Will you have two-week-old Iceberg Lettuce or Fresh Greens?

I have always maintained that Architecture is a lot like food. Twenty-five years ago, when you sat down in a Chicago restaurant and ordered a salad, the waiter gave you two-week-old iceberg lettuce. Today, due to the allied effort of chefs and enlightened consumers, you receive beautiful, freshly picked greens.

There's been a real renaissance in Chicago food and we at makeARCHITECTURE would like to help do that for the houses we live in and the environments we work in. There's a lot of the architectural equivalent of iceberg lettuce being built and bought today at gourmet prices. We can do better. And we'll all be better for it....

There's a lot of iceberg lettuce out there. Speculators are buying older houses in Chicago and "remodeling them." This is the drill: buy a house for $400K. Do what should cost $300K for $150K. Then put the house back on the market for $750 or $800K. That's expensive iceburg lettuce.

Sounds crazy? How can someone do $300K worth of work for 1/2 the cost? Well, they can't -- they're speculators, not magicians. By the time many buyers figure that out, the speculator's corporation has been dissolved and the home buyer is saddled with an inferior product needing a lot of remedial work.

In addition, the housing market is getting very expensive and crowded. Therefore, if you have to sell your house, you'll need a solid product in order to stand out from the pack.

That's where a licensed, professional architect can come in and give you what you deserve and save you time and money. We know how to put together a building that lasts and can tailor it to your needs, rather than to what a hack designer/investor thinks you want. makeARCHITECTURE can create something useful and beautiful for you. We can show you what quality materials and finishes are. And at a competitive price.

Architecture is a process--it's making something tailored for you, your family, your budget, your taste, your situation and your site. That's why we call our endeavor "make" Architecture because it is about making something specifically for you rather pulling something off the rack. The process is what's important--many architects may have done the same building ten different times, we use the same rigorous process to make ten different buildings. There's an important distinction.

It's like cooking--what's fresh and in season? What grows locally? Who's coming to dinner? What do they like and what new things can they be introduced to? This is our approach. It's inviting, collaborative, hands on and, hopefully, easy to grasp while still being sophisticated.

We've come a long way from the dark days when all you could get at a restaurant was iceberg lettuce. Let's raise the bar on the homes we inhabit and the commercial spaces we work in. Together we can make it happen.

What do you think?

Do you think that most consumers are getting their money's worth when they buy a new or renovated home?

Do you think that consumers should be better educated about materials and construction methods so they receive a higher quality product?

What are you looking for in a home?