the chic job

one morning when i was still too lazy to start working i flipped up some design magazines not sure what i was looking for. then i told my colleague sitting next to me, 'look at all these pretty pictures.. people must have always think about how cool it is to be an interior designer, to be an architect.. they clearly have no idea how hectic and stressful our works can be.' then at the very same day, a friend of mine who studied french literature texted me saying how chic and glamorous my job must be. i wanted tell her about how i spent that whole day just to find the suited fittings, hinges, handles, locks, and all that, for doors. not chic at all. and i wanted to rant to her how i've spent two freakin years producing stacks of working drawings for just one project and how i almost lost it all. not glamorous at all. but then in the end my advice is still the same, give credits and appreciation, there's always huge effort and hardwork behind everything.

in contrast

I never really fancy random black and white architectural photos because i think it's too boring. These ones i post here perhaps are also boring, haha. But the way the natural light hit certain places look somehow interesting to me. The pictures might not do it justice though, all taken and edited with iphone.

The place was still in such a mess and dirty and dusty. I don't know if I'm actually allowed to publish this. It's a mall. Under construction. What I'm trying to say is. There's a huge lot of effort behind everything so give some credit before we take everything for granted.

recreating reality

Why do we keep recreating the same reality? Why do we keep having the same relationships? Why do we keep getting the same jobs over and over again? In this infinite sea of potential that exist around us, how come we keep recreating the same realities? Isn't it amazing that we have options and potentials that exist, but we're unaware of them? Is it possible that we're so conditioned to our daily lives, so conditioned to the way we create our lives, that we buy the idea that we have no control at all. We've been conditioned to believe that the external world is more real than the internal world.

- from the movie about quantum physics, What the Bleep Do We Know

Speaking about jobs and reality, I once read in someone's blog a comment from a girl in Japan, she said that she doesn't fit in the nine to five job and she's still figuring out what suits her best, then she said, "Me and some friends are in the same situation. There are times that we want to quit. We call ourselves 'floating sh/t' waiting to be flushed and find our direction. Then, a friend was having problems, wanting to vanish in thin air. We told her, we're not FARTS! We're just floating sh/ts! We shall not vanish!". Kinda disgusting and corny, but I found it funny. Haha.

ps. Photo is one of my view everyday walking to my office. They look ten times cooler on midnight in the dead silence. I have couple of other shots (some with fresh fountains) but I think this one represent best what I'm writing here.

L'auberge Espagnole

"I don't know why the world turned into a mess like this.

Everything is complicated, badly developed and poorly written.

In former days you only had fields with cows and chicken.

Everything was much easier. In former days things were tangible.

You ate what you cultivated. You made your own clothes and house."

This is some kinda movie review essay (or rants), and will contain spoiler.

L'auberge Espagnole (The Spanish Inn) tells a story about a middle class French guy who applied to Erasmus program studying economy in Spain for a year in order to get a job at French government. He left his girlfriend in France and settled in a rented apartment sharing with a bunch of young people coming from Germany, Italy, England, Denmark, Belgium, and one local Spanish. Then the story developed from there. All the intrigue of living together, sharing a fridge, annoying landlord. Then there are school politics, language barrier, hangovers, relationship shits, affairs, break ups.

Read more »

rethorical

"How many architect have interest in graphic design?"

so I was asked.

life/career

“I don’t think of my life as a career. I do stuff. I respond to stuff. That’s not a career – it’s a life!”

— Steve Jobs

(via swissmiss)

the danish utopia

Found this article at a friend's blog and can't help myself not to post. The (rather old) article points Denmark as the happiest place on earth.

Danes in general had very little to complain about. Danes do have one potential complaint: high taxes. The happiest people in the world pay some of the highest taxes in the world -- between 50 percent and 70 percent of their incomes. In exchange, the government covers all health care and education, and spends more on children and the elderly than any country in the world per capita.

Those high taxes have another effect. Since a banker can end up taking home as much money as an artist, people don't chose careers based on income or status. "They have this thing called 'Jante-lov,' which essentially says, 'You're no better then anybody else,'" said Buettner. "A garbage man can live in a middle-class neighborhood and hold his head high."

Denmark is what is called a "post consumerist" society. People have nice things, but shopping and consuming is not a top priority.

And perhaps the bicycle is the best symbol of Danish happiness. Danes can all afford cars, but they choose bikes--simple, economical, nonpolluting machines that show no status and help keep people fit.

Having been "dealing" with some danish people these past few months doesn't make me believe they are as happy as it says*, but, damn, living in a city with thousands of things to complain every single day reading it is like reading about a utopia that can never happen. In fact, Denmark with the total area of 43,098.31 km2 has only 5.5 million population while Jakarta of 740.28 km2 has 9.5 million. Just imagine.

*maybe it's because this article was written in 2007 before the global economic crisis which also hit Denmark.

stare lassù

I so love this video and it reminds me of my experience being hung up above, thanks to my friend who works at a building construction site. This picture below is part of my university complex taken from a bucket hung by a tower crane about more than 5 floor high above the ground. It was scary at first looked at how small and fragile the bucket is, but once we get used to it, it feels amazing.

ps. another good one from Jovanotti. Love the concept of the video, the song, and his outfit.

sometimes it's better not to know

"Goddam money. It always ends up making you blue as hell."

~J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, Chapter 15

Feel so pissed today I couldn't help thinking about that Holden boy. I know money isn't everything but yes it could make you blue as hell.

split levels

So happy today because at work I'm currently making a 3d revit model for one of my favorite house. This is the kind of house that I always picture I'm gonna live in. Long and narrow but felt spacious, split levels of course (conventional levels is the most boring thing ever), lots of sunshine, each room is interconnected (loft style), library near bedroom, roof deck, and I love the fact that this house stands in a crowded urban context which I can relate to instead of some spacious land like you always see in most fancy architectural books. Even the details of steel, wood and concrete suit my taste perfectly.

Juranda house, located at Sao Paolo, Brazil, by Apiacás Arquitetos. Photographs by Pregnolato & Kusuki Estúdio Fotográfico

boys versus boys

Winning is overrated. ~ Al McGuire

All pictures taken with film camera, fuji400 2 years expired.

behind the scene

Inception sure is added to my top five must watched movies. The concept about dreams is intriguing and is executed very well by the director, Christopher Nolan. It's perfectly cast (well, except DiCaprio, which I never like, and which I thought played the role too similar with the one on Shutter Island). The antigravity scene is impressive. I'm admiring the whole movie I've watched it twice, but what I'm trying to write here is more about my admiration to the whole set. Kudos to Guy Hendrix Dyas, which also the production designer of Agora, Indiana Jones, and X-Men. I was impressed from the very first scene set in a Japanese room in red ambience with a lot of lanterns hung at the ceiling. The size of the room fits perfectly with the angle of the camera. Next I was impressed with the props at their "basecamp" where Ariadne has her first "workshop". And I was impressed reading about how they construct the long lobby that can be rotated 360degree to create the antigravity effect. The list could go on, but my point is..

Watching the "behind the scene" has always been my favorite part from a movie. I always have this curiosity and of how things are produced until we came to see what we see. I watched how they make a small scale model to construct a big set of houses inside a studio to make it look like Greece for the movie Mamma Mia. But it was not until I watch the movie Dear John, where it has this special feature on the dvd about the role of a Production Designer. Production designer is a term used in the film industry and television to refer to the person responsible for the overall look of a filmed event such as films, TV programs, music videos or adverts. Production designers have one of the key creative roles in the creation of motion pictures and television. Working directly with the director and producer, they must select the settings and style to visually tell the story. In Dear John, it is an interesting process how they must face the challenge of creating the scene of Mogadishu, Eastern Europe, and Afghanistan, all in South Carolina.

I am so willing to experience being a small part of an "art department" in a movie production without being paid at all. But local movie industry doesn't attract me that much, although it has shown some significant progress within the last couple of years. What I do for a living right now is too lame. I'm not even doing any architectural thing, and on the other side, I'm not sure if I want to be an real architect. The local beurocracy and politics in construction world which is full of corruption and dirty money disgusts me, I don't even want to think about it. And I think this movie art department thing sounds fun, although I know every field has their own negative drama.

do you hate your job?

I Really Hate My Job. At first I thought it's will be just a boring independent movie with a cheesy title to attract audiences. But the name Alexandra Maria Lara is quite interesting to me. Well, I'd say that I like this movie. I don't think I could give a logical reason of why and what makes me love this movie, which I thought has some scenes that are too exaggerated. Maybe it's the intensity and emotion that came out of each character and the difference between them all. I think this is somehow a realistic and down to earth movie which people could relate to. It's like I can feel these things really happening right now somewhere out there.

Oh, and I love their different accents.. hehe

one or two things

One or two things I like working at my current job..

* The morning! The chill, the beautiful blue sky with the greeny trees and spans of grass, the walk, the sound of birds chirping, the people wandering around with bicycle..

* The afternoon. Sometimes I got the chance to walk around the factory, the plant. Sometimes I just walk, sometimes I take pictures of anything and everything..

* The evening. When it's time to take off, when everybody burst out of office, on time, to the pick-up car park, it's nice to just observe people, blending together. You never know whom you'll get a chance to have a conversation with. Some walk in groups, some walk alone.. Until the cars (or buses) take off, and you'll spend your minutes on a freeway enjoying the view or fall in to sleep..

the work you love (reissued)

Somehow I really feel that I have to repost my older post.. No, it's not that I don't love my current job..And I won't say that I love it either.. Just as a reminder to not stop finding the one you can really settle on..

Here's an article by Leo Babauta, you can read the complete one here.

One of the keys to happiness — as well as productivity and effectiveness at work — is finding work you love, that you’re passionate about. Work you want to do, instead of just have to do.

1. It won’t find you — you have to seek it. Doing the same ol’ thing everyday isn’t the way to find the work you love.
2. You can’t stop looking until you find it. As Steve Jobs said, never settle. If you find something that’s just a bit better than your current job, that’s better … but don’t stop there.
   
3. You’ll have to look in lots of funny places. Really explore. Try new hobbies. Talk to new people. Read articles on different blogs, in different magazines and books. Inspiration might come from someplace you never imagined.
   
4. You might not love it completely until you get good at it. Most likely you’ll know that you love something once you find it … but at that point, you’ve got to work at getting better at it. Once you get good, it’ll be something you can’t stop doing, because you’ll get a thrill at doing something great.
   
5. Once you find it, you have to pour yourself into it. That doesn’t mean you should ignore the other loves in your life, including family and friends, but when you’re working, you should devote yourself completely to that work.

Here’s how to go about seeking your passion:

1. Break out of your routine, and dare to ask. You’ve got to stop what you’re doing and be bold enough to ask yourself if you love what you’re doing. And if you don’t, then what is it you really love? And if you don’t know, then are you going to look for it?
   
2. Spend time thinking about it. It’s good to take an hour or two to really think about the question. It’s worth the investment. Really think about what you love, about your life, about what you want to be doing.
   
3. Think of what you already love. Do you have hobbies you’re passionate about? What do you like reading about? What do you talk about with others? Is there something you always wanted to do but forgot about, or were too afraid to pursue?
4. What are you good at? What are your strengths? Do you have any talents? Is there something you’ve always excelled at? Pursue these things.
5. Take action. If you don’t actually do anything, you’ll never find it. Start doing research, start making calls, make appointments, take career assessment tests. Take action, now.
6. Explore new things. Try out new hobbies that sound interesting. Read about new things. Find new ways to explore — break out of your patterns.
7. Once you find something interesting, pursue it. Read about it. Learn, and try it, and do it, and get better at it. Don’t be afraid to pursue it — fear is what stops most people from finding this happiness.
8. Then take action - again. Now that you’ve learned about it, give it a try! You might be able to pursue it within your current job, or do it as a side job or just as a hobby at first. Write to people who are doing it to find out how they got started. Check out a few books on the library and do some research online to find out about the first steps you need to take — and then take them!

my city

I had a conversation with one of my friend abroad and when he said that he like this city more than that city he's currently living, i ask him why. He said, "Because there I can go everywhere by car and I can have my driver drive me anywhere". I was like, "..."

Sometimes I wonder if this city really belong only to those with cars, those who have sets of aircon in every corner of their house, those who.. argh I don't know..

p.s. There's this article about public space in city that you can read here.