Site Story: A Tongue Twister

This happened a long time ago, when I was still working in the Philippines. My boss then was one of the more famous Filipino-Chinese architects in the country. Naturally, as the flow of Philippine economics goes, he had a broad base of Filipino-Chinese clients.

We designed a house for one such client, and we were retained by him to supervise the construction when the designs were done. As soon as construction began, the client was like a permanent fixture at the site as he made it a point to be there everyday and see what was going on. His daily visits made the assigned site superintendent seem superfluous, and as most of us with site experience will attest, that is not the best situation for a site superintendent to be in. Sooner or later something has to give, and soon enough, something did give.

The construction was about 2/3rds done when the client had this big confrontation with the site superintendent. It was the day that the door jambs were being installed. The client, with his heavy Chinese accent, had been pointing to one particular door jamb that was installed and shouting: "tangilid! tangilid!".

Hoping to remedy the situation, the site superintendent immediately inspected the door jamb to see if it was indeed "tagilid" (the Filipino term for "askew"), as he understood the client to have said. Going over the door more than once, he found the door to be adequately squared. He then proceeded to tell the client that everything was fine. The client, however, was still very much livid and was still shouting: "tangilid! tangilid!", until he was red in the face.

Unfortunately, the superintendent did not know how to speak Chinese, which really shouldn't be a problem in the Philippines, however, the client couldn't speak much Filipino either, and when he did try to speak Filipino, it still sounded like Chinese.

When I first heard about the ruckus, I really wanted to help, but unfortunately, even if I was a Filipino-Chinese myself, my Chinese sounded like Filipino.

I know it's messed up, but let us just move along shall we?

The shouting by the client continued: "tangilid! tangilid!".

This time though, the frustrated superintendent had a shout of his own: "hinde! hinde!".

It was a good thing that my boss had come to the site before things had gotten worse. And better still, my boss was a Filipino-Chinese who can make Filipino and Chinese sound just about right at the level of human comprehension. He spoke to the client immediately to get to the bottom of things.

As it turns out, what the client was in fact trying to say was that he thinks the jamb is not made of Narra, his preferred kind of wood, but was instead made from Tanguile, a lower class of wood. He felt that the contractor was ripping him off. So it wasn't the door being "tagilid" but being made of "tanguile" that the client was so hopped up about.

My boss, inspecting the jamb soon came to his own conclusion and said, "Tangilid nga!".

Of course, the "tangilid" - I mean Tanguile - was soon replaced with narra and the world was right once more.

layman and designers' lingo

hi! i'm doing an article on the terms that laymen (e.g. karpentero, tubero, etc.) commonly use. do you know some? i'd appreciate if you can share some of your experiences on the field, especially your first exposure to construction and talking to construction people (funny anecdotes?). on the other hand, what terms do designers use that confuse clients (and construction people as well?). like, do clients really know what a water closet is? post comments here, or email me at amillah.rodil@summitmedia.com.ph.thanks!

Architect Philip Johnson Dies at Age 98

By VERENA DOBNIK, Associated Press Writer



NEW YORK - Philip Johnson, the innovative architect who promoted the "glass box" skyscraper and then smashed the mold with daringly nostalgic post-modernist designs, has died. He was 98.

Johnson died Tuesday night at his home in New Canaan, Conn., according to Joel S. Ehrenkranz, his lawyer. John Elderfield, a curator at the Museum of Modern Art, also confirmed the death Wednesday.


Johnson's work ranged from the severe modernism of his New Canaan home, a glass cube in the woods, to the Chippendale-topped AT&T Building in New York City, now owned by Sony.


He and his partner, John Burgee, designed the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, Calif., an ecclesiastical greenhouse that is wider and higher than Notre Dame in Paris; the RepublicBank in Houston, a 56-story tower of pink granite stepped back in a series of Dutch gable roofs; and the Cleveland Playhouse, a complex with the feel of an 11th century town.


"Architecture is basically the design of interiors, the art of organizing interior space," Johnson said in a 1965 interview.


He expressed a loathing for buildings that are "slide-rule boxes for maximum return of rent," and once said his great ambition was "to build the greatest room in the world — a great theater or cathedral or monument. Nobody's given me the job."


In 1980, however, he completed his great room, the Crystal Cathedral. If architects are remembered for their one-room buildings, Johnson said, "This may be it for me."


He got even more attention with the AT&T Building in New York City, breaking decisively with the glass towers that crowded Manhattan. He created a granite-walled tower with an enormous 90-foot arched entryway and a fanciful top that seemed more appropriate for a piece of furniture.


The building generated controversy, but it marked a sharp turn in architectural taste away from the severity of modernism. Other architects felt emboldened to experiment with styles, and commissions poured into the offices of Johnson-Burgee.


Most were corporate palaces: the Transco II and RepublicBank towers in Houston; a 23-story, neo-Victorian office building in San Francisco, graced with three human figures at the summit; a mock-gothic glass tower for PPG Industries in Pittsburgh.


"The people with money to build today are corporations — they are our popes and Medicis," Johnson said. "The sense of pride is why they build."


But his large projects at times ran into a buzz saw of criticism from local preservationists and even fellow architects. In 1987, he was replaced as designer of the second phase of the New England Life Insurance Co. headquarters in Boston after residents complained about the project's size and style.


Critics unearthed a quotation he had made at a conference a couple of years earlier: that "I am a whore and I am paid very well for high-rise buildings." Johnson said later his choice of words was unfortunate and he only meant that architects need to be able to compromise with developers if they want to see them built.


Philip Cortelyou Johnson was born July 8, 1906, in Cleveland, the only son of Homer H. Johnson, a well-to-do attorney, and his wife, Louise. After graduating with honors from Harvard in 1927 with a degree in philosophy, he toured Europe and became interested in new styles of architecture.


That interest became his life's work in 1932, when Johnson was appointed chairman of the department of architecture of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. That same year, he mounted an influential exhibition, "The International Style: Architecture 1922-1932."


Johnson was especially enthusiastic about the work of the German architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, who called for designs that express a building's structure in the most direct and economical way possible. Under such a doctrine, if a building is supported by steel columns, they should be left visible instead of being masked behind stone or brick.


In 1940, Johnson entered the Graduate School of Design at Harvard, studying under Marcel Breuer and testing some theories in a controversial house built in Cambridge, Mass., in 1943. After a stint in the Army Corps of Engineers, he returned to the Museum of Modern Art, designing its west wing in 1951 and the sculpture garden in 1953. He left in 1955 to open his own design office.





Johnson worked with his hero by designing the interiors for Mies' influential Seagram Building on New York's Park Avenue, which was completed in 1958.

Johnson's New Canaan home was built in 1949, a triangular arrangement on a three-level site that won the Silver Medal from the Architectural League of New York in 1950.

Johnson was awarded the Gold Medal of the American Institute of Architects in 1978, and the following year he became the first recipient of the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize. He was an astute collector of art; what he didn't have room to display at home, he gave to the Museum of Modern Art.

Toward the end of his life, Johnson went public with some private matters — his homosexuality and his past as a disciple of Hitler-style fascism. On the latter, he said he spent much time in Berlin in the 1930s and became "fascinated with power," but added he did not consider that an excuse.

"I have no excuse (for) such utter, unbelievable stupidity. ... I don't know how you expiate guilt," he says.

He blamed his homosexuality for causing a nervous breakdown while he was a student at Harvard and said that in 1977 he asked the New Yorker magazine to omit references to it in a profile, fearing he might lose the AT&T commission, which he called "the job of my life."

In the 1950s, Johnson reflected on his career and what he hoped to achieve.

"I like the thought that what we are to do on this earth is embellish it for its greater beauty," he said, "so that oncoming generations can look back to the shapes we leave here and get the same thrill that I get in looking back at theirs — at the Parthenon, at Chartres Cathedral."

Dear Mr. Architect,

Please design and build me a house. I am not quite sure of what I need, so you should use your discretion.

My house should have between two and forty-five bedrooms. Just make sure the plans are such that the bedrooms can be easily added or deleted. When you bring the blueprints to me, I will make the final decision of what I want. Also, bring me the cost breakdown for each configuration so that I can arbitrarily pick one.

Keep in mind that the house I ultimately choose must cost less than the one I am currently living in. Make sure, however, that you correct all the deficiencies that exist in my current house (the floor of my kitchen vibrates when I walk across it, and the walls don't have nearly enough insulation in them).

As you design, also keep in mind that I want to keep yearly maintenance costs as low as possible. This should mean the incorporation of extra-cost features like aluminum, vinyl, or composite siding. (If you choose not to specify aluminum, be prepared to explain your decision in detail.)

Please take care that modern design practices and the latest materials are used in construction of the house, as I want it to be a showplace for the most up-to-date ideas and methods. Be alerted, however, that kitchen should be designed to accommodate, among other things, my 1952 Gibson refrigerator.

To insure that you are building the correct house for our entire family, make certain that you contact each of our children, and also our in-laws. My mother-in-law will have very strong feelings about how the house should be designed, since she visits us at least once a year. Make sure that you weigh all of these options carefully and come to the right decision. I, however, retain the right to overrule any choices that you make.

Please don't bother me with small details right now. Your job is to develop the overall plans for the house: get the big picture. At this time, for example, it is not appropriate to be choosing the color of the carpet. However, keep in mind that my wife likes blue.

Also, do not worry at this time about acquiring the resources to build the house itself. Your first priority is to develop detailed plans and specifications. Once I approve these plans, however, I would expect the house to be under roof within 48 hours.

While you are designing this house specifically for me, keep in mind that sooner or later I will have to sell it to someone else. It therefore should have appeal to a wide variety of potential buyers. Please make sure before you finalize the plans that there is a consensus of the population in my area that they like the features this house has.

I advise you to run up and look at my neighbor's house he constructed last year. We like it a great deal. It has many features that we would also like in our new home, particularly the 75-foot swimming pool. With careful engineering, I believe that you can design this into our new house without impacting the final cost.

Please prepare a complete set of blueprints. It is not necessary at this time to do the real design, since they will be used only for construction bids. Be advised, however, that you will be held accountable for any increase of construction costs as a result of later design changes.

You must be thrilled to be working on as an interesting project as this! To be able to use the latest techniques and materials and to be given such freedom in your designs is something that can't happen very often. Contact me as soon as possible with your complete ideas and plans.

PS: My wife has just told me that she disagrees with many of the instructions I've given you in this letter. As architect, it is your responsibility to resolve these differences. I have tried in the past and have been unable to accomplish this. If you can't handle this responsibility, I will have to find another architect.

PPS: Perhaps what I need is not a house at all, but a travel trailer. Please advise me as soon as possible if this is the case.

Source: http://www-users.cs.york.ac.uk/~susan/joke/archtct.htm

everyday miracles

i am so proud of my little sister!!! she's doing something for the greater good. please support her worthwhile project! i'll post a banner and a link on my sidebar once i come up with a suitable banner art. in the meantime, copy and paste this message and send it to your friends. thanks!

January 5, 2005
Dear Friends,

You know that the Christmas season and its accompanying joy and cheer is coming when the months start ending with 'ber's. This year, however, the coming of the 'ber months also brought with them a number of calamities. Locally, a string of typhoons hit the Bicol region and triggered a number of other calamities that killed thousands and left more homeless. More recently, an earthquake hit the coast of Indonesia, causing a huge tidal wave to engulf countries such as Sri Lanka, Thailand, India, Maldives, Africa, etc. Today, the death toll stands at a total of 139,394; the destruction was so bad that some countries have even stopped counting. While we may seem far from all the pain and destruction, I am compelled, as I see the various images and read the news about the aftermath of this calamity, to do something about it. The world as we know it changed on December 26, 2004, and we have to do something about it.
When typhoons Winnie and Yoyong hit our country, Ateneo set up Task Force Noah and collected donations from people to send to the badly hit provinces. Working as a volunteer for two days, it amazed me to see how hundreds of people- strangers- from all walks of life put aside their differences and worked together to help those in need. In the end, we were able to deliver more than 6,000 relief good packs as well as provide clothing for those in need. It was then that I realized how powerful the human spirit is. Hence, the birth of the project: A Million Miracles.
As the effects of the tsunami leave thousands hungry and homeless, I feel that the most basic need that has to be met right now is to have an ample supply of food and clean water. A Million Miracles' goal is simple: to raise Php 1,000,000 (or almost US$18,000) and have this letter reach at least 1,000,000 people in 1 month. This money will then be forwarded to the United Nations World Food Programme, under the name of the project, so they can use the money for their different feeding programs for the tsunami victims. (For more information, you may refer to http://www.wfp.org/.)

You can help in a number of ways.
You can send in your pledges or inquiries to me through: amillionmiracles@gmail.com, or 0917-5183720 with the amount you wish to donate and when you plan to donate it.
Then you can give me the money personally or by depositing it in the bank account I have opened for A Million Miracles. (BPI FAMILY BANK ACCOUNT NO. 6856-0434-42). ** anonymous donors may deposit their donations directly to the bank account as well.
You can copy this letter and send it to everyone you know, who will hopefully, send it to other people and let the news spread.
If you would like to be updated every week on the status of the project, please leave complete contact information with your pledges so that I can keep you updated. Any amount you wish to donate will be greatly appreciated- from sacrificing your Php20 bag of chips to your Php100++ cup of Starbucks coffee, or giving up a part of your allowance or salary for the month; any amount will surely go a long way to achieving this dream.
Now, you may ask, what guarantee do you have that I am not just one of those con artists tugging at your heart's strings? Although a resume and an NBI clearance may be available upon request, I guess all I ask from you right now is to have a little faith in a 20-year-old who wants to reach out to those who are in dire need of help.
While Php1,000,000 may seem like a lot right now, and raising that much money in just 1 month sounds even crazier, I am taking a leap of faith, and I pray that you will take that leap with me.

Sincerely,
Minnie L. Fong

new year's resolutions

got this of an egroup mail... just thought it's funny, and wanted to share. has nothing whatsoever to do with arki stuff =D
~~~
Are you sick of making the same resolutions year after year that you never keep? Why not promise to do something you can actually accomplish? Here are some resolutions that you can use as a starting point:

1. Gain weight. At least 30 pounds.
2. Stop exercising. Waste of time.
3. Read less. Makes you think.
4. Watch more TV. I've been missing some good stuff.
5. Procrastinate more. Starting tomorrow.
6. Break at least one traffic law.
7. Spend more time at work, surfing with the T1.
8. Take a vacation to someplace important: like, to see the largest ball of twine.
9. Wait around for the next big opportunity.
10. Stop bringing lunch from home: I should eat out more.
11. Create loose ends
12. Get in a whole NEW rut!
13. Start being superstitious.
14. Associate with even worse business clients.
15. Mope about my faults
16. Never make New Year's resolutions again.