Transforming problem houses into Dream Homes

Archtober30: Summary

October is National Architecture Month, also known in some circles as Archtober. To commemorate the month, I am going to post a brief post every day of the month.

October has been Architecture Month. At the very last minute, October 1st to be precise, I decided to jump into the deep end and committed myself publicly to posting daily about architecture. Some say I should have been committed – to an asylum. But, be that as it may, I plowed forward fully unprepared and unaware of what I would write or what I wanted to say. It was Architecture Month! It should be fun!

I figured I should start out by posting my Architectural Creed. It is a concise statement of what I believe architecture should do, and what I strive to accomplish in my work.

So far, so good.

After that, I sat down and made a list of things I wanted to write about and architects, other than myself, that I wanted to mention.

My list changed as the month progressed. I ended up adding topics and deleting others. I ended up adding other architects and not quite getting around to others.

As I wrote the posts, usually in marathon writing sessions during which I wrote 5 to 8 individual posts, including hunting down illustrations, and pondering deep thoughts about what I wanted to say (Hey, I can ponder!), I started to have some clarity about my message, the over-arching theme to the month’s posts: Making Places.

That is what architect’s do, make places. We all approach the subject differently and we all have our own basic foundations for designing. We all serve different clients, who have different requirements. Ideally, however, we are all striving to make the world better by designing better places for our clients. That is true whether the client is remodeling a bathroom or building a hospital. Our clients, you, want a better place for your family, your business, your healthcare, your schools, for every physical location where you carry on a portion of your life. We all want better places. Architects make places.

Along the way I wrote about scale, origins of architecture, great buildings, great architects, tools we use, parts of buildings, and aspects of design. These 29 preceding posts are not the complete word on architecture. There are some who would disagree with me on any or all of the assertions I’ve made this month. They might disagree about the architects I admire, or the lessons I’ve drawn from them, or how to go about making better places. I stand by all I’ve said this month, because I am passionate about the subjects. I am, after all, an architect. I am passionate about buildings. I am passionate about making places. I am passionate about making my clients’ dreams come true.

 

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