How to create a Design Brief for your architect

A design brief is a simple or complex list of things/ideas that a client wishes for his/her architect would want to know before beginning to design their new home. This might take 3 to 6 pages depending on how articulate a client would like at the outset of design, however, every excited home builder or client must understand the basics of what architecture is and how one should think of this art and science to appreciate the creation of this design brief checklist and be amazed and appreciate how their architect will approach the design and the client's collaboration in the design process.

Designing and building a house is a form of architecture where architects are famous for, most people would quickly assume that building a house is as simple as grabbing pictures and showing them to some carpenter would suffice. A wise home-builder such as yourself should know that it is far more complicated than that, first, you got to think about some principles to help guide your journey in defining your design problem.

Philippine architecture practice and P.R.C.'s position with Civil Engineers' encroachment in architecture profession

The issue of overlapping professional practice between the two professions has been with us since both architecture and civil engineering as formal professions were established in the Philippines in the early 20th century, in fact it is not an isolated problem and is prevalent in other countries as well, but not as toxic as the Philippine situation. It has been a dividing issue between both professions and had many reports of violent disagreements in some cases. To find out why, we need to go back to the history of both professions to understand what has transpired to this day and age.

During the Spanish era (1521-1890s), the "maestro de obras" were (what many believe) the equivalent of what architects are today but in-fact they were just the foremans as I see it in today's equivalence, the real equivalent to architects today I think were the church friars, who envisioned their churches according to their home trends in medieval Spain of their times i.e. baroque, rococo style, adopted by the maestro de obras to local building techniques and materials.

Architects and Architecture: Myths vs Reality

What are Architects and what do Architects really do? Why are they called engineers and why they are looked down upon by many people in the industry, especially in the provinces? lots of questions, now let us start answering...

An architect’s role is a lot larger than most people realize. Architects have been described or viewed unfairly over many decades due to historical and political reality in the country, civil engineers outnumber the architects 10-fold, and civil engineers enjoy the mass perception that they do what actually architects do which is to design and build buildings.

The reality is that architects undergo design and construction training for at least 7 years before getting their license, and engineers take at least 5 years with little to no experience in the totality of building design and construction but they are allowed by many to do the architect’s work, since people in power and in public offices are engineers, hence it is evident in what buildings we have, just look around, they are considered the cheap or free design option because they are like most people, they didn’t study architecture.