A Night Out With the Architect, Article 1

Taking a break from my architectural writings, I wanted to share a new segment in my blog I call, "A night out with the architect". How lovely to share my night out with you, oh what fun. Maybe your thinking, this will be so exciting, it's going to be like watching (reading in this case) James Bond in a tux sipping a martini at the casino looking very cool, except it's an architect, even cooler! That would be nice come to think of it but unfortunately no. This night out would be spent with friends talking about things like science, math, space travel, wine and architecture which is not so bad, right? Maybe you wanted to read about Bond as architect or actually learn something about architecture but instead you get "this".  Oh how nice but hey, don't give up on me, this still could be interesting. A night spent with special friends or inside my head usually leads to some cool discussions, you may just enjoy it.  Last night was such a night with my good friend, Esteban, a graduate of physics from Stony Brook University who has some interesting views about the world which are rather unorthodox (half the time I have no idea what the F*#@ he is talking about but it sounds pretty cool). We talked, we watched some videos like,  "The Wine magician" by vice. (check out the link) After watching the magician I had to move on to more pressing issues. One thing I had to get off my chest that evening was something that has been bothering me lately; hitting the glass ceiling with every thing I do. Ever feel that way? In this overly competitive world I feel I'm alone in my endeavors, (FLW truth against the world? No I'm not that profound) it's hard to get ahead even if you are very talented, it's simply tough. I'm not talking about doing well for yourself and achieving a comfortable living, I'm talking about breaking out to the upper strata of achievements. But it seems when you get to a certain level some mysterious force tries to stop you from climbing higher. I get to a certain point and my universal resource runs out - it stops providing and boom, everything stops; great architecture, great ideas, great times with friends, great wine, etc. Maybe your wrong you say, just as Esteban pointed out, and you are resisting being open to the universe and its abundance. As we all know, those of us who subscribe to the new age notion "the world provides just what you need", allowing abundance to enter your life does not amount to much.  Universal abundance can feel like being one with the wind; you feel it as it just blows by with a shiver leaving you nothing. Maybe we need actual abundance in the way of some real help. Ever watch the movie Avatar? Holy you know what, watch the end credits roll, an army of thousands helped put that production together, lord. So what's my point? I'm not sure. Esteban reassures me, just as he's about to move out of the country, that the world will provide if you allow it. I did tell you these were discussions, not Monte Carlo high stakes poker? One last comment on this topic for all you people out there feeling the same way: JK Rowling's Harry Potter was rejected no less than a million times by publishers, (I think at least a dozen declines) likewise Brad Meltzer's Decoded rejected 20 or so times but they didn't give up and eventually broke past the "mysterious forces" holding them back (Regretful publishers in this case). Ah ha, maybe there is a lesson here to be learned; NEVER deal with people who don't recognize your genius....um, maybe just never give up as the old saying goes.

Ok, another topic we discussed was the way of the genius (cough, cough...clearing the throat here) No, I'm not some MIT or Stanford superstar nor a budding Einstein but hey a man can dream can't he? So Esteban noted some of the greatest thinkers in history from Leonardo to Fuller all have gone into nature for their greatest contributions to society (relieving themselves was not what I meant). Nature is the greatest teacher they concluded and  Esteban believed this to be so as well. Made sense to me as I looked at Esteban and nodded in agreement.  I added to the conversation and noted to my esteemed guest I remembered watching a Frank Lloyd Wright interview where he said, " I spell god with a capital "N"", nature that is.  We also touched upon how the martial arts are inspired by nature ( ahem, Brown belt here, 1st degree Karat"ae" as Ross Geller from friends would say ) So moving on from the shoulders of giants (Like Newton, my Principia is on it's way)  Esteban asked me for some design ideas about a research lab he has been asked to help design in Costa Rica. He mentioned he had in mind "round" earth ship type structures which have great seismic resistance (apparently Stanford university says so he read). Well as an architect I discouraged him from having preconceived ideas and told him to start working from the inside out (Function my boy!) even disregarding the seismic thing for now-I wonder if that is like telling an airline pilot to disregard gravity for now, that's kind of odd? well that's what I told him. So with that Esteban quickly sketched some crude ideas and said "what do you think of that?" I said I see but, but, but what about this what about that, what the hell are you doing? Brilliant insight I offered as you can see (I also added very informative thoughts like what about that thingamajig etc. and laser sharp questions like what are we designing again?) With that understanding and absolutely no knowledge of the thing I was about to elucidate on I hastily drew some "infamous" napkin sketches architects are known for (see image below) Anyway, I thought they were killer. Esteban just stared at the damn sketch for minutes without saying a word, then put it down and picking it up again  stared at it like it was some secret code from space until it was time for him to go. Yes, it was a Steve Urkel kind of moment for me. He liked it all right I thought as a sly grin appeared on my face, he just wasn't saying  so....