Dear Architects, I am sick of your shit.

23 July 2007 | Category: Architecture Rumbling

PartIV has this really really interesting post - Dear Architects, I am sick of your shit, basically it is an open letter by Annie Choi as published in PIDGIN. It is a really long letter, personally I couldn’t agree more on the author - especially on the sleeping part.

I hate it when some architecture student brags about how much sleepless night they had or how long they’ve been awake, get a life Mr.Dracula wanna be. I know am gonna get lots of hate mail for saying that it is un-cultural to brags about one’s sleepless night, but hey, it really annoys me when people says how many sleepless night they had or how torturing architecture is, and I hate the word Architorture.

Architects love to discuss how much sleep they have gotten. One will say how he was at the studio until five in the morning, only to return again two hours later. Then another will say, oh that is nothing. I haven’t slept in a week. And then another will say, guess what, I have never slept ever. My dear architects, the measure of how hard you’ve worked and how much you’ve accomplished is not related to the number of hours you have not slept. Have you heard of Rem Koolhaas? He is a famous architect. I know this because you tell me he is a famous architect. I hear that Rem Koolhaas is always sleeping. He is, I presume, sleeping right now.

One more thing, there is no money in architecture, really? I would presume Rem Koolhaas is driving a second hand car and lives in a small apartment in a run down area.

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6 Comments

  1. andrew walker
    on July 23rd, 2007
    1

    Annie,

    Have your friend “the doctor” prescribe you a heavy dose of valium…you are way to neurotic.

  2. Calvin
    on July 24th, 2007
    2

    i was funny, i mean the letter, according to Annie herself in PartIV’s blog, she receive quite a number of hate mails… poor annie.

  3. Wu Jin Tze
    on July 30th, 2007
    3

    What can I say? Almost ALL successful architects I know have rich family or rich spouse who supports their practices. Two successul ex-boss of mine have rich developer wives. 3 companies I work for started by rich guys who are related to the Rockerfeller dynasty. MOST architects that work longest hours for low wages have trustfunds thus they don’t care about pay or raises, working for ELITE companies that make slave labor in Indoniea look like a light weight. And THAT is the ultimate form of elitism.

    This profession has alienate itself from society by it’s own arrogance and esotericsim and elitism.

    The amazing thing is, every architect I know thinks they are better, smarter, more environmentally, socially responsible than everyone else.

    Social transformation, leading the stupid masses into a better environment, all these are preached by every architect as their noble self-sacrificial goals, what a joke.

  4. jamesgeorgeinedu2
    on July 31st, 2007
    4

    i think architects simply overdo it,
    all the real great architects (non is still alive) have nothing to say of rest…they just go on working. and truly, the architect is much smarter and socially responsible than everyone else. in truth, you understand life until you become an architect. this is not obtained by training in schools however. the original author has a point. truly, architects are lousy, escapist blabbers. ok they dont sleep, but what do they have to show for it? the engineer does all the work, and leads a fairly normal life. this only goes to say that architecture as we know it proffessionally is at its point of death, and that this proffessional should evolve to become what he truly should be in this century. if architects bother more of this, they’d have less time to bicker of sleep. does any of you feel the need for more hours in the day? one hardly gets any sleep these days. this architecture business….

  5. saifullah
    on August 20th, 2007
    5

    i am an architect and run my own firm,i woke up 11:30 noon, came to ma office at 12:40.. im working now on a project.and am coming up with great ideas, love ma work..clients are satisfied… will leave office at 5 pm. will hit the sack at 12 pm!!…. got ma poiint!!.?

  6. jamesgeorgeinedu2
    on October 17th, 2007
    6

    saifullah, you are my new hero(ine). what country are you? now thats the life.

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