The Atelier #1: Scaling Back and Staying Relevant in Architecture

Welcome to 'The Atélier', a series of blog entry I specially made for thoughts on architecture. On this pilot entry, I shall describe in layman terms the harsh reality architecture as a career. And the vast possibility when architecture embodied as a 'spirit'. Nothing spooky okay.

Welcome to architecture. A career where its participant would aim for the stars. If you doesn’t come from an architecture background, names like Mies Van Der Rohe, Rem Koolhaas, Santiago Calatrava and Antonio Gaudi would sprung series of mental imagery of buildings you commonly see in magazines or places you have visited before. By the way, those architects are some of legends which had carved their names in the architecture constellation – something like sailors do when compass doesn’t exist. We look up to them when we are lost, but it seems most of us never admitted we are forever lost

But times have changed, and as the architecture field gets crowded, your chance to carve a name in the constellation becomes faded. The architecture field has not become a field of passion, but extreme competition, client demands, cut costs and dog eats dog cannibalistic scene. Architects would work to extreme hours next to nothing, sight of blankets and toothbrush at workplace is nothing uncommon. It pays barely pays your bills and emerging architects overtook you from behind fleecing your clients with further ridiculously lower prices for such valuable design advisory you had your neurons spark for with the help of caffeine.

Present economic volatility had construction industry halted or slowed down to a snail pace. Malaysia is no more in its glorious boom seen in mid 80s. Construction is guaranteed the first to be affected and even get out of the clout. I fondly remembers my lecturer saying “ a sign of healthy economy is shown through the construction industry “. Even so, when times are good, your client would never forgets the discounts given when you scrambled for living during hard times, so, the struggle becomes a vicious cycle and balancing act on a tight rope of karma and luck.

Architecture firms are getting much more like hypermarkets. Only big firms seems to cut the deal and mopped the floor clean, if they employ you, they pay you real cheap, you are taxed for being in a well-known firms.  While the smaller firms folds or survives on unique idiosyncrasies that majority of people wouldn’t seen it necessary.

But amidst the frustration the real world doesn’t give a F of your superb green design or poetic aesthetic light-coming-through-a-froghole features, there is no need to throw off the hat. Architecture is a versatile knowledge. It lets you swerve and maneuver with plenty of room keeping your mental faculty occupied and your hard earned college credits relevant. Architecture spirit simply doesn’t quit on us. It’s a matter of we quitting on them.

Alternative careers for architects are endless. I always picture Architecture as an accumulation of several branches from the tree of knowledge. We learn to articulate our ideas ( mostly bullshitting thou ), so we are naturally public speakers and happily accept offers to give any fiery speeches at a rally. We learn how to sketch, so we can utilize that and illustrate wonderful things ( and probably gets into someone pants, I mean, their pockets). We calculate things, our calculus mastery is somehow superior, few notches behind engineers, but, yah, still commendable. We learn to read people minds, we learn to understand the current trends and most importantly -  we design.

Identity by design

Design is always something which people disregard. Nissan, as a case, had suppressed its car designers in turn for cut costs with awful plastic and interior upholstery selection. Nissan nearly went bankrupt when Charles Ghosn, the new CEO, had given designers more freedom in designing and material selection and Nissan fortunes began to turn.  

Apple Inc. the makers of iMac, iPod, iPhone and other i-whatever-devices had similar blunt decision to disregard design. Before Steve Jobs were at the helm, a corporate trained leader was at the top, telling designers to forgo their wet dreams and instead ordering manufacturer to boost up production. Their products failed to sell and had been stockpiling like an old junk. Apple was at terminal stage when Old Steve Jobs took over.

Steve Jobs, being an innovator at heart recognizes design as part of product and subsequently, company identity. In 1998, we saw the candy colored iMacs, from then on; Apple design has been simply stunning and refreshing. The rest is history.

The rooms are there for us, there are people who attentively listens and humanely considers what we do to an extent that doesn’t diminish our creative flair. The Architecture spirit is never confined to the design-follows-budget stigma. Architects like Hijjas Kasturi who had come to great heights locally finds time in to designing watches, lifts and yatches. Why such figure wants to scale back to designing petty stuff that people rarely use? Has he lost his prestige? 

Nah, IHMO, Its because the spirit of architecture roams everywhere, architects can wake up at 4 in the morning and went to the drawing table just to sketch an eclectic space inside a home. Nobody stops them, because ideas comes like a squall or gust and goes away quickly.

Arkitek Kampung

Scaling back of our dreams means we don’t have to murder our Architecture spirit. Instead of licking the floors at big firms and envisioning to construct the next  300 floor towers, try looking at the community level. Architecture can contribute a lot to the society by improving the existing spaces. It doesn’t mean an excavated clear ground is always our playground, present spaces can be our canvas of creativity.  May it be a kindergarten, taska, wet market, 4 footers, 6 footers or Sunday flee market, these spaces desperate for an architect’s Midas touch.

Architecture also needs perception change with people unfamiliar with them. Parents expect us to design multistory complex for a multinational companies whatsoever and laughing our way to the bank with millions, while it seems viable ideally, the contrasting reality seeks architects to dedicate their energy in a different way. In college, I was though about simple installations, a panel or mirrors or just string encompassed in-a-way to concentrate certain qualities of a site – the genius loci, blending and respecting what came earlier to the place - this is the next of architecture.

 The imagery of heavy pile driver and noisy bulldozer chasing like cats and mouse on-site should be applied with much more opacity to it. Architecture now is no longer an all-out intrusion but a tacit intervention, just like Glenn Murcutt quote “Touching the earth lightly ”

Architects were also given task to give a new leash of life onto old building. Cities like Malacca, Penang and KL has plenty of pre-merdeka building that needs restoration to retain their beauty and historical value. There also might be a fine-tasted financier who would want to turn old walls into exciting place for candlelight dinners. We, architects, can step up to the plate.

Architects can be a bona-fide superhero. When crimes arise in densely populated cities, it’s the responsibility of architects to help the society out. We change the existing landscape from crime prone to something safer and better for people. Little changes like straightening of streets and installation of lamp posts make a huge difference!

In short, these hard times had architects arrested for upward growth, but who cares, we grow sideways. We reconsider and explore new possibilities and keep the architecture spirit (yes, architecture is a spirit, not profession ) relevant throughout times.

The Entrusted

Entrusted to the boarding centre, the cats were left for a week to starve and die. Now, we humans in Malaysia, how much longer can we entrust those we entrusted ?

Recent news headline sees a cat boarding centre had neglected their promise which had caused 13cats dead. They had shattered and infuriate many cat owners which had trusted them wholeheartedly to take care of their cats while they went on for festive holiday season in various parts of the nation. No words can describe how shaken these pet lovers had felt, in return, the alleged owners of the pet boarding service offered an apology citing they were shorthanded, plus, they wanted to sue pet owners responsible for breaking into their premises in order to rescue the distressed pets.

Between broken premises and broken promises. Which one has a higher magnitude? Don’t need to be shock with the outcome. Amidst the ruckus of pointing fingers and blame game, one direction had struck me: the tax collector

I recently found the wise words of Mohandas Gandhi: “One can measure the greatness and the moral progress of a nation by looking at how it treats its animals”. It is no less true in this case when we failed to provide good treatment onto animals, which are non-talking beings, it would imply mankind would simply treated as bad, or borderline bad, nothing beyond satisfactory, excellent would be farfetched – this is all cukup makan.

Difference between a ‘food’ and ‘real food’

Cukup makan mentality exists in bazaar Ramadhan. No, its not about the food portion where it is just too little. We petite Asians do not eat huge serving portions like fellow Arab, European or Americans. It’s a hurting to walk at the stalls seeing foods were prepared in reluctant and somewhat deceitful . Unethical business practice like putting too much ice instead of juices are widely spoken for years, but we had been a slave to cukup makan culture that we surrender and swallow after all these types of food. Going to bazaar ramadhan is akin to looking for a speck of diamonds in a teaspoon of sands – it takes both sides of brain to precisely calculate and abstractly judge. Well, some may argue food preference is something very subjective. But take a stranger to a bazaar, and let them pick the food randomly. There will be an undoubted sense that the poor stranger would end up forcing untasteful food down his/her throat rather than feeling satisfied.

The usual Malay response would not favor much the ‘customer first’ etymology taught in business school worldwide, instead we go the emotional way “ kalau nak sedap buatlah sendiri makanan yang nak makan tu”, while no one utter that, the action speaks louder than word, if hard proof is needed, then, look forth on food poisoning cases nationwide during Ramadhan. If I were to pass on a RM5 note on a meal, I expect it to be good, well prepared and tasty for my buka puasa. I do not expect anything bombastic with an exquisite garnishing or lavish content. I have idea how hotel food tastes like, and when I stepped to a bazaar ramadhan, I knew I wanted a real food which that suits my bujang and single status. (Yes, if I had a wife or girlfriend, I’ll asks her to cook )

My RM5 note is undervalued in bazaar ramadhan. My RM5 plastic tear-free note would compensate the worker time, energy and cover the basic material spend on those food. I entrusted them with my RM5, but its too little for them. Recycled oil, old vegetables, bland, half cooked, greasy - the seller don’t care “kalau engkau tak nak beli, ramai lagi datang nak beli “What I get is food. Edible but, its just a food. But I sought ‘real food’

Where can I find real food? I instead went to Carrefour and bought some lamb shoulder and grilled them to well-done tenderness, I bought pastas and made ala-carbonara and Alhamdulillah, I cooked a dozen time for both buka puasa and sahur I had this year. I got my ‘real food’, but there is a price to pay for that.

Robbed

If I’m shortchanged of my RM5 by reluctant bazaar ramadhan operators, how about those who pay taxes by the thousands ringgits per year. The citizens which entrusted other by the thousand ringgit. Do they feel shortchanged ( or worst, robbed? ). The answer is very apparent about what perception floating in the air regarding of our ‘tax collector’ and ‘how the money made use’.

Take for instance, tuition centres. We…pardon me, I mean.. tax collectors dedicate a lot on education expenditure every year. Indeed, when you travel around, many new schools are being built. existing schools is busy undergoing extension and erection of new blocks, with new classrooms comes new tables and chairs, new appliances, laptops and textbooks given out, likely iPad would be given out in near future. Teachers are being trained and re-trained annually without exhaustion and syllabus were being reviewed almost every time the minister responsible changes. Big words are being used like ‘transformasi’ ‘perubahan’ ‘anjakan’ ‘berprestasi tinggi’ ‘bestari’ etc, etc. which makes a lovely headlines

But parents still has the urgency to send their children to tuition centre because what their children get in school is considered ‘insufficient’. Although tuition centre doesn’t replace school as a prime avenue to get taught, tuition cannot be dismissed altogether. It seems school and tuition co-exists with an irony that tuition centre teachers mostly school teachers too.

Malaysian kids could claim valuable time doing outdoors, bonding with family or doing something outside-the-schema – but instead when the school system failed to address this, the classroom hours extended into the night, in the form of tuition; with 8pm to 10pm classes, weekends eats up by more tuition and further intensive tuition towards the last minute. It has been ingrained within the minds of parents nowadays, similar to the bazaar ramadhan eulogy, “ kalau mahu yang sedap, buatlah sendiri”. You get ‘education’ and shut up, be thankful of that. Forget ‘real education’ and whatever it meant.

You have to swallow that a school is not responsible for academic excellence, incapable on its own of turning a child into an all-rounder, and if so, they don’t mean to sculpt your children to become outstanding, superior or distinguishing –teachers are there not to seek your child talent and refine them, they have strict schedule to complete. Unless, if you want so, please do spend more that you have paid with your tax, send them to intensive tuition centres or private schools which uses special syllabuses.

Robbed Again

Security is another apparent area where we got robbed. Housing areas in Klang Valley and other big town had similar sight of one-man guardhouse with roadblocks, what they’ll do is asks for your MyKad number – a nuisance during rush hour or during festivities where your relatives comes over– then, after obtaining your ID, they’ll let you pass and bury themselves in the guardhouse equipped with a FM radio. These guards, usually Bangladeshis or Nepalese, need wages, their wages were not borne by the tax collector, instead, tax payer had to cough additional money to pay directly to these guard.

Additional money were spend installing trident grills and other scary contraception that block the drains and other openings from any walking and talking organism. Give and take no chance, and the next thing they realized is they are living in the safety of their own prison, surrounded by these intimidating hardscapes of walls, barriers, gates and roadblocks replacing the green lungs and landscape.

A minister holding this portfolio, previously responsible for the education, loves making statistical headlines in the news. Powerful and confidence-inducing words like ‘improvements’ ‘extra personnel’ ‘crime reduction’ ‘mobile stations’ litter the daily, when something tangible are much comforting rather than rhetoric. Acid splasher, raided mamak stalls and snatch thieves; these would put a dim to our days and days ahead.

Like Apple Inc. announcing new products in San Fran with Steve Jobs looking all casual. You all know how Steve Jobs would begin his presentation boasting about numbers. Millions, thousands, hundreds in pie charts, graphs, quotations. Once in six months or so, a convention hall is rented and open for public to announce these claims in a eventful ways . ‘improvements’ ‘extra personnel’ ‘crime reduction’ ‘mobile stations’ … sorry, the safety of our citizen is not a matter of Applesque reality distorting presentations. Serious change is needed.

Back to Gandhi wise words: “One can measure the greatness and the moral progress of a nation by looking at how it treats its animals”. Logic is animals couldn’t speak, and if they were given certain rights and protected properly, it’s a guarantee, humans can go beyond that. But what we have witnessed here, animals are left to rot by persons which had been entrusted, and humans sooner or later may fell to that state of despair where its fine to rot, a green light given by the people we entrust. Today, our level is borderline – cukup makan. and who cares, we are not aiming to be a great nation after all.