P O N T I K I S  +  A S S O C I A T E S

ARCHITECTURE  ●  INTERIORS  ●  LANDSCAPE

Art of Making

On the Art of Making

"Beauty is that reasoned harmony of all the parts within a body, so that nothing may be added, taken away, or altered, but for the worse. It is a great and holy matter; all our resources of skill and ingenuity will be taxed in achieving it; and rarely is it granted, even to nature herself, to produce anything that is entirely complete and perfect in every respect ..... Beauty is a form of sympathy and consonance of the parts within a body, according to definite number, outline, and position, as dictated by concinnitas, the absolute and fundamental rule in nature. This is the main object of the art of building, and the source of her dignity, charm, authority, and worth."

Leon Battista Alberti, 1470

Master Builder

Today most architects are becoming increasingly disengaged from innovative construction work and building assembly. This is because they have limited construction training and are sensitive about malpractice liability. Therefore, they limit themselves to working as “artist” and do not get personally involved in construction. The architect though has to view himself as a master builder who explores the "art of building" through his professional practice. In our practice we are pursuing the master builder approach where we carry construction responsibility and manage all construction or parts of construction which are vital to the life, integrity, and beauty of the building.

 Building Construction Technology

“Always the desire to get some system of building construction as a basis for architecture was my objective – my hope. There never was, there is no architecture otherwise, I believe.”

Frank Lloyd Wright, An Autobiography

In the “art of building” construction technology is part of the architect’s initial conception of the building. The architect needs to be creative and inventive in coming up with beautiful and economical building details that will add to the uniqueness and character of the building. Therefore, architects need to reinterpret material applications and generate prototypical building systems and techniques. This entails experimentation of building construction systems, materials, and technologies which require commitment and dedication from the architect. In our practice we research and develop building technologies and innovative details that are within the project's construction budget. In our residential projects, which have short construction schedule, we get to perform various experiments. We get to test systems, materials,  details, and ornaments. These construction innovations evolve from continuous testing and serve as a platform for further experimentation.

Details of Handcrafted Quality

“… integral ornament is the developed sense of the building as a whole, or the manifest abstract pattern of structure itself. Interpreted. Integral ornament is simply structure pattern made visibly articulate and seen in the building as it is seen articulate in the structure of the trees or a lily of the fields. It is the expression of inner rhythm of form.”

Frank Lloyd Wright, The Natural House

Buildings details that are made with love and attention are integral part of our buildings and help to create their unique character and beauty. Traditionally, these details were handmade and very labor intensive. Back then labor was very affordable and materials were more expensive than labor. Today, labor is far more expensive that materials. We live though in a very interesting and exciting era where mechanization and computer technology can minimize labor cost and make again traditionally labor intensive operations very affordable. Therefore, we can create once again details of handcrafted quality such as terrazzo floorings, concrete traceries, stone inlaid cornices, and other details at affordable prices.  

Building Models and Full Scale Mockups

In our work we get to build various building models and mockups so that to better understand the building form and its details. At the initial stages of our projects we get to build plasticine models and show the layout and massing of the buildings on the site. Later on in our designs we build cardboard models to study the building spaces and details. We also build full scale mockups of buildings components in real construction materials to study details, resolve problems, and refine costing prior to construction. During construction we build quick mockups with cardboard, polystyrene, pieces of wood, etc. to finalize details and proportions of building elements and components.