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.