My college architectural history professor would relate this phrase as if it were the key to architecture itself. This quote is attributed to noted modernist architect, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. I absorb he meant that the lawful beauty of a structure can be found in the details of that structure. His steel and glass structures are handsome and gorgeous at a distance and hold that beauty in their details when you race up and touch them. When I judge of buildings that I like, the things I remember the most are the details. It might be the curve of a staircase, the drip cap of a window, or the brickwork in a chimney.
It is the details of a structure that can acquire it from the ordinary to the astonishing. Here in Dutchess County we do not have any enormous Van der Rohe buildings, but I imagine you like myself feel the dissimilarity when you high-tail into a home that was built in 1810 and one that was built in 1975. I am often asked by clients to rob a home that they judge humdrum or "cookie-cutter", maybe a 1970 colonial and give it character... some personality and style. This can truly be done by simply changing the details. We can win out the windows and orderly and replace them with the dependable same amount of material but by placing them thoughtfully and detailing correctly, we make an entirely different enact. The details at the eaves and gable ends can be reworked in ways that last longer and give the home presence. Unlike the 1810 home that has been kept in unusual condition, a 1970's home after 35 years can feel dated or worse, initiate to drop apart if detailed very poorly.
There is no quiz that complex details can be expensive, but with care, the same amount of material and a puny idea can transform the mundane into the special. Ironically the simpler the building the more primary the details and proportions become. You might hardly sight an weird detail on a Queen Ann Victorian facade, but I tend to eye every detail on an austere Shaker farm building.
When you believe that homes we effect today may be in exhaust by our great-great grandchildren or beyond, it makes sense to consume a runt more time thinking about the details.
To thought photos associated with this article, please go to: http://blog.crisparchitects.com/2006/12/god-is-in-the-details/