Family Years (2011-2016)

Greetings, Dear Readers

Young architect and Restless Spirits,

On 25 September 2011, we were married. Our marriage is the marriage between families, so we leave the preparation to our parents. They like to be responsible for food tasting, choosing the place for receptions. What we focused on concerning us, Laurensia picked her gown and asked me about her opinion. She liked the simple one, and it was a perfect fit for her. We took a picture on our pre-wedding day in place of our daily activities, her dental clinic, the garage office, and the street, including empty land near my parent’s house. Our preparation was straightforward and modest. I love the moment that captured our life because it shows the real us in daily routines.

She cared about the studio; because that was the thing that I loved. We took the pictures in our architecture studio, showing time-lapse that doing architecture is a marathon, and she is waiting for all of the time bu patience and love. In the dental clinic, I let her take care of my teeth, and it’s an act of me accepting her condition gratefully.

We spent the evening playing with balloons and folded bicycle from my mother. The setting was to catch the dream and to give harmony, she will take me to the ground, and I drive the bike together, only both of us; it’s our world.

We set the picnic at the treetop in front of the studio; it was a lovely and timeless moment. We have beautiful pictures; what made it enjoyable was the moment captured in our parents, including her very close dog. One is a heartwarming experience. We want to experience it repeatedly, and it feels like I know her from the past life.

We had the Holy Matrimony and reception in one day. Our big family, my grand Mother, fellow friends, my students, and some long friend from Malaysia, UK, universities, brothers from architecture studios, high school friends, relatives, clients came to greet us. We feel grateful for their prayer.

That day was unimaginable, like a dream come true. And we have planned to Visit London for our honeymoon. We went to York, Edinburgh, Paris, Italia – 3 cities: Venice, Verona, Treviso, Spain-3 cities: Barcelona, Bilbao, and Seville, then returned to Paris and traveled home. I studied Jean Nouvel, Carlo Scarpa’s works, Gaudi’s Works, visiting Frank Gehry’s exhibition at Pompidou Centre, revisited Foster and Partner’s studio, including meeting old friends and looked at Metropole Parasol by Jurgen Mayer. It’s one of the pilgrimage trips that I started to understand the world of tectonics, the alchemy of materials, the critical of the guild, and the sublimation of poetic objects. I will share the pilgrimage trip below.

Laurensia accompanies me on the trip while I was learning at architecture. I always wait for her comments. I feel grateful to have her supporting the journey, and we can have fun while learning a new universe of architecture. I, as Narayana finally found my Radha.

Greetings,

Realrich Sjarief

Preparing the Marriage | Together with Laurensia

I learned on critical and creative thinking that both of the worlds need iterations of things. That’s architecture. Its fluid, it’s complex, and full of surprises. If you learn one brilliant architect’s journey, you will get amazed. I understand that my dad and granddad, they are a builder. It makes a massive leap as my understanding that architecture can use what available material around us. It forms a positive attitude, to absorb that is profound to open unlimited learning from context.

I traveled quite often after I had a marriage with Laurensia. We do learn from pilgrimage with her to explore new ways of looking at things. We went to places around Indonesia and London to retracing some exciting works by Norman Foster or even by Enric Miralles, and many great architects or even architecture without architects.

In this trip, the journey is varied from learning from many great – great architects. There are few names such as Y.B. Mangun Wijaya, Le Corbusier, Laurie Baker, Carlo Scarpa, Maclaine Pont, Antonin Raymond, Alvar Aalto, and others still living. All of those architects fight their vision and do their mission by what they have done. I am inspired by them, and I read autobiographies about their work every time I make the pilgrimage. I can cry and touch their effort to push their limit of humanity. They are complex. Their archetypes bring complexity to the current world.

Correa wrote that there two way of learning, direct and indirect learning. I think both of them actually needs a compass of retrospective, way to know that we are part of bigger picture. Actually this journey is about to understand our own shadows, personas, animas, animus, heroes, and so many archetypes that defines us. Jung probably right that there must me something magical that becoming background of the human’s mind and I think this is about transformation, and understanding that Architecture is so damn powerful.

Greetings,

Realrich Sjarief

Moments | Pilgrimage

Moments | Family