A Few of Bobby’s Quotes on Architecture

Why do we continue to admire beautiful buildings and places from the past, yet disregard such beauty when designing for our time? True beauty is not held hostage by time. It is not unreasonable to expect what was truly beautiful 400 years ago to be beautiful today and 400 years from now. At Morales Design Studio, Inc, we believe that by studying the Grand Styles of the past, buildings and places can, today, be created, thus bringing back into our lives beauty and delight. - Bobby Morales, ICAA, AIBD

Can we be so arrogant to think that architecture is created by humans, as some may have us believe? Is true architecture not just our orderly assemblage of divinely created parts? Once we finally come to recognize that we could never match the creative force of the “Great Architect” of the universe, we will then humbly admit that any building we design is nothing more than reconditioned earth entrusted to us to mold into a beautiful vessel. - Bobby Morales, ICAA, AIBD.

Bobby has traveled extensively to conferences and forums around the country, promoting the virtues of traditional neighborhoods and classical design. He enjoys lecturing and teaching the public, fellow design professionals, and construction professionals the language of classicism and traditional architecture. His design work has been published nationally in industry-related and consumer home magazines. HGTV has featured Bobby and his work.

2007 INTERNATIONAL BUILDER’S SHOW, ORLANDO, FL. BUILDER MAGAZINE’S INSYNC SHOWHOME
DESIGNED BY BOBBY MORALES, ICAA, AIBD
RE: Excerpts from Grand Opening Speech
Delivered 2/6/2007 by Bobby Morales, ICAA, AIBD

Let me begin by quoting Oswald Spengler, a late 19th and early 20th-century German historian and philosopher who made this observation about what defines a house. “The house is the foundation of all culture emerging like a plant in the heart of the maternal landscape and deepening again the bond of man's soul to the earth.” If we are to agree with Spengler, then we may also conclude that designing and constructing a home is essentially an organic process, one that engages the occupants most profoundly.

That was my approach and design philosophy for the InSync Showhouse. I recognized early that a great building is nothing more than reconditioned earth put in the hands of skillful artisans who then shape and mold it into 3-dimensional art. This art is not to be viewed and appreciated only at a distance, but we humans, whose scale must be used to properly mass and proportion classical and traditional homes, should be able to coexist and live within such beautiful 3-dimensional art.

I do not believe that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder", but rather beauty is in the proportions. Beauty is not a thing, it's a joyous state of mind…. we experience beauty. When the person is taken out of time, what remains is beauty. This home is a demonstration of this belief, philosophy, and approach.

In contrast, today, we lament the horrible mutation of the modern home that is forced upon the masses. We must ask: Why is it that we admire one kind of place but consistently design and build something different? Every day we encounter grossly exaggerated, improperly proportioned homes that are unnecessarily complex. Houses that are difficult to identify with any sort of recognizable home style.

The InSync Showhome is an example of respecting classical and traditional historical tendencies (in this case, early 20th-century interpretation of the Spanish home, Spanish Eclectic) while at the same time blending smoothly with modern technology. It is not a new concept. Imagine the delight brought upon the patron, alongside his master builder and designer when first experiencing the advent of indoor plumbing, electrified lamps, telephonic communication, and conditioned air.

The InSync Showhome follows this fine tradition. Were there challenges? Yes! Were the solutions and results fully optimized? No! Our houses continue to be a laboratory for the progression of our comforts at home. The InSync Showhome is just that, a progression.

Let us all together move forward in the syncing of home and technology and never forget the insightful words of Geoffrey Scott, an early 20th-century classical architect who stated, “Architecture, in short, will be beautiful in which the construction is best, and in which it is most truthfully displayed.” Thank you.

Concluding Comments by Bobby on March 13, 2005
Charleston Council for Architecture and Urbanism- March 11-13, 2005

On behalf of the American Institute of Building Design, we are honored to have been amongst such a distinguished group of architectural educators and practitioners. We wish to thank you and the sponsors for inviting AIBD to this exciting event. I am personally inspired by the lectures and presentations this week and have come away clearly understanding that "the city is more important than the building".

But as the Charleston Charter is being composed by members of this council, I offer a word of caution. In light that it is Sunday, in a city known as being religious, I feel it timely and appropriate to remind all present that we, the architectural community, not set ourselves up as an ecclesiastical class, claiming for ourselves exclusivity as the only ones who can interpret the "holy writings" of architecture but rather allow others to participate in the process. In medieval times, the Church set itself up that only it could read and interpret the Bible, thus excluding the common man from the quest for true and accurate knowledge of God and His will.

May we in the architectural community not develop that same harmful attitude. Please include non-architects and others in this ongoing debate. Thank you. - Bobby Morales, ICAA, AIBD

Quote from Architectural Lecture on Courtyards. The Courtyard

“When the outside and inside become one, a Courtyard emerges. Since antiquity, the Courtyard congers up images of comfort, intimacy, serenity, and, of course, security. As we step into a Courtyard, we are instantly embraced by inviting and shady Arcades, Loggias, or Cloisters. We experience delight as our senses become heightened when earth, water, sky, and fortified walls converge during our brief journey across the Courtyard. For me, during that journey, the Courtyard transforms itself into paradise restored.” - Bobby Morales, ICAA, AIBD