D E S I G N P H I L O S O P H Y
Architects must build up a consistent design philosophy. Such a philosophy is the rudder for the boat; it makes possible a continuing course in meaningful direction. I felt the need to develop a design philosophy in which I could believe, one that would give direction to my architecture and withstand the test of time. Architecture is not a private affair; even a house must serve a whole family and its friends, and most buildings are used by everybody, people of all walks of life. If a building is to meet the needs of all the people, the architect must look for some common ground of understanding and experience [upon which to build].
The need for this common ground led me back to people as creatures of nature, perceiving their environment through the five senses. As I learned to weave elements of sensory appeal into the design, I began to reach those innate responses that govern how a human being reacts to the environment. In this way, I create environments that all people instinctively find harmonious. I have come to call these principles that derive from people’s relation to their environment constants. Architects spend most of their time learning to deal with variables: the immediate physical constraints, site conditions, what’s happening in and around the building, what the structure has to do under a particular set of circumstances - circumstances that might not exist in another situation.
The definition of the design problem comes from understanding the essence of the variables, but the solution evolves through the application of constants, principles of design that hold true in every case. The resulting design should be a marriage of the constants and the variables. Another way to understand this opposition of principles and practical obstacles is to speak of statistics and dynamics. Architects in the past have tended to concentrate their attention on the building as a static object. I believe dynamics are more important: the dynamics of people, their interaction with spaces and environmental condition. We must learn to understand humanity better so that we can create an environment that is more beneficial to people, more rewarding, more pleasant to experience. We are naturally interested in the latest
structural techniques, in innovative building materials, and the technology of our craft; but we need to be more interested in people. Buildings should serve people, not the other way around.
© Copyright Matthew Facundus 2013, All Rights Reserved
