empathy

Architecture is set within the backdrop of a complex interconnected web that serves as the projects context. This web includes not only the existing built structures adjacent or near a site that forms the project’s literal context, but also includes the social, historical, and natural forces that underlie the project. It is my belief that no work of architecture exists in isolation. Creating architecture that arises from this web of forces and becomes a part of it is my focus. If a project is set within a dense urban environment, I want the architecture to connect to that built system in a way that it reflects the lively, social nature of that environment, i.e. designing a building that helps to activate the street . If a project is located in nature, I want the architecture to connect to the spirit or genius loci of that location, i.e. a home that is set on stilts in a forest. However, no matter the site, architecture should include references to historical and cultural motifs as to ground the project.

quietness

I believe in creating quiet architecture in two senses.  The first being that architecture should serve as a backdrop for daily life, and the second being that I strive to create spaces that give opportunity to people to pause.  Architecture should never be the focal point; the focal point is daily life. I attempt to make architecture that allows people to feel at home in a place. Furthermore, I believe that architecture is the art of experiencing space, thus I try to create spaces that not only allow people to feel at home in them, but that also nurtures reflection. Architecture relates us to the world around us (nature, history, time), because of this, architecture can make us more aware of the present and allow people to live a more fulfilling life.

As a general trend, contemporary architecture is designed for the eye. Architecture today tries to push its way into daily life by creating ever complex forms largely at the expense of the experiential qualities of the building, which are neglected in favor of the hedonistic eye. It’s not so much that these buildings are bad because they have complex forms. On the contrary, buildings should have complex forms for the simple reason that with today’s technology, we can build buildings with complex forms. Architecture should not however, prevent the building’s users from taking ownership. Such buildings are only monuments to ego.

rootedness

Today’s built environment is characterized by a fascination with the ephemeral. Buildings today are created in the characterizing social and economic forces of our time: globalization, and consumerism. We have been led to believe that the spirit of the times means designing buildings with dynamic forms that are clad in glass and aluminum. Architecture is reduced to semiotics, to signs and symbols. Buildings like this neglect the undeniable fact that architecture is an experiential art. I believe in an architecture of resistance, in that, space should be formed to create a specific atmosphere that elicits a specific emotional response from the user. I believe that by creating a monumental, solid architecture that seems permanently rooted to earth, and the spirit of the place. In so doing architecture can once again return to the basic principles of the past and create meaningful spaces for human habitation. 

beauty

The presence of beauty is at once undeniable, and yet highly subjective. To me, beauty has much less to do with expensive materials and form as it does about the idea of the building and how that idea is carried out to the minutest detail of a project. To me, architecture is simply the building of ideas, and the idea, if well conceived and grounded in its true functional purpose, will naturally create a holistically beautiful building. I am also guided by the belief that my job as an architect is to bring together complex systems, whether they be structural, mechanical, or material, and resolve them. When the design approach unifies these demands, architecture that is aesthetically pleasing in form and function is produced. Nothing is forgotten. Beauty is highly resolved design — consistent and complete from idea to execution. The beauty is not in the thing itself, but how it is brought together.

permanence

I believe Louis Sullivan’s dictum of form follows function still rings true to this day; however, I am more concerned with how buildings are constructed, and how the tectonics of the building are articulated as opposed to how the programmatic functions of the building are articulated. My idea of clarity is linked to the notion of honesty in that individual elements in a structure should display their true purpose. I believe that materials should be used and selected on the basis of their properties, and therefore the material selection reflect the nature of the program in addition to influencing the overall form of the space that is being created. My idea of clarity is not limited to how elements are used in a building and what materials are selected for those elements, but is also reflected in how a user experiences a building. Honest, easy to understand buildings, with their legible facades and logical form, relate directly to both the user and passers-by, and in doing so, bring a new dimension to the way people interact with the built environment.