The summer holidays have passed, that time of year when everything seems to stand still, and then, suddenly, September is back. This new season (yes, we still think in terms of the academic year, which helps us structure life around its holiday breaks) is an important one for us, as next spring we will celebrate 10 years as a studio. And it is a number that gives us a slight sense of vertigo: where are we? Where would we like to be? Sometimes the answers are not the ones we might have imagined some time ago, but they are what they are.

Beginnings are not easy, that is true, but at Piano Piano Studio we are excited to deploy all the necessary tools to start imagining the dream space of those who come to the studio and place their trust in us.

At the start of the process, there is that intoxicating feeling that everything is allowed, that everything is possible. However, nothing could be further from the truth. The apparent infinity of solutions can even be overwhelming. Little by little, this idea fades as constraints begin to appear. And it is precisely at this point that the real work begins: these constraints become the foundation on which the project starts to take shape and mark the true beginning of the preliminary design phase.

Making the decision to build a house, whether it is a new build or a renovation or refurbishment of an existing property, is a challenge that involves effort on many levels for those undertaking it: financial above all, but not only. Making good or bad choices at the outset will mean that the process, which is already long in itself, will be either satisfactory or tortuous.

In this short text, rather than focusing on the steps to follow in a renovation or refurbishment (we will focus on this on another occasion as it has its own specificities), we would like to focus on the steps to follow in building a house, from the moment the idea is conceived until it becomes a reality.

When it comes to dressing our architecture and design projects, we need only look at our neighbors. Tall or short, wide or narrow, yet always wrapped in similar skins. It’s not just tradition — though that too — but an awareness of embracing what surrounds us. In that sense, it’s also a matter of respect.