Thailand April 2008
I think the Thai must be very into design.
Not ergonomic design--mind you—but the trendy, contemporary, your butt will be sore after 8 seconds in this hard white plastic chair kind of design. The bookstore shelves are mostly filled with large glossy-paged books of branding and design.
The religion section of the bookstore hardly fills a column, and is the poster-child for diversity and tolerance. Unlike the US, you will not find rows and rows of “Christian Fiction” using some vague Bible verse to come up with a gas-station romance novel substitute that is just scandalous enough to keep bored church-ladies excited, but not quite racy enough to require repentance. Unlike France, you will not find the religion section filled with books about the merits of humanism.
No, it seems that design is the dominant doctrine.
Speaking of design, I have found a downfall with my 20th story breakfast vantage point. Though I am not incredibly familiar with architectural principles, I am pretty sure that buildings are not designed for the aesthetic viewing pleasure of helicopter pilots. A building is not meant to be enjoyed from the air.
In fact, from a financial standpoint, I am sure the rooftop design portion is the favorite part of project management.
“So, please tell me what kind of budget we are looking at for the roof.”
“Cheap. We will probably not even bother to match the color with the rest of the building, and we might just stick some HVAC units up there.”
“Excellent.”
“Would you consider putting some solar panels up there?”
“No. Let’s put them somewhere more visible, like the front lawn. We need the good press—We’ll consider it a marketing expense…”
To see this place in all of the dirty, gritty, raw, authentic busyness, I need to descend from the tower.
