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Coffee With an Architect Life

Design and architecture have the power to make the world a better place. These 10 instructions "Just click on the image you like and save it to your own
Ideabook... It's quite an addictive site"
can help

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Jody Brown Follow
An Architect, standing in front of an ideology, asking it to love him. More »

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rchitects can be a serious bunch. But typically, I tend not to take myself or my profession
too seriously. (Maybe some of you have noticed?) I tend to make light of myself and my
fellow angst-ridden colleagues. I tend to lighten the mood and find the humor within the
day-to-day life of a designer. I can giggle at the absurdities of my profession with the best of
them. But under the layers of angst and sarcasm and snark lies a deep affection and passion for
design.

Don't let my smirk fool you. At my core is an overriding belief in the power of design to make the
world a better place. Sometimes I have to take a minute to remind myself of this. So I wrote out
some rules for design for myself, a list of what's really important for me to remember whenever I Ask the Community!
start new work. This started out as a very personal list, but I think it may apply to others as well.
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It's an important distinction.

I try to think of my projects as a continuation of a larger work, and of my work as just a small
part of the overall community.

I try to aim for the simple elegance of balance instead of the rigid perfection of order.

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It's the best way to think of sustainable design really. It's like the leave-a-penny, take-a-penny
tray next to the cash register.

I think all great design should be built to last.

Honesty in materials, in construction technique, in building program, in motivation, in meaning,

in intent, in all things.

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Trust yourself. If it's really important to you, it will be important to everyone else too.

The hardest part is staring at the blank piece of paper. Beginnings are always hard, but once you
start, you can begin to revise, and that's the easy part.

Design is a never-ending process; a lifelong endeavor.

OK, I feel better. Now I'll go back to making fun of myself.

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Comments

Mel Mac says:

here here...perfectly said. Your self-deprecation strikes me as being very

Canadian :)

20 hours ago · Like

Tricia Rose says:

'Together' makes me hyper-ventilate - 'adjacent' sounds just fine!

19 hours ago · Like · 2

1sheree803 says:

Beautifully said. A wonderful sense of humor too. I crack myself up all the time.

18 hours ago · Like

Charmean Neithart Interiors, LLC. says:

I'm going to share #10 with my husband who still wonders when I will grow tired
of re-arranging the furniture. My home is my laboratory, I hope it's never done.
Great list. Charmean Neithart

14 hours ago · Like · 1

edmarch says:

Great wisdom here. But if every interior decorator lived by rules 2 and 4, there
would probably be only half as many pictures in Houzz as there are now :-)

14 hours ago · Like

pauli12 says:

Beautifully spoken. Don't worry it will never be finished.

5 hours ago · Like

Ann Smitt says:

Well said.

4 hours ago · Like

Jay Sifford Garden Design says:

Awesome article. Thanks.

4 hours ago · Like

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Margaret Eaton says:

This works as well if you change rule # 1 to just "Live."

4 hours ago · Like

Fine Art & Portraits by Laurel says:

Is it something they do to you in school? or are angsty people attracted to

architecture? I like #9 and #10 the best.

4 hours ago · Like

deedeelouise says:

Very good, all ring true. #9 hits the mark at this very moment as I am
procrastinating writing a small article. Thanks for the motivation!

4 hours ago · Like

suzeal says:

A list for peace in your life ;>

3 hours ago · Like

susanrobertson says:

Love the 10 rules to live by. Believe them myself, and today they serve me as
encouragement. I will be starting a new building project this July and I'm a little
scared. I've been my own general contractor before and all went very well. But
this time I'm older and I sense a bit of fear entering in the picture. But I'll push
through.

108 minutes ago · Like

Cancos Tile of Westbury says:

#4 & #9 are my favs. I have recently joined the "novice" designer league as I
have joined Cancos Tile of Westbury. These are fine guidelines to life and
design.

107 minutes ago · Like

Viktoriya says:

very true and inspiring

72 minutes ago · Like

Sue Gaines says:

Thank you so much for sharing these! I truly appreciate what you are saying and
I'm glad I read it today!

61 seconds ago · Like

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