An architect does best when.....

[Jeff_Brauer]

There is an article in the Dallas Morning News today about three "signature bridges" to downtown Dallas, commissioned to a Spanish architect.  The first is nearing completion, but the second is on hold due to the economy.  The editorial gives a few options as to how Dallas ought to proceed.

The editorial says one option is to retain the signature architect, but tell him his budget is reduced because "architects do best when budget is limited and they have a lot of feedback."

In other words, is necessity the mother of invention in great design?

Does this apply to golf course architecture?  Any design field?

Discuss.

[Adam Lawrence]

I presume the Spanish architect is Calatrava? He is a genius, I love his work.

[Jeff_Brauer]

Adam,

Right you are!   Who knew there would be a bridge design afficiando here?

There was a picture of the second bridge concept he prepared, and one writer compared the four arches to a four slice toaster, but admitted there was only so much you can do with a 12 lane bridge.  Which, led to the second suggestion, which was to let the TxDot engineers take over the design and try for something more artistic than their usual concrete building blocks.

Which led to another issue that I considered bringing up - Having paid Calatrava for his concept, would they feel free to use it and tweak it, thereby getting perhaps a 90% Calatrava design at 10% of the cost?  I have seen that happen in gca, but not usually with signature architects.  In any event, the concept of who owns an artistic concept is an interesting one.

[Tom_Doak]

Jeff:

Necessity being the mother of invention, that part I'm on board with.  It has happened several times that the best hole in a good stretch on one of my courses winds up being the one I thought was the weakest hole to begin with ... so we worked on the problem much harder.

The part about "a lot of feedback," it depends on what feedback means.  I like having lots of people out to my sites to look at what we're doing and provide feedback, as long as I'm free to take it or leave it.  However, if the feedback is coming from the client and you are obliged to change your design because of it, I'm not sure that has ever led to great results.

[Jeff_Brauer]

Tom,

Agree 100% on the necessity being the mother of invention, and on working harder leading to better golf holes.

I have always found that some strong general direction, with me filling in the details at will leads to my best designs, so Yes, the nature of feedback is important.  A weak overall owners vision, supplemented by a lot of detail requirements, is usually a recipe for a not so inspiring design.  I occaisionally have people out to the site, but rarely take advice from others than the Owner or his rep, my staff, etc.  Not that a great bit of advice doesn't come from some really unexpected sources from time to time.

[Kevin Jackson]

Being a current architecture student and seeing hundreds of new projects in publications every week from all sorts of people, I don't know if architects are best when they have a limited budget.  Yes, they have a more simple, clear design which is always good, but whenever they are limited too much you lose all the subtleties and details that make a project great.  The details seem to be the first thing on the chopping block because they aren't completely necessary to achieve the original design parti, but rather reinforce it.  I find more and more that the smaller firms (or egos) seem to be making the best projects these days because they are used to detailing on limited budgets.  As it applies to golf architecture and building a course, I can't comment because I don't have enough knowledge.

[Jim_Kennedy]

Jeff,
It would be hard to 'tweak' anything but architectural 'flourishes' on a bridge plan.

[Jeff_Brauer]

Jim,

No doubt removing a structural span because it looks bad wouldn't work!  That said, those arches (which do funtion to hold up the bridge) might have a few artistic flourishes.

Kevin,

It would seem you haven't got to the form follows function part of your curricula yet!

In golf design, I find the typical way that limited budgets might improve architecture are to reduce sand bunkers, and look for more natural slopes, etc. or alternate hazards (usually grass bunkers) to make a design work.  Beyond changes to details, sometimes extreme necessities force combinations of things that result in real unique routing and feature combos that we might never have imagined had a bigger budget allowed us to not think through such details.

[Adam Clayman]

Is the fact the request for change, is money related, is there a difference in the architects response? I suppose it depends on the attitude of the architect. not building 3 more bridges would seem to be incentive enough work through the problem. In this case the decision NOT to build was probably a bad one, since the economy will likely rebound. It was a bad decision because of the recent rise in proices for most, if not all materials, compounding the cost issue.

Recently Energy secretary Chu was taped saying that if invention is born out of necessity, we have the mother of all inventions coming.

[Tim Martin]

Being a current architecture student and seeing hundreds of new projects in publications every week from all sorts of people, I don't know if architects are best when they have a limited budget.  Yes, they have a more simple, clear design which is always good, but whenever they are limited too much you lose all the subtleties and details that make a project great.  The details seem to be the first thing on the chopping block because they aren't completely necessary to achieve the original design parti, but rather reinforce it.  I find more and more that the smaller firms (or egos) seem to be making the best projects these days because they are used to detailing on limited budgets.  As it applies to golf architecture and building a course, I can't comment because I don't have enough knowledge.

Kevin-I think the majority of the design work out there be it golf or otherwise have budget guidelines and the real talent is distinguished by those that can create something special within those confines.

[Jeff_Brauer]

Adam,

Intersesting take.  Govt can't seem to think beyond the next election in many cases, so there is public pressure to cut now.  I would think the spanish architect would reach out to Dallas, and try to find a way to make a bridge work at $250M rather than the $400M proposed, not unlike Tillie going out and removing bunkers from his own masterpieces of just a few years earlier in the 30's.

[Kevin Jackson]

Jeff-

That lesson was within the first week of freshman year and I am a big fan of it.  I am definitely not a Gehry-esque type of guy.  I am much more into clear-cut, straightforward design.  I think it sounds like we can both agree that with all design typically less is more (when done thoughtfully).

Tim-

Every designers dream would be to get handed the blank check.  I think the biggest difference between golf (or landscape) architecture and building is that you have a starting block.  You have the land as a foundation.  Buildings need to build their own foundation first, even if the design is derived from the landscape it needs something more.  That is where the thought that golf courses on limited budgets done thoughtfully are the best, because you emphasize the natural features because you have no choice.

[Sam Morrow]

I'm guessing fancy bridges from Oak Cliff to downtown?

[Dan Kelly]

Not that a great bit of advice doesn't come from some really unexpected sources from time to time.

Do tell. Details! (That's where God and the devil both are, you know.)

[Jeff_Brauer]

Sam,

Yes, those bridges.  The Woodhall Rogers bridge is almost done.  The I 30 bridge is next in line, and is crumbling so it must be done somehow, artistic or not.

Dan,

Caught me off guard, but at some point, I will recall an example.......

[paul cowley]

Re: A golf architect does best when.....he survives by the credo that necessity is the mother of re-invention...or that re-invention's necessity is a mother....or some such thing...there is a thought in here someplace...trust me.