondering what to do next. It organises their thoughts and guides them in how to best relate the story through their design.
2. They take risks.
Taking risks to do something out of the ordinary is part of any creative field. Rethink, reimagine, retool and invent new ways of doing the same old thing — while the laws of physics still apply, even gravity can be challenged. This isn’t to say that everything requires innovation or bold action, but looking at a problem through a different lens often reveals interesting solutions that don’t rely on standard practice.
3. They sweat the details.
At its heart architecture seeks to solve problems, but it’s the way they’re able to solve those problems — the poetry they bring to the solution — that separates the good from the bad. It’s possible to solve the problem of a stair guard in many different ways, but here the designer has chosen a minimalist, outwardly effortless expression. The gray of the thin stainless steel cables matches that of the concrete stair run, and their attachment is deliberate and considered. Details matter because they’re often the things architects are most engaged with on a daily basis. The means by which all of the components come together in a structure are the details.
4. They simplify.
“The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak,” said painter Hans Hofmann. Too often we let complexity act as a proxy for interest. Architects are schooled in editing down to the essential components. If it doesn’t have a function, its necessity should be questioned.
5. They establish order.
Designers prefer applying ordering principles to everything, at every level. Naturally, the need for order requires hierarchy — which basically means you have to decide what’s the most important thing and let the other things defer to it.
6. They repeat, repeat, repeat.
Repetition is a good thing in architecture. Common thematic elements repeated again and again help to reinforce our previous habit of establishing order. Windows, doors, columns, beams, materials … these are all part of the natural order of buildings. Repetition doesn’t equate to boring; rather it unifies a design. Repeating patterns, materials, grids and proportions are the underpinnings of order. The cardinal rule of repetition is that it takes a minimum of three of anything to see the benefits. If two is good, three is better. Repetition not only makes sense from an economical standpoint, but it provides a reference point and background against which to highlight the things that architects think are really important, laying the groundwork for their next habit.
7. They break the rules.
The prerequisite to this is the previous habit. Once architects have an established repeating pattern, they can decide where to break the rules. Imagine a series of windows aligned on an orderly grid. The one window that breaks this set of rules must do so for a very important and specific reason, like a view to a tree canopy or a distant view. With a repetitive order as the background, calculated rule breaking is assured to have special meaning. It also balances the repetition to keep it from being staid and monotonous.
8. They engage the senses.
While the stunning visuals of the architecture we consume online appeal to our sense of sight, our experience of architecture is actually quite different. Architects are taught to think about all of our senses when designing. Opening a home to a view is as important as shielding it from unwanted noise or the smell from the ocean or a nearby cedar tree. Architects consider the difference in feel of cool concrete versus warm wood on one’s feet and the sound rain makes on a metal roof. To think about design from an experiential level often reveals architectural opportunities that make life in a home or a place much more pleasing. Good architects and designers think about light and shadow, where the sun moves throughout the day, where the wind comes from or the sounds of an urban neighbourhood — and how they can play along.
First published on Houzz.com
