WE ARE COMING BACK SHORTLY.

The Architecture Joint Crit 3 Submission has passed. We Are FREEEEEEEEE! No, not free of charge though.

Anyway, today i would like to talk about... nothing.

This has been a boring post to waste your time.

Thanks for reading!

Now i'm starting to wonder whether i should get married...

Comic from explosm.net

The unhappy professor
Challenge the impossible

Background
There is a story about a grumpy university professor who was always bitter and angry. In fact, he was so grumpy that many postgraduates were afraid of him. Finally, one student gathered enough courage to ask the professor why he was always grumpy. “Well, you see,” said the professor, “back in the sixties when I was as young as you, we came up with the ideas for everything that is now a reality: the mobile phone, the automatic lawnmower, computers networks and so on. And now, when all this is possible, I retire in a year.”
The poor professor was bitter because he had not been young in an age where the electronic circuit was small enough and cheap enough to be fitted into anything and everything. He was annoyed because it was no longer technology that stood in the way of what could be developed, but the human imagination.
Learn to question the statement that images are impossible to do. Today’s rapid development means that it is now possible to accomplish many things that were previously considered impossible: otherwise, our thoughts run the risk of stagnating. As we solve yesterday’s impossibilities, so must we find new impossibilities to solve tomorrow.

Activity
Describe something in your organization that is currently impossible, but which will soon become possible to achieve. Describe the effect it will have when the impossible becomes possible. How can you benefit from these changes?

Mich suggested a webpage to me.... Here's one of the posts that i've read.


Here are some of the best comments by lecturers and professors I’ve come across, most of these quotes are from online blogs reading (archinet), some are from words of mouth while others are first hand experience, read also the second part of presentation crits 02, here goes:

“Why are you here? Don’t come back next semester.”
“Here’s a quarter. go call your mom and tell her you’re not going to be an architect.”
Your design is like masturbation, you want to know why? That is because only you yourself enjoyed and like it.
What is that boxy thing (model)? A coffin?
Your design sucks!
Your design is very tasteful… … for the tasteless.
“Is this a … structural… glob of glue?”
“When I went to school, at a different school than this one, there were students who would present projects like this one.
And they would fail.”
“Your project looks like something that’s been through a trash compactor”
“This space that you’ve designed is the type place where beggars and dogs go to die”
“Are you in interior design?”
“Why are you studying architecture if you’re producing things like that?”
“Hey, everyone, gather round this project, come in close…because this is a great example for everyone of exactly what NOT to do..”
“This drawing isn’t worth the paper it is printed on.”
“This (model) is great…..just don’t let your dog play with it next time.”
“The program you invented was meant solely for your architectural masturbation……”
If you build this and after 10000 years the aliens see it, they would understand why humans extinguish
“Have you ever considered a career in accounting?”
“oh, so it’s like some kind of orgy pit!”
“So your parents are pay $20000 a year for this.”
“Your theory is bullshit. You don’t need that”
Prof pointing to part of a model, “Did you chew this?”


For more posts, check out this webpage: http://blog.miragestudio7.com/

Metaphors are strong mountains
Realize the value of identifying metaphor

Background
We think in metaphors-and we do it more often than we realize. A metaphor is an excellent way of explaining something new by using a toolbox of old experiences.

Have you ever realized that we often use metaphors taken from the world of birds to describe ideas? We brood over a thought, hatch ideas that are as delicate as eggshells and when an idea really take off, it soars away on the wings of creativity. The whole idea process is similar to that of a bird’s development.

Another classic example arose when a group of arms manufacturers were developing a new weapon for the air force. They could not come up with any ideas, so a member of the group suggested that they change metaphor. “Imagine that we’re in the desert”, he said to the others. “Describe what you see.” “I see a cactus,” said one. “I see am oasis”, said another. “I see a sidewinder”, said a third. A side winder is a snake that hone in on its prey by detecting its body hear. Suddenly, one of the engineers had a brainwave. “Couldn’t we make a missile capable of detecting the heat from an enemy engine?” they worked on this idea and developed the highly successful heat-seeking missile, the Sidewinder.
Which metaphor best describes your branch? Which metaphor have you chosen for the problem you are working on now? It is often the case that we have not identified the metaphor that is relevant for us. And by not identifying it, we cannot see if the metaphor that is relevant for us. And by not identifying it, we cannot see if the metaphor has forced us into corner or not.

Activity
How can we generate ideas by developing a metaphor? Can we create a nest of idea? Can we feed newly-hatched thoughts? Must an idea cry out for food? Do migratory ideas develop best by flying south when winter comes? Try to develop the idea/egg/bird metaphor.
Always try to identify and develop the metaphor that forms the basis of the idea you are currently working on.

Edison’s idea quota
Understand the importance of coming up with a multitude of ideas as opposed to a handful

Background
Thomas Alva Edison was a man who realized that you had to come up with many ideas in order to have one good one. Edison was, undoubtedly, an inventive genius. He held the world record for the greatest number of inventions. He invented the gramophone and the incandescent light bulb, developed a storage battery and improved film projectors as well as founding what is today the world’s largest company, General Electric.

Edison realized, however; that good ideas do not come about by themselves, so he enforced an idea quota on himself and his employees. His own quota was this: A minor invention every ten days, and a major invention every six months.

Activity
Force yourself to come up with more ideas! When facing a problem, think of 50 different solutions. Many of ideas will not be good ones, but chances are that the first ideas will not be the best one anyway. Practice finding many solutions to many problems. Make a habit of asking yourself, “What other ways are there of solving this problem?” do not give up until you have thoughts of at least three new solutions. Remember that there are always different ways of solving a problem.

Beep! Beep!

Dare to change branch-and find a hidden treasure of untapped ideas.

Background
What would happen if Nokia and Sony Ericsson suddenly started producing cars? Well, you might be able to choose the ring signal-in other words, you could choose different horn melodies.

There is no doubt that car designers are innovative. They come up with many new ideas, like side airbags. However, the longer you work in a certain branch and the more expertise you have in your area, the harder it gets to look at your branch with new eyes. Quiet simply, familiarity breeds contempt.

As far as the car designers at Ford are concerned, the car’s horn is so taken for granted that they do not even question it. In the world of cars, the horn is always found on the wheel and when you press it, it goes beep. Even 21st century cars have little picture of an 18th century bugle to signify the horn’s function.


Activity
Bring in outside experts to solve a problem, or use your own expertise to develop a branch that you have no experience of. Best of all: take a couple of people from different branches and see what solution they come to with together.

By the way, what would a mobile phone developed by Ford’s designers be like?

The Idea

Thomas Edison understood the importance of writing down his ideas. He always had a notebook (or ‘idea book’) on him in which he wrote down his thoughts, ideas and observations. This jotting down of ideas was something he got from Leonardo Da Vinci, who produced a large number of sketches, notes and scribbling, often written in left-handed mirror-writing.

Edison may not have used backwards or reversed writing-but one thing is clear, he did write. He jotted down an idea as soon as it came to him. Whenever he was stuck or lacked inspiration, he went back to his note-book to see if he could come up with any new ideas from the ones he had already written down. After Edison’s death in 1931, an amazing 3,500 notebooks were found in his home.

This book hopes to follow in the footsteps of Edison and Da Vinci and motivate you to write down all your ideas. Make sure you do! Jot your idea down even if you think it is a mediocre one. Who knows? Sometime in the future you may develop a couple of roughly-written thoughts into a brilliant idea!

Fredrik Haren

Very interesting. If you can see clearly, you'd see Albert... No, not Albert Jee, Albert Einstein. BUT if your vision is blurred, e.g. short sighted, you can see Marilyn Monroe.

How did they do that...!??!?