Who among us has never thought or said the phrase: “when I have my own house, I will do it this way”?

It is very common for us to bring to our personal sphere decisions that reflect our personality, interests and desires. Designing something for yourself is, as we will see later, an opportunity to establish an internal dialogue, with people and with the world in which we live.

In our architecture office, when we receive a commission for a project for a house, for example, we realize that the request also carries with it a certain curiosity, very similar to this: “but how will the architect know exactly what I want? ” or “what are the project stages and how do they apply to my reality?”

And, throughout these years of professional practice, the way we have conducted these responses is to enable the client to listen and understand that designing in architecture is a process of openness, connection and coherence in proposing ideas.

Don’t worry, I’ll explain!

Home, whether it is a house or an apartment, is a place where we materialize our personal lives. They are full of the construction of memories that are often linked to objects, sounds and images. It’s where we cook, make meals, rest and entertain ourselves. It can also be a space shared with work demands and a place to receive other people. Our home is, quite literally, who we are.

As the architect designing it, I inevitably need to understand how these things currently work for you. And this is where the architectural project begins: not with the drawing, but rather with the questions that I ask you and which, quite possibly, answer some of the questions you asked yourself.

Remember? This is, therefore, the “opening” phase, which precedes and leads to reasoning about the project’s intentions.

Derived from it, we enter a phase of “connection”. This moment is somewhat instigating, because, when you came to me, you may have already researched my work and projects that I have carried out or, if this is not the case, you may have received a recommendation about my work from someone you know.

In both situations, your search reflects to me a desire on your part to understand my working language. To come to me, you possibly identified with it, correct?

And this is the exciting part because, once we go through the “opening” phase, in which we can exchange important information about your needs for the new home, I will share with you some of the possible solutions that can solve the particularities that you brought me.

They are usually images of other projects and handmade drawings, which allow us to visualize and anticipate our understanding of how things can be done.

Do you get the idea? These are the basic references of our project!

Adding the two phases, “opening” and “connection”, we are able to move on to the last of them, building the “consistencies” that justify the design decisions. This is an important moment, as it is where I can demonstrate my ability to visualize assertive solutions and translate, into an authentic architectural project, the conversations I had previously had with you.

In practical terms, despite seeming complex and extensive, these three phases described are resolved briefly and, to me, it becomes increasingly clear that the more qualitative the client’s “opening” and the more intense the “connection” between the architect’s language and the client’s wishes, the greater the probability of “coherence” between your home’s design and what you want. Are you with me on this?

Furthermore, creating project drawings also has a logical development structure and deadlines that, in our office, are structured in stages. The idea here is greater control of the process to better guide the maturation of ideas with you and make you understand the exact deadline that each stage takes, always with the client having the final say so that we can move on to the next stage.

In the first one, for example, we represent the project in a preliminary way, both in drawings and in relation to realistic images, with the aim of demonstrating to you the internal organization of the residence’s environments, as well as the aesthetic configuration of the facades.

In a second stage, we systematize our drawings in a more technical way, which allows us to approve the project with city halls and condominiums, thus obtaining the necessary licensing to release the work and begin construction of the project.

And in a final stage, perhaps the most complex and laborious of all, is the complete development of what we call the “executive project”. As the name suggests, these are the drawings that will be considered on site, functioning as a technical manual on how to build the project in question. It is during this stage that complementary projects to architecture are also developed, such as structural, hydraulic and electrical projects.

Finally, once all the promised drawings are completed and delivered to you, it is up to us to monitor and, in some cases, even execute the work in question. Many people don’t know, but the architect’s technical visits during the work ensure that the “consistencies” that we highlighted previously are maintained.

Can you imagine all this effort of ours and then some things not working out? Well, our presence on site tends to minimize this probability considerably.

As you can see, the residential project has several challenges, stages and deadlines. It also requires a compromise between what we do and what you need done. And it also has the virtue of being able to consolidate a great idea, because it is the moment when we allow ourselves to do things the way we believe.

It is always a pleasure for us to be able to accept challenges and then suggest the creation of new things, no matter how simple they may be!

How would you feel about discussing your home project?