May 14th gibberish, part 1.
I had a good day today.
I got a lot of sleep and came in to work around noon time. At work, I got a forwarded email of an interesting photo taken by our colleague in Dubai from the top of the Al-Burj tower, currently the tallest tower in the world and is under construction. Because of the height, it looks like a photo taken from a helicopter and shows a spectacular view of the skyscraper-tops on Sheik Zayed Road surrounded by clouds. All the buildings are literally on the clouds and you really feel like floating in the sky. I have seen these kind of photos of Dubai before on internet blogs but this one is much more interesting.
Now, looking at this photo, there is a conversation in my life that I always remember vividly because it teaches me an important lesson about life. It was toward the end of the senior year in high school. I sat down with a friend on the side of the soccer field and we started to chat about what we are planning to do after high school. I told him, I am planning to study architecture. He sneered and told me something that sounds like this “Why do you want to do that? Aren’t those people job just imagining something absurb and building on the sky or on the clouds?” At that time, I think I didn’t response anything and maybe deep inside thinking: “Really? Wow… that’s actually pretty cool and better than what I have in mind, thanks!” And on top of his discouraging comment, almost most of my family, except my oldest sister, had no clue about what it is and were not very supportive as well.
Looking back at that moment (and this particular Dubai photo), my friend was prophetically right on, however, that is also only one of many other exciting things from I architecture that I would come to discover. Until today, I am always grateful for that early impulse to pursue the path that I am in right now although it was kind of foggy and unclear at the time. I guess that’s what people call faith, right… So, the lesson for me is to always trust your dream and pursue it with passion and determination no matter what your circumstances look like at the time. It will not always be an easy road but it will certainly create rewarding experiences in life. So a note to myself: Paris, Firminy, Rome, Vienna, Amsterdam, & Dubai… wait for me.
May 14th gibberish, part 2.
Since a month ago, I have been helping a former professor and a friend to do some projects. I just want to say that I really enjoyed it. First, it’s great to work with a person you admire and whom has influenced you so much. Second, I just like the place and setting. They have a small office in one of the turn-of-the-century towers downtown. There are only three persons: Shn, Glz (my professor) and me, and everybody has a day job. The setting is very basic but I feel really cozy.
Occasionally we are accompanied by Kev, Shn’s 10 year’s old son. He is very smart and funny. He is also very close with Glz who is like a grandfather to him. So you can imagine the atmosphere in that office; a kid who is acting like, well, a kid; a father who is trying with all creative efforts to balance between making his kid comfortable in the office but also making him doing his homeworks; a professor who is acting funny and playful; and amidst all of these, all of is committing deeply in the act of architecture. I have a kind of “romantic” (not the romantic love’s romantic but the historical romantic era’s romantic) way of looking at the profession. For me, it feels like Clooney’s Good Night and Good Luck in how it portrays the profession of journalism or Salles’ Motorcycle Diaries in how it portrays idealism. Well, lastly for tonight, what I like about it is also to get a little bit of extra money to fund my other pursuits in life.
I had a good day today.
I got a lot of sleep and came in to work around noon time. At work, I got a forwarded email of an interesting photo taken by our colleague in Dubai from the top of the Al-Burj tower, currently the tallest tower in the world and is under construction. Because of the height, it looks like a photo taken from a helicopter and shows a spectacular view of the skyscraper-tops on Sheik Zayed Road surrounded by clouds. All the buildings are literally on the clouds and you really feel like floating in the sky. I have seen these kind of photos of Dubai before on internet blogs but this one is much more interesting.
Now, looking at this photo, there is a conversation in my life that I always remember vividly because it teaches me an important lesson about life. It was toward the end of the senior year in high school. I sat down with a friend on the side of the soccer field and we started to chat about what we are planning to do after high school. I told him, I am planning to study architecture. He sneered and told me something that sounds like this “Why do you want to do that? Aren’t those people job just imagining something absurb and building on the sky or on the clouds?” At that time, I think I didn’t response anything and maybe deep inside thinking: “Really? Wow… that’s actually pretty cool and better than what I have in mind, thanks!” And on top of his discouraging comment, almost most of my family, except my oldest sister, had no clue about what it is and were not very supportive as well.
Looking back at that moment (and this particular Dubai photo), my friend was prophetically right on, however, that is also only one of many other exciting things from I architecture that I would come to discover. Until today, I am always grateful for that early impulse to pursue the path that I am in right now although it was kind of foggy and unclear at the time. I guess that’s what people call faith, right… So, the lesson for me is to always trust your dream and pursue it with passion and determination no matter what your circumstances look like at the time. It will not always be an easy road but it will certainly create rewarding experiences in life. So a note to myself: Paris, Firminy, Rome, Vienna, Amsterdam, & Dubai… wait for me.
May 14th gibberish, part 2.
Since a month ago, I have been helping a former professor and a friend to do some projects. I just want to say that I really enjoyed it. First, it’s great to work with a person you admire and whom has influenced you so much. Second, I just like the place and setting. They have a small office in one of the turn-of-the-century towers downtown. There are only three persons: Shn, Glz (my professor) and me, and everybody has a day job. The setting is very basic but I feel really cozy.
Occasionally we are accompanied by Kev, Shn’s 10 year’s old son. He is very smart and funny. He is also very close with Glz who is like a grandfather to him. So you can imagine the atmosphere in that office; a kid who is acting like, well, a kid; a father who is trying with all creative efforts to balance between making his kid comfortable in the office but also making him doing his homeworks; a professor who is acting funny and playful; and amidst all of these, all of is committing deeply in the act of architecture. I have a kind of “romantic” (not the romantic love’s romantic but the historical romantic era’s romantic) way of looking at the profession. For me, it feels like Clooney’s Good Night and Good Luck in how it portrays the profession of journalism or Salles’ Motorcycle Diaries in how it portrays idealism. Well, lastly for tonight, what I like about it is also to get a little bit of extra money to fund my other pursuits in life.