modern cave painting
The Inventive Design Process Is Unique
SUCCESSFUL DELIVERY OF STORYTELLING ENVIRONMENTS
There is a spirit to Invention projects that is different than Construction projects. Both are rewarding when participants can look back on a “job well done.”
Both require hard work and collaboration. It is the challenges that are often the difference.
Conventional construction has all the challenges of weather and schedule and coordination. Yet the difference is in its conventions — familiar procurement processes; the purchasing of catalog products from warehouse shelves; a known sequence of trades that is based on successful precedents; precedents that see contractors perform work that is repetitive from project to project. All: hard work done with deliberate quality.
In Invention projects, familiarity and catalog products and precedents and repetitive work are rarely the norm. The joy in invention is often balanced by the challenges it creates. The distinct challenges: materials are asked to stretch envelopes; putting a twist on common usage happens often; the commonplace finish is often used in uncommon ways; specialized components may need to be sourced from exotic suppliers; dialogue with specialty craftsmen is part of the design process; eventual builders are enlisted earlier and contribute to establishing the budget. These pages describe in descriptive narrative and photographic example the nature of the Inventive design delivery process.
Small scale mock-up of glass walls
Full size mock-up by fabricator
Installed display
Dialogue is amplified
In invention projects we imagine along with our clients. We ask our consultant team to help early. Connect dots and fill in blanks. The stakeholder group is enlarged to include fabricators early on in the design. How we will construct the unusual often raises more questions and requires more dialogue to answer them. Artful decisions require weighting variables and sorting options and choosing directions. Dialogue is also critical to align invention with budget and accurate fabrication costs are best obtained from broad input — including trusted fabricators.
In invention projects we imagine along with our clients. We ask our consultant team to help early. Connect dots and fill in blanks. The stakeholder group is enlarged to include fabricators early on in the design. How we will construct the unusual often raises more questions and requires more dialogue to answer them. Artful decisions require weighting variables and sorting options and choosing directions. Dialogue is also critical to align invention with budget and accurate fabrication costs are best obtained from broad input — including trusted fabricators.
If we were to simply adorn and decorate, this discussion would not be required. But if we are to create rich experience and distinctive personality in these spaces, this approach will likely apply. Wherever technology, art and identity converge, there will be an added component to the process: invention.
Early mock-up of ring infill and molecule
Hands-on client review of mock-up
Exploring a large scale mock-up
Final assembly reviewed
Budgets require contingency and frequent confirmation
Early pricing and iterative confirmations reduces the need for contingency. Early accurate budgets require professional estimates (no guesstimates) procured from knowledgeable professions. The cost to procure these should be budgeted into the project budget. The cost of estimation is paid for in the avoidance of surprise. Contingency has a role as invention projects have an amplified component of uncertainty. Good estimates frequently confirmed will progressively reduce the need for contingency funds across the life of the project.
Early pricing and iterative confirmations reduces the need for contingency. Early accurate budgets require professional estimates (no guesstimates) procured from knowledgeable professions. The cost to procure these should be budgeted into the project budget. The cost of estimation is paid for in the avoidance of surprise. Contingency has a role as invention projects have an amplified component of uncertainty. Good estimates frequently confirmed will progressively reduce the need for contingency funds across the life of the project.
Installed display
Documentation that describes as often as it specifies
How something is to appear (“shimmering” not “sparkling”) or how it is to perform (“dimming at random speed” not “fading slowly”) is often hard to draw. Two-dimensional CAD drawings may not be sufficient – descriptive narrative is often supplemented by photography of looks-like-this and video of acts-like-this precedents.
How something is to appear (“shimmering” not “sparkling”) or how it is to perform (“dimming at random speed” not “fading slowly”) is often hard to draw. Two-dimensional CAD drawings may not be sufficient – descriptive narrative is often supplemented by photography of looks-like-this and video of acts-like-this precedents.