iam blogging - by gmo

The city is your platform, use it!

Choose wisely!  One of the common prejudices passed down generation to generation is that in which apparently it does not matter where you are working as long as you are working.

Truth is, it does matter.  It is [still] important in the world of brands where your base is [even if you outsource the cad-monkey section], and where your work is based.

If you act within a top city, you get buzz and attention a lot faster.  That will allow you to contact people who are worth working with, and will enjoy moving near.  The quality of your work is as strong as it's worst team member.

Think strategically, not only practically, if where you are is going to help you get where you want.  If not, dare to MOVE! You can't stand still or the world will pass you by in a heartbeat.

If you are not taking advantage of the city, be certain the city will take over you & your work.  Just as the city can enable, it can destroy!

HAVE FUN!!!

What Why When Where

If you can't answer the four W's, and tell a story about it, stop wasting other people's time...

I've sat through my fair share of presentations that are not only disrespectful of my time, but make those presenting look stupid, to say the least.

Presenting doesn't just happen for most people, and audiences will rarely tell you how bad you were.  Invest in a digital video recorder, and a voice recorder.  Rehearse!  Write a script, but never ever read through a presentation.

Deliver a clear & emotional moment, or you will just look stupid.  This does not mean dumb it down for everyone [they might be unprepared], but if your diagrams, body language, but particularly, passion are clear, you will get a long way.  Please, be strategic.

Believe in yourself & the message.  If you don't, neither will others.

HAVE FUN!!!

You gotta start with yourself!!!

Want people to pay you for a "design"???
Have you started by accepting your own fee???
How is your apartment, how is your office, how is your car, do you walk???
Do you invest, quality wise, the same you expect others to invest in you???

Why must other people do it if, for starters, you won't...

Great things can only happen if you start by talking the talk and walking the walk.

HAVE FUN!!!

Posers

What do you answer to the simple question: who are you?

Do you state:
former partner of
graduated from
worked for
posy of
bank account worth of
son of
grants from
earned this much
winner of

Or do you remember that you are, above everything else, a unique individual.  You are you, not your degrees, not where you studied, the money on the bank or what's not...

Your actions do speak for you.  Therefore, be careful what you work on.  It does not have to be built work, it does, however, have to be interesting.

After 4 years of trying to figure out what is it that you are, go back, see what you have worked on.  Next time you want to prove who you are, remember, everyday you can rewrite your own history.  Don't let time go by, look back and say, "all I do is write this and the other, while i should be doing strategies, competitions, objects, etc"...

DARE TO BRING IT...  or accept your boring faith!  but don't hide behind work you don't like doing by saying: "i need this because it pays"...

HAVE FUN!!!

The Dark Night Heath Ledger

Great is not a matter of depth, it is a matter of spin...

Every possible movie in the world has already been made and explored...
Then Heath Ledger kicks in...  You know, it was a very old batman story...  It was up to him to make it interesting...  He delivered in an amazing way, the passion came through the screen and into our realities, for way more than 3 hours.

If you are in an environment that makes you feel "stupid"...  Ok, maybe you ARE stupid...
But it is up to you, to make stupid work for or against you...
Maybe all the time stuck in bureaucracy has made you feel the need to be competent...  incompetent is better!!!

If you are afraid of the last paragraph, you are basically telling me HOK & SOM are no different from OMA & BIG... 

Who would want to make a coffee company?...  Shit, those guys from Seattle were doomed from the beginning, weren't they?...

Stop being afraid of yourself and engage in the challenge of dealing with big ol' squares, and remember, naive is better than prejudiced every day...

HAVE FUN!!! [seriously, if you are not having fun by yourself, you are doing something wrong]

Betting against people returns high revenue!!!

Two case studies of how only time could tell about implementing public <strike>actions & codes</strike> policy:

Government against the people from Copenhagen, who had firstly reacted towards the idea of turning traffic filled lanes into pedestrian streets by saying: "We are not Italians.  Those Mediterraneans like walking the streets and using plazas.  We are Danish, with this weather, we enjoy A/C and driving cars".  The municipality did not listen to the public, and in 1964 it went on implementing pedestrian streets and investing in the embellishment & reprogramming of collective space.  That 50+ years later, the city neighborhood has become filthy rich gained value [to the point where people can no longer afford to live in it].  It's population has the highest level of health in the world because culture changed and people walk or use a bicycle [which means the government has to spend less money in their health-care-system].  And it is known as one of the premium tourism spots in the world.

Government against the people from Spain.  When developers were forced to include social housing [at first unofficially], they complained that people would not like to live next to the poor.  And around the same time when people were given the tool to get together, re-divide land and selling it with higher potential as long as they took care of urbanization costs, they complained too.  Now, 40+ years after the fact, people have no issue getting organized to sell their land; and have no problem with the idea of sharing their building with the "poor".

Culture takes time, but if you dare think in the long term, you WILL make a difference.

HAVE FUN!!!

Fuck Simulation Time Will Tell

My mother taught me since young the difference between doctor's position towards prescribing drugs in England vs third world countries.

Doctors in England were used not to prescribe any drugs, while third world ones love writing those special little notes that make them so unique.  And we are talking about drugs that had gone through all the testing phases and even more, than all other countries require.

My granduncle is a doctor who married an English nurse.  He had explained my mother when she came back from England when young, that the reason for it is as follows: "no matter what great testing and simulations you can perform on drugs, you can only really know about secondary side effects until after 50-60 years of use".

Time IS a factor, because amongst other things, it allows cultural change, meaning "to truthfully test interactions within the network".

Cities are just the same.  To implement change, it takes both time and continuity.  Remember, daring to go beyond "what people say" or the pragmatism of "we are -insert country name here-, we are so unique", will yield more value in the long term.

Cultures are created with time, and can change... with... you guessed it... time!

HAVE FUN!!!

Cell Design

Picture yourself, in an old cliche suburban kind of life.  You have two kids, a wife, a dog and a backyard.  You have a job that allows you to have an income to subside not only your life, but their life as well...
Imagine, though, that your children were unable to get a job, ever.  You are getting older, but are able to keep on supporting them.  Eventually, your kids marry a couple of great looking, but unwilling to work women...  Suddenly, they are having kids, and you decide to keep on supporting them...  Remember, your resources are limited...
You quickly realize, what you should have done is organize your family so each member would generate his/her own resources.  And, if they become a network, they will even start making more money...

Well, what about architecture.  Every time you release one of your cells strategically into the Wild City, it must be designed with a [chunking] pro-active open protocol/attitude, rather than the typical [draining] daddy-so-rich-i-will-stay-afloat-no-matter-what scared-of-outsiders closed object.

If you are part of public actions, remember, it is not that you think of your city as a spawn-of-the-devil business.  The best way to ensure that your actions become politics is if they can take care of themselves and the network [think how many sons and grandsons you will have in four years... and that you still take care of your father, grandfather, etc...].

Chunking is not a new-agey technological term.  It is the logic by which nature creates life.  Talk about intelligent design...

HAVE FUN!!!

A FREE AUDI TT FOR YOU!!!

Imagine in today's high-recession economically challenged world, waking up in the morning, getting down the elevator, opening the door, and suddenly, the most fabulous Batmovile Audi TT is sitting there with your name on the plate, and keys on the ignition. It is also a super secret version that runs completely on some sort of renewable energy; so you don't have to pay gas or taxes for it, ever.... Ok, hold that thought for a minute.

Imagine, opening your door, to a car that might be new or not. It looks just like any other car, worse, it looks cheap. It is in a hideous color, it even smells funny. You drive it a bit, realize, the gas payments for it are more per week than your rent. When people look at you they have this what-was-he-thinking face. And it turns out, it is not only expensive for gas, you have to pay special taxes for it being under-par to international standards, even though it was made in your country. Now hold THAT thought for a minute.

Let me add this to both equations, the car was a government gift to you, for being you. Just like you can tell the difference in getting one car over another, how bad you feel when you get the second one. Keep in mind, you got it for being you!

Public architecture in a city IS that car. There is no less-is-more in public actions [of course, a good strategy can make you win more, with less, but if the starting point is mediocre-at-best, the rest cannot get better]. Remember, you gotta start with yourself.  Barcelona, Bogotá, or even certain actions in Copenhagen, are good examples. If your public action, being only the 10%-15% of a public operation, are excellent, the result of the entire operation may be excellent. But you cannot start by mediocre... The tipping point is in the public action, not only on the great strategy.  And it is not only about economical quality... public actions are not only actions, they are public policy. So if you make actions that hide the city [Biblioteca JV, Monumento Bicentenario], what policy are you engaging in?

Public actions can make the people feel better or worse, but more important, they CAN make people feel SPECIAL.

HAVE FUN!!!

90+ minutes

What is the difference between a great team and an average team?
90+ minutes.  Everyday you will see more how those 4 or 5 final minutes make the difference.
A "smaller" team will make it's best effort, but due to physical, mental, strategic, and technical differences, their best effort will at most, allow them to be in the game for about 89 minutes.

The bigger team is so confident in both the strategy and the players, that from minute 1 to 90+ you see them work on the other team. They have a plan. But if that plan fails, they have individuals who can see beyond the plan and change the game themselves. The whole team has to be the best, and willing to work hard. Newbies will get there, but slowly it takes time. It is as much about the collective as it is about the individuals... That is what gets you through the full 90+ minutes.

In the future, if not already, the same goes for architecture firms. Stronger firms who are able to go from point A to B faster, smarter, and delivering a better experience in every step of the way will dominate the international scene. Almost good is not good enough. Good idea is not good enough.

There is no room for almost!  You've gotta bring it be great for the full 90+ minutes.

HAVE FUN!!!