Life is about collecting experiences and sharing them with others. Architecture plays a large role in bracketing these experiences and nature is what ultimately defines them. Through the strategic choreography of the natural and the man made, a design will develop around a desired experience. If the designer first acts as the user, the user can then become the designer — of experience.

The correct solution to any design issue can only be achieved after the project itself has been thoroughly defined. Any solution derived prior to this moment is a disservice to the project.

As such, before suggesting solutions studiotrope collects ‘critical data’ from our clients. We are careful to not only seek factual data (how many, what type, how big, how much time, what circumstances, what relationships, for what reason, etc.) but more importantly we are interested in experiential data (it feels heavy, it sounded deep, the texture is smooth, it gave me the chills, I remember the smell, etc.).

Once a comprehensive understanding of the data (both factual and experiential) has been acquired, a design methodology can be formulated. This technique involves a role reversal such that our personal engagements with the program and site allow studiotrope to first act as the spectator. In this manner, the experiential information can inform design decisions more so than factual information, thus granting our projects their true VOICE.