Every young architects dream is to visit Abu Dhabi and Dubai
because it is a playground for designers.
Today I visited Abu Dhabi; tomorrow I will visit Dubai. Abu Dhabi is a brand new city built in the
middle of a desert. Skyscrapers appear
on a new block almost every month. Rapid
construction is possible because of the abundance of oil in the country. This is a city that makes their own islands
and waters their entire land just to get grass to grow. Talk about a waste of money!
Seeing Abu Dhabi today has been refreshing and exciting because for the past 3 weeks we have visited old ruins and historic sites. Everything here is new and modern, much more my style. As far as design goes there are several great precedents for sustainability, but there are also several bad ones. A Ball State CAP Alumni, Dan Renders was our guide for the day because he has worked and lived near the city for several years. His current job is the director of sustainability for the World Cup in Abu Dhabi. He showed us around and pointed out several of the projects he worked on. We also go to visit a Gensler Studio where another Ball State Grad showed us the ins and outs of his job dealing mostly with design.
So many projects today were very inspiring for my hometown project. It is amazing how much you can absorb by being in the place. So many projects are being constructed that there is always something to do. I realized though that I would hate this kind of working environment. It is so impersonal. In most cases you are given design requirements, expected to find the quickest solution, and get it sold as soon as possible without getting to know the client. I want to know who I am designing for and make an impact with that design. I do not feel like hardly any project here is personal. I would be so miserable with my life.
Rod was explaining today that if we were not passionate about working 24/7 on a design then we might as well pack up and leave, in a joking manner of course. I am passionate about architecture but in a much different way that most people. Architecture will never consume my life; it will just be a job to me. I am not driven by big firm jobs and fat paychecks. In this career you are not successful unless you make it to the big cities. My job someday will not entail any of this, I can promise you that! It will be different. I am so very excited to find out what this job will be, if in architecture at all!
The weather here is absolutely perfect compared to where we have been. It is 75 degrees and sunny! The long trek here ended up being worth it in just one day. We began in Cappadocia with a 10 hour bus ride at 6:00 a.m. followed by 4 hours of waiting at the airport, and finally a 4 hour flight. The flight experience was definitely not as bad as my previous one, except for the extreme heat! I am pretty sure the whole flight was about 80 degrees inside the plane.
Tonight Dan, Devin, and I went to eat at The Warehouse, a restaurant/bar suggested to us by Dan Render. It is basically an American Sports bar, but you would be surprised how comforting it was after a month of foreign travel. Another comforting experience, I washed my coat for the first time! I knew it had to be disgusting because I soaked it 3 times, and every time the water was a dingy yellow. I really miss the concept of a washer and dryer. I just feel like things do not get as clean in the sink as they should. It is the little things that seem to make and break this trip for me!
Seeing Abu Dhabi today has been refreshing and exciting because for the past 3 weeks we have visited old ruins and historic sites. Everything here is new and modern, much more my style. As far as design goes there are several great precedents for sustainability, but there are also several bad ones. A Ball State CAP Alumni, Dan Renders was our guide for the day because he has worked and lived near the city for several years. His current job is the director of sustainability for the World Cup in Abu Dhabi. He showed us around and pointed out several of the projects he worked on. We also go to visit a Gensler Studio where another Ball State Grad showed us the ins and outs of his job dealing mostly with design.
So many projects today were very inspiring for my hometown project. It is amazing how much you can absorb by being in the place. So many projects are being constructed that there is always something to do. I realized though that I would hate this kind of working environment. It is so impersonal. In most cases you are given design requirements, expected to find the quickest solution, and get it sold as soon as possible without getting to know the client. I want to know who I am designing for and make an impact with that design. I do not feel like hardly any project here is personal. I would be so miserable with my life.
Rod was explaining today that if we were not passionate about working 24/7 on a design then we might as well pack up and leave, in a joking manner of course. I am passionate about architecture but in a much different way that most people. Architecture will never consume my life; it will just be a job to me. I am not driven by big firm jobs and fat paychecks. In this career you are not successful unless you make it to the big cities. My job someday will not entail any of this, I can promise you that! It will be different. I am so very excited to find out what this job will be, if in architecture at all!
The weather here is absolutely perfect compared to where we have been. It is 75 degrees and sunny! The long trek here ended up being worth it in just one day. We began in Cappadocia with a 10 hour bus ride at 6:00 a.m. followed by 4 hours of waiting at the airport, and finally a 4 hour flight. The flight experience was definitely not as bad as my previous one, except for the extreme heat! I am pretty sure the whole flight was about 80 degrees inside the plane.
Tonight Dan, Devin, and I went to eat at The Warehouse, a restaurant/bar suggested to us by Dan Render. It is basically an American Sports bar, but you would be surprised how comforting it was after a month of foreign travel. Another comforting experience, I washed my coat for the first time! I knew it had to be disgusting because I soaked it 3 times, and every time the water was a dingy yellow. I really miss the concept of a washer and dryer. I just feel like things do not get as clean in the sink as they should. It is the little things that seem to make and break this trip for me!
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