Mediocrity

While on a trip to New Orleans for a project there, I found myself asking both myself and the owners a very basic question. Is it time to settle for mediocrity? Of course, this is not a question that one wants to pose to their clients. But, we found ourselves in the midst of a ‘battle’ with the Historic District Landmark Commission’s Architectural Review Committee. They were not as enthralled with our third option presented, or any of the other three alternates, as we were. And they spared no hesitation in bantering on about what we should change for thirty completely unorganized minutes before unceremoniously dismissing us. Stunned is really the only word to describe how I was feeling at that point. Perhaps we could add irritated too.

After absorbing the comments, reviewing the scene with the clients, and trying to somehow sort through what I heard, I went back to the drawing board. Simple. The ARC wanted simple. I simplified everything I could, brought the masses back together, adjusted the overall scale of things and limited the textures. On the next day, the clients and I had a lunch of Cuban sandwiches on the corner of Sixth and St. Charles where I showed them the changes. For a little while, I felt like it was somehow lesser than the previous versions. This feeling lasted only as long as it took to get back to the HDLC offices to present our impressions of the previous day’s events and the revisions. As we discussed the ‘meeting,’ I noted my disturbance was not so much the information offered as it was the method of delivery. Ironically, that is exactly what happened with this house renovation and addition.

The plan was pretty well fixed; it was exactly what the owners wanted. Exactly. So it was decorating the box that we tackled. Once we organized and simplified it, we got it right. Somehow though when I mentioned decorating the box the HDLC staff was not impressed. That is until they actually looked at it. They were thinking it meant mediocrity. Of course, that is what I thought before too. But really organizing the structure brought all the parts together to the places where they were supposed to be. And that simple organization is what allowed the project to be put on the full commission’s agenda for June and means that the project has a real opportunity to get built!

So to answer the dreaded question, is it time to settle for mediocrity? A resounding NO! Should we aim for simplicity? Absolutely, positively, YES!