Philosophy

At renē|Architecture, we focus on the process rather than fixating on imagery. It is our unyielding belief by investing the necessary time and energy in the process the imagery will evolve naturally. This involves honestly working through the five phases of the professional service (Pre-Design, Schematic Design, Design Development, Construction Documents and Construction Administration) resulting in a successful project from the perspective of all those involved.

"To open architecture to questions of perception, we must suspend disbelief, disengage the rational half of the mind, and simply play and explore... The creative spirit must be followed with happy abandon. A time of research precedes synthesis." - Steven Holl

Retaining an architect is a colossal leap of faith on the part of the client. Typically when a client approaches an architect they have committed themselves to some degree to have a structure built, added onto, or remodeled to fulfill their pragmatic and poetic needs. It is the responsibility of the architect to aid in defining these needs and realizing a solution to these needs. To initiate this process the three primary pragmatic factors that need to be clearly identified early are:

It is the architect's task to find inspiration in the uniqueness of these three elements. As we are focusing on these three criteria we can concurrently focus on developing the client's poetic needs. This allows the poetic and pragmatic to blossom as one in a unified design concept. To achieve this it may be necessary to challenge assumptions the client may have about the project in an effort to dismantle false pretense and reinforce absolutes of the project. For clients to be up to this challenge ideally they are someone who is willing to engage in thoughtful dialogue, who expects some controversy and remains open to suggestion throughout the process.

Ultimately a project's identity should come from the client and not from the architect. It is our feeling the more emotionally detached or objective an architect can remain in performing their professional due diligence the better professional service we can provide our clients in realizing a solution to their pragmatic and poetic needs.