era | Purpose YOUR WHY
STEP ONE
in the process to design + build architecture specific to you.
understand your purpose to know your end goal
Know what it is you want to achieve at the end of the day.
Everything you do along your architectural journey and every decision that you make is led by this single purpose.
what is this seed of an idea that you’re growing?
Get to know your purpose.
It may seem a trivial and an unnecessary step to find your purpose – you may feel like you are wasting your time – why can’t you just get on with the designing part!
However, if you have a clear purpose for what you want to achieve at the end of the day, that purpose will help to inform all of the decisions that arise. You will be surprised how often you refer back to it in order to help you make decisions to design + build your architecture.
So get to know your purpose now, keep it in mind as you move forward and use it to inform the decisions you will make in order to reach your end goal.
What is your purpose?
A purpose is the reason that you will start on this journey in architecture.
It is what you wish to have achieved at the end of the day when you come to the final step in the process.
This is your big picture dream.
This is the untainted truth of what you wish for your architecture.
It is not something that someone else wants or that is the trend in that moment – it is what you wish for.
It is individual to you and it does not matter what anyone else thinks of it. I T I S Y O U R S.
Before moving any further forward, find your purpose to identify your end goal.
As you are travelling through your journey, look back occasionally to make sure that the ideal you started with is still present in the architecture you are making to achieve it.
Your purpose may be to build a home, but what lifestyle is it that you want to create to live your life in the way you want to at the end of the day?
T h i s i s y o u r e n d g o a l.
It is what you are heading towards and therefore every decision you make along the way will be made to help you reach it.
‘To see the world, things dangerous to come to, to see behind walls, draw closer, to find each other, and to feel. That is the purpose of life.’ THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY
How do you find your purpose?
Often the reason that you are beginning on this architectural journey is because you are trying to fill a gap in the way that you are living now, you are trying to solve a problem, or you are trying to improve your lifestyle.
If you can identify what you are missing, how to solve the problem or how you would like to live your life, this can help you to identify your purpose.
When looking for your purpose,
Remember where you have been in the past
Look around where you are now in the present
Look towards where you want to be in the future
Clarify what you believe
Then take the information you have considered and put it in one place so that you can see the commonalities to clarify your end goal – a purpose matrix.
Your purpose in the process.
By identifying your end goal early, you can manage the process to work for you to achieve it.
You can decide on the best way forward, who will be involved in helping you along the way and what the best way is for you to progress through the process.
Your purpose helps you make decisions.
Because your purpose defines what you would like to end up with at the end of the day, every decision you make which ties to your purpose helps you achieve what you are after.
Finding Your Place | What You Want | Layout | Materials | Finishes | Fixtures | Windows | Doors | etc
Soon you will be faced with making more decisions than you thought you would ever be part of.
They will range from big picture to small details.
There will be many variables to look at when making your decision and some may outweigh your end goal, but most will be affected by it, so make it clear and keep it close at hand.
Your purpose helps you work out how to design + build your architecture.
What suits you and your purpose?
To employ a team to help make it happen? Or to do everything yourself?
Although you may not make a final decision on this until you have gathered all of your information together, your purpose will give you an idea for what will be the best for you in order to achieve your end goal, so have a think about it now.
It is good to have an idea about how you would like to make your purpose happen. This doesn’t have to be set in stone, but you need to have an idea about how you would like to go about achieving your why.
Will you employ a team of people to design and build something specific to you?
Will you choose an ‘off-the-plan’ design and have someone build it for you?
Will you do everything yourself?
a little Template for you
If you would like to delve into your own knowledge to find your purpose, I have made a little Template to help you find it! Find it HERE.
This is your purpose
You have found your purpose! Great – now write it down in big letters somewhere or find an image which represents it so that you can remind yourself of it and communicate it to others.
The next step in the Process is to FIND AND GET TO KNOW the pLACE WHERE YOU WILL DESIGN + BUILD your architecture.
THE PROCESS.
This is the first step in the process to design and build architecture.
If you would like to see how this part fits within the process, you may be interested in a little book I have written that sets out each step in the Process in one place. It is a guide and workbook to help you through each step in your architectural journey.
The process is summarised in this little Blog post - era | the Process to Design + Build Architecture.
Each step in the process will also be broken down into its individual steps right here in this little Blog - so keep checking in to see the whole set!
Til next time!
Start the process to find your architectural language and make your little ideas a reality.
Click here to see the little things I have made for you, or click here if you would like to work with me one on one.