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All architecture begins with a concept.
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If you’re struggling to find one, curious
as to what one is, or simply wondering how
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architects begin their projects, this short
course will walk you through the process I
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use and some of the techniques I rely on to
develop architectural concepts, all illustrated
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with one of my residential projects.
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Very simply stated, a concept is an idea that
underpins your project.
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To an architect, the concept is what distinguishes
a work of architecture from a mere building.
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At its core, architecture seeks to solve problems.
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It’s the questions we ask that will determine
which problems our architecture will solve.
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Developing a concept allows us to frame the
questions we’re asking and it guides the
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design process.
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Choosing a starting point for your design
can be intimidating and an early stumbling
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block for designers of any skill level.
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But it doesn’t have to be.
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Your concept shouldn’t be rigorous; the
more malleable it is, the better.
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In fact, most architecture can’t be reduced
to one singular concept diagram; rather it’s
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informed by many concepts working in concert.
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There may be organizational concepts, material
concepts, functional, or structural or formal
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concepts.
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So, don’t fret if your design idea isn’t
reducible to a single elegant black stroke
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on a page.
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It’s best to illustrate concept development
with a real project so as I said, we’ll
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use our Squid Cove Residence as an example.
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Before we can develop the concept, we have
to first understand the practical constraints.
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Now, my design process begins only after gathering
and assessing all the given parameters for
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a project.
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Now, this primarily consists of three types
of information.
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There’s information derived from the site
things like: local climate, the prevailing
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winds, the solar aspect, vegetation, neighboring
structures, the site’s history, and any
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unique liabilities or opportunities.
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The site of course also comes along with legal
frameworks for development, which describe
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where and what we can and can’t build.
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The second type of information we’ll gather
is from the client.
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Now, every client has a set of cultural beliefs
and preconceptions, preferences and agendas.
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Of course, we’ll want to determine their
budget and understand the personality traits
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and organizational politics which might also
shape the design.
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The client and the building type together
determine what architects call - the program
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- which is essentially a detailed accounting
of all the spaces the building will contain.
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And the third type of information I gather
is related to the building typology.
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Is it a museum, a home or a school?
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To learn about a building typology we often
conduct an analysis of notable or relevant
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historical precedents.
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We want to know the essential problems these
type of structures grapple with.
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Understanding the history of the archetype
allows us to approach a problem from a fresh
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perspective.
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Now, all of this necessary information it’s
something that we collect for every single
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project.
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This inventory can also serve as the progenitor
for the design concept – our seed idea.
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And, rather than shunting creativity, these
constraints often incite the creative process.
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As with a good film, the setting, the characters,
the cinematography, and the plot all conspire
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to make it what it is.
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It’s the experience you’ll recall rather
than the concept per se.
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Sure, the concept sets the film in motion
and it’s the starting point for all that
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follows.
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But this concept – the one or two-line description
– can’t possible capture the richness
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and depth of the finished film or in our case
the architecture.
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Yet without it, the work is unfulfilling and
so it should be clear that the concept is
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necessary for all of our work as architects.
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Once we’ve gathered this information, it’s
now time to begin processing it into a useable
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form.
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Of the three, the site inventory is the most
readily translated to a physical diagram.
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For our Squid Cove project you can see I’ve
transcribed the zoning, the deed, and setback
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information onto the site plan.
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This diagram sets the real boundaries of our
project.
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We have property line setbacks, a setback
from the ocean, and an unstable bluff we need
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to avoid and this is shown on the topographical
plan.
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There are a number of trees on the site and
one significant Ash that we’re trying to
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avoid, but for the most part the trees and
vegetation here were just unremarkable.
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Next I add to this the solar path, the prevailing
wind direction, and this amazing view.
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There are site utilities and an existing logging
road and because there’s no public sewer
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here, I worked with a soils scientist to define
the best spot for the septic field and consequently
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the well which needs to be a certain distance
away from the field.
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Now, this can often be a stringent limitation
to the buildable area because there’s so
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much granite locally, so it’s important
for me to define it early.
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And, the one last piece of information, is
that there’s a neighboring house here that
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we want to avoid looking at.
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Now, I like to diagram these constraints on
the site plan before I visit the site so the
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information becomes a part of how I see things
when I’m there.
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Visiting the site of course will leave a different
impression and I find mapping things out first
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allows me to overlay the two in a way that
selects for opportunity.
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Now that we have this diagram we can start
to see the buildable site.
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Still quite a bit of territory.
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This video won’t cover the programming phase,
we’ll save that for another one, but prior
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to this I’ve worked with the client to define
the size of the home and budget which are
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– as you’d imagine – strongly interrelated.
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There’s no sense in beginning any design
work until the client is aware of the rough
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cost of the work which at this stage is directly
tied to their wish list of spaces and the
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sizes of those spaces.
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So, having completed the programming exercise
I can now diagram the relative size of the
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home and overlay that on the site when the
time is right.
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Because I work solely on residential projects
I’m quite familiar with the building type
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so I’m not doing an exhaustive precedent
study for each project.
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But knowing the typology allows me to reinvent
and rethink things when I see an opportunity.
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If I were working on a building typology I
was unfamiliar with, I’d research building
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precedents and use that information as an
underlying framework for developing the program
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and possibly as a launching point for my concept.
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Now you should look at the work of Bjarke
Ingells as a contemporary example of someone
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who uses typological reinvention to inspire
his building concepts.
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So, we’ve visited the site and we know what
and where we can and can’t build.
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We know something about the building type
and we know our client has budgeted for the
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design we’re about to undertake.
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What’s next?
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Well, this is where the building concepts
or parti comes in.
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Parti is sort of architect lingo for, “concept”
– and it actually comes from the French
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prendre parti which means, “to make a decision”
It’s the organizing principle we use as
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a starting point for the design.
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Now, I’ve come up with a few of the most
common ones I rely on to spark ideas, but
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there are an infinite number available to
you.
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We’ll start with the simplest, and it’s
one we’ve already touched on in our initial
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information gathering phase.
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Buildings interpret their surroundings and
reformulate them in a way that can be experienced.
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The site demands specificity from our architecture.
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It must react to it.
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So, using the site to inspire the building
concept is as genuine a place to start as
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any.
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We can react to: views, light, topography,
historical features, vegetation, and other
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structures.
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When a building concept references the site
in a rural setting, it establishes a dialogue
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between natural and man-made; in urban and
suburban contexts, a boundary between what
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you can design and control and what you can’t.
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Your design inspiration can editorialize this
relationship: will it oppose nature or the
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local surroundings or complement it?
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Will it disregard it, or adapt to it?
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Will it impose order on it or will it assume
a different order?
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For our project, the site was an important
progenitor of the design concept.
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It was important for me to work with the landform
and exploit the natural slope.
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Of equal importance were the view to the water
and the solar aspect each of which became
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strong organizing forces that shaped our early
building massings.
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I imagined one arriving to the site and being
presented with the view beyond, rather than
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the building.
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So, I knew I wanted to site the home to the
south splayed out along the hillside rather
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than on the crest of the hill.
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The sloping landform presented an opportunity
to mimic that with the form of the house and
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I began thinking of ways to zone the organization
of the building to complement the site features
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too.
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I used the view to the cove as well as the
solar aspect to select the most desirable
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site for the home.
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Now, often competing site factors will force
you choose one site force as more dominant.
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For example, the prevailing wind direction
is in direct competition with the idea I had
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about arrival to the site.
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If we were to position a taller mass to the
northwest to act as a natural wind screen
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it would impact our afternoon sun and prevent
an arrival sequence which presented the view
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rather than the building.
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Not all problems will be solved by assuming
a singular attitude toward the site.
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What was most important was the idea that
the building conform to the topography.
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Unfolding along the hillside allowed the building
to create a series of terraced planes and
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transition spaces mediating inside and out.
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We could then use these to establish intermediate
zones between architecture and nature.
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Using the hard-edged site retaining walls
and decks would give us the chance to highlight
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and contrast the soft edges of the site.
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Equally, I could have positioned the home
at the top of the site and used it as a light
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monitor or viewing tower or I could’ve completely
excavated the terraces, placed a green roof
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on top and concealed the home.
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And, although these were ideas I explored
along the way, they were abandoned as my client
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helped shape the decision making.
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The site helps to shape other dimensions of
our concept too, things like the material
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and structural concept and we’ll get into
those in future videos.
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But, you’ll begin to see and it’s worth
noting how the concept reverberates throughout
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the design.
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You’ll always be referring back to it as
you iterate and look to it when you’re stuck
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on a design problem.
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The site will obviously inform the organization
of public and private spaces too.
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How one arrives and moves from the public
gathering spaces to the more private sleeping
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spaces.
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It shapes where we locate windows which would
be toward the views and to capture the sun.
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And, the site informs the formal concepts
too.
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This site concept is like a marriage.
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The architecture shapes the site and the site
shapes our architecture.
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So, this is not enough you say?
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Well, I agree, there’s more meaning to extract
and more layers to the concept we should explore.
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So, inspiration number two: the client concept.
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Every work of architecture requires a client.
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For residential architecture, the client is
a major force driving the design concept.
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Not only from an aesthetic point of view,
but also programmatically.
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The client determines the program and which
spaces are most important in that program.
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And, they obviously provide the financial
framework for realizing the architecture.
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Successful architecture artfully addresses
a client’s needs.
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Now, client-driven concepts can take the form
of narratives, or lifestyle peculiarities
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or they can be purely functional.
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For example, a request for all living to be
on one level, or an open plan.
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For this project, our client expressed a desire
for the house to act as a gathering place
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for friends and family but also that it accommodate
seclusion and the need for retreat from others.
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Because we live in a seasonal community, the
summer here often sees a massive influx of
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guests and visitors.
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So, those who live here year-round are accustomed
to welcoming house guests in the summer months.
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This inspired the division of spaces into
separate living and sleeping pods, each afforded
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a unique aspect or view to the site.
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Now, as we begin to organize the spaces of
the client-driven program a simple way to
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develop a concept is to divide public and
private spaces and then take a position on
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their relationship.
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Now, perhaps you overlap them.
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Perhaps they’re in separate pods or nested.
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Perhaps their relationship is inverted.
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From here begin to diagram your concept and
iterate.
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For our project, we continued on by layering
our client’s interest in the outdoors and
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a near constant schedule of expeditions to
faraway places.
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This lifestyle helped fuel a story about what
the house could be, how it might function
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and, when they were home and traveling and
where we might position the spaces in relation
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to each other.
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And this, brings us to inspiration number
three.
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The Narrative Concept.
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Inspired by an attitude about how our client
might live in the home and welcome guests,
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and how they plan to move in and out of the
spaces, and mobilize gear – this all suggested
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to me the imagery of an encampment by the
sea.
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I envisaged the home as a place for family
and friends to gather and sort of ‘camp
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together’.
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Uniting in the evenings around the campfire
to share a meal, but retreating to private
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quarters for sleeping.
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The village concept provided for both social
gathering and private reflection as needed.
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Expedition travel allowed the house to expand
and contract with the seasons and with ebbs
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and flows of visitors.
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And, this story, as we’ll see begins to
inform layers of meaning as we develop the
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floor plans and exterior elevations later.
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Nested pods provided for escape within the
larger space of the home and a variety of
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scales mimicked the site beyond and my client’s
need for respite and seclusion even when surrounded
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by friends.
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Each one of these ideas exists in various
forms in the earliest, early design concepts
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presented.
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Now I created this cover sheet to describe
the thinking behind the plans, but it may
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not be important for you to convey this to
your client.
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It’s sort of up to you.
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I think it adds a level of interest and a
discussion point, but not every client will
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see the value.
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It’s most important that it exists for you
as you develop the design.
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They will of course care most about what the
design looks and feels like and so at this
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stage I present very loose sketched plans
to give an idea of how each concept deploys
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the program on the site and within the home.
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This process usually incites reactions both
positive and negative and you’ll use it
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to pivot moving forward.
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So, as you can see, it’s not a singular
concept.
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There’s a narrative that ties it together
and suggests a means for organizing the spaces
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on the site.
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There’s the site topography and natural
features that suggest where we want to locate
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the home and there’s our client’s life
that tells us how the elements of their story
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can inform the architecture.
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So, I’d struggle to produce the diagram
of this concept as gracefully as Maya Lin,
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but it’s still a concept.
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And, it’s informed every move I’ve made
since.
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Sure, I revisited it and refined it.
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I’ve tweaked things based on client feedback
and tastes.
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But it’s still there and I continue to layer
on meaning as I develop the design.
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When there’s a question I know how to answer
it because the conceptual framework is there
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to help.
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Now, there are as I said, infinite other ways
to develop concepts, here’s a few more if
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you’re still stuck.
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Materials.
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Architects like Peter Zumthor, Herzog and
DeMeuron, and Peter Bohlin often use the raw
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materials of building as the starting point
for their work.
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Every line we trace on the page represents
real physical materials coming together to
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make our architecture.
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Instead of rendering our work in pure white
as we so often do, why not seek meaning from
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the materials we’ll use to construct it.
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Local stone, or wood, aggregates, tradespeople,
or special techniques; these can all be called
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into service of the architecture and the spaces
can be enriched with meaning.
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Materials have very specific properties by
which they’re bound.
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Steel conducts, it’s strong in bending,
it can be welded.
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Stone is heavy and thick and imposing.
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Glass is light and ethereal.
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Bricks are the size of the human hand and
lend texture, and scale and warmth to a space.
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Ask yourself how these materials or combinations
of them tell a more interesting story.
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For my work, I’ll always use the underlying
narrative concept to reinforce the material
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concept.
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Here we’re using dark stained local cedar
shingles as the siding for our project.
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The spruce, pine and fir forest here is a
variegated dark green.
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The shingles and the wood grain replicate
this subtle tonal difference and the green
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helps the building to recede into the site.
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Board-formed concrete references the wood
graining and the process of making.
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Its patterns will host mosses and lichens
as the building weathers.
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Is this a separate concept?
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No, it all feeds into an attitude about a
place.
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Next, a structural concept.
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The expedition and the camping narrative that
we’ve been talking about helped us develop
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the structural strategy too.
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The gable form is a tent, glazed walls let
ample light in and we’re employing lightweight
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cabling elements reminiscent of tent poles
or cordage to tie the walls together.
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And of course, there’s nautical references
here that are pretty strong as well.
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Now you could also, write a manifesto.
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What do you believe this architecture’s
role is in society?
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What are the larger questions it’s proposing?
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Check out Dieter Rams for a famous manifesto.
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Having researched your building typology,
how can you disrupt long-held beliefs or organizational
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layouts?
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See BIG’s power plant for example.
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Perhaps you could explore a formal concept.
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The idea of architecture parlance.
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The bird’s nest.
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The chicken that sells chicken.
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And of course, there’s always the process
of making.
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Charles and Ray Eames used their journey from
ignorance to knowledge as the motivation for
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many of their designs.
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How can you bring a fresh perspective to the
problem you’re facing?
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Is there something inherent in the process
of building that reveals something novel?
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The design process isn’t singular, or linear.
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We don’t create a concept and stick to it
in the face of changing information.
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Use what you’re learning to pivot, that’s
perfectly acceptable, sensible even.
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You’ll present ideas to your client – or
professor - and they’ll react.
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Design is a dialogue and the concept ensures
you have something to talk about.
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Return to your design and tweak it using the
new information you’ve gathered.
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Each time we learn a little more about our
client, about the design and new opportunities
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arise.
00:18:58
Now, in the next part of this short course,
we’ll look at how we begin turning the concept
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into architecture.
00:19:04
If you’ve found this video helpful in any
way, you can help me by giving me a thumbs
00:19:09
up below and sharing it.
00:19:11
This is how I know what I’m doing is helping
you and it will allow me to continue to grow
00:19:16
the channel.
00:19:17
Thanks for watching.
00:19:18
Cheers!
