Master Quote: Ben Falk – 03/06/18

Photo source: https://greentriangle.org/2015/10/19/green-triangle-hosts-ben-falk-author-of-resilient-farm-and-homestead-this-week/
by Jeb Wallace-Brodeur.

"The schematic design phase is the “take the best, leave the rest” part of the design process, where all sensible possibilities—drawn from the implications of the analysis and design criteria—are considered, mapped, studied, and tweaked. Schematic design is most often performed via plan-view drawings, sometimes accompanied by cross sections. Building schematics should be heavy on cross-sectional views, while landscape layout schematics would most sensibly be generally weighted toward plan views.

We have at times, when the budget allowed, performed 3-D perspective schematics, which are incredibly useful in helping think through the possibilities for space. Perspectives, even with computer-aided approaches, can often be time consuming and expensive. It is important to point out, however, that thinking in 3-D is crucial to developing a space in the most sensible ways. The old adage, “If you can’t draw it, you can’t build it,” carries a ton of weight in the construct-ability of an object or space, but I would add another: “If you can’t sketch it in 3-D, you can’t think it and you can’t think about it clearly.”

And if you can’t think about it clearly, it won’t be a very high-quality space—you find that out later when you inhabit places that aren’t well thought through, with countless second-guessing: “Why didn’t we put a switch here, steps there, a wall here, or a water hydrant there?” Anyone that would like to think through objects, spaces, and, indeed, places clearly should become fundamentally literate in drawing such that she can sketch with relative ease buildings and landscapes in perspective, cross section, and plan view. It’s not that hard with some practice."

~Ben Falk

The Resilient Farm and Homestead: An Innovative Permaculture and Whole Systems Design Approach - 2013

Chapter 2: THE DESIGN PROCESS AND SITE ESTABLISHMENT

Subsection: Schematic Design: Sorting Through Multiple Development Options