R.A.N.T. in Disguise

This is the Spanish Pavilion at the Expo 2010 in Shanghai.  It's also one of my favorite pavilions on the site since it celebrates the temporary nature of the structure to the hilt by choosing an unconventional material that doesn't hide the ravages of time.  Out of all the interior exhibits, this was the one I enjoyed the most also.  I love the artistry and creativity of the Spanish people who worked to bring this to reality.

But this is not really what I want to write about today.  I actually wanted to call this article Disgustingly Pukeningly Ugly to express the huge disappointment over how the spiral staircase in my current project turned out.  The client didn't approve that I moved the staircase 30cm to avoid the floor slab and wanted it to be moved back.  He took over managing the installation and ended up removing six steps that made the steps extra higher.  The original height per step was 20 cm and now, it is 33cm.  This new height is okay if the staircase won't be used everyday but this will be used a lot by a number of people hurrying up and down to perform their duties.  Goodbye comfort and ease.  Hello, treacherous flight.  But there is no use arguing with a client because the customer is always right, right?

The computation for the costing of the staircase was based on each step and I put in 17 steps for the safety and convenience of the users.  Now, 6 steps worth of pesos are wasted on an ego trip.  The other effect of moving the spiral staircase is that the entryway moved thus reducing storage space on the other side of the wall and ironically, this project should be all about increasing storage space.  Plus there has to be an ugly first concrete step to replace the first metal step because the new entry meets the metal at an awkward angle.  So the whole thing is 'bleep' 'bleep' 'bleep' ugly but I do have to think of a way to handle the first step so it looks decent at least.  The whole thing violates every aesthetic sensibility and fiber in my body but I have to slap myself in the face and say this is how the real world works.  Wake up!  Designers don't get their way and can't get their way all the time.  And aesthetic sensibility occurs in varying degrees in different persons and may be non-existent in some.  This is a fact of life that should not only be understood but absorbed.

As consolation, I did learn a lot of things.  I now realize what my architect friend termed a "bastard child" a  pure, harsh reality in this field.  When he is disappointed over how the building he designed turned out because his specifications weren't followed to the letter, he calls the house a "bastard child."  (He's the type of person who's married to architecture, you see.)   Secondly, I learned another unbloggable nugget of truth.  Suffice it to say that hearing about other people's problems makes your own problems miniscule in comparison.  Thirdly. . . . . . ad infinitum.

So to add a bit of levity to this heavy rant, I leave you with a picture of my adorable son playing in the Spanish pavilion.  That should lower my blood pressure and calm me down, right?   Blogging about it might help.  It might also get me into more trouble.