Architectural design is a Joy.
It must be wonderful to design a new house, so creative, they say.
No, it’s not, its hard work, but I still love it.
I love the construction process, the digger, the concrete, the steel. I don’t want to be a builder in the dirt and rain but love watching them at work, the skill they have. I suppose a little boy who never grew up.
But more than that I see the whole production of a building as a series of puzzles to be solved. I like the challenge.
The client with a brief and budget that doesn’t match. The site, flat and boring or steep and dangerous, and working with the constraint of council rules.
I enjoy meeting new clients. Most clients tell me the answer, I then need to find the problem. While we all live in similar houses, we all live in them differently and have different priorities. Personally, I want continuous uninterrupted hot water in my shower due to being the fourth son and growing up with lukewarm bathwater. Villa owners want warmth and sun. We are all a reaction to our past experiences.
Those priorities can be quite different between couples, and I learned early on never to have meetings with one partner only, it leads to problems.
It’s a collaboration with the clients and I really enjoy getting all their magazines rip-outs from them, with what they like. Of course, the images are all conflicting, but it lifts the design burden off the clients and inspires me.
I am amazed at man’s ability to produce new products. Halogen lights to LEDs, a ceiling full of downlights to magnetic track lighting with different fittings for task or ambient lighting. I marvel at the creatives who see the world differently and introduce these products. Keeping up with them is part of the joy.
paul@leuschkekahn.co.nz | 021 894 895 | leuschkekahn.co.nz
