The home is a very emotional keepsake. Creating designs for its
inhabitants
is even
more
emotional.
Not only
are we
dealing
with
providing
shelter,
but
experiences
of
memories,
childhood,
safety,
security,
family
expansion,
holiday
gathering,
childbirth
and new
family
additions.
The
American
family
transitions
and
redefines
itself
more
than any
other
culture
in the
world.
In an
attempt
to
redefine
"family"
in
America,
the
architect
appears
to be
the only
one
remaining
who is
still
held to
maintaining
many
traditions
in house
design,
despite
these
transformations.
Perhaps
through
it all,
deep
down
inside,
we still
yearn
for home
to
cradle
some
hint of
grandma's
house-
comfy,
cozy,
and full
of
understanding
and
love. An
open
mind is
key to
tailoring
designs
to a
family's
lifestyle
and
daily
routines
of
living.
I
remember
in
college,
at the
University
of
Michigan,
our
design
instructor,
who
eventually
became
Dean,
told us
that a
house
should
be
designed
for
making
love.
Needless
to say,
at that
time, we
students
were
shocked
at his
"X-Rated"
application
to
academic
training.
Then he
followed
up by
saying
that we
knew
nothing
about
making
love!
What he
was
referring
to was
not
necessarily
just
"sex,"
but
upholding
the
romanticism
and
support
of love
in the
design
and
living
experience
of
"home."
What was
more
interesting
is that
when
incorporating
even a
small
semblance
of this
into my
client's
dreams,
it seems
to yield
satisfactory
results.
It may
not be
evident
in the
design
image,
and it
may not
be a
"show-stopping"
presentation,
but the
expression,
for a
particular
family,
has it's
own
meaning
and
special
experience.
Sometimes
the
architecture
part is
easy!
It's
getting
the
husband
and wife
to agree
and make
decisions
about
the
future
home's
composition.
The
emerging
technologies
have
provided
excellent
tools to
assist
in this
venue.
Email,
jpgs,
faxes,
computer
models
are
great
tools
for
bouncing
ideas
back and
forth,
until
satisfaction
is
achieved.
With
a
"big-picture"
sensibility,
architecture
is not
just
providing
a "set
of
plans,"
but the
ability
to see
the
client
through
to
living
in the
home of
their
dreams.
In
America,
it is
eminent
that the
responsibility
of
assisting
in
securing
that
happiness
rest
with the
services
of the
residential
architect.
Even
though
divorce
and
transitory
relationships
may
appear
to be
prevalent,
the
desire
for an
ideal
"home"
will
remain,
forever,
a human
aspiration,
for all.