Small and Dignified

This wonderful townhouse is in Charleston, South Carolina.  It's a perfect example of "Affordable Housing" 

As a follow up ... the mall

So maybe we don't need the mall after all, 
I was trying to remember the last time I was in one. 
I now buy almost everything online.  Except groceries.
So if we were to rebuild Main Street what would need to be there.
Hmmmmmm

The Mall Killed Main Street

Main Street had citizens ..............................
the mall has consumers ..............................


Could a mall be configured and designed as a main street?
Could we go back to being citizens?  
Hmmmmm 

For President's Day ...... This photo reminds me of Jefferson and his Love of Books

Thanks to Luke Moloney - Architect for photo.....

Getting Started

Some designers cringe when they see a client walking into their office with a whole stack of design magazines, I love to see this, it means you have started doing some of the heavy lifting.  It provides me with a wealth of knowledge as to what your tastes are and what your looking to achieve.  Projects should be a reflection of their owners, not of their architects.  I do not believe in "Starchitecture".   So when it's time to do a project make a binder or folder and keep adding to it as you go along, it should be a valuable resource for your architect.

Swimming ..... indoors?

I am not such a fan of swimming indoors, to me it's an summer outside kind of thing. However, I am sure I would not mind here... its the indoor pool of a 75m estate... photo courtesy of Forbes.

What you find......

this morning I was trolling some blogs and found this brilliant posting:

It's link is below to see the post I found, It's a beautiful proposal from a Univ. of Notre Dame student, I found this on Andrew Cusack's Blog it's by Wendan Tang, a graduate student at Notre Dame’s School of Architecture

http://www.andrewcusack.com/2006/04/13/chinatown-bus-terminal/

How far do you walk?

I was thinking this morning about how far is too far?

How far would you walk if you have the option too, in my neighborhood I actually prefer to walk to the local corner store, over the option of driving for three minutes to get to our closest supermarket.  Usually however, the cost of goods at the local store is prohibitively high, so usually I opt to drive.  

Thought for today, Multi purpose rooms.

One of my all time favorite rooms, was a combination formal Dining room and Library.  Can you think of other compatible use multi purpose rooms?

Be Real and Truthful About Your Project Budget

One of the first questions I ask a potential client is related to their budget.  Primarily I need to estimate wether they can pay for the work proposed.  When a client is hesitant at first to give me a ballpark figure usually it's because they don't want to waste money on unnecessary or extravagant expenses.   However, when a client gives me a budget I have to tailor my design to suit, and typically if the budget was kept on the low side as opposed to being accurate it limits the overall design.  I do everything to maintain a budget for a project, but it is very difficult to add after the fact.  Of course you can upgrade finishes but the core of the project can rarely be upgraded.  So it is my best advise to prepare a real budget and share this information with your architect at an early stage in the project!

A suggestion for renovation.

Recently with the advent of stronger energy code requirements, I have begun to suggest that you up the size of any new exterior wall components.  For example, we now hope you spring for the extra expense of a 2" x 6" over a 2" x 4" so you can insulate the wall with a higher u factor insulation ( r - ratting)  This will save you $$  in the long run while only slightly increasing the initial cost.  In many cases this is necessary to abide by the new energy codes anyway!  So ask your contractor about better insulating your home.

Can you live where you are at any age?

The determination of where we live is usually based on socioeconomic forces on our life.  One of the primary questions I ask any potential client involves the span of time they expect to live there.  I often point out that the neighborhood they currently are living (as most of my clients are on Staten Island) in is usually very livable, meaning it's a place they could live in for almost there entire life.  Many have lived in their homes at least ten years and have no inclination to live elsewhere, they would rater improve than move.  I hear this all the time they just need a little more space or need to rearrange spaces to make them more comfortable.  I even had one client buy a neighboring home to stay in the neighborhood, and build the home they wanted.  So if you can live in a neighborhood at almost any age, consider yourself in a good place.  Many of the so called "suburbs" are homogenized places where you find all the people are the same.  Same age, same income, same homes .... I find that very unlivable.  

Is your house a good neighbor?

If you have a porch, it probably is.  A porch is an amazing asset to a house, along with a stoop or some other building component that allows you to speak to a neighbor without the requirement of having them come inside.  Now if you have a porch it also serves as a security device, since the possibility exists that someone is there, on the porch it is less likely your car will be stolen, or any other non-neighborly behavior will occur.  It could be as simple as a small bench with plants around it.  Just the impression of a place for people makes your house more neighborly. In almost all of my residential work a porch is almost always present, in some form or another.

Ok I guess I should start!

I have been contemplating this blog idea for a while now and I just can't procrastinate any more.... so here it goes.  I became an architect for a very simple reason, I always wanted to design houses, not buildings, but houses ... I love clever spaces, the unexpected favorite corner of a room or a particular window. I try with every project to have my client create one special room or space, that makes the whole project truly theirs.  I also study the spaces between houses, sounds odd at first, but with out the proper understanding of buildings and their relationships to each other and the street, you have unfortunate, and odd places that people do not have any use for.  When a house is properly done, regardless of style or type, the spaces between the house and other building as as well as the street are enhanced and best part that space is practically free!



Now with this little blog...
I would like to give people advise on what to do depending on their questions so, ask away,  and feel free to leave any comments.  I will post my credentials and some photo's soon.

JMC