Someone starts the development of
a project, much earlier than the
architect begins to reflect or
to sketch on a blank paper. It is
a visionary; it is also called
developer or client. Someone who
wants to see their dreams, their
needs and their desires
materialized. The architect is
unrelated with this first step
carried out by the visionary
although it is the most
transcendental step within the
process.
The Process. It is the process of
creating, of imagining. How to
explain a feeling without
writing poetry? In fact, I cannot
describe my work without
referring to feelings. After 25
years of career, every work that
I start is as a new workshop.
It is also, the opportunity to
find the essential. I could not
live without exercising my
profession. It is pure passion.
It is the attraction to the
abyss. However, contrary to
what appear, my previous
experiences and processes make
the next project more difficult
than the one before. The wisdom
of experience and the knowledge
of previous mistakes make the
"process" to evolve into a more
rational result, as well as
looking for the balance between
concept and formal solution,
between function and form, and
between cost and efficiency. The
process defines and describes
the solution. As a result, the
work comes as the outcome for the
solution.
The method. The method of “the
process”. From the beginning
there is totally and
absolutely collaboration with the
visionary. First meetings,
exposition of existing and
developed solutions, several
revisions of the functional
requirements, cost analysis,
material election, everything
required to exactly define our
wishes. Which destination the
“process” journey will take us?
And that journey should being
performed, from the beginning
until the end, those who started
it: the visionary and the
architect.
Defined the objective, the
"process" should be proceed to
define and describe a solution
by unifying in this amalgam that
we call design, the technical and
the creative. Both should be
complementary, and far from being
antagonistic, the "process" is
enriched as long as both
interact. What useful is a
solution that cannot be build?
How useful is a too expensive
solution related to the first
established requirements? How
useful is a solution that
defines an unsustainable
project over time? In my
“process” the technical
conditions are present since the
beginning, and the engineers, who
collaborate on projects, do
calculus but they not design. To
operate in this way is crucial
that the architect has an
extensive training and
experience in all technical
fields: structures, sanitary
facilities, electro-mechanical
installations, costs,
construction processes, etc.
Honestly, I should say that all
great works have visionaries
behind them. Some even have an
architect who was able to define
them because he was able to
understand and satisfy the
visionary. It is the key of a
successful work: when the
architect set his talent to
the service of the visionary,
of the developer or the client.