| HOW WE LIVE Variety is the common denominator for residential architecture. The wealth of conditions that we create and shape to our needs, desires and expectations is limitless; but when done it's considered home. When presented the opportunity to create home from scratch, we actively engage and struggle with our past, present and future; our traditions, technologies and our will. This is where the variety comes from. But it is our present that creates the building: economic conditions, available materials, labor skills, and our awareness of environmental health and energy efficiency. The present is the tensile strand between the critical mass of the past and future, stressed to perfection. This strand contains informed and intuitive notions of history and imagination. Through this process, visible change in our preferences are recorded in our dwellings, which in turn reflects our cultural values. For these reasons residential design is the most rewarding and significant endeavor for both architect and owner. |