101 Things I learned in Architecture School

101 Things I learned in Architecture School

6

Space planning is the organization or arranging of spaces to accommodate functional needs.

Space planning is a crucial skill for an architect, but arranging spaces to meet functional requirements explains only a little of what architects do. A space planner addresses the functional problem of fitting a building on its site; an architect is also concerned with the meaning of a site and its buildings. A space planner creates functional square footage for office workers; an architect considers the nature of the work performed in the office environment, its meaning to the workers, and its value to society. A space planner provides spaces for playing basketball, performing laboratory experiment, manufacturing widgets, or staging theatrical productions; an architect imbues the experience of these places with poignancy, richness, fun, beauty and irony.

101 Things I learned in Architecture School

7                                                                            

           

Architecture begins with an idea.

Good design solution are not merely physically interesting but are driven by underlying ideas. An idea is a specific mental structure by which we organize, understand and give meaning to external experiences and information. Without underlying ideas informing their buildings, architects are merely space planners. Space planning with decoration applied to "dress it up" is not architecture; architecture resides in the DNA of a building, in an embedded sensibility that infuses its whole.