Delight is one of our prime motivations for practicing architecture. As in Vitruvius’ model of architecture, we seek to achieve buildings that delight at the same time they have commodity in use and rationality in their firmness of construction. And we seek delight in the process of making buildings with the indispensable ad hoc group of clients, collaborators and builders formed for each project.
Over twenty-five years of practice and study of architecture, I have found recurring set of ideas that nourishes and guides my work. These ideas are expressed as eleven chapters in this book, each containing examples with brief descriptions. The inspirations come from architecture, art, performance, literature and everyday life. They come from the past
and the present and varied cultures. The order is not a narrative but an assemblage of independent threads.
I liken the process of using these concepts to weaving. Various strands form the structure of the warp while others move over and under as the weft. Each project has its own unique chemistry as the ideas are continuously re-woven in different combinations. The same few themes are continually refreshed by the opportunities of each project.
Frederick Fisher, FAAR
