Expectation vs Reality 3.1

Technology is the answer.. or is it??

Smart cities just need smart citizen. Agreed!!why??smart citizen willing to learn, willing to change and to adapt. Easy.. why adapt?why learn?if we can provide anything easily without has to learn how to use it?(user-friendly phenomenon, blame apple!!)

Now this what sustainable is

Everything will change, for those who refuse to learn refuse to change, definitely extinct. (Darwin theory)
The second article is an old article that I've been looking for the past week. Implement the technology within current condition or infrastructure or building. Rather than implement "green certified" stuff, collaborate what are already exist and increase the performance as well as efficiency. And that needs a lot of things to learn.. or re-learn. Although it's just a concept, but it's quite realistic and implementable.

Apple 2??

Apple, blackberry, all of these are less complicated if they just a fruit.
Google environment, seems like Google trying to mimic the Apple phenomenon back in early history of this company. I don't blame Apple for it, but it seems that we are running out of new, fresh idea.

Google tried to create a very nice working environment where people can work almost everywhere. And it seems that strategy slowly but sure infiltrate to other sector. Remember the global shifting trend?

I wonder how is it going to be in the next decades..

There was a sound-wave.. and now?? LASER!!

New toy!!

Old and ancient building always fascinating us by their beauty and sophisticated technology used within the era. My question is.. is this the way of cracking down the code of the old wisdom?or is it just a phenomenon for short term?

Expectation vs Reality 3.0

Below articles talk about smart cities. My last lecture mention about masdar city. My first thought was.. smart cities and remember all of these articles.

Not smart enough cities

Almost smart cities

Yet so close to smart cities

So.. Expectation vs Reality 3.0. What is the relation?

The last Expectation vs Reality (EvR) 2.2 summary that all about adaptation. This Blog will tell you how and try to picture what is it going to be when you archived the position of 'already adapt person'.

First article mention about 'not so' sustainable masdar city. In my opinion?even a starchitect like Norman Foster could made a mistake. Anyway, the title of the article talk about smart cities that require a good Architect. It doesn't have to be the best, but a good one.

Second article talk about utopian idea. Talking about the same idea with the first article. It is true that smart city development needs a very neat planning system. And that is where Architect needed. Or is it??

Last article. Simple..smart cities just need smart citizen. I agree with that.


Smart cities is a city that needs gigantic amount of data transfer. What for?information.. what else??remember the article about shifting global trend?people can work everywhere??yup that's it.. You can work almost from everywhere but you have to stay in the grid, yes?simple.

Now, why do the smart cities need smart citizens?simple, smart citizens ready to change easy to adapt.. once again, ADAPT!!

Forget about flying cars!!start to change your behaviour!!

Shall we have fun a little bit??

Behaviour

So.. for the sake of sustainable environment!!change your...behaviour!!change your car to electric car will no make any better when your behaviour still the same.

My opinion??Let see.. I'm not an expert in environmentalism, nor in engineering, but I do love huge horse power and nice engine noise.. VRROOMM!!

The test was clear.. Although you have a AM DBS (which is my fav), or Murcielago (second fav), or R8 (also fav), or McLaren (nooo..) or Ferrari 599 (never!!). You still can be.. environmental friendly.. eventually..
Seriously, the result was hmm.. astonishing.. 5 cars, super cars, average 2-3 miles/gallon (141.2 litres/100kms - 94.2litres/100kms) (0.71 km/litre - 1.06 km/litre). Speed??hmm.. average.. for racing..

599 is the worst.. only 1.7 miles/gallon.. *phew*

R8 is the best for 5 miles/gallon

So, next test.. Toyota Prius!! *go go environment!!* truth is.. in long run it will do more damage for the environment than the Land Rover Discovery.. according to Clarkson according to recent study.

Prius vs M3.. M3 build for.. well.. speed.. Prius?1.5L inline 4 cylinder engine M3?414hp 4.0L V8!!

Result??
Prius: 17.2 miles/gallon (16.4 lit/100 kms) (6.1 km/litre)
M3: 19.4 miles/gallon (14.6 litres/100 kms) (6.85 km/litre)

"it is not what you drive what matters, it is how you drive it" -Clarkson-

Bottom line is??Behaviour!!problem solved..

Closed Environment (R-Rated article)

Wikipedia Snowpiercer

Anyone has watched this movie? titled Snowpiercer if you haven't, and wanted to watch it?skip this blog, it's a spoiler!!

"But, what is the movie that has anything related to sustainability?"A lot!! trust me.. see the title of this blog?"Closed Environment" with R-Rated.. You will see why..

Now, get to the business.


Ok, despite all the problem about environment, nature damage, etc, etc.. what's the root problem that cause it? My opinion.. GROWTH!!population in this term.

The movie represent that problem nicely. In the real world, we control the population by limit the birth rate using any kind of plan, policy, provision, etc etc. This movie has the same way in terms of population control using plan, policy, provision, rules, constitution, etc etc. But, it is not the birth rate they limit, but increase the death rate. How??simple.. Kill those who is no longer beneficial to the support the life of the entire population. (see why I put R-Rated, don't worry, I'll explain the details)

So, the movie talk about sometimes in the future where the earth...frozen. It doesn't matter why and how. The point is human try to survive by living inside a moving train (closed environment).

Train. Consist of the Locomotive, and the carriage behind. The more at the end of the carriage the lower the quality life and the higher the population. Just like in the real world's socio-economy pyramid.

So, as always the poor at the end of the carriage try to fight to the front, to the locomotive to put end to the misery. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, as a closed environment, they put a very strict rules to keep all the population alive. It's a good reason thou. So, the riot escalate, almost everyone from the back already reach the middle of the carriage, and only one survive till the front of the carriage. Guess what?it's already predicted. The riot is a good reason the ruler can eliminate more than half of the population, I mean, KILL them, no, slaughter to be precised. (R-Rated)

Why I said it represent the real world?obvious. The train just like the whole world, when in the end over-population happen, guess what's going to happen??don't worry it's not going to happen in this millennia.

Natural Disaster!!It's a disaster!!!

Apolicity (Apocalypse City)

Architecture that respond to the natural disaster event!!

Whhoo... Hold it right there!!!-me-

First of all, I disagree if we always said "natural disaster". Why?we said it "disaster" because we see it from our perspective. Human perspective. Human, Homo sapiens. Not the other species. Yes, it's racism..

Look at other species. They never complain about "natural disaster". They have the instinct to adjust with what happen within the nature.

Natural disaster basically is natural activity. What's wrong with that?Some of the design seems kind of challenge the nature. Like "ow Tsunami?we will build a Tsunami resistance structure".

If they said that it's the way they adapt?then It's a bad adaptation process. As I mentioned in previous blog about adaptation and mitigation?both must come hand to hand.

The nature will always has its cycle. Activity means the nature is actually.."alive".

The only adaptation that also mitigation is move away. Sounds easy but hard to be done.

Moving!! But I don't agree the way they say "abandon". The coastline is already there, we just a temporary visitor. The lease contract is finished with no option of extending the lease. Period.

Expectation vs Reality 2.2

Recap!!

Problems:
1. Shifting global trends
2. Student demand better studying environment
3. Employee working in "green certified" building is not as happy as they though it would be

Before we continue, lets crack down the problem a bit..

1. Shifting global trends

What: Office space is no longer as high-demand as it used to be. The space is more likely shrink due to "working everywhere" trend.

Why: Internet. People can work remotely, they don't have to be in the office, as long as they are in the grid.

How: 1. Company down scaling the area they rent for the employee working space for efficiency (cost and time)

          2. Employee looking for better working environment, salary not first priority, learning and creativity emphasised.

2. Student demand better studying environment

What: Student (Architecture) think that current studying environment is not good for mental health

Why: Bad facilities, no creativity enhancer in the environment

How: No mention

3. Employee working in "green certified" building is not as happy as they though it would be

What: Low satisfaction of the working environment in office building with "green" certified

Why: "old dog new tricks" no good. Old building new upgrade with no match at all.

How: No mention

Soo.. There are 2 main perspective on why the employee feels not satisfied. First is from the building POV. It is an Old building designed in very specific functionality let say 25 years ago. Green certified is a new "game rule". That old building?didn't designed to fulfilled the new "game rule". So?working environment satisfactory?low!! 

Second is from employee perspective. They were a student, probably did not satisfied with their studying environment, expecting getting better when they got into the office. Truth is?nope. Even worse then they expected (building perspective).

And.. with the new trend, where the company is no longer put the office area as the main priority of the corporate strategy?.....the story is completed.


Solution??Let see..

From the 3 things above, which part we could work it out a little bit??

Yes.. the employee factors.. It's a all about behaviour.. ADAPTATION!!-again-

we can work almost from anywhere right?as long as we're in the grid. Even though not inside the grid, the working task could be save and uploaded later. Easy!!

Sounds simple?not really.. behaviour changing process could be a pain in the a** (sorry about that).. yes, it was based on my own experience.

Ok.. Enough.. bottom line is adaptation once again. I will continue next time. Leave it here for now. As always, please, comment, critics, idea, or whatever it is.. and if you are Indonesian?feel free to write it in Indo language.. Bahasa Indonesia mungkin lebih gampang, No problem..

Lets dream a lil bit.. What Architecture means for you?

Architecture is more than just a building

Video collection



What a building means??...home?working space?party (wwoohhooo)?

Put it smaller scale.. What a thing or stuff means??...tools?machine?

Louis I Kahn emphasised that every "thing" has a purpose. "what a thing wants to be". I didn't read the book nor know him personally. But this is what I remember, that every single item serves a purpose, even brick wants to be something.

Put it back to the larger scale..

So what a building wants to be??what Architecture wants to be?or... what Architecture could be??

It's more than just a building.. and yeah!!!!I like it!!

Architecture has to serve larger purposes. Not just a building or a city or infrastructure. I don't have to explain a lot, the videos tell everything.

A picture worth a thousand words. A video is a collection of a picture stacked within a second (frame per second FPS). You may start the words count..

Expectation vs Reality 2.1

Lets continue..

So far.. we have 3 main problems;

1. Shifting Global Trend

2. Student demand better learning environment

3. Employee working in "green certified" building is not as happy as they though it would be

Question!!what is the relation of the second problem with another problem??

Here is what I think.. and this will be another problem.. 

The student who used to work (study) in uncomfortable environment, begin to expect better condition when they walk in to the industry. (This is really my  opinion, very subjective, and vary to each different individual and preferences.)

And then, when they finally found out that working environment is no better than the studying environment they begin to...transform into denial condition. For example?ever heard people said, "this is the real world, it's hard, face it"

"but what is the relation with the building?green certified building??" remember the article mention about employee satisfactory is lower than expected when they work in an LEED certified building?compare to non LEED certified.

Lets put it in time-frame. Currently the trend is toward "green development". Every building, especially new building, will try to hit the "green" score, as high as possible, as well as the grade. A-grade, Prime-grade office space. But the old building will not reach "green" score as high the new one?obvious. (remember LEED is pretty young?)

After GFC, there low numbers of new development, as the risk of uncertainty is increasing and the new trend that people can work almost everywhere (global trend).

Soo, the student, graduated, job-hunting, got a job in a premium office space, found out is not as good as the expectation. How come?blame the "green" trend. The office building is old, but forced to applied the "green". As result?uncomfortable. Period.

"Why?isn't it good for the building?Structurally?Aesthetically?Functionally?"

Straight answer!!NO!!!because, every building, during the design process has the expected lifespan. Means, within the lifespan the Structure, Aesthetic,and Function already determined. Hands up Architecture student, you now it. And that is the way old building designed. Most of the building already 25 Y.O. or more. LEED?young adult.

So.. now what??I'll leave it here.. still more to go.. As always, ideas!!

Substitute.. We need a teleportation device!!

I'll start this blog with a question..

Can we replace our tools or equipments that we usually use everyday, that mostly fabricated, with something that already available in the nature??

A question pop up in last lecture (29 May 2014).

Here is what I think.. Yes and No..

Yes we can in someway, no because probably it means that we will do more damage to the environment.

Yes because it means that the materials is from the nature and it's very environmental friendly, no because unlike manufacturing process, it takes more time and probably not enough for "demand" from the market.

and probably more yes and no answer.

Now, lets take an easy common example. Let say technology. Technology itself, is a culture, why?a culture is a product produce from human thinking processes. Technology is a product produce by thinking process, so it's a culture. Simple.

The problem is, that thinking product, is a product that we produce to mimic something that already exist in the nature. Well no every stuff applied this premise but most of it. 

Technology itself created for makes humans life easier. Let say.. cellphone.. O by the way any news about new iPhone??can we teleport yet??..

I'm not sure we can substitute cellphone from something that available in the nature. Ok, not the entire cellphone, maybe some part of it. Owwkkeeyy.... which part I wonder??

Probably that's the reason why technology company that realise their product probably use no nature product in significant percentage, focusing the environment responsibility for another part of the product, for example?the packaging. Some company even focusing on their Corporate Social Responsibility. 

I have no answer for this question, if we talk about "frankenstein materials"?probably more applicable. I'll talk about "frankenstein materials" next time.

As usual, comment, idea, opinion, or news about new iPhone, feel free to shout it out!!

Expectation vs Reality 2.0

Ok.. I'm back in the grid.. After 3 deadly weeks, no personal computer (using the lab computer), 18 hours working each day.. 

Anyway.. Business as usual..



In this blog and the next few blogs I will try to wrap-up a bit about 2 previous blogs. "Questioning the green" and "Expectation vs Reality" about architecture student studying environment.



How to wrap it up?by adding more problems.. *grinsmile* but this time.. Things get serious a bit.

 It's hard to read.. I'll summary it for you.. 


See why I said a bit serious?Financial Review.. yes.. I'm a "green".. If you know what I mean..*grinsmileagain*

Both articles from Financial Review Thursday 15 may 2014 page 38 and 46.

The first article mention about a new trend in office space market. Especially with the new Barangaroo development with 30,000 sqm new space.

 "The work space of the future are going to need to be a learning venues, an innovation environment and social environment" says Brad Krauskopf chief executive of Hub Australia. "You can do your work from anywhere. You're going to need to have a lot more reason to want to come along to a space" He added up.
This is the new trend where flexible space, office space, is a must by the tenant. Why?? it's connected to the second article. Emphasise in the second article, the preference among tenants is for "cost-effective space" that drives productivity and adds value to the business.

In my opinion?the company no longer need a large office area for their company, since everyone can work remotely almost from everywhere. The company tend to invest their excess money not to rent more space but to "rent" more innovation, creativity and of course in the end will keep the company competitive.

So.. After the GFC in 2008, the industry seems coming back on track although not as strong as before GFC. That is the main reason they tend to think more on their core business. Because the actual fact that most of the company expenditure goes to the building expenditure (rent, maintenance, etc) and human resource (salary for the employee). This is, I think, the main reason for the trend shift.


A bit heavy?not really I'll leave it here for the thinking.. Stay tune I have more.... problems to discuss.. 

As usual.. please, comments, critics, opinions, cheers!!!