Metaphors

The images on the previous blog were by the way courtesy of Eck MacNeeley Architects at www.Eckmacneeley.com. Jeremiah Eck had previously published a couple of books which also strived to bring architecture to a more humanistic scale as did Susan Saranka of the "Not so Big House" series. And there are several great architectural sites which don't speak up nor down to the typical person trying to understand design such as www.Oldhouseweb.com. Erin Gates' Elements of Style is cute and fanciful and great for shop-o-holics.

But I am a metaphor-a-holic and that is how I see things differently. The image to the right shows a bay window emulating a tree. Do you see the point. I don't know that I can design without trying to inflict some sort of meaning onto the project. So be forewarned if I am ever invited to work on your home, just put up with me.

At my previous firm, I worked on a Fire Fighting Academy so of course I had to bring to the experience, the imagery of fire and water. But if anyone had ever been to a fire fighting academy, he would realize that the true experience of the institution is the theater. There is nothing more dramatic fire academy students struggling to put out a staged fire.

In many instances, architecture serves as the stage for the drama of life's activities. I will be showing you examples of how a sushi bar is designed to show off the chef's skills and showmanship or how a roof shaped like a rowhouse can contain the life within a living space.

That is all for now. I had meant to show you some really great kitchen spaces. But I got caught up with all the copyright issues. I don't want to do anything illegal. Publishing a design blog is more complicated than I had thought. More later.