Architecture... Revealed!

For everyone out there familiar with Gob (pronounced Job, like in the scrips) from "Arrested Development", I'm about to do the unacceptable and reveal a big secret behind the magic of architecture. This is the first post in a series that will try and break down architecture into manageable pieces and create a better understanding of the eccentricities that are attached to the profession. I realize that I'm embarking on an endeavor that may very well end in failure, but if you'll bear with me I think that it should prove informative.


I would like to begin with a "simple" example, that of creating a tree house. This is particularly pertinent because I'm currently doing just that, designing and building a treehouse. About a month ago I received a phone call and interesting proposition from my aunt, Pam Covey. She asked if I would be interested in designing and creating a treehouse this summer for their family. I quickly agreed to undertake the job, and proceeded to tell my wife about the oportunity. After a few minutes of kind-hearted ridicule about my excitement from my well intentioned wife, I realized that it was going to be a long road. I understand her feelings, how would you feel if your husband came home and told you that he wasn't going to "find a real job" this summer to build a treehouse? I would assume that he should have grown out of that phase years ago, and I'd probably make my feelings aparent. I love her!

By this point I've already overcome one of the largest challenges known to architects, that of finding a willing client, especially in this economic climate. I also realized that I would probably need a partner, as the workload is often better shared with another able architect. A few days before the summer-changing phone call I'd been discussing a possible summer project with a classmate, Chase Hearn. I quickly extended the offer, which he readily accepted (probably to the dismay of his wife as well). We met and discussed the opportunity, really without any idea of what we were getting ourselves into. We had no idea what the client wanted, how much they were willing to spend, and how big of time commitment we were making.

A couple of weeks later, after surviving the hurricanes of finals week, we made our first official contact with the client. The meeting consisted of a ten minute meeting with my aunt, a short tour of the site, and obtaining a cut-out from a magazine about a tree-house. After our first encounter the buzz-word was "hobbit architecture". The Covey's wanted a treehouse that was reminiscent of the beloved hobbits in J.R. Tolkein's Lord of the Ring saga. They provided a picture of such a tree house:

It's seems simple enough right? We could probably just copy this house with minor changes and it would be great... right? Unfortunately, it was anything but simple. As Chase and I began our research we realized that we had a duty to investigate the possibilities, not just rely on what we felt is safe. The majority of suburban architecture is based on the idea that if it is working, do the same thing over and over. This results in boring architecture, plain buildings with no imagination or unique design elements. Rather than take a passive approach to our design we spent hours researching tree houses. You'd be amazed at the designs out there, every thing from simple platforms to pirate ships to abstract blob houses to 7 million dollar hotels, all built in the context of nature.As you can see, the possibilities are endless. In my next post I'll talk about how we applied what we learned from our research, and where it lead us as we began to design.