For all designers or the ones who are going to be, you might hear that question many times. (If you haven’t yet, don’t worry, you are going to) But, have you ever questioned it? When people are telling us that we need a signature, what are they trying to say? A real one on the buildings or products? Of course and luckily, not. The thing they are trying to say is, you need to have a ‘style’ and for sure it should present you. Let me explain a bit more.
I want you to think about huge brands. Category doesn’t matter. Each one of them has a different style. To explain better, let’s think about clothing brands. For instance, when you see a Burberry hat, you can easily recognize it because it gives you some tips about their way of design. It’s the same for Chanel, Balenciaga, Jacquemus, and many other successful brands you know very well.
Now, think about architecture and architects. Do you have someone who has that specialty in your mind? If you don’t have, try to think about the most known ones. Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe, Frank Lloyd Wright, Frank Gehry, Toyo Ito, Tadao Ando, Aldo van Eyck, Carlo Scarpa, SANAA, Zaha Hadid… etc. So, what comes into your mind when someone says SANAA? Try to think about three or four of their projects. Also, you got bonus ones! Here, the ones I have selected for you;
Social Housing in Paris
Social Housing in Paris
Bocconi University Campus in Milan
Okayama University in Japan
Grace Farms in United States
Can you recognize the similarities? Curves, thin columns, colors, and so on. However, as far as I am concerned the most important thing is, we see three different usages in four projects, nobody can say that they are the same as copy-paste. But they have a style. Whenever you see a SANAA building, you recognize it. About your design, whatever is about, it should have a rhythm inside of it. It might even present your character. If you consider architecture by countries, you can agree that the architecture is different, because they have their signatures.
I hope you can get a signature soon or not. It’s not easy, but all the best results pass from tough paths!
