WHEN YOU BRING IN AN ARCHITECT

Long ago, when we were just beginning to learn the finer points of architecture, we had introductory lectures on the profession, like all first-year students.

These lectures were outside the regular curriculum. Practising architects were invited to share their experience with us.

No one remembers the lectures in full anymore. But one point stayed firmly in our minds and, over time, became the story of three houses.

THE STORY OF THREE HOUSES

People usually prefer to build their first house themselves.

That’s understandable. Who knows better than they do what their home needs and why? How wide and long should it be? Which rooms will make everyone happy? How much concrete should go into the foundation, and what should the walls be made of?

All these decisions are based on life in a familiar three-room apartment, currently home to a family of seven spanning three generations.

After much effort and expense, the house is built, and the happy family moves in.

Only then do they realize what they learned during construction:

Design, purchasing, managing a crew, and building itself...

And that eternal question:

“Why wasn’t it done the way we wanted?”

This valuable experience makes one thing clear: they need to build a second house, this time without the mistakes of the first.

The second house gets built too, but the family never moves into it.

By then, the head of the family and the rest of the household—who may no longer number seven—understand that the family has changed and the mistakes are plain to see. Which means it’s time to build another house!

And only with the third house does a person finally become a client and bring in an Architect.

Author: Gleb Ivlev / G Un