The first meeting with a client starts with questions. I ask, “How are you going to interact with the space?” and “How can I enhance your lifestyle with an indoor-outdoor feel?” Perhaps they want a *wow* factor that their friends will be impressed by, or they just want to enjoy a glass of wine in solitude by the pool. It depends on the client. In the beginning, these feelings are much more important than the technical details. Capturing the client’s goals and understanding them are the first input to the design. As a design-build firm we don’t do cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all design — our unique designs not only accentuate the desires of our clients, but elevate them. This is the essence of what it means to be an Architect-Builder: uncovering what will make our clients feel like they’re living in their dream home.
Our philosophy is based on the core idea of blending the poetic with the practical — blending the beauty of architecture with the real-world realities of construction. Architecture and design tap into the creative side of your brain.
You can dream and innovate, you can focus on the aesthetics and how everything flows together as a cohesive unit. This is where the formal education of an architect is essential. Our exposure to the great masters and our love for beautiful design are resources we reference when designing for each client.
None of this matters, however, if you can’t live in the home because the design is unbuildable or only buildable at enormous cost. The design has to be grounded in reality.
Making it a reality is where our construction expertise and experience come into play. A tremendous amount of science goes into the building arts.
We’re dealing with strength and resistance, load and span, and many other engineering problems. But experience is the key factor. Real world, practical application, such as “did it, or did it not, work in the field?”
This article was written by Kurt Krueger of Kurt Krueger Architects. Read more here: https://kurtkruegerarchitects.com/poetic-and-practical-what-it-means-to-be-an-architect-builder/
