Modern Architecture

Many older homes in cities today have their roots in the Arts and Crafts movement. With their squared, low-lying layouts and sturdy construction, these homes are often easy to spot, but generally not as widely recognized or studied as Victorian homes from the same era – they simply remain unclassified or incorrectly identified as ranchers. As years progress, however, the homes, properly known as “Craftsman” buildings, are outlasting most Victorian buildings, and finding more recognition among preservationists and historic home buyers who want to ask for them by name.

In some ways it’s remarkable that Craftsman-style homes were so attractive, given the round-about way they were conceived. Rather than emerging simply as a new architectural form, Craftsman homes developed as part of the Arts and Crafts movement, which in many ways was a reaction against the over-decorated and fragile aesthetics of the Victorian era, as well as the lack of personal touch in many modern-era buildings. Given those prerequisites, one might have expected an unfocussed, impressionistic style to emerge, rather than the refined, often symmetrical building shapes for which Craftsman style homes are known. These homes can generally be identified by their front entrances featuring a large raised porch with columns on either side, a central door, and a single second story window in the second floor gable. Roofs in this style are generally hipped, with overhanging eaves on all four sides. Other common Craftsman features include extensive stonework, rough-hewn wood, and stucco exteriors.

The popularization of Craftsman homes is largely credited to designer Gustav Stickley, a turn of the century architect who often featured these homes in his magazine, The Craftsman. Stickley famously referred to Craftsman style as “a house reduced to its simplest form,” wrote lengthy reviews on home and furniture originals by designers Harvey Ellis, the Greene Brothers, and others. Large numbers of Craftsman homes began appearing in San Diego in the early 20th century, which eventually led to the term “California Bungalow” for these types of homes.

Craftsman-style homes worked as well for families and middle class as they did for designers and artistic activists. One of the most significant advances made by these homes was the way they re-aligned the kitchen area with the rest of the main floor – instead of having a segregated kitchen with a formal dining room, Craftsman homes often had a built-in “breakfast nook” so that families could eat closer to the kitchen, which then became the center of activity on the upper floor.




By: Karen Hoeve

 

Most of the people think that it is visual appearance that determines a site’s success or failure but in fact it is Usability that determines site’s faith no doubt that visual appearance does have involvement in site’s success but first thing is Utility. After all it’s all about user; finally a user has to use the site and has to decide everything. So, most of the designs we do see over different websites are user-centric. Before talking about principles of web design, first take a look at how user look or interact with a website and their basic patterns of behavior.

Visitors glance at every new page and scan some of the text and normally do click at something of their interest on a website and if they don’t find it of their interest then Back button is clicked and search is continued. In all this process there may be the large parts of text at which they even do not even look at. Overall users do appreciate quality content even if a page is filled with lots of advertisements and is not well-designed then too they don’t mind reading it. Second thing to notice about them is that they don’t read they just scan the whole thing and normally they are impatient i.e. they do return if they don’t find what they were searching for or if the page takes too much of time to load. They usually follow their intuition and want to have complete control.

After having a glance at user’s behavior let’s talk about the basic rules of web design now the principles of web design are:

Rule #1 Web Page must be obvious and self explanatory – Website’s navigation and architecture must be user friendly in all respects. A web designer’s basic objective must be to don’t let users think and eliminate question marks related with usability of the site.

Rule # 2 Keep user requirements minimal – Let user explore, discover and test your site and services without filling up long web forms and forcing them to share their private data.

Rule # 3 Attract users – Integrate images and web 2.0 elements in your website to make it more attractive. Make your website eye catching providing both static and dynamic content.

Rule # 4 Make uses of Modern web designs – Simple 1-2-3-done steps, large buttons with visual effects are definitely better as compared to simple web elements.

Rule # 5 Effective Writing – Fine-tune your writing approach to users’ preferences and browsing habits. Talk business; avoid company specific or unfamiliar technical names.

Rule # 6 Keep it simple – should be the fundamental objective of the site design. From the user point of view, the best site design option is to keep pure text without much advertisement in it.

Rule #7 Divide the content – into digestible pieces of information to reduce the load cognitive load for the visitors as complex structures are harder to read, scan and analyze and work with it.

Rule # 8 Express yourself effectively – Follow the visible language which has three basic fundamentals as organize i.e. provide user with a clear consistent structure, economize which includes elements like simplicity, clarity, emphasis and distinctiveness and communicate i.e. match your expression with user capabilities.

Rule # 9 Conventions are not always bad – Conventional designs doesn’t result in a boring website as they reduce the learning curve and can help you gain users’ assurance and belief.

Rule # 10 Test early Test often – This so called theory should be applied to every web design project. Testing is a repetitive process i.e. one must keep testing to produce useful results.




By: Jyoti

While each architectural design firm has their own unique approach to their work, it is important to find a home architect that has architectural services that fit your needs. You need to be clear on your needs and goals when you are searching for the right architectural design company for your project. This way, you’ll be sure to get the architectural services that you need. Some of the main questions you need to answer when looking for a residential architect include: do you need more space? What activities will go on in the new space? What is your budget for the project and how will it be financed? Will you be doing some of the work yourself? Once you have your questions answered and you know what you need and want, you can begin the process of choosing the right architectural services for your project.

Building Your List of Architecture Firms That Do Modern Design

Now you need to start building your list of architecture firms that can do the project you need. You can start by looking at the architectural design firms in your area that specialize in modern design. If you are seeking a residential architect (rather than building an office), search specifically for residential architects. Contact your local chamber of commerce for recommendations, speak to friends and relatives, or contact the American Institute of Architects. Any of these areas are great ways to find good architectural services for your project.

Custom Homes Architects or Residential Architects?

All custom homes architects are residential architetects, but not all residential architects are custom homes architects. Some residential architects design homes for developments where none of the homes are custom – they are all the same.

Custom home architects design one home at a time. They create a completely custom-made design – one that is unique and has never been created before. They spend the time to get to know their clients, and their clients’ desires, wishes, dreams, styles, tastes, likes and dislikes. The custom home architect wants to create a perfect fit for the client. The client’s new custom home will become a true reflection of the client.

Once you have a list of potential architecture firms that you want to interview, start at the top of your list and start interviewing. You should be able to tell right away if the chemistry is right between you and the architectural design firm that you are interviewing. This means that they should be able to answer all of your questions about modern home design, such as: luxury home plans, green design, minimalist architecture, and even postmodern architecture. If they cannot answer your questions to a degree that makes you feel comfortable with their architectural services, then they are not the architecture firm for you.

In this process, you will meet a custom home architect with whom you will “click” – a person whom you can trust. He or she will not only design the home of your dreams in seamless fashion, but this is a person with whom you will enjoy working with, as you undertake this exciting and fulfilling journey – the custom design of your unique dwelling!




By: L Quinn