Ideas: Never proceed without an idea. Architectural ideas are larger and more encompassing than the program or site. They entangle us first in questions of nature and culture, then gravity, light, materials, labor, and use. A formal idea attempts to make the ideal present in the real, the abstract in the concrete. Ideas reduce the infinite possibilities to allow focus. Ideas, when large and compelling enough, envelope the owner, staff, community, and contractor. They become the mission of the work that helps carry all through the tedious and complicated work to make any project real.