After my early career as a commercial banker-and before my ongoing career as a management consultant--I was a home builder. There was a stint with Arthur Rutenberg Homes, but the majority of my time in home building was with my own companies, and it coincided with my role as an infill residential developer. The driving force--the focus of my energy and interest--was always, particularly and specifically, the residential architecture of my native state of Florida and of the South.
One of the qualities, or attributes, that I sought in the homes that my companies offered were designs that were hallmarks of elegance: design and finish that was refined, dignified, and tasteful; but, more to the point, design and finish that was simple, suitable to its purpose, easily-built, enduring, and appropriate; plans that recalled the accuracy and practicality of master builders; plans where fenestration, for example, made sense – worked--from a design standpoint.
The other attribute I sought was allusion: an indirect reference and meaningful interpretation of historical design; plans and materials that were native, indigenous, particular, familiar, informal, plainly simple; designs that were re-collective, plans with a story, what is referred to as vernacular.
Ron Haase (Prof. Emer., University of Florida School of Architecture), on the matter of allusion, in his book Classic Cracker: Florida’s Wood-Frame Vernacular Architecture:
“ . . . architecture requires that we understand the potential in historic allusion, and how this idea differs significantly from that of historic illusion. Illusion, after all, is mere copy, often shallow and only skin deep. As such, it presents itself at a mockery of its historic precedent. Historic allusion, on the other hand, digs deeper into the essential meaning of the precedent. It is more critical in its response and more open-ended in its interpretation. It takes the form of a metaphor heightening our awareness of its relationship to the original. By doing so, we link history to the present and build a bridge of community across time.”
Elegance and Allusion: complementary design terms largely absent, unfortunately, from the description and reality of the plan portfolios of most of today’s home building companies.
Excuse from this discussion, homes built for individuals who can afford to build anything they want; they have the right to do that, even if those designs are little more than indulgent expressions of personal net worth and affluence.
Excuse from this discussion, also, builders--like the late Art Rutenberg--who once single-handedly defined their own style of architecture (even if that style has now edged into luxury and illusion).
Instead, focus on what remains, on what is the vast production-to-semi-custom span of the builder spectrum.
(Part II of this series about addressing--about taking responsibility for it, addressing it, dealing with it--the shortage of skilled labor is about architectural design; it ties directly into upcoming Part IV, which will be about taking simple, elegant, distinctive, highly-sought, memorable architecture and using techniques and practices like offsite component manufacturing to reduce cost, enhance buildability, improve quality, and reduce cycle time --and, in the course of all that, address the shortage of skilled construction labor)
In that group, there is little of the design thinking that I have described. Instead, you see complicated designs with impractical layouts and difficult dimensions. You see plans with purposeless space, both size and volume. You see plans with design elements that make no sense. You see plans with no coherent scale. You see fenestration without a working purpose. You see a thoughtless confusion of style, with no connection to geography or history. You see plans that offer a shallow illusion of architectural style, not a meaningful, interpretive allusion.
One example to demonstrate my point. I was looking at a grand, luxurious home that had been staged for sale in a waterfront, golf course community in Northeast Florida; sales price just under $1 million, 4,700 sf, five bedrooms, five and a half baths, living room, dining room, office, sitting room, study, family room, loft.
The exterior of this house had a total of 44 corners--considering acute angles, obtuse angles, right angles--and it was block construction. I didn’t bother to count the number of roof plane changes.
You might fairly conclude that this is an extreme example, but you can see this type of thinking--or lack of thinking--in the vast majority of designs across a wide geographical range.
If you want to solve the skilled construction labor shortage--if you want to deal with it, not pass on it--then improve the architectural design of the homes you build.
To continue, the point is not strict typo-logical adherence. The point is that there is benefit in preserving the logic and order of the design elements found in various styles, be it formal, vernacular, or regional. The point is that there is benefit in reflecting the indigenous materials of a region. There were, after all, practical reasons homes were built in this manner; today, Lean design shares the same practical interests, in simplified roof designs, common dimensions, single plate heights, multiple floors sharing smaller footprints and roof areas.
There is no distinctiveness in shallow illusion; rather, allusion helps, particularly if it promotes regional distinctness.
And--distinctiveness resonates; therefore, it sells.
Finally, there is a difference between inspiration and old-fashioned; plans need to live for today, but hearken to the past; they need to interpret it.
That elegance and allusion is still there, if we take the time to look for it; it is still there, if we make the effort to create it.
References:
- Architectural Treasures of Early America Series is a ten-volume series (The National Historical Society, 1987) from material originally published in 1930 as The White Pine Series of Architectural Monographs.
- American Vernacular (J. Kemp, Viking Penguin, 1987)
- A Field Guide to American Architecture (C. Rifkind, Bonanza, 1980)
- The Houses of St. Augustine (D. Nolan, Pineapple Press, 1995)
- The American Builders Companion (A. Benjamin, Dover, 1827 orig., 1969)
- Legacy from the Past (Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 1971)
- Charleston: Homes and Gardens (E. Davis, J. Iseley, Legacy, PSOC, 1975)
- Historic Savannah (M. Bell, J. Iseley, Historic Savannah Foundation, 1982)
- Plantations of the Low Country (Wm. Baldwin, A. Baldwin, J. Iseley, Legacy, 1985)
- Caribbean Style (S. Slesin, S. Cliff, et al, Clarkson Potter, 1985)
- Classic Cracker: Florida’s Wood-Frame Vernacular Architecture (R. Haase, Pineapple Press, 1992)
Next: Part III: Variable Costing: Getting More Out of Direct Labor
