23 May 2022 Monday - what do architects do all day?

6.45 a.m. game of tennis with Kelvin and Ni at the club before Tay collects me for our studio at UNIMAS

An idea which I saw at the back page of the AJ (Architect's Journal, RIBA) many years ago, in which architects describe their day in a series of photographs (Polaroids) - some depict structured time management in neatly cropped snapshots while others show a chaotic day rushing from airport to local council to site and back again in blurry images taken on the run. 

We thought we would invite our readers to do the same - describe their day in a series of images and short captions - I'll start. And I nominate Chai Si Yong to be the next contributor.

9.30 a.m. Crit at UNIMAS with Ar. Nurina and Ar. Abg Razali; who were invited to review our students' work.

11.30 a.m. once a week we take turns to cook lunch at the office

.

1.30 p.m. Hotel refurbishment project - site visit with sub contractors to finalise M&E routing

2.30 p.m. TV room extension - inspecting recently struck concrete wall.

3.30 p.m. - afternoon tea with the MD

5.00 p.m. COVE 55; a trip to the seaside with mom, to check defects rectification.

6.30 p.m. last minute tidying up before dinner, Dory stands guard.

6.30 p.m. last minute tidying up before dinner

9.00 p.m. doodling after dinner, listening to Stephen Fry on Qi

23 Feb 2022 Wed Job-sites

notes after a site meeting, I drew this

Today was spent at job-sites: Cove at 10 a.m. followed by PD Residences at 2 p.m. and then the Impiana Hotel (with Freddie). 

We make it a habit to visit our project sites at least once a fortnight; not just to inspect built works, but to allow the builders an opportunity to ask questions about upcoming tasks, to show samples and mock ups. It is time consuming but it cancels the impression most consultants and builders have that once the architects come to the site it is to solve PROBLEMS. Meaning that shit has happened, bringing with it negative connotations - it is better to treat the site visit as a work session - with the builder and his sub-contractors.
 

notes after a meeting, the builder drew this (and later built it)