So do you design the floor plan first, or the elevations" There's only one correct answer to this question ...

Which came first – the chicken or the egg" Everyone knows the correct answer is the egg … and by “egg” I mean “floor plans”.I posted a sketch last week of an elevation study and was asked a simple question: do I design the floor plans first, or the elevations" The correct answer is that the floor plans get developed first, but there is still a lot of give and take when it comes time to develop the exterior elevations. I generally have something in mind when I am putting together the plans on how I want the elevations to look – but the plans are the first piece of the puzzle.For me, I start with the generic concept of how I want the building mass to work. I think about the forms and the shapes, and I think about how the space around the forms is going to work. Questions like: How does the approach to the house feel"  – or – What sort of living spaces will be a part of this view" are the considerations for how the building massing will work and what sort of views I want to create from within the house. Other than that, the initial floor plan concepts are about getting the programming, room sizes, and adjacencies correct.See that computer drawing above" It’s pretty nasty, isn’t it" I’ve seen potato salad left out in the sun that looked better than this elevatio...