“Details, Dimensions, and Specifications Are Not The Real Thing.

You design, detail and specify on your desk, where everything is controlled, close at hand, under a bright light, and at a small scale. Never forget that your lines and words are not subject to wind, rain, rust, or the laws of gravity. Nor are they seen in their actual context. Neither do they have full scale exposure to the complexity of the individual hopes, fears and wishes of those for whom the work is being designed. An "approved' drawing does not mean that the person who approved it will love the result. The words and drawings on your desk, give no evidence as to whether their dimensions and shapes actually fit their purpose. The words and drawings are not the actual materials, but merely symbolic representations. No inspector can "red tag" your lines and words, nor can they fall down, freeze, crack, leak, or discolor. No one can trip or fall over your drawing. Last but not least, no lawyers are likely to have much interest in your words or drawings as long as they remain on your desk.
 
However, as you know, these carefully crafted, rather passive looking words, dimensions, and details don't remain on your desk. They leave and get played out in life size form through the actions of others, in many cases by people you've never met. At that point your work takes on a life of its own. And when your efforts become three dimensional, they trigger every possible consequence, both good and bad. To the extent that you've thought about, not only what you had on your desk, but the full scale proportions, the nature of the materials, the methods of construction, and the four-seasonal, life-cycle impact of all that it implies, all will go well To the extent that you haven't, you have just played roulette with the lives of everyone involved The price of a lifetime in architecture is eternal vigilance When problems do occur, be the person who is absolutely certain there is a solution, and don't rest until it's found.  From start to finish, your education, your awareness, and your commitment must be to the delivery of the physical reality.  In summary, you must master two problems.  Details, dimensions, and specifications are not reality, but merely a tool along the way.  The greatest problem is that a bad detail, a wrong dimension, an improper specification, while still on your desk, all look as good as good ones. ONLY YOUR UNDERSTANDING CAN TELL THE DIFFERENCE.”