{"id":4012,"date":"2019-05-24T02:11:07","date_gmt":"2019-05-23T16:11:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.architecture.com.au\/duluxstudytourblog\/?p=4012"},"modified":"2019-05-24T02:11:09","modified_gmt":"2019-05-23T16:11:09","slug":"lisbon-day-3-a-bit-like-chefs-table","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.architecture.com.au\/duluxstudytourblog\/lisbon-day-3-a-bit-like-chefs-table\/","title":{"rendered":"Lisbon day 3: A Bit Like Chef\u2019s Table"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Today\nwas marked by a series of practice visits where, towards the end of the day, a\nkey theme emerged, courtesy of ARX Arquitectos\u2019 director, Jos\u00e9 Mateus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Second Home by Selgas Cano.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

During our visit, Jos\u00e9\ncompared a career in architecture to a narrative arc on the popular TV show, Chef\u2019s Table<\/em>. These chefs are passionate\nabout what they do, but also experience considerable challenges in their\ncareers. As Jos\u00e9 stated: \u201cThere is a common\naspect to all of these chefs, which is a capacity to resist all sorts of\ntroubles, and I think this same thing is crucial to young architects.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To\npursue a career in architecture, Jos\u00e9 believes,\nyou need vision, strong convictions, and plenty of resilience. These are\nqualities we witnessed across all three practices today, beginning at\nEmbaixada. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Embaixada studio.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Embaixada\nis a small practice with what, for me, is a very familiar story: three\narchitects started their studio \u201cfrom scratch\u201d shortly after finishing university.\nFast forward to today, and Embaixada have completed elegant projects across\nEurope and Asia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Embaixada\u2019s\nvision is deeply embedded within their studio\u2019s brand. Embaixada, which translates\nto mean \u201cembassy,\u201d is best defined by the practice\u2019s logo, a creature with\nthree heads of a tiger, a snake and a flamingo. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each\nanimal represents a different personality: the tiger is strong and imposing,\nthe snake sneaky and strategic, and the flamingo sensitive and delicate. It\u2019s a\ngreat metaphor for the many roles we need to adopt as architects. For Embaixada,\nit has helped define its design process and collaborative model for eighteen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After\na quick round of Portuguese tarts \u2013 facilitated by our formidable guide, Embaixada\u2019s\nCristina Mendonca \u2013 we knocked on the door of Bak Gordon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ricardo Bak Gordon of Bak Gordon.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The Bak Gordon studio.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The\nstudio\u2019s director, Ricardo Bak Gordon, showcased the practice\u2019s calm and\nconsistent work, which exhibits the best qualities we\u2019ve witnessed here in\nLisbon: a sensitivity to context, respect for history, and an unassuming use of\nmaterials. Sitting through their project slideshow was a veritable feast of\nexcellent work, and I left with no doubt of this studio\u2019s success.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our\nlast stop was at ARX Arquitectos, where\nwe sat down with Jos\u00e9 Mateus. Over the\nnext hour or so, he shared his story with humility, honesty, humour and grace. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Models at the ARX studio<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

ARX\nArquitectos started in 1991, when Jos\u00e9 was twenty-eight and his brother and\nco-director, Nuno, was thirty. At the time, they cracked opened a bottle of\nMo\u00ebt, and began working out of a modest, 50-square-metre apartment. Their story\nscreamed of optimism and, as the practice began doing more projects, they\nthought: \u201cWow \u00ad\u2013 we are going forward so fast.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But,\nof course, every hero \u2013 or heroine\u2019s \u2013 journey comes with its setbacks. Here, Jos\u00e9 speaks of the 2010-2011 economic crisis as\nperiod when business got tough. During this time, the studio had no work and 50%\nof Portuguese offices closed. To survive this downturn, the studio diversified\nits portfolio and began working in new sectors and locations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The model shop at ARX studio<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Today,\n90% of the practice\u2019s work is in Lisbon, and ARX supports a stable team of\ntwenty people. Recently, the studio has shifted to a four-day working week,\nallowing people to adopt more balanced lives. Jos\u00e9\nalso spoke with pride about the fact that he pays all of his staff proper\nwages, in resistance to the unpaid internship culture that proliferates our\nindustry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve\nalways found an enormous amount of comfort in hearing other people\u2019s stories. A\nbit like Chef\u2019s Table, they remind us that we all make mistakes and experience\ndifficulties as we strive for excellence. They also remind us to act with\ncourage, confidence and conviction, knowing that these qualities are ultimately\nrewarded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
An ARX building site<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As\nwe went on, Jos\u00e9 continued to dispense the wisdom he\u2019s\nlearned across twenty-five years of practice. Speaking about the studio\u2019s work,\nhe described how \u201cwe have very clear ethics and values, and we don\u2019t accept\nthings that can damage the city.\u201d He also described his involvement in politics\nand public life, which he noted as \u201ca privilege and a pleasure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we wound up our final day, I reflected on the fact that myself, Ben, Phillip, Alix and Carly are only at the beginning of our own narrative arcs. As I\u2019ve learned on this tour, we are all passionate and purposeful, with goals and dreams and projects to lead. Yet, we\u2019ve also experienced setbacks, and missteps, and moments we regret. Hearing the stories of these three practices offered me \u2013 and all of us \u2013 a lot of hope and solace. We all left with more lessons under our belt, knowing there\u2019s so much more to strive for.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 Jennifer McMaster<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today was marked by a series of practice visits where, towards the end of the day, a key theme emerged, courtesy of ARX Arquitectos\u2019 director, Jos\u00e9 Mateus. During our visit, Jos\u00e9 compared a career in architecture to a narrative arc on the popular TV show, Chef\u2019s Table. These chefs are passionate about what they do, … Continue reading Lisbon day 3: A Bit Like Chef\u2019s Table<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":754,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.architecture.com.au\/duluxstudytourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4012","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.architecture.com.au\/duluxstudytourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.architecture.com.au\/duluxstudytourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.architecture.com.au\/duluxstudytourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/754"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.architecture.com.au\/duluxstudytourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4012"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/wp.architecture.com.au\/duluxstudytourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4012\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4139,"href":"https:\/\/wp.architecture.com.au\/duluxstudytourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4012\/revisions\/4139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.architecture.com.au\/duluxstudytourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.architecture.com.au\/duluxstudytourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.architecture.com.au\/duluxstudytourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}