all architecture begins with a concept
if you're struggling to find one curious
as to what one is or simply wondering
how architects begin their projects
this short course will walk you through
the process i use and some of the
techniques i rely on to develop
architectural concepts all illustrated
with one of my residential projects very
simply stated a concept is an idea that
underpins your project to an architect
the concept is what distinguishes a work
of architecture
from a mere building
at its core architecture seeks to solve
problems it's the questions we ask that
will determine which problems our
architecture will solve
developing a concept allows us to frame
the questions we're asking and it guides
the design process choosing a starting
point for your design can be
intimidating and an early stumbling
block for designers of any skill level
but it doesn't have to be
your concept shouldn't be rigorous the
more malleable it is the better in fact
most architecture can't be reduced to
one singular concept diagram
rather it's informed by many concepts
working in concert there may be
organizational concepts material
concepts
functional or structural or formal
concepts so don't fret if your idea
isn't reducible to a single elegant
black stroke on a page
it's best to illustrate concept
development with a real project so as i
said we'll use our squid cove residence
as an example
before we can develop the concept we
first have to understand the practical
constraints
now my design process begins only after
gathering and assessing all the given
parameters for a project
now this primarily consists of three
types of information there's information
derived from the site things like the
local climate the prevailing winds the
solar aspect vegetation neighboring
structures
the site's history and any unique
liabilities or opportunities
the site of course also comes along with
legal frameworks for development which
describe where and what we can and can't
build the second type of information
we'll gather is from the client now
every client has a set of cultural
beliefs and preconceptions preferences
and agendas of course we'll want to
determine their budget and understand
the personality traits and
organizational politics which might also
shape the design
the client and the building type
together determine what architects call
the program which is essentially a
detailed accounting of all the spaces
the building will contain
and the third type of information i
gather is related to the building
typology is it a museum a home
or a school
to learn about a building typology we
often conduct an analysis of notable or
relevant historical precedents we want
to know the essential problems these
type of structures grapple with
understanding the history of the
archetype allows us to approach a
problem from a fresh perspective now all
of this necessary information it's
something that we collect for every
single project this inventory can also
serve as the progenitor for the design
concept our seed idea
and rather than shunting creativity
these constraints often incite the
creative process
as with a good film the setting the
characters the cinematography and the
plot all conspire to make it what it is
it's the experience you'll recall rather
than the concept per se sure the concept
sets the film in motion and it's the
starting point for all that follows but
this concept the one or two line
description can't possibly capture the
richness and depth of the finished film
or in our case the architecture yet
without it the work is unfulfilling and
so it should be clear
that the concept is necessary for all of
our work as architects
once we've gathered this information
it's now time to begin processing it
into a usable form
of the three the site inventory is the
most readily translated to a physical
diagram
for our squid cove project you can see
i've transcribed the zoning the deed and
setback information onto the site plan
this diagram sets the real boundaries of
our project we have property line
setbacks a setback from the ocean
and an unstable bluff we need to avoid
and this is shown on the topographical
plan
there are a number of trees on the site
and one significant ash that we're
trying to avoid but for the most part
the trees and vegetation here were just
unremarkable
next i add to this the solar path the
prevailing wind direction and this
amazing view
there are site utilities and an existing
logging road and because there's no
public sewer here i worked with a soil
scientist to define the best spot for
the septic field and consequently the
well which needs to be a certain
distance away from the field
now this can often be a stringent
limitation to the buildable area because
there's so much granite locally so it's
important for me to define it early
and the one last piece of information is
that there's a neighboring house here
that we want to avoid looking at now i
like to diagram these constraints on the
site plan before i visit the site so the
information becomes a part of how i see
things when i'm there
visiting the site of course will leave a
different impression and i find mapping
things out first
allows me to overlay the two in a way
that selects for opportunity now that we
have this diagram we can start to see
the buildable site still quite a bit of
territory
this video won't cover the programming
phase we'll save that for another one
but prior to this i've worked with a
client to define the size of the home
and the budget which are as you'd
imagine strongly interrelated there's no
sense in beginning any design work until
the client is aware of the rough cost of
the work which
at this stage is directly tied to their
wish list of spaces and the sizes of
those spaces so
having completed the programming
exercise i can now diagram the relative
size of the home and overlay that on the
site when the time is right
because i work solely on residential
projects i'm quite familiar with the
building type so i'm not doing an
exhaustive precedent study for each
project
but knowing the typology allows me to
reinvent and rethink things when i see
an opportunity
if i were working on a building typology
i was unfamiliar with
i'd researched the building precedence
and used that information as an
underlying framework for developing the
program and possibly as a launching
point for my concept
now you should look at the work of
bjarki ingles as a contemporary example
of someone who uses typological
reinvention
to inspire his building concepts
so we visited the site and we know what
and where we can and can't build we know
something about the building type and we
know our client has budgeted for the
design we're about to undertake
what's next
well this is where the building concept
or party comes in
party is sort of architect lingo for
concept and it actually comes from the
french prontore party which means to
make a decision
it's the organizing principle we use as
a starting point for the design
now i've come up with a few of the most
common ones i rely on to spark ideas but
there are an infinite number available
to you we'll start with the simplest and
it's one we've already touched on in our
initial information gathering phase
buildings interpret their surroundings
and reformulate them in a way that can
be experienced
the site demands specificity from our
architecture it must react to it so
using the site to inspire the building
concept is as genuine a place to start
as any
we can react to views light topography
historical features vegetation and other
structures
when a building concept references a
site in a rural setting it establishes a
dialogue between natural and man-made in
urban and suburban contexts a boundary
between what you can design and control
and what you can't
your design inspiration can editorialize
this relationship
will it oppose nature or the local
surroundings or complement it
will it disregard it or adapt to it will
it impose order on it or will it assume
a different order
for our project the site was an
important progenitor of the design
concept
it was important for me to work with the
landform and exploit the natural slope
of equal importance where the view to
the water and the solar aspect each of
which became strong organizing forces
that shaped our early building massings
i imagined one arriving to the site and
being presented with the view beyond
rather than the buildings so i knew i
wanted to sight the home to the south
splayed out along the hillside rather
than on the crest of the hill
the sloping landform presented an
opportunity to mimic that with the form
of the house and i began thinking of
ways to zone the organization of the
building to complement the site features
too
i used the view to the cove as well as
the solar aspect to select the most
desirable site for the home
now often competing site factors will
force you to choose one site force as
more dominant
for example the prevailing wind
direction is in direct competition with
the idea i had about arrival to the site
if we were to position a taller mass to
the northwest to act as a natural
windscreen
it would impact our afternoon sun and
prevent an arrival sequence which
presented the view rather than the
building
not all problems will be solved by
assuming a singular attitude toward the
site
what was most important was the idea
that the building conformed to the
topography
unfolding along the hillside allowed the
building to create a series of terrorist
planes and transition spaces mediating
inside and out
we could then use these to establish
intermediate zones between architecture
and nature
using the hard edge site retaining walls
and decks would give us the chance to
highlight and contrast the soft edges of
the site
equally i could have positioned the home
at the top of the site and used it as a
light monitor or viewing tower or i
could have completely excavated the
terraces placed a green roof on top and
concealed the home and although these
were ideas i explored along the way
they were abandoned as my client helped
shape the decision making
the site helps to shape other dimensions
of our concept too things like the
material and structural concept and
we'll get into those in future videos
but you'll begin to see and it's worth
noting how the concept reverberates
throughout the design you'll always be
referring back to it as you iterate and
look to it when you're stuck on a design
problem the site will obviously inform
the organization of public and private
spaces too
how one arrives and moves from the
public gathering spaces to the more
private sleeping spaces
it shapes where we locate windows which
would be to the views and to capture the
sun and the site informs the formal
concepts too
this site concept is like a marriage the
architecture shapes the site and the
site shapes our architecture
so this is not enough you say well i
agree there's more meaning to extract
and more layers to the concept we should
explore
so inspiration number two
the client concept every work of
architecture requires a client for
residential architecture the client is a
major force driving the design concept
not only from an aesthetic point of view
but also programmatically the client
determines the program and which spaces
are most important in that program
and they obviously provide the financial
framework for realizing the architecture
successful architecture artfully
addresses a client's needs now client
driven concepts can take the form of
narratives or lifestyle peculiarities or
they can be purely functional for
example
a request for all living to be on one
level or an open plan
for this project our client expressed a
desire for the house to act as a
gathering place for friends and family
but also
that it accommodates seclusion and the
need for retreat from others
because we live in a seasonal community
the summer here often sees a massive
influx of guests and visitors
so those who live here year round are
accustomed to welcoming house guests in
the summer months
this inspired the division of spaces
into separate living and sleeping pods
each afforded a unique aspect or view to
the site
as we begin to organize the spaces of
the client driven program a simple way
to develop a concept is to divide public
and private spaces and then take a
position on their relationship
perhaps you overlap them perhaps they're
in separate pods or nested
perhaps their relationship is inverted
from here begin to diagram your concept
and iterate for our project we continued
on by layering our clients interest in
the outdoors and a near constant
schedule of expeditions to far away
places
this lifestyle helped fuel a story about
what the house could be how it might
function and when they were home and
when they were traveling and where we
might position the spaces in relation to
each other
and this brings us to inspiration number
three the narrative concept
inspired by an attitude about how our
client might live in the home and
welcome guests and how they plan to move
in and out of the spaces and mobilize
gear this all suggested to me the
imagery of an encampment by the sea
i envisaged the home as a place for
family and friends to gather and sort of
camp together
uniting in the evenings around the
campfire to share a meal but retreating
to private quarters for sleeping
the village concept provided for both
social gathering and private reflection
as needed
expedition travel allowed the house to
expand and contract with the seasons and
with ebbs and flows of visitors and this
story as we'll see begins to inform
layers of meaning as we develop the
floor plans and exterior elevations
later
nested pods provided for escape within
the larger space of the home and a
variety of scales mimicked the site
beyond and my client's need for respite
and seclusion even when surrounded by
friends
each one of these ideas exists in
various forms in the earliest early
design concepts presented
now i created this cover sheet to
describe the thinking behind the plans
but it may not be important for you to
convey this to your client it's sort of
up to you
i think it adds a level of interest and
a discussion point but not every client
will see the value
it's most important that it exists for
you as you develop the design they will
of course care most about what the
design looks and feels like and so at
this stage i present very loose sketched
plans to give an idea of how each
concept deploys the program on the site
and within the home
this process usually incites reactions
both positive and negative and you'll
use it to pivot moving forward
so as you can see it's not a singular
concept there's a narrative that ties it
together and suggests a means for
organizing the spaces on the site
there's the site topography and natural
features that suggest where we want to
locate the home and there's our client's
life that tells us how the elements of
their story can inform the architecture
so i'd struggle to produce the diagram
of this concept as gracefully as myelin
but it's still a concept and it's
informed every move i've made since sure
i revisited it and refined it i've
tweaked things based on client feedback
and tastes
but it's still there and i continue to
layer on meaning as i develop the design
when there's a question i know how to
answer it because the conceptual
framework is there to help now there are
as i said infinite other ways to develop
concepts so here's a few more if you're
still stuck
materials architects like peter zumtor
herzog and demiron and peter bolin often
use the raw materials of building as the
starting point for their work
every line we trace on the page
represents real physical materials
coming together to make our architecture
instead of rendering our work in pure
white as we so often do
why not seek meaning from the materials
we'll use to construct it local stone or
wood aggregates trades people or special
techniques these can all be called into
service of the architecture and the
spaces can be enriched with meaning
materials have very specific properties
by which they're bound steel conducts
it's strong in bending it can be welded
stone is heavy and thick and imposing
glass is light and ethereal bricks are
the size of the human hand and lend
texture and scale and warmth to a space
ask yourself how these materials or
combinations of them tell a more
interesting story
for my work i'll always use the
underlying narrative concept to
reinforce the material concept here
we're using dark stained local cedar
shingles as the siding for our project
the spruce pine in fur forest here is a
variegated dark green the shingles and
the wood grain replicate this subtle
tonal difference and the green helps the
building to recede into the site
board formed concrete references the
wood graining and the process of making
its patterns will host mosses and
lichens as the building weathers
is this a separate concept no it all
feeds into an attitude about a place
next a structural concept the expedition
and the camping narrative that we've
been talking about helped us develop
this structural strategy too
the gable form is a tent glazed walls
let ample light in and we're employing
lightweight cabling elements reminiscent
of tent poles or cordage to tie the
walls together and of course there's
nautical references here that are pretty
strong as well now you could also write
a manifesto
what do you believe this architecture's
role is in society what are the larger
questions it's proposing
check out dita rams for a famous
manifesto having researched your
building typology how can you disrupt
long-held beliefs uh or organizational
layout see biggs power plant for example
perhaps you could explore a formal
concept the idea of architecture
parlance the bird's nest the chicken
that sells chicken
and of course there's always the process
of making
charles and ray ames use their journey
from ignorance to knowledge as the
motivation for many of their designs
how can you bring a fresh perspective to
the problem you're facing is there
something inherent in the process of
building that reveals something novel
the design process isn't singular or
linear we don't create a concept and
stick to it in the face of changing
information
use what you're learning to pivot that's
perfectly acceptable sensible even
you'll present ideas to your client or
professor and they'll react design is a
dialogue and the concept ensures you
have something to talk about
return to your design and tweak it using
the new information you've gathered
each time we learn a little bit more
about our client about the design and
new opportunities arise
now in the next part of this short
course we'll look at how we begin
turning the concept into architecture
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