How To Design A Good Building

"In my ideal architectural world, each new building would glow with timeless grace. The materials, the proportions, the craftsmanship and details -- all would be just so, whatever the architectural style.

As opposed to the real world, where too much of what goes up has all the presence of papier-mache.

True, not every project can claim an extravagant budget or a big-name architect. But there's no reason new buildings in suburban downtowns or big-city neighborhoods can't be modest triumphs of quality and care. The problem is when developers have formulas, communities have demands, architects have rent to pay and the actual building becomes an afterthought.

So consider today's column a manifesto of sorts -- or at least a checklist of what our priorities should be when the next multiuse building proposal comes around the bend."

Among the prescriptions:

"Make the ground floor shine. Nothing counts like first impressions, and if a building meets the sidewalk with a spacious urbanity, people are bound to be impressed. There should be generous heights and lots of glass. "It makes all the difference on the street to have a tall, elegantly proportioned ground floor," says Berkeley architect Anne Phillips."

"Be realistic. We don't build buildings like we used to for a reason: we can't. Building codes are different now. Goodies like thick granite or kiln-fired brick cost exponentially more than they once did. Wages are high and regulatory checklists are long.

So instead of starting with elaborate designs and lavish materials and dumbing them down each step of the way, understand the constraints and turn them into virtues. For instance, an architectural approach that sticks to clean lines and simple setbacks can come alive with the use of handsome tiles at pedestrian level, or nicely detailed windows up above."