What didn’t Diddy do? a.k.a. Religious Ignorance

I am, in many respects, a very ignorant person,l especially when it comes down to religion. For example: in Slovakia, we have this Christmas tradition of eating sweet, thin wafers with honey before (and, if you like it, also during) Christmas dinner. I always enjoyed it very much, because a) it tastes good (come and see for yourself, we have a few spare ones) and b) I always thought that this was what that thingy (‘the body of Christ’) the Catholics eat during the Communion tasted like. Strike one.

I also though, like many other non-Christians/atheists, that Jesus was born from the Immaculate Conception (not to be confused with Immaculate Collection by Madonna). This isn’t so. After painstaking research on Wikipedia, I discovered that it was really the Blessed Virgin Mary who was born this way, so that she could bear God’s son and not pass on the sin-that-everyone-is-born-with-because-Adam-and-Eve-ate-the-apple (I can’t remember what it’s called). Strike two.

So, here goes my last shot. I always thought that for Christians, Jesus was the guiding principle, the Son-of-God who guided them. His teachings, were partially coming from the Jewish Tradition, but with revisions (like: ‘Eye for an eye vs. Love thy neighbor’). In essence, Jesus was like a philosopher who captured the Zeitgeist if his time. He knew that humanity could not follow one set of rules for all its existence, for societies and environments evolve, and so does the human condition. In time when the Roman empire sought to unify the World and bring peace (this view might be debatable), so did Jesus wish to bring peace, new insights and basically update a faith to be fitter for a new society. We all know how that ended up. But never did I hear that Jesus in the New Testament criticized stem cell research to save lives, divorcing an alcoholic and abusive partner, wanting to die in dignity, marry the partner of the same gender or go shopping on Sunday. Sure, sometimes I found a things bit unclear, if not contradictory, but it felt like Jesus didn’t need to control every aspect of human life, it came down to being a good person and learning from your mistakes.

But now, some huge authorities feel like they can combine everything in the Bible as it suits them and have the, while ignoring that the New Testament is an open ended revision that seeks continuity, but somehow rejects the rigidness of the Old Testament. That is why they, in my view combine everything so shamelessly and claim that is what the Christian faith is about. Christian Faith surely should be built on Jesus, on not on the stuff he decided to reject/revise. I think it was a worthy wager to count upon the human intelligence and religion to evolve with the Zeitgeist, and I think Jesus definitely put his faith there. Maybe he should have written down all his thoughts, in order to clarify things for everyone. Strike three?

Coming up this or maybe next month: my very own Ms. President, tales of acting local, and all the other stuff I promised last time.

Peter

BSc3, The Final

Here are some of the pictures of my model from the final presentation this semester. It was an apartment building comprising of 42 appartments , with the sizes ranging from 70 square meteres to 140 square metres. The rest of the block was made up of 4 appartments in 2 smaller buildings, and 15row-houses, ranging from 140 to 210 square meteres. I think the model, and especially the rendered images speak for themselves.

I won’t tell you much more, except that the plan and the buildings are a reaction to the typical housing estates built today, the ones where the sun is shining, the grass is green, and there is nothing to remind you you live in a city.

No more

Peter

October Files:OEC: Czechoslovakian Movies

I love Czechoslovakian movies. Not only because it’s my patriotic duty, but also because they are mostly good and sometimes accessible. This does not mean that such films do not suffer for being “European”. I know some of the movies to be rather grim, too artsy or just… you know… European.

I especially like the comedies, both the old ones, and even the newer ones are good. Since 1993, there are no Czechoslovakian movies, only Czech movies and about one Slovakian movie (meaning a movie that people actually went to see). Nevertheless, CS comedies rule.

They are different from the American ones, because their humor is less absurd and more accessible (most of the times), and when they go over the top, it’s always fun. I especially enjoyed one film, Kamenak (2003), in which all the spoken lines were actually jokes. I suppose as a piece of conceptual art, it was brilliant, and even coherent enough to make a film, with a plot, and two sequels. All three films received the Plushie Lion (Czech version of the Razzies).

Nevertheless, there are actually good comedies, Such as “Adela jeste nevecerela” (1977) in which Nick Carter (America’s greatest detective) tries to find out the culprit behind Baroness Thun’s missing dog. It’s a great parody of the detective genre, set in Prague of 1900. Another really good comedy, which I enjoy so much that my family groans whenever I mention it, is “Vesnicko ma strediskova” (1984), which is a realistic, but funny depiction of life in a village under Communism. Another enjoyable comedy is “Marecku, podejte mi pero” (1976), which admittedly takes place in a factory, but is in no way connected to socialist realism. Another good comedy, with a serious ending is “Pelisky” (1999) which depicts the differences in generations just before August 1968.

I guess all these films are somewhat quirky, but it’s a good thing. For more conventional cinema, one should watch films, such as “Kolja” (1996- won an Oscar), “Obecna Skola” (1991) about school life just after WW2, or “Musime si pomahat” (2000) a wartime drama.

What I’m trying to say is: I don’t know much about Kubrick’s, Hitchcock’s or Tarantino’s work but that does not mean I know nothing about good films. Sure, you won’t find me watching an art-house movie everyday (or as I like to call them “films for the serious viewer”), but that I still find that the cultural experience I get, is in no way second-rate.

Peter

A Late Intermission

I should have posted this ages ago (before the holiday), but as often is the case, I was simply lazy, tired and uninspired (wow, that rhymes!). Anyhoo, here’s the updated version of the Delft DSM model.  Note how we ended the main axis with the four silos. These objects, are actually there, so they are used ‘as found’ with an added bonus of functioning as a neighborhood center (buurtcentrum in Dutch).

To Hye Jea: Sorry for the lack of water features. I feel that 1) the harbor, 2) de Schie (the big canal) and 3) the little picturesque lakes of Agnetapark provide enough water experience.

The plan and the model was made with KaShun Cheung and Rob de Ruiter.  Also thanks to Bart Macqoy for letting us copy his round-about.

Here’s them pictures. Yihaaaw!

These are snapshots of my own building design in its urban setting. My design is the one with a bit of more details (ie definite form). See if you can spot it.

Peter S.

The Big Competion (a.k.a. Peter Needs YOU)

Hey y’all! Happy New Year and all that other stuff I guess. Sorry for not posting anything interesting lately. Not like I care (or you care, for that matter), but all the five drafts that I have seem somehow stupid and embarassing. But, I will publish them one by one, perhaps. This is not one of them though.

Anyways, I thought it would be fun to enter a competition. I haven’t entered anything yet, of course, but here’s the thing.

I was surfin’ the web, and suddenly I stumbled upon a competition brief for a multi-purpose, multi-storey buliding in Teheran. It’s organized by Benneton (the clothing company). I won’t go into any detail, since if you can view this website, you can also see the competition website for yourself. I was looking at building B, because of a simpler layout. etc…

The thing is, I’d love to form a team with someone. They actually don’t require the entrants to be architects, and I’d kind of like to work with someone who has no architectural background, as this keeps things and discussions on a very practical level. and The deadline is 27 March, so if YOU want to help me, share the eventual glory and the eventual prize money (50:50) if we win. So let me know ASAP. They don’t require a lot of technical stuff, so that’s good for the team (if there should be one).

Come on, don’t be shy. Cross over to the architectural side (for a while, that is).

Peter S.

PS: Did I mention a “Happy New 2009″?