Architectural competition

I’m too tired and busy lately to update my journal like I should.

One reason for this is that apart from working 9 till whatever, I have got together with a group of architects-friends and we are trying to take part in an architectural competition for the design of a town hall complex in a small town (more like village) in Crete.

It’s slow going, the project is big and complicated and we have trouble agreeing on things, and the deadline is in a month. If I stop and think about it I get awfully stressed, so I just avoid thinking about it and hope for the best.

I went to Crete over the Christmas holidays to visit the village. It’s a typical modern ugly Greek village, nothing old or traditional has survived. It’s only redeeming feature is the lovely landscape and the beautiful views of the mountains.

I also visited Heracleion (Crete’s capital city), a rather nice medium sized city with lots of old buildings, Venetian churches and walls around the old city.

Even though I have a number of photos I doubt I'll get round to posting any. I'm lazy that way....

Working is no fun

I feel like doing a bit of venting today....

It turns out that I really really don’t like working. Or maybe it’s just my job I don’t like. It’s not that bad I suppose, but every morning I get up with a groan wishing I could just pull the duvet over my head and go back to sleep.

I always wanted to either work for the state helping design cities or public housing or else work for a high-flying architectural company taking part in innovative and interesting designs. Instead I am stuck helping design the typical ugly, cramped and not entirely legal blocks of flats that are destroying our cities. It’s disheartening, but a person needs to work. I haven’t even been working for 6 months yet and I’m already dreaming of persuading a couple of friends to open our own office together. We will most probably starve, but we won’t be selling out.

What is also typical of Greek offices is the fact that I’m overworked and not paid overtime. At least I’m paid by month and not per hour. The pay is another matter. Wages in this country as ridiculously low.

That was enough complaining for today.