Architecture and Design is not just about building, it is about ensuring your requirements, goals and aspirations are successfully embodied within it. To accomplish this, the use of concepts of aesthetics, function, form, light, scale and materiality combine with skills of design, contract and project management and regulatory compliance are employed. The end result of the process creates physical results, such as building materials, electrical (power and lighting), mechanical (air conditioning and ventilation) and hydraulic services (water and waste), structure and landscaping.
It sounds complex, and in many ways it is, but a good architect and designer will successfully join all these aspects together to create a harmonious outcome that achieves all of the above. The process need not be overly mechanistic, it can be organic and enjoyable too, depending on the goals of the project and how you would like to work.
The success of a building therefore should not be measured solely in terms of what it physically is, but also in how well it used, how inventively it uses function, form, light and materials, and how it feels for occupants and observers, and also what ideas and principles the building represents.
When you reach an outcome that is successful, you realise the differences between a well-designed Architectural product, compared with a building that has not had much thought in design, are nothing short of miraculous. It is well-suited, uplifting, aspirational and thought-out, and well-worth the effort.