Home Design with Small Space

Frank Lloyd Wright referred to Beethoven’s fifth symphony as “probably the noblest thought-built edifice in our world.” To think of a piece of music as an edifice may seem strange at first, given that the materials of music (sound and time) hardly compare to the stone, wood, and other materials of building. But every structure, whether the Empire State Building or your local supermarket, has a visual rhythm just as music has a rhythm of sound. Music is an organization and patterning of sound whereas architecture is a patterning and organization of space.

           

I couldn’t help but think of Frank Lloyd Wright’s thoughts on Beethoven when I read this article from the October 2008 edition of Architectural Digest.

           

Just as Beethoven took a handful of notes and created his masterpiece, architect Carlene Nolan Pederson worked with limited materials—five-and-a-half acres of land—and designed an expansive, modern house on top of a small knoll.

The article cites the architect’s mechanical inclinations and her capacity to solve knotty problems creatively, but I would liken this ability, as well, to the musician’s ease of improvisation. If you’re a jazz fan like me, you know that the greats only work with the bare bones of the original tune, and the fun in playing and listening is seeing what kinds of interesting problems they get into after they change things up a bit. In architecture, it’s often necessity that determines where improvisation needs to be done, but the true talent of the designer will come through in the way these problems are handled. It’s all about the quality of lemonade you get from the lemons life hands you.

           

The lesson to take home here is this: you have to work with what you have. You have a vision for how you would like your home to look, feel, and function, but there are also limited resources to take into consideration. Sure, you have to stick to your guns when it counts—but there are other times when you can use mere chance or happenstance to improve upon your ideas, or even get new ones—that’s inspiration.

           

Well, what do you think? Can you remember a time when you had your heart set on doing a project a certain way, only to change due to unforeseen circumstances? How did it turn out?