Visualizing the City

Some highlights, pre-social networking site placement (that ubiquitous platform for all knowledge...):

 

  My '08-ers are all grown up!  (And I can still do self-takes.)

Favorite funny couple responded well to my prompt to look happy ... and made me laugh, haha.

IV-ers and friends reunite from across the country for Christine + Jonathan's happy day.

The Talaminis get a raucous send off outside of the romantic Wien Hall.  (Oh, Columbia...)

A lovely fern on my Stumptown macchiato and buttery croissant bid me a NYC farewell.

NYC-style remembrances

 NYC love remains, even to the end.
More photos to come, once I download them to my computer.

Every time I visit NYC, I remember just how much I miss the City.  Of course, I'm happy to be in Boston and know for certain that it's the place where I'm meant to be right now, but excursions down the coast are always like mini homecomings of sorts.  This time around, the reminders came in various forms:

• The end is the beginning
  Celebrating Christine and Jonathan's wedding together with old friends made for a splendid reason for being in the City even for one short day.  They were one of those couples who seem like they've been together forever (well since college, which almost seems like ages ago...), and witnessing their happy day was an end to their wait but also the beginning of a new adventure, probably one that will feature pandas and piano serenades in addition to their faith in God.
  
  As an aside, I like how the pastor shared using Colossians 3:12-14 rather than 1 Corinthians 13: maybe it's bad to suggest that weddings are cliche, but the latter is so typically quoted that it was refreshing to meditate on a different part of scripture in relation to marriage.
  (In self defense, 1 C. 13 is still very poignant and true, but it's also not a monopoly.)
  
• Old faces never age
  ... literally and figuratively.  My friends - even the non-Asian ones - somehow have the Peter Pan gene and look the same.  Their ridiculous dance moves are also the same...  but it was awesome to have a reunion with people I haven't seen for a while.  Some of the news revealed was surprising ("What, you're engaged?!"), while other conversations were more of a confirmation of news procured in other ways ("Are you J's fiance?  I saw your picture on Facebook, and no I'm not a stalker." - I confess this was me...)  Chilling out on a rooftop after the wedding festivities, challenging our brains at Contact and Categories (thanks to Steph's expansive pool of group games), and squashing roaches with paper bag-encased feet made for a great end to the night.
  
• The vault lives on
  Although I didn't have time to make my way over to the Cooper Hewitt, the vault installation (Vault201) still lives in the 2nd floor exhibition space and will be there until January!  Check out freelancer Logan Ward's article in the Smithsonian Magazine for more.  Our names aren't in the article, but you'll find them on the wall placard in the museum.
  
• Driving in the City is a video game
  ...especially after years of not driving in Manhattan.  Nothing like weaving taxi drivers and nonexistent lane lines to wake you up at midnight.
  
• It's delicious
  A late night grilled cheese from HamDel (or Hammie's - take your pick of monikers).  A macchiato, croissant, and pretzel sandwich from Stumptown.  Boston, I'm determined to find simple ways in which you can compete.

... but back to the realities of Boston, school, and new life developments.  More updates soon.

Hong Kong revisited

Little Big City - Hong Kong Tilt Shift from Fershad Irani on Vimeo.

I left Hong Kong on August 6th, and realized I will be returning there - if only virtually - this semester through the [HALT] studio (Highly Accelerated Life Test), with critics Shih-Fu Peng and Roisin Heneghan of henegan.peng architects.  They were interviewed recently in Fast Company magazine regarding their winning of the Grand Museum of Egypt project.  I found it amusing (and a bit touching) to hear that the secret behind their collaboration is marriage, which is what happens with many partners of architecture firms, either before they form their companies or afterwards.  Divorce also happens, but I suppose a shared passion can be a great bond for creative work.

(Thanks to Otto for sharing the video with me and making me remember my hyperactive city of the summer.)

"No, this is not a PhD..."

There are 2 phrases I've had to repeat an innumerable number of times since being back in Cambridge:

"No, I'm not a freshman but a graduate student - your Graduate Resident Tutor."

and

"No, this is not a PhD..."

Oh, the realities of the 3.5 year MArch reality.  Things are not what they seem!  I had confirmation for the second phrase, from my dear friend and former suitemate Vidya, who in astonishment after hearing I still had a year and a half exclaimed:

oh jeez

this is seriously the longest masters program ever

you guys deserve a PhD

(P.S. I apologize for quoting you without asking for permission, but hey - this Gchat conversation was technically on the record.)

I actually did consider those last three words, the idea of "deserving" a PhD.  What actually goes into a doctorate as opposed to a masters?  What this hilarious blog post shared by a couple friends (thanks to Marcus and Clarence) suggests is that it's about specialization, diving deeply into an area and gaining specific expertise through research.  This simplified definition would then not actually apply to what I'm doing now.  Sure, I'm around for a length of time that seems like a short PhD, but considering the number of requirements that fills the MArch trajectory, I'm only now finding breathing room to begin asking the question, what is it that I'm really interested in investigating?  And now with a year and a half, with only the last semester fully devoted to thesis, it's hard to imagine being able to explore any topic in depth.

Wrestle wrestle...  Architecture in practice doesn't value PhDs as much as academia, and I'm not sure if I'm necessarily cut out for the long haul of research divorced from working on the ground with real issues.  (This is where I probably have a more engineering than scientist mindset... although I still revolt against the engineer label.)  To be honest, though, I actually do really enjoy research, but only that which resides outside of labs and in people's lives.  (And that which involves travel, haha.)

To stay in academics or to go?  I'm hoping for a sign.