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DNM Long-Form

Building is a war against inertia header blueprint

Building Is A War Against Inertia

Building is an act of war against inertia. Any change, physical, spiritual, or otherwise, requires effort, and effort is another way of expressing energy. Building anything requires a great deal of effort and energy to alter the physical, financial, political, and even cultural status quo. Building is not just the act of making something; it is also the act of giving up what might have been. 

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Torii Gates

Japan: Connecting Old and New

On a recent trip to Japan, where everything I saw was new to me, I was struck by the way old and new forms are used to express similar ideas in very different ways.

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Geometry & Generalist

unlike specialized professionals such as structural engineers, mechanical engineers, or geotechnical engineers, an architect is specifically trained to be a generalist, to see both the big picture and oversee the details. There is a saying that an architect knows a little bit about everything, but not much of anything! No other professional on the building project team can talk with about space, light, building codes, history and the strength of concrete with equal ease (and sometimes in the same sentence!).

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tree header graphic

Tree, Water, Earth and Sky

When starting a new project, facing a blank canvas or a blank computer screen is daunting. Even after analyzing all of the project constraints, where is the starting point to synthesize the information and for create something from nothing? This is where literary devices, such as personification, analogy and metaphor, are useful tools to think about architectural design in the context of another medium such as literature, sculpture or, quite often, music…

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Navigating Change Header Image

Navigating Technological Change in Architectural Practice

Starting somewhere in the 1980’s with 2D CADD software on mini and microcomputers, through the internet, worldwide web, 3D modeling and simulation, BIM, and, more recently, artificial intelligence, fast changing technology has often disoriented architectural practice and potentially threatened it both economically, but even existentially.

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HEADER GRAPHIC - POWERS OF TEN DESIGN

Power of Ten Design

Architectural design can be thought in terms of multiple levels or “altitudes.” Up close is the building itself, its walls, roof, doors. Further back is the building’s physical context, and further back still – with the building now out of direct site – might be its symbolic context or the role it plays in the larger society. All of these views are interdependent.

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Welcome To Palm Springs

Palm Springs

What is the allure of a 110 degree suburbia? Is it post war exuberance? An act of defiance against climate and logic? Is it a statement of democracy and free will? Sunstroke? Isn’t it a little bit weird?

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WellMade ADU

A Well Made Collaboration

DNM Architecture is proud to announce its collaboration with San Leandro, CA based WellMade Design Build to bring compact, modern and affordable ADUs to CA.. Our new partnership will help WellMade streamline the process of adding an ADU to any property, making on-demand housing solutions even easier for homeowners to implement.

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Sugarloaf 1st Floor

A Humanist Architect

I am an architect, and I think of myself as a humanist. There are many definitions of humanist (it makes sense that there would be), but among the shortest I have found is “an approach to life based on reason and our common humanity, recognizing that moral values are properly founded on human nature and experience alone.” As a self-defined humanist, I tend to accept people as they see themselves, assume they know more or less what is best for them, and do what little I can to help them along their way.

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Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling by Joseph Karl Stieler

Architectural Quotes

Architecture is frozen music. Frederic von Schelling: Philosophie der Kunst This is part of a personal collection of what others have said about architecture. Profound,

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Clients & Customers

I feel my clients hire me to look after their building project in the same way that a patient hires a doctor to care for their health…

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Drafting Tools blog image

Joining the AI…ehhhh

Image: Vintage Drafting tools, copyright Adobe Stock/Grigory I am a loyal, frustrated, enthusiastic, passive member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). I watch it

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Petaluma Pastoral Blog Featured Image

Petaluma Pastoral

Our Petaluma Pastoral project by is an ongoing multi-phased endeavor for a happy client. Set on 4.5 acres of picturesque rolling farmland, two buildings have

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DNM Vido Blog Intro

The DNM Video Blog

Welcome to the first DNM Architecture video blog! Moving forward, we hope you enjoy this additional way of examining our projects, including commentary directly from

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Architect Lexicon: Inform

Like all professions, architects share a jargon that can be confusing to clients and other mortals. Many words are useful and inevitable shorthand that improve

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Formed by the Land

Just north of San Francisco, a long-vacant lot was defined by a V-shaped, natural drainage swale through its center, effectively dividing the land in half.

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Lexicon Blog header

Architect Lexicon: Challenge

CHALLENGE. OPPORTUNITY. OBSTACLE. We often say that we don’t like problems, but, in fact, we can’t live without them. More precisely, we can’t make a

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Palm Springs Blog Featured Image

Potential in Palm Springs

This gorgeous, albeit currently unbuilt, DNM Architecture-designed home recalls the beauty of 1950’s Desert Modern style and brings it to the 21st century with better

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The Value of an Architect Blog Header DNM Architecture

The Value of an Architect

Through education, training and experience, an architect is the one professional person who is equipped to guide you through the design, permitting and construction of

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Mid-Century Modernized

When Lise and Vincent decided to move on from the successful vineyard and 5,600 square foot home in Sonoma, they felt it was time to

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