Mission Statement of Macdonald Architecture & Technology
The design philosophy of Macdonald Architecture & Technology is based on the premise that the relationship between mankind and nature is embodied in the practice of architectural design.
Architecture, first of all, provides the method by which we think about the basics of shelter. We define our actions, and as such design spaces with qualities to appropriately accommodate these actions.
Architecture also encompasses the spiritual activity of mankind in that its practice directly affects how our dreams, aspirations, and self-image shape the built world, which we create, and so to the extent of that built world, nature itself.
Construction or modification of existing natural features to create shelter is, next to weaponry and forming of vessels, the oldest human shaping activity. The sense of physical well-being portrayed in the concept of "home" speaks to the age-old activity of making a nest where we might be safe and comfortable. Our premise is that design of a secure and comfortable shelter "home" includes a program choice of materials and methods - these days in the form of manufactured products and code compliant construction methods - such that this home may remain affordable, durable, and commodious. These qualities require us to study available technology and guide the owner of the home to a designed combination of materials and methods, which can sustain itself through time, both in its physical being and ongoing operation.
To be sustainable in a real sense through generations, this shelter home must be fabricated according to natural environmental principals. Especially today, as millions of new homes are required, it is essential to ensure that their creation and operation not upset the delicate natural environmental balance. Here the attitude of the architect towards his manipulation of nature, material fabrication, and building construction, is critical, perhaps to the very sustenance of human making itself, simply because of the volume of construction required. The waste and rape of the natural environment in order to make and to place houses has been demonstrated to threaten forests, advance deserts, and alter climates. Architects are at the crux of this activity. They specify this or that material, in this or that quantity. Their plan indicates land use. They are educated, have degrees and licenses, and society has entrusted them with public safety, with the design of the built environment and its relationship to nature, and with the future.
It is time for architects to involve energy engineering in design, so as to incorporate solar energy production, both electricity and heat, as well as earth tempering, into shelter construction. Comfort can be achieved through the physics and geometry of the building as well as through machinery. These means are renewable, less expensive for the owner, and less taxing on the environment.
Of all the feelings experienced by a person, the feeling of "coming home" is one of the oldest and most basic. The sense of longing for home, and the inner comfort and relief of coming home, are common to tribal and modern man alike. The practice of architecture today has before it a giant and worthy task: to consciously mold, using available modern manufactured construction materials and methods, the ineffable beauty and grace of coming home. This task takes precedence over designing to be published or designing according to this or that modern or post-modern architectural style. It is the most exciting and architectural of tasks to tax the depth of emotion and the ability of the finest designer!
In order to design for clients, one must understand not only their activities, so as to create that commodius shelter, but one must attempt to comprehend their aspirations and spiritual image so that entering the shelter is a true homecoming. The architect must empathize with his client, and to some extent give up his internal, "I would like to design this" feeling, and participate in dreamwork with the client, not always as a spoken or conscious activity, but always as a necessary one.
In cross cultural cases, the architect is compelled to research aspiration and identity in order to create a clear design concept which will embody the client's vision. This is exciting and mind expanding work. Practice of this kind of design will relieve the modern built world of its scary sameness and preserve regional architectural flavor.
There is no doubt that sincere and informed empathy leads the designer towards use of traditional regional forms developed from a mixture of indigenous structural basics and historic form-giving. Such historical reference is what we interpret as the charm and flavor of various cultures and places. If the media oriented lens through which architects see their work being judged and published could be dispelled, a true vision sensitive to the region and individuality of the local culture and population would appear. There is no compelling reason for the immediate and hasty rejection of traditional morphology, which has transformed the appearance of the built world during the last 40 years. Traditional forms and their integrated ornamental programs extending back for sometimes thousands of years need not be replaced by the latest international architectural fashion simply because the practice of architecture, like manufacturing, has become single-faceted through the dominance of global contractors and design corporations.
To create charm and beauty, designers must be prepared to accept guidance from the anthropologist and historian. The qualities of built space which inspire the emotion of coming home resonate in the mind and spirit of the client. His inner being reaches back to both childhood memory and to common history when it reacts to the form of his home. It is our gift and duty as architects to evoke this emotion honestly, through the empathetic application of our curiosity and creativity regarding both the physical world of nature, as well as the social and cultural milieu of our client.
We believe such practice to be enlightening to ourselves and beneficial to the world at large.
Angus W. Macdonald
May 30th, 2003
Architecture, first of all, provides the method by which we think about the basics of shelter. We define our actions, and as such design spaces with qualities to appropriately accommodate these actions.
Architecture also encompasses the spiritual activity of mankind in that its practice directly affects how our dreams, aspirations, and self-image shape the built world, which we create, and so to the extent of that built world, nature itself.
Construction or modification of existing natural features to create shelter is, next to weaponry and forming of vessels, the oldest human shaping activity. The sense of physical well-being portrayed in the concept of "home" speaks to the age-old activity of making a nest where we might be safe and comfortable. Our premise is that design of a secure and comfortable shelter "home" includes a program choice of materials and methods - these days in the form of manufactured products and code compliant construction methods - such that this home may remain affordable, durable, and commodious. These qualities require us to study available technology and guide the owner of the home to a designed combination of materials and methods, which can sustain itself through time, both in its physical being and ongoing operation.
To be sustainable in a real sense through generations, this shelter home must be fabricated according to natural environmental principals. Especially today, as millions of new homes are required, it is essential to ensure that their creation and operation not upset the delicate natural environmental balance. Here the attitude of the architect towards his manipulation of nature, material fabrication, and building construction, is critical, perhaps to the very sustenance of human making itself, simply because of the volume of construction required. The waste and rape of the natural environment in order to make and to place houses has been demonstrated to threaten forests, advance deserts, and alter climates. Architects are at the crux of this activity. They specify this or that material, in this or that quantity. Their plan indicates land use. They are educated, have degrees and licenses, and society has entrusted them with public safety, with the design of the built environment and its relationship to nature, and with the future.
It is time for architects to involve energy engineering in design, so as to incorporate solar energy production, both electricity and heat, as well as earth tempering, into shelter construction. Comfort can be achieved through the physics and geometry of the building as well as through machinery. These means are renewable, less expensive for the owner, and less taxing on the environment.
Of all the feelings experienced by a person, the feeling of "coming home" is one of the oldest and most basic. The sense of longing for home, and the inner comfort and relief of coming home, are common to tribal and modern man alike. The practice of architecture today has before it a giant and worthy task: to consciously mold, using available modern manufactured construction materials and methods, the ineffable beauty and grace of coming home. This task takes precedence over designing to be published or designing according to this or that modern or post-modern architectural style. It is the most exciting and architectural of tasks to tax the depth of emotion and the ability of the finest designer!
In order to design for clients, one must understand not only their activities, so as to create that commodius shelter, but one must attempt to comprehend their aspirations and spiritual image so that entering the shelter is a true homecoming. The architect must empathize with his client, and to some extent give up his internal, "I would like to design this" feeling, and participate in dreamwork with the client, not always as a spoken or conscious activity, but always as a necessary one.
In cross cultural cases, the architect is compelled to research aspiration and identity in order to create a clear design concept which will embody the client's vision. This is exciting and mind expanding work. Practice of this kind of design will relieve the modern built world of its scary sameness and preserve regional architectural flavor.
There is no doubt that sincere and informed empathy leads the designer towards use of traditional regional forms developed from a mixture of indigenous structural basics and historic form-giving. Such historical reference is what we interpret as the charm and flavor of various cultures and places. If the media oriented lens through which architects see their work being judged and published could be dispelled, a true vision sensitive to the region and individuality of the local culture and population would appear. There is no compelling reason for the immediate and hasty rejection of traditional morphology, which has transformed the appearance of the built world during the last 40 years. Traditional forms and their integrated ornamental programs extending back for sometimes thousands of years need not be replaced by the latest international architectural fashion simply because the practice of architecture, like manufacturing, has become single-faceted through the dominance of global contractors and design corporations.
To create charm and beauty, designers must be prepared to accept guidance from the anthropologist and historian. The qualities of built space which inspire the emotion of coming home resonate in the mind and spirit of the client. His inner being reaches back to both childhood memory and to common history when it reacts to the form of his home. It is our gift and duty as architects to evoke this emotion honestly, through the empathetic application of our curiosity and creativity regarding both the physical world of nature, as well as the social and cultural milieu of our client.
We believe such practice to be enlightening to ourselves and beneficial to the world at large.
Angus W. Macdonald
May 30th, 2003