I do not know whether any other group of people on a geographical basis other than Keralites have a strange behaviour pattern by which nobody wants any body else to prosper or do well in his career,profession or business.We malayalees(People of Kerala origin) do not want any one known to us even related to us or even from same native place to do well in life except of course I myself or maximum members of my family.Even a brother or sister doing well cannot be tolerated.May be a son or daughter doing well can be tolerated even though there are cases where father did not like son to grow higher than him.
In the last week at my Ootty site one malayalee worker became unhappy with another malayalee worker doing another type of work simply because the other found out the cheating ways of this man.Man who did the cheating did not consider his actions as wrong.He considered it as only his cleverness in managing crooked ways to make more money.Having realised that he is caught red handed in his crooked ways,he simply cannot quit the job and leave the place.He wanted the other worker engaged in different activity to be made to look like a crook by owner of the house under construction.Here the owner happened to be a non Malayalee and hence with a different behaviour pattern.
He approached the owner and started telling lies and stories of wrong doing by the other man simply to malign him and thus make him also out of work just like him.You will be surprised to hear the reaction of our non malayalee owner-“You are both coming from same place Kerala and then why are you trying to find fault with him?Is what you are doing correct? Do not talk to me like this again.I know how to assess you and the other person properly without your assistance and guidance”
See this is how we Malayalees behave.We are like crabs each trying hard not to let the other climb up.You do everything possible to pull down the other person.People in other places become happy to see that some one among them is becoming famous, rich or reaching better status in life.For us exactly that is the most unhappy thing to happen in our life.
Once I met a friend of a person for whom I have designed and built a house.He told me-“I wanted you to do my house.But when I approached my friend and your client he told me that you are too busy and hence better look for somebody else.I found out another person and he did a lousy job.” In fact my client and his friend never told me about it.He did not want me to do house of his friend as he thought I will become too busy to spend time on his work.
Every one who has seen house designed and built by me at Irinjalakuda including of course owners of the house has appreciated my work.But the lady who came and met me at my office several times persuading me to take up the work told me after completion of the house-“Three of my relatives wanted me to tell you to take up their construction work.I advised them against it as you will delay our work and their work if you take up those works also”
I wanted to see inner details of a house near my office done by another Architect just to see and study something new or different he might have done.Even though lady of the house agreed to show me the house,on both occasions I went she pretended busy and told me to come some other time and finally I have given up that idea.She does not want any one especially another Architect to copy whatever better features her house has.
All these I have written to show that we Malayalees do not want any body else to do well and we are extremely selfish.Even in politics when A.K.Antony was Chief minister of Kerala,his own party man K.Karunakaran tried his best not to allow A.K.Antony to rule.When V.S Achuthanandan became CM ,his own party man Pinaray Vijayan is not allowing him to rule.So if every one tries hard not to make other person successful,how we malayalees and our state of Kerala will ever prosper?
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Actions matter,not words
I have noticed several times that people talk about honesty,right attitudes,quality of work,care for customer interests,moral standards,ethics in work and dealings so eloquently that we tend to believe them deceived by the way they talk pretending sincerity,high standards and so called commitment to values.
If you meet such a person who talks so high about all these values,beliefs and commitments just simply beware of him/her.In all probability such a person will be a crook trying to cheat you.Otherwise why should he advertise and proclaim too much about his high standards?
People who are really honest,value based and truthful in dealings never talk about these values.They show the values through their actions and not in their words.Their sincere honest actions talk for them and they have no time to talk about their high standards and values.
Very often we hear these words from many people-“I am not like those people doing dishonest dealings and cheating.I am not that type.You can believe me 100%”
My advice to you is that never never trust or believe those people who talk like that. Really honest persons never will have to talk like that.They know very well that their actions will show and talk for them.They do not have to advertise themselves.
Do you think that such cheats can go on winning in life?Yes.May be for some time,some years.But one day or other they will be caught red handed and when they are caught,they will tear off the skin of lamb on their body and will bark and fight like the real wolf inside.They will never be apologetic about their crooked ways.Instead they will call the person cheated as a cheat.
“See what he has done to me for all those I did for him? He is a crook.Otherwise why should he penalise a honest man like me?”
Even after being caught he will go on proclaiming his non existent virtues and talk as if he is honesty and sincerity in human form.He will not even hesitate to retaliate by attacking the poor person cheated by him by words and actions.
Better avoid such people rather than being caught by such crooks believing their looks,sweet talks and proclamation of high values and standards.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Tall claims and Ad campaigns
Our marketing division was supplying an electronic component to a stabiliser manufacturer on a regular basis.When the unit wanted an extension for their building naturally we got the job for design and construction of that building.
This stabiliser manufacturing unit was manufacturing stabilisers for a well known brand along with many similar units run by Christian priests and nuns.They will do procurement of raw materials and components from sources identified by the marketing company,employ school and college drop out girls for the assembling work.After manufacturing and testing they will pack the product and deliver to retail shop selling the product as per directions of the marketing company in whose brand name product is being sold.
One day I checked up the price indicated on the packed stabiliser and asked the priest in charge-“How much you get out of this price?”Price figure indicated by him was really surprising to me.It was just one fourth of the selling price of the product.Nearly three fourth of price goes as possibly marketing expenses including advertisement expenses through media and Point of Purchase ad material costs,margin of marketing company and profit for retail seller.
So while watching colourful advertisements in TV and news papers we never realise the fact that we are paying for all these ad campaigns possibly with an added percentage of margin to the marketing company for advertisement expenses.
I have been watching construction of a four story apartment project just in front of my office and another apartment project for three story near my house in the recent period.
The project in front of my office was done by a fairly known builder who advertise and sell his apartments.This builder regularly buy land in Cochin,build similar apartments on a regular basis and sell apartments also on a regular basis.The other project(I will call it as Project B) is being done by an unknown builder who may be selling apartments through contacts and possibly they may not continue to build like this unlike Project A
Project A has regular workers to whom they are paying almost half the wages prevailing in the industry.They simply do not care about quality of work.Their only attempt is to finish the work as early as possible.North Indian workers staying at site without much facilities are persuaded to do overtime work even during night so that work will get completed fast.
I have noticed with shock that for four story building they are doing excavation for column footings simply by Jcb excavation to minimum depths.Mat footing concrete is using not even sufficient size steel bars and just four nos 12 mm steel bars are used for columns with stirrup spacing as high as 30 cm or more.I asked one of the supervisors-“Will it not fall down if you do like this?”
He simply smiled and said-“We are regularly doing like this and so far nothing has fallen down.After all buyers are going to see building only after painting.At that time it will look good”
In our country there is no government machinery to check and enforce proper structural design for buildings being constructed and any body can do as they pleases and ordinary house building owners simply do not know anything about structural design or importance of proper structural work for the building ensuring structural stability of the building.They are only interested in getting lowest”square feet cost” of construction for the building they construct.Who bothers even if the builder does not even use proper steel reinforcement? If you use adequate steel reinforcement with professional guidance from a structural consultant,cost of construction will go up.When the customer is interested only in getting lowest”square feet cost” of construction why should builder spend more money to ensure structural stability of the building?
Recently I was rather shocked to receive mail from a qualified experienced engineer working abroad on construction projects asking me to quote my square feet cost of construction.So much for the lack of awareness even among professionals thus allowing crooks to flourish in the industry
I was watching Project B running construction from the beginning.They were doing the construction strictly as per the best procedure with proper professional design and quality.They are not well known builders.They do not advertise heavily through internet,media and hoardings.Probably they will not be getting buyers like usual players in the trade and may not get same high prices and thereby higher profits.
It is high time awareness about proper construction methods and procedures are known to potential buyers.Most of the bigger players in apartment business do not do anything other than marketing and reaping profits.They simply subcontract entire work on smaller players to earn huge margins from buyers who simply trust more advertised names.For them it is very easy to build lakhs of square feet within the committed delivery period.After all who bothers about quality?
“With painting and finishing works nobody will be able to notice defects initially.After purchase the apartment society will worry about quality problems and manufacturing defects”
This stabiliser manufacturing unit was manufacturing stabilisers for a well known brand along with many similar units run by Christian priests and nuns.They will do procurement of raw materials and components from sources identified by the marketing company,employ school and college drop out girls for the assembling work.After manufacturing and testing they will pack the product and deliver to retail shop selling the product as per directions of the marketing company in whose brand name product is being sold.
One day I checked up the price indicated on the packed stabiliser and asked the priest in charge-“How much you get out of this price?”Price figure indicated by him was really surprising to me.It was just one fourth of the selling price of the product.Nearly three fourth of price goes as possibly marketing expenses including advertisement expenses through media and Point of Purchase ad material costs,margin of marketing company and profit for retail seller.
So while watching colourful advertisements in TV and news papers we never realise the fact that we are paying for all these ad campaigns possibly with an added percentage of margin to the marketing company for advertisement expenses.
I have been watching construction of a four story apartment project just in front of my office and another apartment project for three story near my house in the recent period.
The project in front of my office was done by a fairly known builder who advertise and sell his apartments.This builder regularly buy land in Cochin,build similar apartments on a regular basis and sell apartments also on a regular basis.The other project(I will call it as Project B) is being done by an unknown builder who may be selling apartments through contacts and possibly they may not continue to build like this unlike Project A
Project A has regular workers to whom they are paying almost half the wages prevailing in the industry.They simply do not care about quality of work.Their only attempt is to finish the work as early as possible.North Indian workers staying at site without much facilities are persuaded to do overtime work even during night so that work will get completed fast.
I have noticed with shock that for four story building they are doing excavation for column footings simply by Jcb excavation to minimum depths.Mat footing concrete is using not even sufficient size steel bars and just four nos 12 mm steel bars are used for columns with stirrup spacing as high as 30 cm or more.I asked one of the supervisors-“Will it not fall down if you do like this?”
He simply smiled and said-“We are regularly doing like this and so far nothing has fallen down.After all buyers are going to see building only after painting.At that time it will look good”
In our country there is no government machinery to check and enforce proper structural design for buildings being constructed and any body can do as they pleases and ordinary house building owners simply do not know anything about structural design or importance of proper structural work for the building ensuring structural stability of the building.They are only interested in getting lowest”square feet cost” of construction for the building they construct.Who bothers even if the builder does not even use proper steel reinforcement? If you use adequate steel reinforcement with professional guidance from a structural consultant,cost of construction will go up.When the customer is interested only in getting lowest”square feet cost” of construction why should builder spend more money to ensure structural stability of the building?
Recently I was rather shocked to receive mail from a qualified experienced engineer working abroad on construction projects asking me to quote my square feet cost of construction.So much for the lack of awareness even among professionals thus allowing crooks to flourish in the industry
I was watching Project B running construction from the beginning.They were doing the construction strictly as per the best procedure with proper professional design and quality.They are not well known builders.They do not advertise heavily through internet,media and hoardings.Probably they will not be getting buyers like usual players in the trade and may not get same high prices and thereby higher profits.
It is high time awareness about proper construction methods and procedures are known to potential buyers.Most of the bigger players in apartment business do not do anything other than marketing and reaping profits.They simply subcontract entire work on smaller players to earn huge margins from buyers who simply trust more advertised names.For them it is very easy to build lakhs of square feet within the committed delivery period.After all who bothers about quality?
“With painting and finishing works nobody will be able to notice defects initially.After purchase the apartment society will worry about quality problems and manufacturing defects”
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Laying of concrete-Kerala practices
Having worked with many workers in different work sites in Kerala,I can tell you one fact which is common among all these workers.They give only lip service to quality of work.
When you ask them about quality of work,all of them tell that they are not like others and they do the work in the correct manner irrespective of supervision or lack of supervision.But this is just a hollow promise,without any intension of following it up with action.In reality they will do only that which has less physical strain and they will try to make the owner of building believe that what they are doing is the correct manner of doing work.
While laying concrete usual follies or mistakes done by workers are the following
1.They add more water to the concrete so that it is easier for them to level the concrete or compact it in case of beams and columns even though more water in excess of allowed quantity will reduce strength of concrete.
2.They reduce quantity of coarse aggregates(3/4 inch metal if I use usual terminology) so that it will be easy for compaction especially when compaction is done manually without use of vibrator.They increase quantity of fine aggregates like river sand,again for less physical strain in mixing and compacting.
3.Cement quantity will be reduced only if material supply is also being arranged by the contractor.Otherwise cement will not be reduced as it is not affecting physical strain of concrete mixing and laying.
4.For beams and columns they talk as if concrete with more water is essential.After hearing it for some time any one will start thinking that columns and beams require concrete with more water.
As majority of houses and other buildings in Kerala are being constructed without professional guidance and supervision,there is also absolutely no structural design by a qualified Engineer forconcrete parts of these buildings.
Workers will lay steel as they feel comfortable so that steel tying and fixing can be the minimum possible to reduce steel work.
I will tell you about two events among my varied experiences in dealing with unrelenting work force in concrete work.
We were laying concrete somewhere near Angamaly for a convent building.Suddenly mother superior of that convent wanted me to meet her.I went and met her
“Why are you concreting without sufficient water in concrete?”She asked.In fact I literally had to fight with unrelenting workers to reduce water in concrete to desired level and now this lady is finding fault with me for that.See how these workers have misinformed general public to believe that the follies narrated by them are correct.
At Ranny at the time of first roof slab concreting my client has called a few of the local contractors of building work who were quite unhappy for not getting work of this house as my client has chosen to get me for the work from far away Cochin.He called them to be present at the time of concrete to check whether the Engineer from Cochin and his workers are doing the concrete properly.After the tea within half an hour of commencement of concrete laying all of them left the place saying that ” now he will do it correctly as we have come”
I asked my client-“What do they say about steel reinforcement work for roof concrete?”
He replied-“They say that you have put steel for four houses in this roof”
![DSC01431[1]](http://lh4.ggpht.com/_7bs6rHS2WuU/StHWD8NT6SI/AAAAAAAAAjQ/G16MDSg7o1Q/DSC01431%5B1%5D_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800 "DSC01431[1]")
I have put steel only sufficient and essential for the work.Of course this sufficient and essential is four times according to worker as more steel means more work for him.As the work is taken up on square feet rate basis more steel work means lesser profit for him as the labour wages will increase due to more steel work.
Who is bothered about structural stability of the house?The concreted roof should not fall down immediately after removal of supports after curing period.Whatever happens later,the worker will not be around to face it.Even if he is locally available,he will wash his hands saying “You gave the work to me knowing very well that I am not an engineer?If you were so particular about stability of the house,you should have engaged an Engineer for the work”
At the time of negotiating to get contract for the building if you ask him “Should we not go for an Engineer to design and supervise the work?”
He will reply like this-“Why you have to waste money on an Engineer?I have built hundreds of houses without any Engineer.Nothing happened to any of the buildings.If you have more money to waste,get an Engineer'”
Concrete mixing practices are different in different parts of Kerala.
In Nilambur they use a sloping wooden case where they keep cement and aggregates at top side and as these are brought down mixed with water using hand tools,concrete mixed is received at end of sloping wooden case
At Alwaye they use long spade to mix concrete.This make movement of spade and mixing easier.
At Cochin and many other places there is a bad habit of dumping aggregates one above other and trying to pour water and mixing whatever is available at one end.This practice prevents proper mixing of concrete.But here again who bothers?
Worker will vouch vehemently to the owner who does not know anything about concrete mixing that what he does is the correct and most appropriate method
Many people think that by using a manually operated mixer machine concrete is mixed properly.First of all workers will not put aggregates in proper proportion to reduce their strain in levelling and compacting concrete.Secondly the operator of mixer machine will not turn it sufficiently for proper mixing as he want the work to be over faster ,mixing or no mixing.
The best way out in recent time available in major towns like Cochin are ready mix concrete.As the mixing and laying is done mostly by machine without much man power involvement,worker introduced excuses for low quality work will not come into play.Only precaution required is that ready mix supplier should be given instructions about quantity of water as they will again try to increase water content for easier pumping of concrete.
Vibrator is the best option for proper compaction of concrete after laying on roof or beams.The old method of using hand compaction with steel bars is likely to be affected by worker laziness and fatigue.
Another advantage of using ready mix concreting is that you can avoid too many workers running around roof to be concreted with all sorts of confusion and shouting at the time of concreting.In some places there is a practice of giving continuous run of food and drink to these concrete workers including liquor to make them happy for doing a lousy irresponsible job for concreting roof of your house to be built only once in your life time
Another important aspect to be noted is curing required after concrete laying.Many worker turned contractors will advise house owner that spraying water once or twice is sufficient again to reduce his labour charges.
Concrete laid will have to be kept under water for minimum two weeks.In case of slope roof,jute bags will have to be kept above slope roof with frequent spraying of water on it to keep concrete surface wet and cool.
When you ask them about quality of work,all of them tell that they are not like others and they do the work in the correct manner irrespective of supervision or lack of supervision.But this is just a hollow promise,without any intension of following it up with action.In reality they will do only that which has less physical strain and they will try to make the owner of building believe that what they are doing is the correct manner of doing work.
While laying concrete usual follies or mistakes done by workers are the following
1.They add more water to the concrete so that it is easier for them to level the concrete or compact it in case of beams and columns even though more water in excess of allowed quantity will reduce strength of concrete.
2.They reduce quantity of coarse aggregates(3/4 inch metal if I use usual terminology) so that it will be easy for compaction especially when compaction is done manually without use of vibrator.They increase quantity of fine aggregates like river sand,again for less physical strain in mixing and compacting.
3.Cement quantity will be reduced only if material supply is also being arranged by the contractor.Otherwise cement will not be reduced as it is not affecting physical strain of concrete mixing and laying.
4.For beams and columns they talk as if concrete with more water is essential.After hearing it for some time any one will start thinking that columns and beams require concrete with more water.
As majority of houses and other buildings in Kerala are being constructed without professional guidance and supervision,there is also absolutely no structural design by a qualified Engineer forconcrete parts of these buildings.
Workers will lay steel as they feel comfortable so that steel tying and fixing can be the minimum possible to reduce steel work.
I will tell you about two events among my varied experiences in dealing with unrelenting work force in concrete work.
We were laying concrete somewhere near Angamaly for a convent building.Suddenly mother superior of that convent wanted me to meet her.I went and met her
“Why are you concreting without sufficient water in concrete?”She asked.In fact I literally had to fight with unrelenting workers to reduce water in concrete to desired level and now this lady is finding fault with me for that.See how these workers have misinformed general public to believe that the follies narrated by them are correct.
At Ranny at the time of first roof slab concreting my client has called a few of the local contractors of building work who were quite unhappy for not getting work of this house as my client has chosen to get me for the work from far away Cochin.He called them to be present at the time of concrete to check whether the Engineer from Cochin and his workers are doing the concrete properly.After the tea within half an hour of commencement of concrete laying all of them left the place saying that ” now he will do it correctly as we have come”
I asked my client-“What do they say about steel reinforcement work for roof concrete?”
He replied-“They say that you have put steel for four houses in this roof”
![DSC01431[1]](http://lh5.ggpht.com/_7bs6rHS2WuU/StHWDEIvd_I/AAAAAAAAAjM/AQXdj8fWtFs/s1600-h/DSC01431%5B1%5D%5B2%5D.jpg "DSC01431[1]")
I have put steel only sufficient and essential for the work.Of course this sufficient and essential is four times according to worker as more steel means more work for him.As the work is taken up on square feet rate basis more steel work means lesser profit for him as the labour wages will increase due to more steel work.
Who is bothered about structural stability of the house?The concreted roof should not fall down immediately after removal of supports after curing period.Whatever happens later,the worker will not be around to face it.Even if he is locally available,he will wash his hands saying “You gave the work to me knowing very well that I am not an engineer?If you were so particular about stability of the house,you should have engaged an Engineer for the work”
At the time of negotiating to get contract for the building if you ask him “Should we not go for an Engineer to design and supervise the work?”
He will reply like this-“Why you have to waste money on an Engineer?I have built hundreds of houses without any Engineer.Nothing happened to any of the buildings.If you have more money to waste,get an Engineer'”
Concrete mixing practices are different in different parts of Kerala.
In Nilambur they use a sloping wooden case where they keep cement and aggregates at top side and as these are brought down mixed with water using hand tools,concrete mixed is received at end of sloping wooden case
At Alwaye they use long spade to mix concrete.This make movement of spade and mixing easier.
At Cochin and many other places there is a bad habit of dumping aggregates one above other and trying to pour water and mixing whatever is available at one end.This practice prevents proper mixing of concrete.But here again who bothers?
Worker will vouch vehemently to the owner who does not know anything about concrete mixing that what he does is the correct and most appropriate method
Many people think that by using a manually operated mixer machine concrete is mixed properly.First of all workers will not put aggregates in proper proportion to reduce their strain in levelling and compacting concrete.Secondly the operator of mixer machine will not turn it sufficiently for proper mixing as he want the work to be over faster ,mixing or no mixing.
The best way out in recent time available in major towns like Cochin are ready mix concrete.As the mixing and laying is done mostly by machine without much man power involvement,worker introduced excuses for low quality work will not come into play.Only precaution required is that ready mix supplier should be given instructions about quantity of water as they will again try to increase water content for easier pumping of concrete.
Vibrator is the best option for proper compaction of concrete after laying on roof or beams.The old method of using hand compaction with steel bars is likely to be affected by worker laziness and fatigue.
Another advantage of using ready mix concreting is that you can avoid too many workers running around roof to be concreted with all sorts of confusion and shouting at the time of concreting.In some places there is a practice of giving continuous run of food and drink to these concrete workers including liquor to make them happy for doing a lousy irresponsible job for concreting roof of your house to be built only once in your life time
Another important aspect to be noted is curing required after concrete laying.Many worker turned contractors will advise house owner that spraying water once or twice is sufficient again to reduce his labour charges.
Concrete laid will have to be kept under water for minimum two weeks.In case of slope roof,jute bags will have to be kept above slope roof with frequent spraying of water on it to keep concrete surface wet and cool.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
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In search of a good Elevation
While dealing with house construction clients in Kerala,it is very common to hear from them that they require very good Elevation or appearance for the house.
Some people even send Elevations of houses they have seen in websites of builders and send it to me saying that I want my house to look like this.The person who make such demands is not even bothered about plan of that house which may be totally different from his requirement,budget and it may not even fit into his property.Who bothers about all these?
Most of them think that a good Architect is simply some one who can draw impressive Elevation from any plan of the house prepared by any one.Again usual Malayalee expectation of a house to be built is that the house should look impressive from outside.For them an Architect is some one capable of doing this from any plan.So you do not require an architect to draw plan of your house.A lot of people think that if they draw few lines and write whatever measurements they feel like,it will be the best plan for his house.
”After all,how can an Architect draw plan of my house when I am spending my money?.Let him draw a good Elevation for the house preferably one which look like a photo.I should know how the house will look,when completed”
A good elevation is possible only for a good Plan of the house.An Architect has to use the following during preparation of plan of a house.
1. His knowledge.
2.Years of experience in designing and building houses.
3.Structural engineering aspects to reduce construction costs.
4.Modern architectural techniques to enhance utility of every bit of built up space.
5.Ensure proper ventilation and lighting using sunlight in all living spaces.
6.Proper control and protection from sunlight,winds and rain for every living space.
7.Vasthu compliance
8.Reduction of cost by better utilisation of available resources.
9.Plan to obtain good external appearance for the building not only from front side but from every sides of the building.
Additionally for Malayalees,
10.Try to make the house look bigger than what it really is.
I can tell many stories of experiences in dealing with clients about each of these aspects.But I will tell only two experience detail here.
At Punalur,I met an NRI who has become rich only very recently for design of his house in his existing plot.When I reached from Cochin with prior fixing of time,I had to wait at his rented accommodation for nearly an hour for the simple reason that my novae rich client wanted to make me wait for making me feel his “greatness” in front of me.
Before even proceeding to see the plot,he opened his laptop and showed me house pictures taken from websites of villa builders.
“I want house like this”
I said Okay.When I reached the plot ,the plot has only more cents which is only area of the land.It has very little width and the picture he showed simply will not fit into that plot.Even though I tried to prepare plan suited to that plot and his requirements,he was adamant that the plan does not suit with the plan he showed me.What will I do and how will I make him understand the fact?
At Irinjalakuda when I went to design and build a house father of my client had one simple demand.
House should look bigger than the new house of a film star nearby even though he cannot have 6500 sft plinth area of house of film star.He cannot go beyond 4000 sft.With 4000 sft.I designed and built house looking bigger than that 6500 sft house of neighbour.
Plan of the house is the most important, most valuable drawing of your house.Try to get the best talented Architect for preparation of that unique plan specifically suited to your plot,requirements and budget.A good plan will naturally give you a good elevation.But give the Architect time to dream and visualise a good plan and give him more time to develop a good and unique appearance for your house.Do not make him design in a hurry for you.Some times he may need more time to dream well for you.
Some people even send Elevations of houses they have seen in websites of builders and send it to me saying that I want my house to look like this.The person who make such demands is not even bothered about plan of that house which may be totally different from his requirement,budget and it may not even fit into his property.Who bothers about all these?
Most of them think that a good Architect is simply some one who can draw impressive Elevation from any plan of the house prepared by any one.Again usual Malayalee expectation of a house to be built is that the house should look impressive from outside.For them an Architect is some one capable of doing this from any plan.So you do not require an architect to draw plan of your house.A lot of people think that if they draw few lines and write whatever measurements they feel like,it will be the best plan for his house.
”After all,how can an Architect draw plan of my house when I am spending my money?.Let him draw a good Elevation for the house preferably one which look like a photo.I should know how the house will look,when completed”
A good elevation is possible only for a good Plan of the house.An Architect has to use the following during preparation of plan of a house.
1. His knowledge.
2.Years of experience in designing and building houses.
3.Structural engineering aspects to reduce construction costs.
4.Modern architectural techniques to enhance utility of every bit of built up space.
5.Ensure proper ventilation and lighting using sunlight in all living spaces.
6.Proper control and protection from sunlight,winds and rain for every living space.
7.Vasthu compliance
8.Reduction of cost by better utilisation of available resources.
9.Plan to obtain good external appearance for the building not only from front side but from every sides of the building.
Additionally for Malayalees,
10.Try to make the house look bigger than what it really is.
I can tell many stories of experiences in dealing with clients about each of these aspects.But I will tell only two experience detail here.
At Punalur,I met an NRI who has become rich only very recently for design of his house in his existing plot.When I reached from Cochin with prior fixing of time,I had to wait at his rented accommodation for nearly an hour for the simple reason that my novae rich client wanted to make me wait for making me feel his “greatness” in front of me.
Before even proceeding to see the plot,he opened his laptop and showed me house pictures taken from websites of villa builders.
“I want house like this”
I said Okay.When I reached the plot ,the plot has only more cents which is only area of the land.It has very little width and the picture he showed simply will not fit into that plot.Even though I tried to prepare plan suited to that plot and his requirements,he was adamant that the plan does not suit with the plan he showed me.What will I do and how will I make him understand the fact?
At Irinjalakuda when I went to design and build a house father of my client had one simple demand.
House should look bigger than the new house of a film star nearby even though he cannot have 6500 sft plinth area of house of film star.He cannot go beyond 4000 sft.With 4000 sft.I designed and built house looking bigger than that 6500 sft house of neighbour.
Plan of the house is the most important, most valuable drawing of your house.Try to get the best talented Architect for preparation of that unique plan specifically suited to your plot,requirements and budget.A good plan will naturally give you a good elevation.But give the Architect time to dream and visualise a good plan and give him more time to develop a good and unique appearance for your house.Do not make him design in a hurry for you.Some times he may need more time to dream well for you.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Harthal and holiday culture
We Indians are quite famous for laziness and finding excuses in not doing work properly with quality and professional dedication.I am not saying all of us are like that.But a good majority are like that.They not only try every trick to avoid work while duly collecting payment which should have come to a person only after properly doing the work.
Instead simple presence at work place is reason enough to demand wages irrespective of whether the person has done work properly or not.To escape from this habit of collecting wages without justifying the collection of money,we at construction industry try to link wages to output of work.Even then the lazy workers find out ways to escape work by collecting advance payments in excess of proportionate work.
All of us are trained to demand and enjoy holidays for one day or two to commemorate birth or death of past leaders of the nation.Does these great men really wanted our citizens to waste a day or two in memory of them? I do not think so.We have Gandhi jayanthi a national holiday possibly against the message of life of Gandhi.Probably he would have liked citizens of India to work harder with better dedication and sincerity in memory of him on his day of birth.But we think otherwise.We think best way to honour his memory is by idling and wasting time on birth day of Gandhi.
In Kerala we have a funny method of strike previously called as Bundh and now rechristened as Harthal. A few people dictate to others not to work on a day threatening with dire consequences if they dare to.People who value their life and property remain inside closed doors on that day.Having found streets and work places empty these threatening guys go wild with happiness and declare that all those who remained indoors due to fear are their followers or admirers!
These Harthals and meaningless public holidays to commemorate great men of this nation should be stopped without any delay as these bad practices will only make us eligible to be called as barbarians
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