missing architecture

I watched this youtube video on an architect's house in Edinburgh and it evoked a feeling I haven't felt for a very long time that is missing designing architecture. I rewatched it repeatedly and every time I have this feeling like I want to design an architectural space. It brought back nostalgia and the desire to create. The feeling came because his house is very playful, very personal, full of personality with a lot of interesting details. I always imagine if I were an architect I would want to create something strange, something whimsical, something asymmetrical, something playful.

I think this particular video speaks to me because most of architectural projects I see these days in Indonesia are just so boring, especially the houses. Most of them are those boring minimalist types with no interesting details. Almost all of them with very boring neutral colours. Especially in interior I think there is this notion that came from western influence how neutral and soft colours are seen as "quiet luxury" while bold colours are often on the opposite side of the spectrum. Either that or people worship Japanese minimalist design while not understanding the spirit, not having the sensitivity to details, not having the suitable materials, while also not having capable hands to achieve the proper workmanship.

I don't know. Maybe one day if the universe allows and fate decides to finally be nice to me I could have the opportunity to design and build my own space instead of just critisizing.

meeting tadao ando

I became aware that there would be a Tadao Ando exhibition in Osaka a couple of days before the trip. It was a part of Osaka Art and Design 2025. Based on what was on the event program, I thought it was going to be a single installation by the architect. I didn't expect to come to a big exhibition of his entire body of works. I certainly did not expect the man himself to suddenly showed up at the venue right at the time we were there. We were just finished going around the exhibition and was looking around the gift shop and he was suddenly there to sign his newly launched books. He also gave a short and intimate talk session.

Years ago there were protests against his work in Venice. I was at the Venice Biennale and around his exhibition people put stickers and protest leaflets. I can't remember what exactly the protest is, I would have to google it, but I know I agreed with the protest. And then there was this big model of a part of Venice that was made beautifully and very detailed by the young people who worked or interned at his office. There were photos of these young kids working day in and day out on the model. Seeing this evoked a certain disdain towards the architect. Because in my opinion to convey his ideas about the projects all the miniscule details on the models were not really necessary. This and knowing how working in architecture in Japan usually was, it felt like a form of exploitation. Although he gave plenty of credit to them it still felt rather distasteful to me.

So I wasn't particularly super excited about the exhibition, as I said I thought it was just a single installation. And also he's one of the biggest name in architecture, so I did want to see his works when I could. But then entering the exhibition, I read his note on the wall (third picture), and I was so moved by his writing I thought I lost whatever disdain I previously had. I was so used to architects and designers not giving proper credit and seeing how he put so much credit to the people around him, those who work for him and with him, collaborators, and even strangers, means so much to me. Architecture is often such an elite world full of people with ego and I really appreciate seeing someone big wrote a note full of humility and awareness. His whole tone of note I guess spoke to me to my current situation at the right time like I needed to read it. I only wished there was a translation for his talk so I could get an even better understanding of his thought and point of views.

osaka expo 2025

The Expo 2025 in Osaka was a lot different than the one in Milan ten years ago. We booked entry at 11.00 in the morning and we stayed there until closing hour at 22.00 and the total number of pavilion we got in to was five. Five pavilions and one common building (where countries who didn't have big pavilion had their own small stands). Compared to Milan where I got in to most of the pavilions. Most of the time we were there was spent queueing. To get in to one pavilion took about an hour or more in queue. In Milan I remember only queueing for some bigger and popular pavilions, such as Japan, and it didn't took like an hour just to get in.

My theory was that there were too few pavilions and too many people, because a lot of my favorite pavilions back then in Milan doesn't even have their own pavilions in Osaka, such as Chile and Vietnam. There were only a handful of big pavilions and a lot more smaller common pavilions. And in those big pavilions there were long interactive digital experience which took a long time, whereas before the designed experience was simpler.

The arena itself I felt was somewhat bigger. To get to another part of the Expo took a long time. And it being in Japan, the arena was very well designed. The famous ring designed by Sou Fujimoto provided shade, sitting area, and a beautiful upper level area. The overall landscape and amenities buildings were also well thought of. Even though it was very crowded it didn't feel suffocating, it flowed very well. And the thing I admired the most was at the end of the closing day, where ten if not hundred of thousands of people were going at the same time to the one and only metro station to get back home, there were no chaos. They kept us walking round and round for a long time and by the time we arrived at the station, we got in to the train and head back home. Tiring but no chaos, no uncertainty. Just truly astonishing Japanese organization.

m+, herzog & de meuron

If you've been to Herzog and de Meuron buildings, it's very easy to be an admirer. Not because if the big name since a lot of the times even buildings by famous architects weren't as good in real life as what you knew and saw from pictures. Like how I studies and admired Zaha Hadid during my years of architecture school (at least her earlier decontructive works) but I really hated being in her buildings. Same thing with Bjarke Ingles (although I never really was a fan anyway).

In HdM's buildings it was completely the opposite. I was actually surprised at how good the understanding of space and flow is inside a weird looking building. It's easy to move and to be oriented. It's comfortable. Made me want want to see and study the floor plans.

Their materials, of course, goes without saying.

And then there's the craftmanship. The workmanship. That is impeccable. Every corners, every details, terminations, finishings. The consistencies. I couldn't know if they were done with authoritativeiron fists, but when I saw the end results I knew they were done by people who care enough to have such meticulous works.

All these is to say that if I had the opportunity to visit their buildings, naturally I would take it. I miss being surrounded by people who understand this. Who could appreciate it as much as I do. Instead of being singled out and mocked because I wanted to spend my time to see this. To see something good. To appreciate people who care. To see that it could be done.

I say this because it's fucking tiring to deal with people, on daily basis, who half-arsed everything. To work on shitty projects one after another. With people who couldn't care less. Who are there just to clock in and clock out. I'm not ambitious by any means I think everyone should be able to chill and live a slow life. I also understand being cogs in the machines working hard to increase the wealth of the capitalists we work for.

But I also think if we put a little more effort, it'll be a lot more easier for everyone. It's surprising really in this industry, at least in the shit city of Jakarta, how little people actually care about having a robust finished project. It's tiring to have to be a madman just because I wanna see for once a good result of what I work for. But honestly what could we expect really from people who believe they could have a good finished construction project just by working with whatsapp groups and occassional zoom meetings. If they even want to see one.

team deakins and the bear

During the pandemic in early 2021 I discovered the Team Deakins podcast. At first I thought it's probably run by people who admire Roger Deakins' works or maybe by his teams. I was surprised that it was he himself and his wife James who were (and still are) taking times to do a podcast. It was understandable of course because it was during the period of lockdown, some people might want to spend their time doing rather productive things. But it was a huge deal in my opinion that someone as accomplished and well respected as Roger Deakins would still have the curiosity to learn from his peers in the industry, a lot if not most of them are way younger than him, and from his colleagues working on other fields that is not cinematography. We are talking about someone that is widely regarded as the best cinematographer working today. 

I probably shouldn't be as surprised as I was but I work in the field of architecture where most architects I know are creatures of arrogance. A lot of them act like they have known everything that is to be known, even when it's not actually their field of competence. Even someone like Kaoru Mende who is a very respected lighting designer when asked by an interviewer about what's it like working with architects who won Pritzker Prize (a prestigious award for architects), he emphasised how important it is to respect each other. That other consultants, lighting designer or landscape designer etc, are not below architects to command but are equal collaborators. 

Another thing I admire from the podcast is that in the episodes Roger mentioned about how he still get nervous entering new projects. I think the question was asked by his fellow cinematographer who was also often nervous whether or not they can do the job. I found this very reassuring as I almost always think that I am still not good enough yet. I often get nervous about some things I don't really understand. It really says to me that we are allowed to be nervous. And that it is impossible to know everything even when you are already very good at what you do. 

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la muralla roja

i'm pretty sure i've seen the pictures of la muralla roja (the red wall) somewhere on instagram or pinterest but never really paid attention to it. and i think i always thought that it's somewhere in mexico because at a glance it resembles the architecture of luis barragán, the mexican architect, or something somewhere in india for its vibrant colors.

it's not until i saw it again here, that i realized that it's actually in spain! and it was by a spanish architect ricardo bofill which turns out to be also the architect who did la petite cathedrale, a residential complex in cergy-pontoise, which i'm familiar with.

had i known about this building before, i would have definitely paid a visit when i was living in madrid. i would most definitely accept the offer of my housemate to drive me to alicante, his hometown, which is very close to calpe, the town where this building is located.

i'm not usually drawn to color block but this one looks so beautifully picturesque like you can frame each angle as painting. the view from the inside of an airbnb in the building looks equally picturesque. this is the kind of architecture that i'm drawn to, the one that is humble and try to embrace the nature. simple but thoughtful. no gimmick and doesn't try too hard. and also, i think i'm starting to have a thing with the tone of soft pink aka salem *gasp*.

ps. all photos taken from RBTA, until the time i get to pay a visit.

urban terrace

i am not at all an architectural geek. as someone with too much interests, i must admit i'm not as deeply knowledgable as most of my fellow countrymen, who studied architecture, who i encountered when i lived in milan. although i will always carry it as my basic way of thinking and i'm still deeply rooted in it on daily basis (also when i go travel), i've long lost my appetite on contemporary architecture in the sense that i don't really care which starchitects do which new projects or who are the new emerging star in architecture. mostly because i'm no longer interested in flashy new buildings which are more often meaningless and out of context. they're just boring. aside from interior design which i've been doing for more than five years now, i paid attention more to urban issues, the city as container of activities. which was actually the subject i studied on my grad school.

one thing about grad school was that i started to learn again, and in the process of learning by doing, i somehow managed to narrow down and reshaped what actually really interest me, how my approach of design is, what my style is like, and those kind of things. it's like putting in structure who i really am architectural-wise and what my philosophy in this realm is. so when i first saw this building here i was immediately drawn to it. the simplicity, the materials, the color scheme, the grid, the transparency. i like how subtle it is, how it doesn't try to shout too much of itself like most new buildings are. and the more i read about it the more meaningful it is, how it's made for low maintenance and to last long.

and also, it's actually an open public building in the complex of paris saclay, which i believe i visited during this workshop, but i'm not sure since it was my first day and i arrived late and we were going from st.-germain-en-laye to versailles. whether i was in paris saclay or there was the director of paris saclay in the conference i can't remember hehe. and also, while the comue of paris saclay is south to paris, my thesis project was the comue of paris seine which is north west to paris. and it somehow reminds me that period of time. oh the good old time.

la biennale architettura

my third biennale di venezia but my first architecture biennale. and as always i didn't have enough time to go through everything and missed quite some interesting pavilions (including the spanish!). as expected it's more relatable than the usual art biennale i've been to. lots of interesting thought provoking ideas and of course too many presentation techniques to be admired. some of the most interesting pavilions include the australian (top right), which was the very last one we visited and it was a real refreshing ending. then the way thailand presented their idea about earthquake (bottom left) to me was really smart. there was an insane raw model making technique by a romanian studio which i could stare at for hours if my friend didn't drag me away (bottom middle). then there were also some that i hated like the one by ando, which actually made me disrespect the architect which i used to admire (bottom right).

but. the coolest of all was the little red creatures (left, second from top). the whole day we were confused, intrigued, and entertained by all these small red people spotted on most of the architectural models exhibited. turn out it's a project by codesign in which there are 1,255 red figurines corresponding to the 1,255,000 refugees that applied for asylum in europe on 2015. each are numbered and we are to put them anywhere, find them 'home', and upload with the hashtag #includeme. it was just brilliant.

i had lots of thought about the biennale but since i never went to previous architecture one, i couldn't really compare. but i have to say that i agree with this article here. it says, "for its proponents, architecture is about making nice things for paying clients and there it ends". architecture is always more than just that. i knew little about aravena prior to the biennale. but then i went to his talk in milan, and right there and then i was mind fucked and i learnt what a respected architect he is. plus he speaks fluent italian. impressive.

san vito d'altivole, veneto.

to be shamefully honest, i wasn't really familiar with the works of carlo scarpa before i got myself in italy. but since the time i knew him, the more i got to know his works the more fascinated i'd be. after the previous visit to his work, first in verona, and second in venezia, me and my friends visited one of the most notable works of his, this brion tomb and sanctuary.

it was quite a hassle trying to reach (and to leave) this small town, but it was all worth the fascination we got to experience that day. to say that his details are incredible really is not enough. now i'm never good at taking architectural photos so these pictures here might not do any justice to how poetic the space actually is. you can feel the influence of japanese culture on scarpa here. and somehow the thing that we couldn't figure out was how cryptic the building is. it has all these symbols that we didn't get. even his tomb itself looks somewhat cryptic.

after visiting the cimitero monumentale in milan where they have so many contemporary nice looking tomb, i told my friends that that place made me want to design a tomb. something which most of my friends back home would never get and would think that i'm crazy. now this one here is probably one of the best designed tomb i've ever visit. and a proof that a tomb can be a very cool architectural portfolio :P

weil am rhein, baden-württemberg.

talking about the vitrahaus (first picture), designed by herzog et de meuron i bet we all had that moment during architecture school admiring the shape and how graceful it looked on the luscious printed book in sharp photographs taken at night with all the lighting that makes it look extra lovely. that time it felt like it's a dreamy building located somewhere far far away, only existed on books and the internet. so when i finally stepped my feet out of the bus and saw this building right in front of my face, i was totally stunned. somehow it felt like something that previously only existed as an imagination finally came true.

and once i stepped inside, i have to say that for me it is a little piece of heaven on earth. it has all the interior design things which i had been working on for the past four years. every pieces of furniture, how the rooms were set, all the materials, every smallest details, how the accessories were displayed, i completely felt like a kid on her dream playground with all the things she wants. the building itself, architecturally is an exquisite work with all the nice details and neat construction work. to my surprise, despite the shape that looks irregular from outside, inside the building the circulation works really nice and it's easy to navigate. it's a complete different feeling with i experienced in zaha hadid's maxxi in rome, with ugly details, messy contruction works, and a very inefficient circulation for a museum.

in this vitra campus complex i also got to visit zaha hadid's fire station (second picture from the last), which used to be one of my favorite architectural precedent with the striking unlikely shapes, nice material palette, and of course because of the amazing paintings of earlier hadid's works. we didn't get to go inside the building because it no longer functions as a fire station, but from the outside somehow it wasn't that impressive to me. on the contrary i found it rather disturbing, the striking shapes. i don't know whether it's because i have long lost interest to most of hadid's works or simply because i'm no longer fascinated by crazy architecture trying hard to impress. i'm more into decent and poetic architecture that is closer to treating people's senses as human being.

in the complex we could also found buildings by all this star architects, like gehry, sanaa, siza, and ando. but the most memorable was of course the moment i got to finally touch ando's concrete (last picture). there's something about the sensation of seeing and touching something you've known so well for years and finally got to feel it yourself. haha.