The process of designing anything is an elusive one. When it comes to communities and structures that are, in the span of one lifetime, permanent – it becomes even more difficult.

One of our favorite quotes regarding design comes from the great Louis Kahn, who summed up the design of a building in this beautiful and thought-provoking statement:

“A great building must begin with the unmeasurable, must go through measurable means when it is being designed and in the end must be unmeasurable.”

Architects are often viewed as creative types and ‘designers,’ hired to make a building look nice and prepare the required drawings, but in many respects were are something else entirely – jugglers of an infinite number of variables.

An architect’s primary job is to take into consideration a bewildering number of conflicting inputs and arrive at a solution that is the compromise, or in the best scenario – a synergy, of all of those requirements.

Consider for a minute just a few of those inputs:

• Site-specific restrictions and considerations, of which there can be an almost infinite number, such as site orientation, natural features, prevailing winds, best views, site contamination or other existing conditions, zoning and setback concerns, height limiations, and so on.
• Legal restrictions, in the form of building codes, zoning, fees and penalties, professional and ethical considerations, and requirements of construction.
• The client’s desired outcome, in the form of program and style, fulfillment of goals and vision, and an adequate level of service.
• The project schedule, which often neglects the architect’s need to design, as opposed to simply drafting the final contract documents.
• The project budget, which can easily become the driving force behind many design decisions.
• Consultant advice or requirements for engineering and a variety of other disciplines on specialized projects.
• Functional considerations or ‘best practices’ which may not always apply directly to the situation at hand.
• Aesthetic considerations, and how they affect the function of the building, relate to the client’s goals, and fulfill the jurisdiction’s code requirements.

These are just the basics – each of which can take weeks to consider on its own and integrate into the “whole” design.

How do architects deal with this challenge?

In Kahn’s own words, we try to put the requirements through measurable means and methods to arrive at the best solution, which in the end – is unmeasurable. Through the centuries, we’ve developed systems and guidelines that work, most of the time.

In the end, the reason people still pay us is not only our technical knowledge or municipal requirements or our managerial ability.

It really is that Je ne sais quoi which even we cannot define that makes the design pop and the client and public say – ‘Wow!’