Utilitas

First, we must understand architecture as the creation of spaces where life takes place. Buildings create the world we inhabit. Walls separate our private lives from the public. Pathways direct our travel. Doorways allow us to enter. Windows allow us to see. A building is a collection of rooms. A well-ordered plan is a place to live.

Firmitas

Second, we must build with strength. Architecture carries our cultural values and life patterns across generations. To build is to invest in the future and to make a claim about the present as well as the past. Our world changes quickly today. Our buildings can be challenging, but they must also be anchors. Architecture will connect past, present, and future.

Venustas

Third, architecture must be beautiful. It must engage the mind and seduce the heart. It must speak about itself with clarity, and it must appeal to the eye and the hand. Our lives take place framed by buildings. The built environment is our environment. We must strive for the beauty found in geometrical clarity, proportional harmony, and compositional elegance. Architecture must bring joy.