To be able to say that something is beautiful–be it a chair, a car, building, a face, and so on–there are universal proportions to be met. These proportions came from nature itself and is known as the Golden Ratio or the Golden Mean–in Latin, sectio aurea. The Golden Ratio appears in some patterns found in nature.
For human beings, making beautiful things is closely related to a person’s creative process. As an architect, to me this process always begins with an intimate look at the project and its market. This is essentially the same process employed by the creative people in my team at Italpinas.
Once the target market is studied and understood, the first thing I do is to visit the place and gather data. We start to analyze Exogenous Agents (climate factors) like wind speed, wind direction and seasonality, the sun’s path (which is unique and different in every place), Atmosphere Precipitation (Rain) and other climate related natural events of the place where we need to build.
When all the parameters are integrated, the Parametric software elaborates the data and comes up with a 3D model that represents the best solution from the data that was input including the desired goals. The ultimate goal is to reduce power and water consumption, optimize construction cost without affecting functions and sustainability or the project.
In a nutshell, this is the creative process involved in the making of a beautiful and functional architectural design. The softwares helps us manage the numerous parameters which, interestingly, have to be defined and integrated into the plan at the onset.
Now, all this may be a challenge if we are designing for a market with less capacity to spend. But my personal conviction is that a beautiful design and green architecture are not exclusive to the premium market. All human beings deserve to live in a beautiful, comfortable, efficient and green environment.
This is a core belief in Italpinas, as well, which further differentiates us from other property development firms.
The way to deliver those propositions is to invest more time and resources into the design phase so that construction cost will be maintained accessible including the selling price.
We must not be limited by the wrong belief that certain markets cannot understand or appreciate sustainability or efficiency. The challenge of creating something beautiful and green for any market, for instance, would require us designers and engineers to unleash our creativity, resourcefulness and innovativeness.
About Architect Romolo Nati
Romolo Valentino Benedetto Nati known as Romolo Nati or RVN, is a multi-awarded Italian architect and businessman with interest in sustainable development (energy and real estate). He is the current Executive Chairman and CEO of Italpinas Development Corporation (IDC), an Italian-Filipino real estate development firm that specializes in the design and development of sustainable buildings. He is also the Vice Chairman of the Philippine renewable energy company Constellation Energy Corporation (CEC) that focuses in acquiring, financing and developing small to medium-scale renewable energy projects across the Philippines. Follow Architect Nati on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.