Then - It's Power in our Hands

Day Three

November 22, 2008

No one knew what to expect this week. That alone had us all in knots, wondering how those arduous analyses at the last session would, well, finally come to an agreeable end for everyone.  

We have been encouraged to be more "aggressive and assertive" to get some discussions going. For some reason, there has been a semblance in the past two sittings of going back to the university - when it was easy to be voiceless in front of a possibly arrogant professor coming across as the only one who has the monopoly to all truths... 

Apart from the fact that our guest lecturer was so welcoming of all comments, when you get down to it, aren't we already all architects, accomplished in our own right?   By now, we ought to already have something to share through our years of experience in theory and in the field.   Perhaps, we just need reminding... for  unless we found our voices again, we may never know what we have been truly called for.

Architect Dytoc got us started by showing us more visuals of architectural marvels and they did not seem so alien somehow. They were just as beautiful and impressive as the first ones we saw before, but now they appeared friendlier... more proximate.    For all one knows, these sessions have already started to work its wonders on us...

Then came the compelling portion of the evening's discussion: Case Studies.  

Manny shared a current project he and colleague Chuck are working on - a resort in Anilao with a highly demanding topography.  The formidable project engaged the whole group in finding good solutions.  Resident funny man Drew eloquently expressed a possible query running through the heads of a good lot of us: do we get a percentage of the design fee if we give the best solution? A relaxed atmosphere pervaded and camaraderie is further ensured. We were all having a good time.

Next was Joseph's presentation of an architectural/structural feature of a house still in construction - the stairwell with a catwalk held up by cigar columns.  Application of a past "lesson" delighted everyone.  What followed were other possible solutions, perhaps more viable, yet lacking the desired "arrogance" that the cigar columns can bring about.  Now, I'd say that that totally raised that discussion to another level - one more sublime, even transcendental.

For me, in its entirety, I was enthralled by the close and very entangled relationship between tension and comprehension (Uh-oh. Isn't that geeky or what?)  They may be two contrasting forces and yet it is this fundamental dissociation that is the basis of their successful interdependence.  It is then for us to make use of this and work with this reality.  If that in itself is not interesting enough, I don't know what else is.

In the end, certificates of attendance were given out to everyone - for being daring agents of change and contributing to usher in the architecture of the 21st century by merely participating in the seminar. 

Then, we also handed to our lecturer a certificate of appreciation for sharing with us his vision, which we all signed. Should anyone of us become great due to the inspiration provided for by the Dytoc legacy, then the certificate would be a testament in itself.

Together with a few others, I was asked to impart a testimonial wherein, by this seminar, I took pleasure in the redefinition of the roles of architects and engineers, and what I feel is the "ought-to-be" of the whole science of building. In our practice we are more inclined to troubleshoot and learn the ropes as we go along our way.  This seminar instead gave us a chance to envision where we want to go,  being in a community of colleagues where we can draw wisdom and support.  Then, Manny also spoke about his former apprehensions, which after tonight were transformed into perfect avenues to tread upon and get inspiration from, likening the experience to riding a bike and being taught new tricks to enjoy bike-riding more. Lastly, Miguel articulated his delight over the seminar saying that it was something he did not expect from past UAP seminars he attended and looks forward to a follow-up session so that we can have more possibilities for further growth.

When we thought that that was enough to fill us up, Eugene came in to cap the evening with the introduction - and an invitation for everyone - to join a Design Exhibition called "Future Architecture" which could be, for us, an application of all that was learned.  The exhibit has been primarily opened to all UAP Alabang Chapter members and secondarily to all other UAP members from other chapters for a minimum nominal fee.  

For more info, check out:  http://uapalabangchapter.wordpress.com/future-architecture-design-exhibit/

Just now I am reminded of something that Ralph Waldo Emerson said: 

 

We are very near to greatness: one step and we are safe; 

can we not take the leap?

With power in our hands, not only that we probably can.

We must.

 

So This is How You Get Your Head to [Almost] Burst...

DAY TWO

November 15, 2008

There will come a time when you believe everything is finished.

That will be the beginning.

- Louis L'Amour

Following last weeks' lecture, Architect Bronne Dytoc has definitely made certain that we were coming back this Saturday. If they're not looped, you're not yet done.  We can't insist on our jobs being over until we get to the bottom of this... Certainly, our heads were pregnant with graphical representations which lasted us a week to munch on, and we felt we were ready for more.

However, an obvious question still rang in my mind: would the Portico dinner this week beat last week's Oriental Chicken drizzled with Thai plum sauce...uhmmm.   Well, I wouldn't really know unless I came back!  And believe me, the mixed kabobs with java rice didn't disappoint at all.  What's more, when  good buddy Manny shared a scrumptious plate of shrimp-mango salad with me, it was literally in cloud 9.  My next concern then was whether I would stay awake long enough to listen to Bronne's lecture after such a hearty meal.  

Bronne got us started with POLDA - Polygon Design Analyses.  In simpler terms... whoops, there are none.

According to a design engineering site RoyMech, any assemblage of materials whose function is that of supporting loads is a structure.  This could be a bridge, an aeroplane wing, a building or a dam.   The component parts of a loaded structure are in a state of stress and the laws which govern the distribution of the stress are used to calculate the design a material to enable the structure to safely support the loads.  And the analyses, went on and on for the next two hours or so.  All of a sudden, when initially I felt sorry that colleagues Willie, Gino and Alex couldn't make it to tonight's session, I envied them for being not around to have to survive this extremely tiring and demanding exercise.

What is the point to all this?  Errrr.... Most of all, it was Manny was on tenterhooks the whole time...was it the kabobs? I had suspicions about that.  Rather, it was the fact that we were tediously graphically justifying certain forms of design when all we architects would like to care about is, well, the design. The aesthetic aspect or that which would satisfy the arrogance of our whimsies being realized.

I figured we needed to internalize the whole technical "maneuvers" until the point when it became as simple as riding a bike.  I knew - and hoped - that, soon after, we will astound ourselves as we shall be doing more than just wheelies but actual acrobatic stunts, whereby not just the front wheels will go off the ground, but the whole bike, heck, even our whole blessed selves!

Long after the lecture and half the "class" has gone and hit the road, a few scholarly wanna-bes stayed behind, at the outset,  wanting to sip some wine to unwind.  Joseph still had his luggage coming straight from the airport from a trip to the seminar,  Eugene was eternally doodling and finding answers to Manny's endless questions, Jojo and Johanna interminably using their powers of inference to the same, Andrew supplying us every now and then with wise cracks from the profound to the profane...and everyone else joining in the very engaging discussions.  

It was, we all surmised, the cheapest nightcap - we stayed on for another hour or so without having to order a drink as time passed us by with delight - just deliberating about what we learned that evening and what relation it had with what we already knew.

The tragedy of life is not

that it ends so soon, 

but that we wait so long to begin it.

- W.M. Lewis

We went home surely after midnight with no one turning into a pumpkin. Thank heavens for that.

But I could not hold the same for our heads almost bursting.

Memoirs of a Seminar That Was

Day ONE 

November 8, 2008 

Listen to your dreams - those are the sounds 

no one else can hear. 

- 

Kobi Yamada

It was a difficult task to put it together - we were not sure of the response it would get, there were logistical difficulties, even getting the attendance proved to be a challenge, etc....But it was too good a thing to pass up. What to do?

The invite said it all: Do you feel your practice is in a rut, devoid of any creativity and innovation?  Do you ever wonder how foreign architects are able to pull off structural acrobatics out of steel, concrete and cables...?   Are you hungry for new and fresh design ideas that will hoist your practice to new heights?

There is a big difference between 

seeing an opportunity and 

seizing opportunity.

 - 

Jim Moore

Almost blown off, Chapter Pres. Joseph asked me if we were to push through. I looked at the empty slots on my list but actually can't  take my eyes off the names that were already there. Should I really tell Joseph that we ought to cancel because we lacked a handful more, in lieu of those who already signified their interest to participate?  

Decidedly, we took the plunge, forging ahead with courage.  And like true-blue workers of the last hour, we got it down : today is the first of three sessions of the technical seminar, "Daring Structures: Buildings that Make You say WTF!" at the Portico 1771, Serendra, Global City.  It was astonishingly well-attended!    Joseph described it as "bursting on its seams."  

 

The ultimate test for a leader 

is not whether he or she makes smart decisions 

and takes decisive action, 

but whether he or she 

teaches others to be leaders. 

- 

Noel M. Tichy

Lecturer and Master of Building Science. Arch. Bronne Dytoc first showed us a series of structures which all too suddenly made more sense now than they did then.    He introduced the course by showing us slides of architectural and engineering wonders by Maillart, Calatrava, Nervi - and everyone in the boardroom was left wondering if we can ever be a tinge of the visionaries that they were...

Some people say that dreaming gets you nowhere in life.

But I say you can't get anywhere without dreaming. 

- 

Rose Zadra

But isn't that what we were in the seminar for?  

What followed was a grueling experience of recalling fears and anxieties brought about by past lessons in the university of opposing forces, loads and moments, etc...Just the thought of having to go back to them sends us reeling in wide-awake nightmares...

However, the Dytoc acumen made us all see the logic graphically which most of us were rather taught through equations...His well-grounded explanations actually made sense.            Well, the guy didn't get his Chancellor's award for being a good [university] professor for nothing...

LEARNING  is not compulsory, 

but neither is survival.

-

W. Edward Deming

Bronne shared with us his vision...which he has earlier shared with Joseph as well as Eugene - two colleagues in the chapter that were his former students.  And we look forward to the coming two Saturdays for what more he has to share.

By the way, the food at Portico 1771 wasn't bad either.

To Succeed, I Must Plan to Fail

The sea seems much more placid now.  

I am going through the course, as I have decided and agreed with the world around me. I am calmly pursuing the goal I have set for me to take.

But one way I know I could make the grade is if I planned to fail....Now what on earth could I mean?

When we decide on a life course, we set up rules we can follow to keep us on track.  Now, it could happen that once we become unsuccessful, we are discouraged.  Say, for instance, a diet. Or a new year's resolution. Of course we make rules to stay with in, but when we break a rule, the diet's off. Or as they call it in the tradition of new year's resolutions, we backslide.

Instead, we ought to know that we could make mistakes, or a buddy could fail us, or obstacles can present themselves before us -  and we ought to know how to pick ourselves up when it happens.

I must embrace my fallenness and inadequacies.  Along the road, I have learned that, just as important as the success of each day, is the courage to start over before every fearful obstacle.  Before each time I fail.  

So, take a deep breath, brush the dirt off my hands and knees, straighten my clothes: the journey has begun.

There is no turning back.

One more on Frank Gehry: This Time, The Controversy

"I prefer the sketch quality, the tentativeness, the messiness, the appearance of in-progress rather than the assumption of total resolution and finality.."- F.GEHRY

I went to my first general membership meeting at the American Insititute of Architects-East Bay Chapter in Oakland and the topic for movie-viewing and discussion was the highly arguable genius of Frank Gehry and his architecture.  Director Sydney Pollack has made his first feature length documentary on the acclaimed architect, Frank O. Gehry.  

Gehry and Pollack have been friends for a long time and this was quite evident in the film.  It took the director five years, beginning 2000, to finish the project.  

To begin his architectural design process, Frank Gehry does what he is passionate about: sketching.  It is this very passion of Gehry's that galvanized in Pollack his initial indicators as to how he ought to work on this factual film.  Setting the film in motion by revealing Gehry’s initial strokes for the design of his projects, the viewer is taken on a smooth ride of watching these abstract drawings metamorphose from palpable, seemingly pop-up dummies, made of paper, cardboard and scotch tape, into impressive buildings made of titanium, concrete and steel.   By featuring scenes in Gehry’s studio, on building sites, and in his home, while using his digital videocam, Pollack came up with a low-key shooting approach that has formidably captured the very heart of Gehry's unique artistic style coupled with his seemingly withdrawn, ambiguous persona.

On the whole, using this approach, it did not reveal an architectural theory that is esoterically detached from the ordinary lives of people. Pollack's genius instead touched on Gehry’s system of architectural principles, drawing a profound understanding of such an extraordinary architect and his singular architectural process.  As Gehry was filmed with his heart-to-heart exchanges with Pollack as well as with other participants in the film, unveiled was a very pleasant interchange that was most engaging from beginning to end.

I researched Pollack and found out that his films have received 46 Academy Award nominations including three for Pollack for Best Director, and two for Best Picture. Out of Africa won seven Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director for Pollack. Sketches of Frank Gehry is Pollack's first feature documentary. His films include "The Interpreter,"" Random Hearts," "Sabrina,"  "The Firm,"  "Out of Africa," "Tootsie," "Absence of Malice," "The Electric Horseman,"" Three Days of the Condor," "The Way We Were," "Jeremiah Johnson,"  and "They Shoot Horses, Don't They."

Sony Pictures Classics that distributed the film stated that “Frank Gehry is that rare kind of architect who has garnered both critical acclaim and popular fame. His designs dramatically blur the line between art and architecture, yet the strong appeal of his sculptural designs does not obscure the role of function. Gehry's is a painstaking process of subtle vision and revision, both in his famous sketches and in his models.”   In 1989 Gehry was awarded the Pritzker Prize, the preeminent award in architecture and ten years after, in 1999, he was awarded the Gold Medal of the American Institute of Architects, its highest honor.   Then in 2001, the Gold Medal of the Royal Institute of British Architects was also awarded to him.  Among the buildings he designed, the most famous are the Guggenheim Musuem in Bilbao, Spain and the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles.

Personally, I am not a fan of Deconstructivism in post-modernist architecture, which is characterized by ideas of fragmentation, non-linear processes of design,  which serve to distort and dislocate some of the elements of architecture such as structure and envelope.  The finished visual appearance of buildings that exhibit the many deconstructivist "styles" is characterised by a stimulating unpredictability and a controlled chaos. Gehry's works are actually perfect examples of such, even if he himself refuses to be identified with the movement nor to any particular architectural movement in general.  But just look at his tortured, warped forms and you will see what I mean. What I love though about Gehry is the FREEDOM by which he does his art and therefore his design process. He crumples paper, uses scrap cartons and pieces of wood to come up with a design that is anything but logical...  It is here that I believe Gehry to be very fortunate to come across clients who believe in him.  There is one gentleman, Lewis by name, who commissioned Gehry to design his house and ended up paying him $6M for fees in a span of 10 years.  By then, Mr. Lewis' lifestyle and goals have changed, and when he found out that it would cost $84M to build the designed house, decided not to build it.  But he likes (although perhaps, "respects" is the more appropriate term) Gehry so much, he said that, given the chance, he would do it again.  Go figure. Furthermore, I believe Gehry's architecture is good only for particular structures (such as museums, concert halls, etc) since it defies form and logic, it should be regarded as an accent in the midst of the "more normal" forms.  I would think Gehry has so much rage inside of him that it has to come out in his designs. Too much chaos, albeit controlled, but then again it is artists like Gehry that have the capacity to usher in genius of the future.  Otherwise, humanity may be in danger of remaining stagnant and thus, oppressive to the soul. Postscript:  I may be a latebloomer, but I feel the passion within me. Gehry's life is such an inspiration, notwithstanding the fact that there are many things about his style that I cannot relate to.  If wings have been created for me, I ought to fly...

Some of his works (pictures follow):

Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles, CA

Gehry Tower, Hanover, Germany

Maggie's Cancer Caring Centre in Scotland

Norton Residence, Los Angeles, CA

Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain

Frank Gehry House, Santa Monica, CA

 

Disclaimer:  I wrote this blog in March 2007 - over a year and 8 months ago.    I am still "masticating" but finding Gehry's "occasional libation" a bit more palatable now...

who knows? :-)
 

Unconquered

I have no regrets, I shun all fears, I take up the challenge.  

I pray that in the process I do not lose myself nor my charity nor my dignity, but instead win back that to which I was called for - a destiny forged in blood and tears.

I have faith - I will prevail.

For what chance do I stand against kismet? 

Not when I know I am loved immensely.

Invictus

by William Ernest Henley; 1849-1903

Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the Pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds, and shall find me, unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate;

I am the captain of my soul.