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An essay on the LIFE of a short career! A flash… whoever would say I wrote this in a flash? It’s here and it’s for anyone who urgently needs to be re-taught after architecture school!
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The text presented here is just a series of phrases, developed within the four planes of life: Mental, Emotional, Practical and Spiritual. These phrases are the first summary of what’s driven my professional and academic career and the part that’s now over, that of being a teacher at architecture school. I might go back to giving classes one day, but certainlywith SOMETHING very valuable to offer and with all the knowledgeto which this path I follow has given me access!
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#architecture #1 #2 #3 #4
Follow YOUR passion! Stay passionate! Every day! For YOURSELF, first and foremost, and then for everything that’s around you! School’s over, the learning goes on! Question EVERYTHING they taught you! Design, design, design… but “DESIGN” with new technologies and with the digital revolution that’s happening in the World! #5 Design from the inside out! Explore other dimensions of architecture and of BEING HUMAN! #6 Remember, 90% of our time is spent inside BUILDINGS or enclosed spaces, so if you mess things up … someone will suffer as a result! #7 Are you really sure you want to be an ARCHITECT? What would you do if you got nothing in return? What kind of things do you do andnot even feel time going by? You know, you can have a job doing those things! Think hard and you’ll find it!
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#money #8 Forget what they told you at school! You CAN be rich as an architect. And very RICH! #9 Planhow everything will develop!DREAM big! #10 Do everything with passion and the money will follow! #11 Identify the beliefs that inhibit you! Challenge them and let your mind GROW! #12 Make your profession FUN! #13 Be RESILIENT! Whenever you get no for an answer, empower yourself and get ready to hear more and more YES’s!
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#life and values #14 Say “Good morning!” every day! #15 There is LIFE beyond the job! Find other passions, learn from those moments and develop other capacities that are inside you and boost your professional performance! #16 It’s a very small world so remember, you’ll soon realise that someone actually knows you even 10,000 km from where you were born. #17 Set the values for your life,they must be your PRINCIPLES! Follow them! #18 Your life is too BIG to play small! #19 Give priority to EXPERIENCES and not things! #20 Always show THANKS for everything you’ve got!
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#clients #builders #construction work #21 Establish a PLANas a group for each project, that way you’ll all know which road to take. #22 Understand that a client’s problem is an architect’s CHALLENGE! #23 Change your client’s WORLD! #24 Give MORE of what they ask you! #25 I don’t even know what to write about builders… ZERO TOLERANCE! #26 The most IMPORTANT person on a job is the oldest and humblest person you’ll find there! #27 When a day doesn’t go so well, remember that tomorrow will be better! Be POSITIVE!
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#discipline #28 #29 #30 #31 #32
Setaside time to THINK and to create strategies! MEDITATE and do physical exercise; it will boost your capacity to be even more productive! Create methods, apply them and if they don’t work … REINVENTTHEM! Make quick DECISIONS, but change them slowly! Read a lot, in your specific area and other areas of interest! Broaden your KNOWLEDGE.
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#team #33 They’re your second FAMILY, but remember it’s the one you’re going to spend most of your day with! #34 “Alone you go faster, but together you go FURTHER!” #35 Praise, share and VALUE the team and everyone in it! #36 Everyone is IMPORTANT in a different way; learn to understand what’s best about everyone alongside you! #37 There are many different areas within the discipline of architecture, study them, get into the one you like the most and specialise! You’ll see that you’ll be the best within your TEAM!
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#enterprise #38 We’re all enterprising, even within a team! Push yourself to the limits and DEVELOP! #39 A company starts out as fun, and when it grows it becomes a BUSINESS. Remember it has costs! #40 Always THINK about all the costs involved in any project! One day you’ll have to pay rent, electricity, water … or be inspected by Autodesk! #41 Seek out HELP, seek out a mentor. He or she will guide you and explain the mistakes you’ve made… so you don’t make them again… #42 A43has a purpose, what about you? Do you know what your company’s is? If you don’t, define it or if you do, develop and expand it!
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#A43 One day, perhaps one of the last days I sat on a chair at architecture school, someone (he knows who he is!) told us - “right… now you’re going to discover out there that you were actually happy when you were at architecture school!” – in other words, 16 years and a few months later, I’m telling you“You can be HAPPY as an architect”, and I can prove it through A43!
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In short, Be SPECIFIC! What do you want to achieve? What’s your main goal? TheGOALmust be measurable… Can you check how much progress you’re making? SMALL SUCCESSES! What small steps do you have to take to achieve what you want? WHY! Why is that goal so important to you? Start NOW! What can you do today to be closer to your goal tomorrow?
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#team2018 I’d like to THANK, from the bottom of my heart, all those who’ve accompanied me in the setting up and growth of A43, the clients, naturally, and above all the COMPANIONS on the Journey, second FAMILY (and MY FIRST who put up with me every day when I get home …), which is starting again now… in earnest: Vasco Godinho (PT) Mafalda Pinheiro (PT) Inês Ferrão (PT) Diogo Ferrão (PT) Joana Guimarães (PT) Inês Cardoso (PT)
ME! Mendes Pinheiro (PT) Armando Sousa (VE) Diogo Pereira (PT) Luís Ancede (PT) Victor Silva (PT) Alda João (PT)
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Before 2017 Rui Lobo (PT) Rita Cunha (PT) Nuno Costa (PT) Jorge Lamas (ES) Mário Espinha (PT) Tiago Silva(PT) Kevin Paiva(PT) Helena Queirós(PT) Claúdia Oliveira(PT)
Vasco Oliveira (PT) Sérgio Almeida(PT) Marco Brás (PT) Diogo Mesquita (PT) Carlos Correia (PT) André Ribeiro(PT) Nuno Pacheco (PT) Daniela Oliveira (PT) João Borges (PT)
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Sílvia Pieraccini(IT) Pedro Barbosa (PT) Eric Rodrigues (CA) Rui Cardoso (PT) Cristiana Sousa (PT) Filipa Santos (PT)
... follow our future
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