The Difference is Design!
My wife and I were on vacation last week with friends, and we got off the beaten path a bit to look at homes in the area. This is a habit that h
elps me understand housing from a more universal perspective. At one point we were in a nice historical neighborhood and turned the corner to find it – the ugliest house! It was SO bad I didn't even want to take a picture.
Our friends were curious as to how that house could fit in with the graceful homes on the street but yet be so ugly. I told them, “the difference is Design!” You’ve probably experienced this in your own community. There’s that house that makes you say “what were they thinking when they built that?” The answer is that they weren’t thinking – at least not in terms of design. They probably started with a plan that was working (like this beautiful home with a wrap around porch on your left) and “made a few changes” without understanding the aesthetic effect of those changes. You’ve seen it – the windows are too small which makes it look odd, or they added a few feet to one side of the house to grow the master bedroom, and it threw the whole house off balance.
Design makes a difference in areas besides aesthetics, also:
· Accessibility- A client of mine was badly injured in an accident, and hired a builder to make her bathroom accessible. The builder was well meaning, and "had training in assessibility" (he had taken a class on Universal Design), but he applied the elements without realizing that she needed modifications that weren't in the book. The modifications cost money, made the Master Bathroom ugly (they couldn't sell the home without changing it back) and she still couldn't wash her face, use the toliet or take a bath! If designed properly, an accessible home doesn't have to be ugly or awkward. This roll in shower at the right is both functional and beautiful.
· Green Building- By now we’ve all heard about LEED-certified buildings that use more energy than a normal building. That comes from applying “green features” without an integrated strategy. I call it “chasing points” and it doesn’t work. The first feature o
f a good Green Building is a comprehensive design that defines how we’re going to make this building different in a green way. If designed properly, a "Green" building doesn't have to be ugly or awkward.
All of these problems spring from applying “cookie-cutter” solutions with a lack of either understanding or concern about whether they will move us closer to or farther from the project’s goals.
The difference between a beautiful, usable home that performs well and lasts a lifetime and “that house” is Design!
Comments(0)