Overcoming the Blank Page

We’ve all faced the fear of starting with a blank page—whether it’s paper or a digital canvas.The truth is, it’s always difficult to begin when we have no clear information about what we need to do.

In our profession as architects, the ideas that define a project don’t simply arise from random sketches, sudden inspirations, or assumptions illustrated through drawings.While we are known for expressing our ideas through plans as a primary language, what comes before that is what truly generates and shapes those ideas.Design is born from thinking, questioning, experimenting, and analyzing.

You might ask: But where do those ideas come from?

Chilean architect Alejandro Aravena (2016 Pritzker Prize laureate) points out that the design process begins by identifying the right question.There’s nothing worse than giving the right answer to the wrong question.

A very common experience nowadays is when clients approach us with idealized project expectations based on images and styles they’ve seen on Pinterest or Instagram—without questioning how those results were actually achieved. They attempt to replicate them without any foundational reasoning.

If, as architects or clients, we began the design process by looking for façades or visual references online, we would be making a fundamental mistake.While images can certainly inspire us and offer examples, they cannot replace the mental process required to define core concepts—nor are they transferable to different social, geographic, or functional realities.

Faced with this situation, we must clarify to the client the importance of the variables and factors that influence design, such as: lot dimensions, specific user needs, surrounding context, both natural and built environments, available construction technologies, appropriate responses to climate and site, budget constraints—and, of course, all of this emerges from the necessary interaction between client and architect.

For this reason, even before the design process begins, we can identify four key factors from which we can extract the necessary data to shape the project:

1. THE CLIENT:

The most variable factor—since no two are alike. From their needs arise the questions we must ask ourselves during the design process.The answers to those questions will shape our design decisions.We must interpret the client’s desires and document them in what we call the architectural program, where we list spatial needs, dimensions, relationships between spaces, and define which primary needs must be resolved while identifying the project’s possibilities.

Additionally, we must keep in mind that our client is not always the final user.It’s important to understand the uses, activities, furniture, equipment, and other dynamics that will occur within the spaces being designed.By engaging with the client, we’ll obtain valuable information and receive feedback that allows us to refine the design.

2. THE SITE:

Visiting the project site—together with the client and the design team—allows you to identify opportunities, anticipate potential problems, and most importantly, to “feel” the site in its unaltered state.If you skip the visit, you might be missing something truly important.

A historical example of excellent site analysis is that of architect Frank Lloyd Wright.In his celebrated project Fallingwater, he visited the site and meticulously documented the location, dimensions, and species of all existing vegetation.He studied the rock formations, listened to the sounds of the waterfall, observed the views, and immersed himself in the full sensory experience of the place—all before making a single sketch.

3. INFORMATION AND DOCUMENTATION:

We must gather all available information—and if it doesn’t exist, it is our responsibility to generate it: site measurements, orientation, topography, existing vegetation, relevant views, heights of neighboring buildings, photographic surveys, and urban image analysis.Of course, books remain an invaluable source of knowledge—let’s not forget that someone before us has likely faced a similar design challenge, and we can learn from their insights.

In terms of regulations, we must be well-versed in the local building code, and if the project is located within a private development, specific guidelines and regulations for that site must also be reviewed.

4. LIFE AND EXPERIENCES:

Our travels, personal experiences, and the people we interact with and learn from greatly expand our perception of reality.Without a doubt, these experiences enrich us creatively and allow us to approach design with broader, more human-centered perspectives.

As a final reflection, we can clearly say that as we gain experience, we realize the blank page never truly existed.Good design is not a step-by-step recipe—it requires research, experimentation, information gathering, and documentation.The collective participation of all those involved is key; it’s never just about the will—or whim—of a single person.

On this topic, architect Norman Foster once said:"In this highly interconnected world, the blank page doesn't exist. In creation, we are all linked—consciously or unconsciously."