Standing Out vs. Blending In

Would you rather stand out or blend in?

No, this is not a personality test. This is one of the questions I ask clients to assess what type of design would reflect their personality and lifestyle. Of course, Standing out vs. Blending in is a spectrum with few people on either end of it. Most of us fall somewhere in the middle of this bell curve. Even if clients don't know exactly where to position themselves, it's questions like this that lead to a meaningful conversation that's valuable for a successful design process.

The way I see it, the design process consists of this holy trinity: User-Site-Regulations. As designers, we are trained to study the regulations related to a site, and also thoroughly document the site's existing conditions. However, the User component of designing a space is tricky, and is rarely taught in landscape architecture schools.

The Users in the context of a single-family residential projects would be all the family members, their pets, and sometimes their guests. Understanding the users means having an open and, at times, uncomfortable conversation about their way of living, financial capabilities, needs, desires, accommodations, preferences, and tastes. Is this totally necessary? Yes, if you believe that a private space should be as personal as a favourite song, book, or memory. Clients that are open to having this conversation, often reap the benefits in a form of a well suited outdoor living space.

Going back to the question at the head of this post. We live in a world that rewards the standouts, and this is consistently reflected to us on social or traditional media. As designers, we need to remember that many of these project are an exception to the rule, and were chosen to be featured in a magazine exactly because of that. Not to disregard the work of great designers, these projects are clearly remarkable design achievements. However, when planning a living space, I encourage my clients to consider all the aspects of using a space, and how that space might reflect their lifestyle as well as their personality.