How To Start A Design In Architecture

[@stewarthicks]

Great video! Thank you for sharing the thoughtful discourse.

[@Archimarathon]

Thanks Stewart. You are doing a great job too. Things that are important but takes a lot of work to deliver.

[@Fatlou_]

As a young grad in the office I spend so time drawing and testing ideas whenever I get involved with design. It got to the point where my director gave me their drawing board that’s been living next to the fridge for years...pretty grateful that they highly regard the ability of ‘designthinkingdrawing’ and that they would give me the time to do it.

[@Archimarathon]

Good to hear you get to do that.

[@gabybordino6024]

Excellent! You´ve nailed it. So spot on everything you´ve said. Yesterday I randomly came across a quote that also adds another important thing to take in count while designing. " A designer knows they have achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away" (Antoine de Saint Exupéry)

[@Archimarathon]

That’s a great quote. Thanks.

[@tonyduong7388]

Thanks for doing this video. Staring at a piece of blank paper can be such an agonising experience! Can’t wait for your next video on site analysis :)

[@Archimarathon]

Don't stare. Draw. Draw the existing. Draw anything that comes into your mind. Draw what you you think you don't want to do. Do not stall. There is no 'mistake'. The mistake is not drawing.

[@Chris.Davies]

I started with a great base drawing - and after that, it only took me 2 years to complete the design! :P And just 16 months to build it. The base drawing was Frank Lloyd Wright's Usonia 1, for Herbert & Katherine Jacobs, in Madison Wisconsin. I faithfully implemented a few highly experimental features, and so the roof leaked. And the shower too. :) Edit: When it came to the build, I'd already built it in Sketchup, put all our art into the house, made a 12-minute video of the place, and built a 1:100 scale model from printed cardboard. And so there was only one surprise, because Sketchup didn't render shadows correctly, and so I added a clerestory window to the block wing wall facing North in the top of the kitchen.

[@omarelhalfawy7902]

I just can't thank both of you enough for starting this series that I asked you about a month ago...can't wait for the rest of the series....and on a side note I probably do most of the things you're saying but the surrounding environment is not and it's all about doing things fast and submitting before unbelievable deadlines, you know the commercial environment we're living in today...so I'm always behind and slow in comparison with others and sometimes they deal with me as an alien for just thinking about the simplest user experience issues for example, may be if I mention the north direction they fire me for thinking "too much", I'm afraid my brain dies or something in this competitive commercial environment we're living today but I'm trying to do my best though...it's just so frustrating

[@Archimarathon]

Have your values and fight the good fight

[@salamayad8757]

Thanks alot. You guys present everything in a simple clear way.

[@simeonjamison3034]

These 20 minute videos always feel like 5 minutes. Love the videos!

[@Archimarathon]

Glad you like them! Trying to find the right balance of length and attention span is quite tricky. Thanks for the feedback.

[@angelaballard3929]

I love when, having been working through the contexts and complexity of a design process, a small, elegant idea emerges... bringing the whole project together. Yes design needs mess and order for true beauty to emerge

[@Archimarathon]

Yes, too often people are afraid of drawing something that's "wrong" or simply censor themselves in the brain. What we need is drawing diarrhoea! LOL

[@ashleemurphy917]

I remember Peter Stutchbury saying that students would ask him how to design a building, and his response, was he wasn't really sure. It's so true that everyone has their own way of initially going about it, and that changes from project to project. but ultimately that rigour, testing and research should always be a part of the process

[@Archimarathon]

Unfortunately there is no real short cut.

[@johnmassey7909]

Michealangelo summed it up, the agony and the ecstasy of creation, a shame that it’s over 90% of the former.

[@LJLancaster]

Computers are great but the risk of zooming in and out is real. One of the most important things i learnt early on was to print out the drawing regularly and sketch over it. It took longer than I'd like to admit to seeing a computer as a tool and not as the be-all of everything.

[@Archimarathon]

Very true! That will be part of an episode on scale/resolution at some point.

[@LJLancaster]

@@Archimarathon /looking forward to it 😀

[@WelcomeToSteph]

Starting uni next week is going to be way more fun now that I'll treat design like a case to be solved. Thanks for the great video as always!

[@Archimarathon]

Get your Sherlock hat on.

[@WelcomeToSteph]

@@Archimarathon Inspector Rex is more my jam

[@Archimarathon]

😂 Austrian or Italian version?

[@WelcomeToSteph]

@@Archimarathon Austrian! Takes me back to Year 8 German class...

[@Stormer1633]

Also tracing the aerial image with the boundary conditions, contours (dwg overlay), reveals the site in the mind's eye + graphically

[@Archimarathon]

Good, solid base drawing

[@urbancolab]

I think the most critical thing to remember is as you said there are many places to start but the key is start somewhere don't wait to begin communicating sketching and testing.

[@baileyf764]

Great video! Thanks for making these videos, really appreciate the invaluable insight ❤️

[@Archimarathon]

Cheers. Please spread the word and check out the other videos.

[@fennycruz6714]

Walk to THINK... rethink to SEE... see the complexity and simplicity of BEAUTY... design is creating Beauty...pattern...order.

[@danaepapadimitriou7257]

Thank you for all your videos, i've just discovered them a few days ago and i am sooo thrilled!!! Thank you for taking the time to do these! Having watched a few (and planning to watch them all soon!) i already feel i have learned a lot and confirmed a lot of things that i was thinking applied but just wanted to hear it from someone else as well !!! Thank you!!! I was an old member of pushpullbar when i was studying (which i missed so much ) so its kind of bumping into an old friend :)

[@Archimarathon]

Hey!! [pushpullbar]2!! Come join our Discord server. It’s a new community we have and it feels like the old days/

[@danaepapadimitriou7257]

@@Archimarathon perfect!!!

[@1xjeff]

Please do the video on how to get the most out of studio! It would be really helpful

[@Archimarathon]

Yes, that's what I have in mind. We almost made that one instead of this.

[@RoaringJellyBaby]

These videos are always very insightful and helpful! Thanks

[@Archimarathon]

You are welcome. Please spread the word.

[@claudiorabaglino6079]

Great episode, insightful and fun to watch. Frank G! Good one.

[@Archimarathon]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@harpersherman2753]

Love the tips, drawing is thinking! Also diggin' the Villa Savoye shirt 😉

[@Archimarathon]

Thanks. Yes that level is the least emblematic yet most important level of one of the most important buildings in the last 100 years. Yet many people don't even know it. Well done eagle eyes. It is the same ethos as my #guesstheproject posts on my Instagram.

[@Lougo17]

revisiting - so refreshing still

[@scottrossiter9927]

Would LOVE to see a site analysis video as you’ve suggested. Has been great to stumble on this channel as a LA

[@Archimarathon]

Have you watched the Chinese gardens episode?

[@jacobeason1363]

Love this. I'm also gonna try to get one of Kevin's Tshirt.

[@Archimarathon]

Thanks. I think you’ll love it. Cheers.

[@yusra7]

as always hilarious and informative Love 'em!

[@Archimarathon]

Cheers! Stay hydrated.

[@dollfaceyhue6338]

Time to practice your tips.. ❣️

[@Archimarathon]

Yes. Don't stall.

[@swlol3335]

hey amazing content! Looking forward for more! Just wondering is the site analysis video out yet? I cant find it,appreciate the help!

[@scottrossiter9927]

Was about to ask the same question. As a LA I’m curious how an architecture site analysis might differ

[@clawrence034]

Great video! Kevin, where did you get those safety glasses?

[@Archimarathon]

Thanks. They are called Stoggles.

[@davidbithell8705]

Love your approach (or maybe lack of approach) to commencing the design process, but surely the foundation of any successful project is the Brief. I've found that a poor Brief will nearly always result in a disappointed client so I'd be interest to see an episode on how you work with a client to develop a Brief that captures both their fundamental requirements but also their aspirations.

[@Archimarathon]

Thanks. Will consider.

[@williamvaughan5624]

Where can I find floor plan t-shirts? Amazing idea!

[@Archimarathon]

www.archimarathon.com/merch

[@raynertulus1201]

thank you so much for the tips! can you guys tell us some more story about processing design references?

[@Archimarathon]

What do you mean by "processing design references'?

[@ScottValentine]

I wish I had these videos back when I was at university. I get all this now but back then I was totally confused.

[@Archimarathon]

Funny you say that. The biggest audience for this channel are actually graduates 25-34 year olds, probably the ones who actually 'get it' and reflect back on it. Hey it's all still learning and we are all students of architecture along the road.

[@ScottValentine]

In hindsight I find the lack of understanding of project management was what added to the pain as well. So, allocating x time to certain tasks to I can meet the submission deadline what was they were asking for. Know it now, didn't know it back then. In reality, someone is just trying to take in soo much at once so it is what it is I guess.

[@Archimarathon]

Yes, understanding priorities but also being able to envisage the end game by thinking holistically is the start of the management process. Yes we all learn from mistakes, probably the best teacher are mistakes.

[@michelcuypers9456]

"Design is a mess", can't agree more! Should have been the title. Nice vid guys, and Kevin, nice Villa Savoye Tee shirt ;)

[@Archimarathon]

Merci! Nice to hear from you too. Yes it could be the title but not click-bait enough for the ones who need it most. Also... craqueur!!!!

[@محمدعذابمحسن]

Thanks a lot

[@Archimarathon]

Welcome

[@jmor1415]

I love this topic. Thank you both very much! Looking forward to the next vids

[@Archimarathon]

Check out the other videos in the channel

[@jmor1415]

@@Archimarathon yeah I realized I was pretty behind after I commented lol really interesting stuff tho guys. I like to listen to u both and others when I’m in a design rut and need inspiration.

[@johnkellett7797]

At university my best design projects were always those that suddenly went off at a tangent after solving an issue during the preliminary working through the brief ‘logically’. That process continued for a few years into my career but that process now (35 years later) often got stuck at the logical drudge stage for longer and increasingly often that laterally thought ‘spark’ never even quite happens. HELP. Coincidentally (?) I seem to be losing my left-handedness slightly. Related? I hope not. Probably not something you can help with :-)

[@Archimarathon]

I know that feeling. That's why I would go on a trip, see new things and be inspired again. A bit hard currently during COVID-19 times.

[@angelaballard3929]

I had to reclaim my left-handedness. Assuming you're on a computer a lot....Try switching the mouse hand to right and draw with pad/ pencil with your left as you go.

[@johnkellett7797]

@@Archimarathon , I was hoping it was something simple like just needing a break. Covid really has stuffed things up.

[@Archimarathon]

@@johnkellett7797 Yes, especially for me when travelling and running tours is my gig.

[@johnkellett7797]

@@angelaballard3929 , nice thought but that is how I use a computer anyway. That way the most used keys are under my left hand. The QWERTY keyboard was designed for lefties 😻

[@mariaaf8272]

its the villa savoye floor plan t shirt for me

[@soyami5171]

Hi, Can you guys talk about how to get an architectural internship! so harddddd to get one :( what kind of skills/things that a firm is really looking for?

[@Archimarathon]

Did you watch the job interview episode as well as the graduated now what episode?

[@user-yk1cw8im4h]

Sadly my school is all about selling it to tutors, none are patient/good enough to listen to your process. Also the first thing they talk about are whether your fire staircases or railings are drawn correctly.

[@aldrichjohn10]

Design is non-linear. Collect as many ideas as possible! 🤓

[@Archimarathon]

Detective 🔍

[@HT-lb7ph]

When you say DRAW it, draw what exactly? I mean do u start off with plan, the over all form or a section? Btw, I like ur shirt Kevin.

[@Archimarathon]

Good question but again the answer is... there is no right answer. If you think it, draw it. Do all of them. "Collect evidence" first, worry about it later. There is a general drawing constipation by students especially, too afraid to draw, too afraid to be wrong. DRAW

[@Archimarathon]

Also... hello Haroon 🖐. Yeah, I love my t-shirt too.

[@robertschafer5148]

IS THE ASIAN YOUR BOYFRIEND?

[@Archimarathon]

That’s kinda racist