Deconstructing the myth
"beautIFUL = expensive"
“I don’t need something beautiful, I need something cheap.”
Did this thought ever cross your mind ?
Beauty boosts our minds! And that’s proven. The sight of beauty has the power to instantly bring up feelings of pleasure. So why would we not care about building aesthetically pleasing buildings ? Maybe because we are afraid of their cost ? There is clearly a misconception here that we need to deconstruct:
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Beauty is not luxury!
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A quality or a thing that provides pleasure or satisfaction to the senses or pleasurably exalts the spirit or mind, is a common definition for beauty. Luxury on the other hand is also something that provides a form of pleasure or satisfaction but that comes at great expense. You cannot remove the “expense” part from the definition of luxury, whilst it is never associated to beauty. Luxury also comes with the notion of being unnecessary.
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Still not convinced beautiful design can be cheap? Here are 7 tricks (because number 7 is just so pretty!) we use at Ardism to reduce the cost of our projects whilst keeping the aesthetics at the forefront:
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1. Simplicity
Leonardo da Vinci found simplicity to be “the ultimate sophistication.”;
Coco Chanel, “the keynote of all true elegance.”
Simplifying, in other words eliminating the unnecessary, eliminating luxurious or superfluous components allows the necessary to speak and the essence to shine. At the same time, sticking to the essentials helps avoiding additional costs.
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2. Order and harmony can be found in repetition
There is a strong connection that links beauty and simplicity, with harmony and order. Our ancestors knew this very well, as Plato used to say: “Beauty of style and harmony and grace and good rhythm depend on simplicity.”
Rhythm and order can be found in repetition. From the manufacturing of building materials or elements, to the assembly on site, cost-effectiveness can be achieved thanks to the principle of standardization and repetition.
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3. Re-use
Refurbishing an existing space or building new, the re-use of materials or repurposing of elements can be a great way to lower the expenses, to achieve a better environmental footprint, and at the same time to give them a new life. Some materials just age beautifully and we love to take advantage of that!
4. ​Efficient sizing
Rule number one to keep construction costs reasonable is to build “small” or to size the project to minimum requirements. Grandeur comes with luxury. Beauty on the other hand has no size. From the inception of the project, we plan for beauty with an adequate footprint (which, by the way, also comes with a reduced environmental footprint!).
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5. Local is beautiful
Beauty can take many forms. Local crafts, building techniques or materials have often been used for centuries and can be admired all over the surroundings of a project site. Making use of these gives a sense of truth to the project. It roots the project in its community and very often lowers its carbon footprint and….its cost. As such, harmony emerges from the unity created between the building and its surroundings.
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6. Let nature shine
Our number one inspiration source: Nature. Its opulence is all around us and is readily accessible. We can use it to enhance our own built environments: we can intermingle plants and buildings into a harmonious whole, and also let the principles of biophilic design guide us to nature-inspired aesthetics.
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7. It’s all in the details
Labor cost represents 20 to 40% of the total construction costs. A proper detailing of the building will not only affect the looks of the building, but also the labor intensity during construction. During the construction design we take the time to fully develop cost-effective assembly details that suit our aesthetic goals.
And in the end, we constantly need to think out of the box to take these measures a step further.
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Because the act of building something beautiful will not only bring positive emotions to the users and owners of a building, but to the whole community, present and future!
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