An architect at one level has to be an artist, at another level a scientist, another an economist, a philosopher or a manager, and yet another a sociologist. His world is made up of a symphony of many worlds that at times are in collision with each other. Her role is to bring all of these often-disparate areas of thought and discipline in to a close harmony, in its many levels and layers ethereal, but which is finally represented in some thing very physical and permanent and often life changing for those who experience it. He should be likened to an orchestral conductor who orchestrates an often-unlikely set of instruments, played by specialists who are not always willing to act in harmony.
Her achievements are not always visible on the surface of what is created, and may often lie underneath layers that are irrelevant, but when successful it is felt very strongly and is a pleasure to observe and to experience. We take great satisfaction in this refinement of the process of integrating often divergent but nevertheless complementary characteristics. Holistic thinking and doing is there fore what principally drives our process.
Over and above all this is something, which motivates the process, a need or a desire to bring all this together. The Client or Commissioner of a project is the key link in the success of our process. His vision defined well helps us begin on our journey, which makes every one of these journeys a potentially unique one. We thrive on this uniqueness and desire it every time. Our mission is to respond to each of these new circumstances in a way, which is not only original but also engaging at every level. We engage the client’s creativity through open forum brainstorming workshops, and enable him to at one level “hold the architect’s pen”. This is a process of empowerment and engagement.
In our process we make it our mission to always define the vision of what we are setting out to do, over and above the detail of the design brief. This may be stated in terms of spatial need, in square meters, or functionality, but we believe that this is not sufficient to set the ball in motion. When this is not present we encourage a step back before going forward. This process we call envisioning™ coined with our sister organization Urbanista, which works together with us to create the vision of what it is we are doing before pen touches paper. This is the process of defining the personality of the baby that is about to be born.
We always try to look at the creation process through the three part lenses of the principles of the 3 E’s: Ethics + Ecology + Economics, which define our approach to sustainability. These core principles are always with us, even if at a subconscious level, and drive all of our actions. We use the principles of the 3E’s also as a positive brainwashing device, to bring all the participants to the same table and to the same philosophical level.
Quality in what we do, in how we think translates from the grandest to the smallest detail. Mies van de Rohe said “God is in the details” and we firmly believe this to be the case. We live to achieve perfection in detail right down to the final bolt or screw in our product. This comes about through an understanding of the behaviour of materials and a desire to make it an ultimate goal to enjoy these meetings of often divergent and contrasting elements. Steel against glass, wood against metal, stone against plaster, these are in the end the potential joyful confluences of our thoughts in to material.