FT.com - a definition jouralism, in case anyone's forgotten

FT.com / The Business Book of the Year Award - Why there is a need for this award: "Journalism in general - and business journalism in particular - is to a large degree the task of sorting the newsworthy from the commonplace, the interesting from the dull, so that busy readers learn what they need to learn as quickly and efficiently as possible."

rick poynor on architects, surgeons and lawyers

"It’s no secret that graphic designers can be arrogant, but this is a kids’ erector set compared to the architectural ego in its most towering, steel-trussed, grandiloquent forms. An architectural education is, after all, long and demanding. You have to be smart and determined, with large reserves of self-belief to go through with it. Those who make it to the highest levels of the profession mix with the super-wealthy, become rich themselves and achieve great power, but any architect enjoys considerable social standing. The other professional groups that architects most resemble are consultant surgeons and lawyers. What links them is the control they are licensed to exert over our physical being. Surgeons have life-saving access to the body’s vulnerable interior. Architects channel and direct the body’s movements in space and our safety depends on them. Lawyers concern themselves with whether the body will remain free, or be constrained, or even die in countries that retain the death penalty. These are tremendous forms of power for an individual to wield and this knowledge and the sense of self-importance it fosters permeates these professions, shaping their ethos, and influencing the status we accord to these groups."

the mean streets of nyc - not for me

well sports fans, if it wasn't obvious by my previous postings, life in nyc has been unpleasant to say the least - and we've chucked it in, thankfully. for the sake of me and my wife's sanity, our careers, the bank balance, our marriage, and our son's future, to say the least. being back in london is calming and settling. it's going to take some time to get my head around things, and really figure out what's going on with the blog, not to mention my career and creative/intellectual well being.

for such a big city, its remarkable that i've come away thinking that it feels intellectually starved - starved of the sophisticated clients that i so wrongly thought would converge on such internationally renowned practices as those making their home in manhattan. perhaps its the american architecture system combined with the general impression of the relative importance of design and the lack of widespread interest in the benefits of good design that prevents it from manifesting.

in any case, i'm back in europe where i'm happy, and on my way back to foster and partners, where i was mostly happy except for their meager salaries. the work there is fathoms beyond what can even begin to be achieved in america.

design blogs proliferate the net and offer instant info

“When I started Dezain in 1999, it was very difficult to find where nice online sources on design and architecture were, and when they were updated, so I decided to make a list of these resources to help me and other people,” he says. “It is daily research and a memorandum for my study, and also what I think many people want to know.” - Eizo Okada, courtesy of alex wiltshire, icon magazine.

More to the point, it seems that someone else has EXACTLY the same rationale behind his blog: 'Dan Hill, editor of City of Sound, set up his blog for similar reasons. Hill is the design and technology manager for BBC Radio Interactive: “My blog is partly a response to the informational overload from working in an insanely fast-moving industry. It’s a time characterised by exponential rates of change in terms of culture, architecture, cities and design practice in general. City of Sound is an indexed notebook I can store concepts in and can refer back to easily. It’s a personal information tool as much as it’s a publishing device.”' - again, courtesy of alex wiltshire, icon magazine.

architecture - pure or applied research

From BD, CABE (UK) chief criticised the research assessment exercise (RAE), whose results are used to determine how university funding is allocated. “To say research has to be pure rather than applied cannot be based on an understanding of how the profession works. Architecture is an applied discipline [...].”

This is a poignant and relevant issue given that finishing my PhD is currently under consideration - the problem with doing a PhD in architecture revolves around this very issue - is it possible to do pure research in a field that is primarily applied and project based?

it pays to take stock

all too often do we get wrapped up in the daily meanderings of our existence that we forget to attend to the path of our trajectory. by taking stock of the direction we are headed we can ensure we get to where we really want.

dr robert freeman on creativity

"WHAT is creativity? It's certainly not standardized-test intelligence. Stephen Cannell, all by himself, is proof of that. How do you solve a problem creatively? It's often a mistake to get too smart too quickly. Expert opinion fouls up the creative engine; conventional wisdom is creative death. So develop your own ideas yourself, alone, without external information and before seeking the opinion of others. Your naïveté will be more ally than enemy on the creativity battlefield. Brood. Cogitate. Meditate. Agonize. Uncertainty, ambiguity, and doubt are all friends of the creative process. Experience tension, frustration, stress. Stimulating creativity means multiplying your options, generating alternative, contrasting, conflicting solutions. Lose yourself. Feel the flow. But remember what psychologist Abraham Maslow said: Creativity might be as much found in a first-rate chicken soup as in a third-rate painting. Suffer with humor to get closer to truth."

Brilliant. thanks to dr. freeman and closertotruth.com. more on this topic soon.

take it slow, masticate a little

nyc intellectuals come through again (although I have yet to meet any here) with the concept of slow design - "slowLab’s programs actively address the ecological, socio-cultural and personal impacts of design".

"Fast food, media soundbytes, speedy information networks, rapid, global flows of goods and services, an over-saturated and ever-growing commercial landscape...... Daily life has become a cacophony of experiences that disable our senses, disconnect us from one another and damage the environment.

But deep experience of the world-- meaningful and revealing relationships with the people, places and things we interact with, and importantly, with our own inner selves-- requires many speeds of engagement, and especially the slower ones.

'slow design' is a holistic approach to design thinking, process and outcomes.
It envisions positive human and environmental impact of designed products, environments and systems, while constructively critiquing the processes and technologies of which they are born. It celebrates local, close-mesh networks of people and industry, it preserves and draws upon our cultural diversity, and it relies on the open sharing of ideas and information to arrive at innovative design solutions.

'slow design’ is not time-based. It doesn't refer to how long it takes to make something, but rather describes the designer's elevated state of awareness in the process of creation, the quality of its tangible outcomes and a richer experience for the end-user."

educational experiences - EU and US

one of the major reasons for taking my son back to europe is, on many levels, the impoverished education I received in chicago - the ignorance, bigotry, racism and sexism that I experienced from 1971-1995 probably took me the better part of 10 years to 'unlearn' after I left, as I re-educated myself about the world and what's right and wrong. despite the obvious and great advantages of US education, this is in addition to unhealthy levels of narrow-mindedness and self-interest, rampant capitalism, hipocracy on a grand scale, lack of international connectivity (let alone general knowledge) or real interest in and concern for the world beyond US borders. In hindsight, the primary and secondary educational curriculum and the system in which it has developed leaves much to be desired, coming from the perspective of an internationally educated and concerned world citizen. I'm sorry my fellow americans, but this country is not what I thought it was 15 years ago.

quality control

everybody seems to develop rigor mortis when it comes time for quality control. if you're going to do the work in the first place, then why not make sure that it is correct before it goes out? always take the time to check your work, then have it checked by someone else - preferrably your supervisor or manager. we spent ages at the office in hong kong developing a quality control procedure, which, although thoroughly bureaucratic, was effective in ensuring that things got checked and that there was an easily navigable paper trail for most submissions and correspondence - very important for those inevitable cock-ups by staff, contractors and clients alike.
0411271231 amended.

blog conceptual organisation

as a steer for all you peeps and as another record of thoughts on the subject, this blog contains (practical) advice on process and practice; philosophy (or theory) of creation and creativity in the production of architecture and design (either objects or images), as well as philosophy of process and practice, and ideas about creative inspiration, obtaining it and retaining it.

furthermore, it's a personal tool to record and store thoughts, pinpoint and elucidate concepts, both for future reference and as a publishing tool to get these thoughts 'out there' and attempt to illicit feedback and discussion - most important to a writer.

thought and thinking

“Life does not consist mainly, or even largely, of facts and happenings. It consists mainly of the stream of thought that is forever flowing through one’s head.” - Mark Twain

“…realize in your daily life that ‘matter’ is merely an aggregation of protons and electrons subject entirely to the control of Mind; that your environment, your success, your happiness, are all of your own making… All wealth depends upon a clear understanding of the fact that mind- thought - is the only creator. The great business of life is thinking. Control your thoughts and you control circumstance.” - Robert Collier

“A man is what he thinks all day.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

“There is a science to getting rich, and it is an exact science, like algebra or arithmetic. There are certain laws which govern the process of acquiring riches, and once you learn and obey these laws, you will get rich [or anything else you desire] with mathematical certainty. [The basic fact is]…we are a Thinking Substance, and thinking substance always takes the form of that which it thinks about.” - Wallace D. Wattles & Dr. Judith Powell

“Those people who think they can do something and those who think they can’t are both right.” - Henry Ford

“Every thought has the power to bring into being the visible from the invisible. It is absolutely necessary for us all to understand that everything we think, do or say comes back to us. Every thought, word or action- without exception- manifests itself [in some way] as an actual reality.” - Ann Wigmore

“Hold a picture of yourself long enough in your mind’s eye and you will be drawn toward it.” - Dr. Harry Emerson Fosdick

“The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives.”-William James

check out www.thegreatestsecret.com for other quotes and ways to unlock your hidden potential.

architectural philosophy - a framework for decisionmaking

develop 'a philosophy', or a manifesto of sorts, to determine an end, and to aid in the delineation of the means. The idea with developing your own 'philosophy' is to provide a framework for decision-making. For instance, an idealist romantic might provide a scenario different from a minimal pragmatist.

Working with a clean slate seems to be a matter of conflict for some, the endless possibilities being just that, endless. With some self-imposed restrictions and constraints, a programme of sorts, the possibilities seem to 'offer up' a solution in themselves. We are able to perceive an answer to the problem, or at least a better focus on what avenues are most pragmatic or appropriate, based on our programme in combination with our views about the world - our philosophy. Thus, having a limited number of avenues to pursue, an aim or solution becomes clearer. Set yourself a series of tasks, and a programme, and maintain it. For without this, frustration manifests itself.

It is this programme, these self-imposed constraints, that aid in refining your philosophy from a group of unconnected thoughts and feelings, into a definable set of views - a kind of world view. From this broad perspective, armed with your particular view of the world, you can look at individual conditions and make decisions that reference back to your main views, your overall objective, your end goals. This is simply defining a method for decision-making that starts with a disconnected group of feelings, refines those into a distinct and consistent way of looking at the world, and ensures that our actions and goals are undertaken in a way that is consistent with, supports, strengthens, develops and refines that way of seeing - that world view. It is in fact this process that makes us distinctly human, which is consistent with choice and second-degree self-reflection not present in higher-order primates or mammals. They are unable to reflect in the way we do, and they do not have the capacity for highly organised culture the way we do. However, I digress. The point remains that a consistent set of views enable us to see the world more clearly and make decisions based on principles developed in conjunction with and supportive of our view of the world.

In another philosophical digression, is the reverse possible, where we develop a set of principles out of our feelings and thoughts, from which our world view takes shape? For the purposes of this discussion, the two are mutually supportive and exist interdependently, whereby either is possible, yet each element alone is necessary but not sufficient to support a consistent philosophy.

fulfillment and satisfaction - getting what you want out of being a designer, PT II

Taking time to fulfill your personal interests, and the whole problem of fulfilment and satisfaction, is something that crosses everybody's mind now and then. The possibility of putting in extra hours in your job obviously takes away from personal development time… However, with the right job we should be able to integrate our personal interests into our work. Easier said than done...

Don’t just do the bare minimum… I remember a fella at Grimshaw's named benny o’looney... He sketched and drew everything to the nth degree. What do I say to that? Don’t succumb to the average, working to the minimum… because that's easy, and nobody ever got anywhere or got anything out of doing the bare minimum. Take it as far as it is willing to go, in every aspect… push the limits of everything. Perhaps by pushing the limits at work, we can to get to that point of integration - personal interests and work life become interconnected.

laziness or ruthlessness - getting what you want out of being a designer

BE RUTHLESS - grab. write. move. draw. type. sketch. doodle. do whatever it takes.

UTILIZE YOUR RESOURCES - that’s what they're there for. Don't be lazy - laziness and contentedness are the same thing and will sap the life out of you, leaving your colleagues to step all over you and take those opportunities that you were too busy contemplating instead of getting.

SET REASONABLE GOALS - don't scare yourself about getting loads of work done in an impossible amount of time - break up the task into mentally manageable portions so large tasks seem easier to tackle.

DO IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME - its better to spend the time now to sort things out then keep going through this same issues over and over in your head. remember, DON’T KEEP MAKING EXCUSES.

DO NOT PROCRASTINATE - this is worse than slow death. putting it off and subconsciously finding distractions, or worse - making up excuses why it can wait, or even worse - blaming someone else for why it has to wait, will bring you nothing positive and only negatives. THERE ARE NO SECOND CHANCES - make every moment count as if there were no tomorrow.

BE that person YOU would like to work with. Have the guts to recognise the things you can't change and the sense to recognise that the only person you can change is YOU.

appropriate team interaction makes design goals achievable

... and assertiveness, is a major element... see why. the assertiveness model goes as follows: "Assertiveness lies in the middle of a continuum of behaviour towards others, that the Backs defined in terms of how we recognise the rights of the two parties involved. Aggressive - You exert your right to have ideas and opinions at the expense of the other person's rights. In fact you behave as if the other person's rights don't matter. Assertive - You exert your rights freely and clearly, but at the same recognise the other person's rights to be heard, to have pride in what they do, etc. Non-Assertive - You take too much account of the other person's rights, to the extent that you forego some or all of your rights to express ideas or influence events." check out current management topics as well.

there's no need to state the obvious about the poor state of design management, and the widespread inability of designers to be good managers. Also, see why we shouldn't feel guilty saying no sometimes, and why people skills are paramount to achieving the highest standard of design. A group i found whilst googling a review of 'seven habits' for another post earlier have a very interesting knowledge page.

design practice and design practitioners

its better to live as your own man, than live as a fool in someone else's dream...

take the opportunity to ask yourself whether you are happy executing someone else's ideas, or whether you would rather be the sole author of your own ideas. Then ask yourself A) do you have any clients, as Ken Shuttlewoth, now of makeplaces fame, asked me when I told him during his leaving party that I wished to someday have my own practice, and B) do you know how to go about winning clients, and C) do you have any of your own money to live off and sustain your practice when things are slow?

Its easy to say this, yet it is extraordinarily difficult and financially risky to get involved on your own. The RIBA Bookstore publishes a booklet series as guides for the small practice - they will give you some idea of the quagmire sole practitioners can get themselves into...

As a new father I will happily remain in the employ of another, however it must be the right kind of practice with the right combination of elements.

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slight change of nomenclature

having created a new weblog at aplusd for project-based reviews of and commentary on architecture and design, and considering the posts here are less to do about philosophy itself and more about architecture and design, I have changed the title to philosophy of architecture and design. hope that's not too confusing...

image-based culture is not the norm

it seems that someone called 'mudmonkey' agrees and feels strongly enough to comment on the subject...

"...I was often told [...] that an good and interesting idea / concept / design should come with an interesting [read: attention-grabbing] presentation so that people would be interested enough to have a closer look [...] But it is often the case nowadays that there is nothing good or interesting behind the dazzling presentation, just a CAD-generated prelude to ill-conceived planning and meaningless premises."

write me your thoughts. are we an imaged-based, substance-less culture on the way to overload and underperform?

check out the new architecture and design blog

subliminal marketing and consumption

not 10 minutes after I finish writing about the issue of fashion and fad in contemporary consumer society, does a little ferret butt-weasel from some crap internet marketing company called intelliminds leave me a cut-and-paste comment about exclusive content and money or promotional materials for writing about their products. What a pile of wank - I wouldn't take their money if they were stuffing it in my penis hole or if they baked a fucking chocolate cake with it.

so i nav to their site, where they claim to be 'Online Influencers and Opinion Makers'... what the fuck is that? I've heard about these little buggers, where they pay people to ferret around blogs and chatrooms 'subtly' dropping little product placement bombs and creating a buzz about stuff that nobody in their right minds should really give a flying fuck about, considering the bigger problems in this world, not to mention the problems people have right at home (read: isolationism, stupidity, obesity, drug-use, alcoholism, lack of personality and no sense of humor, to begin with).

transcend mediocrity

originality and complexity are not paramount - eschew any attempts to suggest otherwise. assume the american retail consumer adage that 'the customer is always right' applies to architecture and design - the client should almost always get what they want (although perhaps not when it is bad for them or is not appropriate). To clarify, we should not forget that we are working for them - they don't work for us - thus we should always design with the client's interest in mind. All to often we as designers do things which fancy us, and our actions may not always be referenced back to the client and the appropriateness of our design to their interests and goals.

transcending our own laziness and frustrations with the built-in restriaint mechanisms of architecture and construction in our society, we can and will produce better design and better environments.

just don't put up with it - there is no excuse to put up with bad design or bad instructions or bad performances from anyone or anywhere that you are not comfortable with. this is not to say that we should be aggressive or non-assertive at the expense of good work and appropriate relations - rejecting mediocrity should be assertive yet tempered with appropriateness as well.

presentation quality

I was once told by Norman Foster during a critique in the modelshop of the Beijing Airport competition that a presentation is only ever as good as the worst drawing or board. A bad board will bring down the level of the rest of the presentation material.

Taking this to its logical conclusion, it is important to review all your presentation materials to ensure everything meets a minimum standard of quality. This will prevent your audience from believing that, for instance, your rendering company is good, but your plans and sections are rubbish - that's a big tick against you regardless how prepared your presentation material is. The best way around having rubbish material is to be a knockout presenter - like Norman.

why PHAD? what's it all about?

so much about presentation, in architecture, design or otherwise, is inherent in the word itself - presentation. recently, many things have been less about the quality of the material and more about the image, creating a brand, selling an idea. Our work as architects and designers should place more weight on content and less on image and sales. Serious work will not fade in the face of fashion and fad. Computer wizardry and technique is never a supplement for well thought-out content and well executed material that arises from it.

Fashion and fad are generated in a self-perpetuating cycle for a consumer culture by the media outlets of capitalist businesses, whose primary concern is profit and shareholder appeasement (read: benefit) over public welfare and social or environmental benefit. Architecture, as the pre-eminent plastic art that serves humankind as shelter and provides the environment in and around which we conduct our very existence, should not ever be subject to the seasonal fluctuations inherent in many other design disciplines. While it should be subject to questions of appropriateness and issues of aesthetics, some of these questions themselves are subject to being more or less objective, and thus sometimes somewhat subjective.

More importantly, this issue of fashion and fad in contemporary consumer society is itself a cultural epidemic, and the intent here is to counter that movement, if you will, with a one that is diametrically opposed - one that holds in highest regard and seeks to produce serious and well considered design and discourse that take as its fundamental premise the requirement that all design should benefit public welfare and contribute to social and environmental prosperity (providing a certain basic standard of living is available to its proponents in their successful and productive endeavours).

Should we not consider that all design take notice of these criteria? Should we not consider that all things that make up (read: clutter) our environment must be subject to these criteria? Should we not go so far as to enact legislation universally that ensures our right to environments free from the cluttering disease that accompanies contemporary consumer society - that of fashion and fad, advertising and sales, telemarketing and mail shots? Why suggest that architecture, whether it be well-considered, well-designed or well-executed, simply become the shell in which our over-advertised and over-consumed lives are relentlessly conducted? Should we not extend the notion of well designed environment to the entire environment and everything that we encounter? If we abstain from taking note of, then taking action on, these issues, we risk relegating architecture and the whole of design to become a backdrop for the projected desires of the corporate world and the capitalists, all of which come down to basically three things - profit, wealth and ultimately, greed.

qualifying the design process

this morning while thinking about what makes 'signature architects' what they are, i thought about whether there was a nomenclature for my own design process, and the process typical of 'signature architects' (more about them later).

the three qualifications I have made are as follows:
- story-based architecture and design is a design process (and product) about an idea or a concept.
- evolutionary architecture and design is process/product evolving from conditions (existing or otherwise, possibly) and exploration based on those conditions.
- architecture about nothing is literally that, process/product developing for no reason.

Contentious? maybe. More to come.

manage your time

organise your tasks, recognise the heirarchy of priorities and act accordingly and swiftly, but not hastily.

the right time to influence design

once when casually reviewing the renderings for the concept stage of a mixed-use project, a senior colleague commented that the best time you really are able to influence the design is in the very beginning of the process.

He suggested to avoid the 'deadline-is-approaching' temptation to throw something on to paper - this I firmly believe, is a recipe for mediocrity. He suggested further that everything should be designed to the highest standard at the concept stage, and all the extraneous rubbish that one would see during the detail design stage of a 'real' building should be massaged out in order to provide the best looking design representation possible. Things such as lift overruns and ugly services should be left out of the high-end renderings, and unarticulated masses of building roof should be drawn as detailed as time will allow.

good design advice is very hard to find. thanks to those out there that feel inclined to offer it. Our experience of making great buildings is all the better for it.

what is the future of architecture and design?

Where is policy, government, economics and public opinion and perception leading the future of architecture? of design? These are the things that we cannot control, and are therefore the most important to understand.

Perhaps the answer is not with the architects, designers, theorists and philosophers, but with the industry think tanks, community and government bodies, economists, clients and developers - what they believe, what they feel, what their perceptions are, not ours. They are the cllients, they are the ones that pay us to give them what they want. Preconceptions and agendas play a difficult and sometimes unwanted part in the game. Our own agendas, nor those of the entire industry, can change the future of the economy. Unless the best designers worldwide become self-financing developers, we are all subject to the wishes and desires of the client, and the fluctuations of the economy. What is more interesting, is to understand just how to convince our clients of the appropriateness of certain design characteristics that may be further afield or more advanced or above-and-beyond that which they require, or what they think they require. It is our job to ferret out of the program, and out of our conversations with the client, just what it is that the client actually wants or needs, and whether that is appropriate to the circumstances and prevailing conditions.

The more important questions? Who are the experts about cultural, economic, industy trends, what kinds of things do they know, what exactly do they know, but most importantly, what is relevant and how can it be employed to further understand the future of architecture?

what's the difference between a good designer and a great one?

What exactly characterises the difference between a good designer, a good architect, a good architect that is successful, and a great architect? Just as Peter Marino once said, talent is a given, being good is about stamina and endurance. A difficult question yet unanswered in my mind.

Perhaps the designer/architect question is an entirely different question. Keep it locked...

opportunity and expectation

Make the opportunities and sieze them by consistently proving yourself worthy of receiving them.

Do not wait for someone to recognise you, or somehow be in awe of your previous accomplishments, or even feel sorry for you in some sad, narcissistic and demeaning way.

Do not expect others to hand you the best opportunities without having earned them, because your colleagues are stepping on you behind your back and are trying to do their best despite your attitude and skill, proven or unproven.

Do expect to get left behind if you are not exerting your utmost effort at every level, in every capacity and at every opportunity.

Step up.

design and subjectivity - picking holes in everything

having nearly completed another dreadful day sorting out other people's messes, a cup of coffee has brought to mind a few thoughts about the subjectivity of design practice, and the fact that one can very easily pick holes in just about every possibly aspect of it - from the kind of work and how mundane certain tasks might seem, to the people in the practice and everything about them - from the way they speak and the kinds of things they talk about, to the way they dress (as sad as it may seem).

The fact remains that if we harbour a negative attitude, demeanor or disposition, then almost everything from the kind of coffee to the state of the toilets will get on your nerves. With positive thoughts, and trying to be a little more objective about things, perhaps there are certain threads of goodness that can be weaved through every maze of problems.

quality in design - its all about the good client

Recent thoughts and much talk about the quality of design, the quality of architecture, have brought me to the conclusion that the search for an opportunity to exercise my own design abilities has led to a truly noticable reduction in the quality of design. This, it would seem, has led from a reduction in quality of clients. The clients and their projects that are easily visible seem to be mainly developers, local authorities, health and school boards - all clients looking to maximise the project and minimise the expenditure. Comparing the client in this circumstance, a small-scale developer from somewhere outside of NYC, to the client for the last project at my previous practice, the owner of the singapore ritz carlton.

Perhaps the primary question that arises in my mind from this comparison remains whether one is willing to sacrifice experience with quality design for experience designing with less quality...

education, training and achievement in the workplace

having heard and spoken much about 'getting something out of your work experience', and with the experience of having so many of my ideas systematically distilled almost beyond recognition, perhaps the time is nigh to put pen to paper and record a few thoughts on the subject, if not for anything other than posterity.

If we are not able to achieve what we desire, if we are not able to accomplish what we set out to achieve, if we are not able to even begin to make those baby steps toward accomplishment, what do we have as creatives? as productive human beings?

Just as we must attempt to make everything we touch the best we can make it (given the circumstances); we must to attempt to make something out of everything - to take every project within reason and ensure that the best ideas that come out of the project are seen to their logical and intended conclusion. This task should be undertaken even if it means distilling the final product back to first principles or original concepts, and then building those original ideas into what they should be - into the design that would creatively and logically arise, were the ideas to 'run their course'.

This task should be undertaken even if it means taking those original ideas and developing them entirely on our own time, entirely with our own resources, entirely by ourselves. Only this way shall we ever achieve our original vision. Only this way shall we ever grow as creatives. Only this way shall we ever progress beyond the confines in which we find ourselves.

lessons in appropriate concept design, pt II

Perhaps the issue of raising design standards is more a question of taking baby steps toward the type and style of architecture that the practice envisages producing and being associated with. Hiring designers from Foster or Rogers, Meier or Polshek is quite a good indication of the type and style of architecture that a practice wishes to pursue.

That said, it seems almost pointless (if not mis-guided, arrogant, naive or just plain stupid) to suggest designs in a conservative yet changing firm that are too far off the beaten path. Show a future systems or an asymptote project as a design precedent to a conservative principal/boss (or client) and expect to get slapped down - slowly and politely, or straight away.

lessons in appropriate concept design

this past week i have learned some valuable lessons about producing good design that is appropriate to the PRACTICE you are involved with, as well as the client. It is important to understand the professional, economic and , more importantly, political context in which you design, as well as the abilities of your practice. Your design, whether classical or modern, blobby or space-age, must be something that the practice can envisage producing (in many senses of the term), and is comfortable to be associated with the 'style' of the design. Richard Meier wouldn't even begin attempting to design a Calatrava-esque building, nor would Grimshaw attempt a Perkins and Will project. So what's the point in any of their design staff proposing designs in the manner aforementioned?

Some firms wish to raise their design standards, and many times make attmpts at doing so even at the risk of causing much unrest from within. A change of direction such as this should be agreed on by all the governing individuals in the firm. Otherwise, proposing design concepts that are 'off the beaten path' or are more 'daring' or even completely different from what the practice is accustomed to, is bound to face much resistance and a great risk of failure. Firms with key personnel that are unwilling to take design risks, in the sense of moving away from the conservative, or are uncomfortable with new ideas, in the sense of resisting ideas that are complicated but understandable, in favor for those that are simple and easy, actually risk being pigeon-holed as boring or uninventive, as well as the even worse prospect of stagnation and peril.

However, it would seem that the issue creates a catch-22 for the adventurous designer. With no cutting-edge experience, you can't get a job in a cutting-edge firm. Mediocre or average firms are sometimes less adventurous and more conservative, therefore restricting the opportunities for the brave designer. The only consolation is to try to make each and every part of a building you touch as good as it can possibly be, given the prevailing conditions. Step up to the challenge, exercise your creativity, ensure the product is appropriate for the conditions, and better design will follow.

farenheit 9/11, michael moore, and making this world a better place

Looking through the pages of MichaelMoore.com really makes me think about what I could be doing to help make this world a better place. Simply leaving the country or ignoring the bad things that go on around us will not help the larger problem – that being the menace that the bad things about the US and its government cause to people here and around the world. The good things that happen here help a great many, and not everyone can be helped, but its important that the help is going to those who need it, not the corporations and capitalist scum.

His site led me to WorkingForChange.com, which also reminds me of grassroots.org and adbusters.org. check them out.

For unbiased news (i.e. Fox News and all your happy national networks) check out news.google.com.

why produce second-rate design with third-rate results?

Looking back at some of the design changes stealthily made on a project whilst I was on paternity leave, the plans are not too different from my original drawing, however the sections and elevations are atrocious and adopt none of the spirit of my 'ribbon' design intent. Most of us know what its like to draw something and see something completely unintended come out at the other end. Losing control over the design is unfortunately one of the facts we must contend with in our industry, its just when and where that varies. Thoughts of having spent the past weeks and months simply spinning my wheels. When a principal is placed on the project by the president and makes changes in my absence with no discussion, something is obviously afoot, and somebody somewhere has an agenda.

Having said that, even when there is something happening at a level uncontrollable by ourselves, when the opportunity arises, can we 'step up' and be the successful designers that we want to be? We do not want to find ourselves relegated to doing second-rate design with third-rate results because a firm is incapable or unwilling to advance our concepts. What question is paramount is whether those original design concepts feasible? Possibly the better question is whether they are feasible in the dog-eat-dog capitalist/commercial world where cash speaks louder than the pen or the sword.

brief thoughts about design and creativity this week

some brief thoughts about design and creativity this week - its been a lesson in not just coming up with concepts and ideas, not just advancing or developing them, but applying them appropriately to the project in a way that is productive and relevant.

the last few weeks have been a period of unparalled professional creativity, in that I have been able to sustain the output of ideas, or creative idea generation, substantially greater than I have at work, possibly ever before. A concern immediately arises whether i will ever have the opportunity in the near future for this kind of creativity, or whether I will have the ability/capacity to adapt and develop the ability to generate ideas at this level of output and interest fruitfully and appropriately in a project-related context.

conceptual development in this nanjing project, as I said to a colleague, is now about being a professional and knowing when to pull back and realize that the great potential of the ribbon concept in its original ‘extruded’ form may not see the light of day. The two questions that remained in my mind from Thursday were whether the practice was capable of accepting and politically allowing such a project to leave the office, and whether they would be capable to see the project through without redesign once I’d left. Considering the political manoeuverings at senior levels, and considering what I know about the practice’s previous projects, it will NEVER happen. The mature and professional thing to do obviously is try to push the best work possible given the circumstances, client, budget, program and political climate.

new york city rant

what the hell is wrong with people? rude, self-absorbed, pushy, inconsiderate. what could be worse? walking through manhattan is like running the gauntlet what with trying to avoid having stupid, blind and inconsiderate people bumping into you or pushing you out of their way. Anyone with a desire for personal space is violated and should avoid this god awful city as if everyone in it had the plague.

Mobile telephones
These things are the of devil's making, particularly for those of us who value our privacy and peace of mind with a little quiet. People seem to lose track of their voice volume when gassing on these damn things, and the rest of us are subjected to the minutest details of someone elses pathetic life. Arguments, business deals, pep talks with their children, flim flam with mates.

fuck you new york, and all you selfish new yorkers.

conceptual design for buildings in nanjing

what a crazy week. Having a conceptual talk on Monday about the approach towards this project in Nanjing (china), whether to try a curvilinear approach to the design or a more high-tech / minimal or ’stately’ approach as my principal calls it, and the capability of my current office to achieve that approach, was a real interesting and difficult discussion - diplomatically trying to feel my way through the situation - as well as my principal telling me that he was waiting for me to tell him what the building is supposed to be.

In this offic, it seems as if the design filters up from the middle rather than filtering down from the top at the offices of 'signature architects' such as Foster and Partners. Furthermore, the unfortunate realization that my original 'ribbon concept' developed for this project, or anything that resembles the BMW building (by Asymptote - used as an example of form) for that matter, was being pressurised by the main man (the owner and president) to be dumbed down, was painful to admit but understandable - no-one could possibly oversee such a complicated and idiosyncratic design concept through once its' designer is gone.

notwithstanding that, learning more about the process of designing large scale buildings from scratch on my own with little conceptual direction has been the single most interesting and valuable thing I have experienced this week, if not at all, besides the experience of creative exploration and development. To describe this process, its more of a to-and-fro or push-and-pull of planning and conceptualizing, massing the building based on those developments, then more conceptualizing and applying or massaging the concept to the massing of the programme, circulation and physical constraints in combination with good judgement and practical physical design principles, possibly combined with some sculpting of the massing and addition or subtraction of certain conceptual elements that are concurrent with the overall concept - the ribbon, or pods for instance.

design, responsibility, experience and money

reading Steven Covey’s 'seven habits of effective people' (read a second review/summary here) is a good way to help one regain their perspective. (read a good, short summary of life/business models here). There is nothing wrong with seeking out good advice from others, for how would we ever know how to go about our lives if it were not for the experience and advice of others more experienced? I believe it was Einstein that said 'only on the shoulders of others shall we stand taller and see farther.' This is not to say that one should rely on what others say to make descisions in life, but a few wise words of advice and knowledge and research can be helpful at the best and worst of times.

Responsibility, I suppose, is all about balance, and its important to make the absolute most out of life. A great deal of 'rest' (i.e. read: laziness, idleness, unproductivity) may not benefit anyone in the long run - particularly since I attach so much importance to productivity, success, and more recently, financial stability and liquidity. Think about about bill gates and michael dell and the walmart family - this raises questions in my mind about my own inability to bring my thoughts and skills to bear on making more money. For the true creative in us, it shouldn't be about making money, but more about the passion for our work, and simply doing good work and participating in creating world-class design.

main website updated, version 1.4 - long overdue.

check it out at http://richardkulczak.net - i would love some comments, as only my wife has seen it and commented, and she can only be so objective ;)

new cover, two new sections, although still under construction. more images to come soon.

creativity and design in the world of deadlines

One of the most difficult things I've encountered whilst designing buildings at the concept stage remains in requests for information that is inappropriate for the stage of concept development. To use an analogy in language, it's like asking for you to write down your sentences and publish the paragraphs before you've finished thinking the sentence. Asking for premature concept resolution

These requests frequently come from within the organization, and occassionally come from the client. In one circumstance, a client asked for an isometric massing model of a design scheme that was far from being resolved - in fact it had hardly begun the process of translation from sketch to hard-line. The point is that this can create a problem having to solidify concepts that have not been sufficiently resolved - and this is due to the nature of concept design work, and the necessity to spend time working out certain relevant elements of the design. It can be frustrating when, caught in the middle of the process, you are asked to provide information about something that you would like to spend more time working out properly.

The best way to avoid getting too frustrated with having to stop and start mid-though is, when given a stop-start deadline / presentation, focus less on the final product, and not be too attached to the process of discovery - firm up something that will suffice for the purposes of the deadline and move on. An interim presentation or deadline gives one a chance to re-focus their thoughts and also helps keep an eye on the final product by bringing the eye into the present to firm up what one has.

progress and generating design concepts

not much time this week, and not much to say. Generally things seem to have been going quite well, however, it almost seems as if something must go wrong soon. The onset of a dreadful ‘tudor’ themed project and the start of both nanjing projects has been at times trying, interesting, frustrating, boring, learning, exciting and most of all, political. Taiping nanlu, as a second-rate site, could prove less interesting than Nanjin XinJieKou, which could turn out fantastic. Comments from the client that the design previously produced by my current firm was not particularly very good until they started taking on people like me was an enormous boost to my confidence; not that one is required to sustain me, but rather a concern for the possible political struggles that may have arisen working with a more conservative principal.

Working up ideas for transferring the nanjing ribbon scheme to a new plan form have been both challenging and exciting - proving difficult at times to be continuously engaged, coming up with new idea after new idea. The latter half of this week has been an exercise in creativity and the process of generating new ideas. Two things have come to my attention in this respect. The first is that ideas seem to come to me whilst totally relaxed in bed, near sleep - and this has happened twice, whilst laying in bed, in exactly the same position both times. The second is that ideas seem to come in the office whilst either 1) in random free-association whilst relaxed and not trying too hard, and occassionally some key concepts will arise whilst in the toilet, or 2) after submersing myself into a particular set of precedent images, or 3) during a period of sustained concentration in which thoughts are simply left to flow, and ideas come out as the train of thought flows.

are you a professional-amateur?

pro-am's are changing the way the world develops - the pro-am revolution is being led by those of us innovative, committed and networked amateurs that work to professional standards.

tagging your endeavour

one thing I found useful to organise my endeavour was to work under a tag (name), concept or governing philosophy. This may seem a lot to develop simply to begin working, or it may seem superfluous, but perhaps the three are mutually inclusive, in that they all contribute to and support each other. The philosophy should inform the name and project concepts, the current project concepts and philosophy should inform the name, and the name and the project concepts should give rise to and suggest the philosophy.

one major issue with a name is that it must remain sufficiently wide in scope to cover any type of work and not to exclude any possible work that may arise in the future. it must also express this wide scope, in its expression of some of my ideals, for instance - urban hip, abstraction, minimalism, modernity. In addition, I feel my choice must symbolise, manifest and express acts of being subversive, refined, extremely creative, crisp, educated, competent, motivated, driven, committed, revolutionary/chic [elegant, stylish, fashionable], ruthless, experimental, experienced, knowledgeable, transcendent, alternative, diverse, appropriate, positive, determined, applied, passionate. Furthermore, it should also represent and suggest playfulness and humour, irony even.
In opposition, consider this - in choosing a name one must ensure that it never becomes unfashionable, or worse - dated. The problem with choosing a name like FAT or OMA or asymptote, is that in twenty years the culture in which they were devised may come through in the name so totally and completely that the name itself represents the trends of that period, many of which are no longer relevant, or worse - no longer interesting. A further example. Liberation, the French daily newspaper, previously aligned with some questionable policies and political movements. Today, they have refashioned themselves to represent more palatable political agendas. Were they to be called 'Socialism Today', the newspaper would have totally disappeared by now. Due in part to the fact that the name 'Liberation' is sufficiently wide in scope and definition, the paper was able to maintain the name yet change its content, its direction. Another example. Were Foster and partners initially called Foster Industrial Shed Architects, they may not have garnered a changing clientele, they may not have been able to adapt to changing circumstances.

Thus, although using a proper name for your company (i.e. your surname) may seem itself a little dated, it may mitigate for the fact that 'blobitecture' may not be a more appropriate solution even if it utterly and completely describes and embodies your current endeavours.

stength, confidence,... maturity..., and disposition

move forward and develop relationships - BE POSITIVE. We mustn't forget the adage on attitude and outward perception - you get what you focus on.

relieve yourself of the 'overly concerned' atitude and replace it with one of content, reconciliation, solace and calm.

try to be unselfish and see things from the perspective of others.

have the strength to deal with the daily trials of life, knowing that this too shall pass. Perhaps its easier to deal with certain issues knowing that much trouble is perceived and may be nothing directly related to you. If you are a snivelling, spineless, emotional wimp, your actions will be perceived as reflecting that attitude. There is strength in feeling good, but even more - it feels good to be strong. Others will sense the confidence in you.

conversational analyses

conversation with a new friend reminds me of the heightened awareness one can place on each word, the analysis of each movement in a conversation - engaging in deep and thought-provoking discussion… concentration (or lack of it) led to missed comments or opportunities for further good conversation leading to in-depth understanding. The problem with architectural conversation with the uninitiated is that it can sometimes border on boring. Futhermore, banging on about anything out of context with a disengaged or disinterested audience may come across as self-centred, probing, impersonal, self-serving, speaking to hear ones own voice.

In conversation, it is quite likely that we will come across others that are more knowledgeable in other fields that are of interest or are related to our own - in situations such as this we may raise questions of our own proficiency in those fields of knowledge. Has there been enough of our own background reading in related fields to strike up or carry on a sincere conversation, without having to revert to repeating the opinions of others? Is your position on the topic of conversation comfortable enough to 'call someone' on an irreverant or misaligned view? Perhaps the first is the more pertinent issue - knowing enough about the world and how the pieces fit together in order to formulate a significantly valid argument. Perhaps more exposure to a wider range of related issues will help resolve the concern. Consider engaging in a program of personal development that begins to address the foundations of related disciplines, and continues to build on the foundations of that knowledge throughout your life.

9807272043

productivity and accomplishment

sometimes we may feign concern over the productive use of what little free time we have. In the realm of the successful architect/designer, continual internal and external demands to produce private work in order to build a body of work continually press our minds into a frenzy of concern, sometimes despair, but always pushing forward with research, ideas, progress. Unfortunately, comparing oneself, as I sometimes do, with the greatest minds of all history makes for tough competition. Striving for accomplishment is admirable, but attempting to be something you are not or incapable of being may only heighten these troublesome feelings. Begin to understand the depths and breadths that you demand of yourself. Assess thse demands and desires against reality – commitments, ability, desire, necessity. Don’t overcomplicate life by continuously making plans that are unfeasible to accomplish. Work to a plan.

"Flow with whatever may happen and let your mind be free: Stay centered by accepting whatever you are doing. This is the ultimate." -Chuang-Tzu

(written when I was in hong kong, real date - 9804110050)

success and fear, anger and greed

If the desire for success and financial well being frequently directs your thoughts, ask yourself, 'if I'm so clever why I haven't been able to position myself to make more money?' Is this desire is all the more real in the face of successful entrepreneurs? Does anything other than mild stability seems to elude you? Until such time as you are able to fulfill the desire to employ your skills toward a better life for your family, you may feel painfully incomplete... and in this you may recognize an inability to truly focus on other critical aspects of life - social and family interests beyond the everyday and the ephemeral, for instance.

The ability to focus may only really happen when you have either fulfilled this desire, feel that this desire is in the midst of fulfillment, or you overcome this desire. This, the overcoming of desire, is akin to what an old friend has suggested about not wanting, or what I call negative wanting. Once you recognize your desires are futile, the intention is to then cease wanting. One should not want what one cannot have. Or is this really the case? A thought about any successful entrepreneur provides evidence. Herein lies the dilemma.

It is not altogether difficult, then, to recognize that one may not find what one seeks in a place in one's life where motivation and ambition is left unresolved, unrealised. It will not happen like a surprise, the face of opportunity. It will not suddenly rear its gleaming, golden head.

Wanting and desire make true clear vision difficult. Transcend this and feed on your own ambition, on your own fear - as did the man from IBM - about failure, about stagnation, about starvation... Feed on whatever it is that inspires you to action - anger (about poverty and hunger and anger itself), greed (for a better world), intolerance (towards mediocrity and laziness). This will drive you to what you require, should your own motivation and trajectory come up short on those inevitable and difficult days.
9804110050, amended here.

welcome...

... to this series of writings on philosophy, architecture and design. with international qualifications in all three areas, this writer is uniquely qualified to bring insight and illumination to these topics. more to come... hope you enjoy. 0406201745

contact me at rk@richardkulczak.net