There is no verification in the field. In Atelier Jørgensen’s world of architecture or the practice of building, where Ken Frampton’s “tectonics” are concerned, getting one’s hands dirty to resolve a connection or condition in a building, no matter what size, is the Ground Truth. The office jargon of ground truth refers to the actual situation of construction and building as opposed to design and documentation or the assumptive situation.

Tactility is a key element regarding the way we design at Atelier Jørgensen. Their office is based on combining resources—drawing by hand, making, computer modeling, building models are all an integral part of their process. In the field during construction this iterative approach continues where the hand stays connected to the design. They are not afraid to pick up a nail gun or skill saw to show craftsman what we are thinking.

This approach is what is referred to as their Ground Truth—if you understand your methods and means, it will allow you to always be creative, edit, and refine with authority. However, this does not mean that one solution can be applied universally or that that process is the absolute right answer: in fact, the ground truth becomes a discovery or journey.