bok tours

instead of just talking about architecture, why don't we go and see it?

the first "bok tour" was probably our trip to ayala museum last year, originally organized as a "bok talk." there were only three of us (me, fongi and johannes)who went. the highlight of that visit, for me, was the gaudi exhibit in the ground floor. the details of gaudi's buildings are simply amazing -- with some so weirdly intricate that you can't even imagine how he was able to draw them.

we had fun looking for trivial details (e.g. cats) in the philippine history dioramas in the second floor, and gawked curiously at the severed ivory heads of the saints in the third floor. i didn't feel like there was really much to see inside, but architecture-wise, the ayala museum is a sleek piece of modern architecture. i liked how you can see the landscaped gardens of greenbelt from the glass windows of the exhibit areas above.

while reading the sunday inquirer magazine, i read about two people who've been organizing tours to places in old manila, such as intramuros, quiapo and chinatown. one is carlos celdran, a graduate of the rhode island school of design, and ivan dy, a binondo resident and operations manager of a trading company. lucky for us, they both have blogs detailing the itinerary and schedules of their tours:

www.celdrantours.blogspot.com
www.oldmanilawalks.blogspot.com

i'd like to try carlos' walking tour of escolta and quiapo, or ivan's eating tour of Binondo. each tour has a reg fee of P450-P650, while carlos' binondo tour is actually free (you're also free to donate). if any of you are interested, we can join the scheduled tours or book our own (this needs at least 5 people). i think it's good to support these initiatives. so what'd you say?

Myths of Studio Culture Reloaded: Architects as Suffering Artists

Since I had posted the list of the “myths of studio culture”, there had been some reactions about the items that comprise the list.

As far as reactions go, some agreed, some disagreed and some made no sense at all.

As I had mentioned before, the American Institute of Architectural Students (AIAS) is responsible for the list of myths of studio culture. That is their opinion as a collective.

Of course other people are entitled to their own opinions.

I would say that based on my experiences, I absolutely agree with the AIAS with regard to their list.

As to the people who disagree with some items on the list, they had got me thinking now.

I'm thinking that the voices of dissent about the list could simply be because some items on the list are really not myths at all. It's possible that the AIAS is wrong about some items on the list. The people of the AIAS are definitely not perfect.

Seeing it another way, it can also be a testament to the validity of the potency of these myths. They are so powerful that they are very much ingrained in our consciousness to the point that we think they are not myths at all but absolute truths.

I believe that there is one particular myth that seems to tower above the other myths in the list. The funny thing is that it is not specifically mentioned but only hinted upon in the list. I think that this is because it transcends studio culture since we usually subscribe to its notion even way before and long after we are indoctrinated into the architect’s way of life.

This is the myth of the architect as a suffering artist.

This is such a big myth that most of us seem to use it as a gauge for integrity, merit, validity and even reason for existence in our profession.

See if your heart skips a beat when you read this:

"The greater I suffer the greater an architect I become."

Would that mean then that the happier an architect becomes the more mediocre he is as an architect?

Would it be wrong then for any of us to want to choose happiness over suffering since we would basically be saying that we'd rather be mediocre than great?

This is such a huge myth that I think I've actually just shot myself in the foot for even daring to mention it.

I'm not going to cry over it though because I for one would rather be a happy architect than a suffering one any day of the week.

Life is just too short.