Architect Daniel Lee, and me

I milled around last night on architect Daniel Lee’s website:

I highlighted some of Lee’s thoughts from an interview last week. The website is nice to surf around on — although it was a bit sluggish with my high speed wireless. I imagine a dial-up connection would result in a lot of frustration (It seems to me a lot of architecturally oriented websites are sluggish and animation-heavy, another example being Zaha Hadid’s website.).

I began drafting floor plans in, if I recall correctly, sixth grade. I might still have one or two of these youthful drafts, might. I cannot tell of the impetus behind this activity at this young age — it seems like a pretty abnormal activity for a 12 or 13 year old boy to me. But I often spent four to six hours straight putting these scaled drawings to paper. I still liked a regular game of football with my friends, but my passion quickly became traffic flow and proportion.

Not surprisingly I began my college career by studying architecture. However, after two years, I changed my major (as so many students are wont to do). At the time I thought my reasoning was sound: I came to believe that, if I pursued architecture as I desired to, this profession would impede my ability to volunteer at my church and spend time with my family. A couple years after this decision, I spent a night in the home of a Presbyterian while touring Missouri with 50 international students. He told me this conflict did not exist for him or his family — although I don’t know his specific role in the realm of architecture. (And the recent film The Lake House seems to lend credence to my collegiate reasoning.).

All of this to say my time on Lee’s website stirred in me a yearning to return to architecture. The love of spatial design, creation and ornamentation never left me. I did not expect it to leave me. Nor do I expect (I am, however, open to being pleasantly surprised) in this life to act on this love in full.

The first thing capturing my attention on Lee’s website is a page titled “Building to Last.” The many discussions I’ve had with friends lamenting the cheap, unenduring building methods of this present American culture! This section of the website is not as direct as I would hope, but perusing photographs of his work one easily sees a quality not present in the common McMansion.

His houses — it seems he only designs personal dwellings — are palatial. It’s difficult for me to imagine designing such a structure. First off, I likely won’t ever find an earthly opportunity to purchase such a residence (most architects can’t afford their client’s homes). Thanks to my uncle, I once toured a house on this scale. All of its 18,000 square feet included a bowling alley and basement pool with waterfall. Secondly, I’m personally drawn toward a more pragmatic and sustainable lifestyle. There’s nothing inherently wrong with large dwellings, but I personally find a thrill in the design of small spaces, which are also more practical.

The other portion of Lee’s website capturing my attention was called “Next Steps.” From what I can tell, this is a suggested reading list for potential clients. It includes such classics as Walking on Water: Reflections on faith and art by Madeleine L’Engle and, of all things, The Ten Books on Architecture by Vitruvius. The Vitruvius text is from 30 B.C. and is not light reading.

Its inclusion in this list made me laugh.