Notes on back

>One of the big problems I had was one with names. Tim told the guys they were building a "deck" and that got them all confused and that's why they were arguing for something bigger. It helped when I called it a "Japanese step." Finally, Ben and Britton said that what they in fact built was a "walk," like a "boardwalk." 

>One of the big problems in anything is the ability to discern voices. I had so many voices going on in this--Davis brothers arguing for different approaches. Ben said just make it straight and take out the jog which I did. That was one voice I listened to--I thought it was a good idea. The other voices I just ignored. The hard part of these things is knowing when to listen to voices and when to ignore them.

>One of the ideas that really stuck with me from the entry design for the house was the idea of "no negative spaces." I think Chris Alexander has a similar idea. Anyway, the idea is that our entry is a positive space but it also creates another positive space--the nook by the entry. Only positive spaces are useful spaces. It also strikes me that this is how the dining room was designed. There's a bump out on one side and the cabinets/display nook on the other creating a positive space. So in the backyard, I've been trying to concentrate on creating positive spaces. One way that affected the design is that unlike an earlier plan, the deck stops right at the N side of the bump out.

The problem with that configuration is that while it looked good for the entry, it made the space in front of the 3 windows look bad. That section looked crowded, like an afterthought. That's why we got rid of that.

>Vision/justification. I staked out the step/walk with bamboo to get an idea for the size. The size I arrived at just 'looked" right. I realize that looking right means a lot of different things and mixes function with meaning and visual design. part of the reason the walk looks right to me is that although it gets bigger on the south side, it has a reason to get bigger. This is where the faucet is (soon to be moved under the window) and the shower. And it makes sense because you can wash your feet and walk into the house. And the sliders side is smaller because it fits under the trellis. So looking right isn't just a 'visual design' thing, but mixes in use and our ability to enter into a space.