A former intern/employee returned from studying and working in Japan and gave us a series of postcard photographs which he took during his stay there. He will return to Japan to start a new job soon. He was curious about several things relating to architectural practice. We had an interesting conversation over breakfast, joined later by another intern, who studied in Taiwan.
He had 3 questions for me, which I tried to answer as clearly as possible.
1. How would I rate his performance when he was working with us as a Part 1 architect assistant? He wanted to know in view of his new job which was in a large corporate company.
There were three of them (Part 1 grads on the verge of going for Part 2) and though they were all bright and articulate students they did lack an urgency to learn; to pick up new tasks which would teach them. They lack a certain seriousness about work. It is likely because work was 'temporary', and soon they will return to their real job; study.
Moving on, as architecture graduates they should be more responsive; offer opinions and ideas in an office situations. Bosses want to know what they are thinking, that they are engaged (and not simply observing). They should be eager to get things built. One of the ways is to be 'hungry' to get involved in the new projects that come into the office. (I mention new projects because this is the opportunity for them to inject a bit of their personal design thinking). Always be ready to have your hand up when there are new proposals to complete - even if you have a full plate already. These proposals usually require a short turn around time (which means that even if it disrupts your current work load/flow - it is temporary).
Some (Most) of these schemes may NOT take shape, or they are changed drastically from the original idea - these are important lessons for young architects, about tenacity, adaptability and humility.
2. What is architecture to me?
It was different things to me at different stages of my 'career'. In my 20s. I wanted to get things built, which caused me to ask the Projects Director for a project to take to site. (I was working in the Design Studio at the time, under the supervision of another Director). After he got over his initial surprise, he gave me a stack of manila folders with minor projects to be tendered and built. My first project in Kuching was the renovation of the Hock Hua Bank (now Public Bank) opposite the General Post Office. My client was Mr. Lim, whose son would later be classmates with Sean.
In my 30 and 40s, I wanted to have our projects published. And after we got a few published, we wondered if they might qualify for the PAM Awards - we submitted a few and some won prizes. This was an important point of my career as it caused me to frame my design thinking and approach, which was helped by invitations to speak at lectures and to teach.
In the last decade, I was interested in giving exposure to young architects; by inviting them to speak, to publish and to collaborate in projects. This was made possible (and easier) through my involvement with PAMSC.
3. What is your style in managing people?
He answered this question instead of waiting for my answer, based on his personal experience which extended beyond the office largely due to Sam's influence in HR. As we both get older, the people in our studio could really pass as our children. So, it seem natural to treat them as family, working together with care, consideration and deadlines.
He later remarked to someone that I ended up giving him more food for thought, rather than clear answers. The teaching continues.
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