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You are here: Home/My House/ Architects don’t always get it right

Architects don’t always get it right

October 29, 2012 by Bob Borson46 Comments

It pains me to say this but architects don’t always get it right. That’s right … I said it. I am secure enough in my abilities to admit when I don’t get it right (**notice that I didn’t say that I got it wrong, I’m not crazy**)

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The room - renovation at Life of an Architect World Headquarters

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Maybe I have set the bar too high – not sure that you could set it higher if you think somebody … anybody … gets it right 100% of the time but that doesn’t stop me from trying. My personal expectation is that I get it right to a point that you can’t tell it’s wrong, which to me sounds a lot like getting it right all the time.

The new room - at Life of an Architect World Headquarters

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It is Saturday morning and I am sitting in the front room of my house beating myself up because I’m not happy with the lighting plan for the remodel at my own houses. What makes it worse is that I spent a lot of time thinking about the decision I made, thought I could be wrong, but convinced myself that, nahhhh, I got it right the first time …

… and then my wife walked in and pointed out the same issue. Rather than stop at that moment and say, “I got this wrong,” I continued to drink the Kool-Aid and carry on. I can still fix my mistake, it will cost me a little bit of money and a small chunk of pride but it’s the right thing to do.

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Locating lights in the ceiling

So here is the mistake – where I chose to center the lights. I had originally stood in the space (which was the old space, complete with walls and furniture which are now all removed) and decided that the center of the room would be perceived as between the wood furr down on the right and the new glass wall on the left. Now that I am in the space, the perceived center is between the furr down and the beam. When the original window wall was in place, it was so heavy that you felt its presence and the beam above your head was a nonentity. Now that the wall is mostly glass, all you perceive is the wood beam.

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new lighting layout

The red dots represent the location where I should have put the lights…

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trash bag lighting study

In order to solve this little issue, I resorted to a little on-site mock-up. We stuck some paper inside kitchen plastic bags and started moving things around until everything started to feel right.

So what happens when I make a mistake on one of my projects where it’s someone else’s house? Do they punch me in the face or start rubbing their thumb onto their fingers together in the widely recognized gesture for “pay up”? Well, I’ve never been punched (at least not literally) and nobody has ever asked me to pull out my checkbook. I attribute this to the fact that I have always maintained a great relationship with the people who hire me and they know that the decisions I make aren’t cavalier – but I also haven’t made any huge mistakes.

It’s possible that what I call mistakes are really esoteric judgement calls – i.e. “I think this would look better than that” and then it doesn’t. Sometimes you end up living with a decision because you don’t think it’s all that bad – or the solution is worse than the mistake, delays the project, or nobody but me cares enough to make the change. All I know is that I have to make things right …

Cheers.

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LoaA World Headquarters - Update
2012 AIA Dallas Tour of Homes

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Filed Under: My House, My Work, ObservationsTagged With: Construction Observation, Construction Process, design, My House

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The complimentary advice provided on ‘Life of an Architect’ is based on an abbreviated examination of the minimal facts given, not the typical extensive (and sometimes exhaustive) analysis I conduct when working with my clients. Therefore, anything you read on this site is not a substitute for actually working with me. Following my casual advice is at your own peril … if you want my undivided attention, I would recommend hiring me. Cheers.

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