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Dear Architects,

pomoinmono

I am sick of your shit.

Once, a long time ago in the days of yore, I had a friend who was studying architecture to become, presumably, an architect.
This friend introduced me to other friends, who were also studying architecture. Then these friends had other friends who were architects - real architects doing real architecture like designing luxury condos that look a lot like glass dildos. And these real architects knew other real architects and now the only people I know are architects. And they all design glass dildos that I will never work or live in and serve only to obstruct my view of New Jersey.

Do not get me wrong, architects. I like you as a person. I think you are nice, smell good most of the time, and I like your glasses. You have crazy hair, and if you are lucky, most of it is on your head. But I do not care about architecture. It is true. This is what I do care about:

* burritos
* hedgehogs
* coffee

As you can see, architecture is not on the list. I believe that architecture falls somewhere between toenail fungus and invasive colonoscopy in the list of things that interest me.

Perhaps if you didn’t talk about it so much, I would be more interested. When you point to a glass cylinder and say proudly, hey my office designed that, I giggle and say it looks like a bong. You turn your head in disgust and shame. You think, obviously she does not understand. What does she know? She is just a writer. She is no architect. She respects vowels, not glass cocks. And then you say now I am designing a lifestyle center, and I ask what is that, and you say it is a place that offers goods and services and retail opportunities and I say you mean like a mall and you say no. It is a lifestyle center. I say it sounds like a mall. I am from the Valley, bitch. I know malls.

Architects, I will not lie, you confuse me. You work sixty, eighty hours a week and yet you are always poor. Why aren’t you buying me a drink? Where is your bounty of riches? Maybe you spent it on merlot. Maybe you spent it on hookers and blow. I cannot be sure. It is a mystery. I will leave that to the scientists to figure out.

Architects love to discuss how much sleep they have gotten. One will say how he was at the studio until five in the morning, only to return again two hours later. Then another will say, oh that is nothing. I haven’t slept in a week. And then another will say, guess what, I have never slept ever. My dear architects, the measure of how hard you’ve worked and how much you’ve accomplished is not related to the number of hours you have not slept. Have you heard of Rem Koolhaas? He is a famous architect. I know this because you tell me he is a famous architect. I hear that Rem Koolhaas is always sleeping. He is, I presume, sleeping right now. And I hear he gets shit done. And I also hear that in a stunning move, he is making a building that looks not like a glass cock, but like a concrete vagina. When you sleep more, you get vagina. You can all take a lesson from Rem Koolhaas.

Life is hard for me, please understand. Architects are an important part of my existence. They call me at eleven at night and say they just got off work, am I hungry? Listen, it is practically midnight. I ate hours ago. So long ago that, in fact, I am hungry again. So yes, I will go. Then I will go and there will be other architects talking about AutoCAD shortcuts and something about electric panels and can you believe that is all I did today, what a drag. I look around the table at the poor, tired, and hungry, and think to myself, I have but only one bullet left in the gun. Who will I choose?

I have a friend who is a doctor. He gives me drugs. I enjoy them. I have a friend who is a lawyer. He helped me sue my landlord. My architect friends have given me nothing. No drugs, no medical advice, and they don’t know how to spell subpoena. One architect friend figured out that my apartment was one hundred and eighty seven square feet. That was nice. Thanks for that.

I suppose one could ask what someone like me brings to architects like yourselves. I bring cheer. I yell at architects when they start talking about architecture. I force them to discuss far more interesting topics, like turkey eggs. Why do we eat chicken eggs, but not turkey eggs? They are bigger. And people really like turkey. See? I am not afraid to ask the tough questions.

So, dear architects, I will stick around, for only a little while. I hope that one day some of you will become doctors and lawyers or will figure out my taxes. And we will laugh at the days when you spent the entire evening talking about some European you’ve never met who designed a building you will never see because you are too busy working on something that will never get built. But even if that day doesn’t arrive, give me a call anyway, I am free.

Yours truly,
Annie Choi

(http://www.partiv.com/2007/07/19/dear-architects-i-am-sick-of-your-shit/)

Forgive me if this has already been released but it didn't come up in a search so I had to share the glory.

 
Aug 3, 07 3:07 pm
n_
As discussed here.

Aug 3, 07 3:11 pm  · 
 · 

"I'm sick and tired of architects, but I love it when there's a hobby horse between my legs."

Aug 3, 07 3:42 pm  · 
 · 
Apurimac

holy shit, is that her? That's a bad pic but i think i could tap that.

Aug 3, 07 5:42 pm  · 
 · 

ditto - but change could to would

Aug 3, 07 7:23 pm  · 
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JMBarquero/squirrelly

Apurimac......now that i see her pic.....I could forgive some of her ranting....so Im with you on that thought.

Aug 3, 07 7:40 pm  · 
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ARKTEK

i saw a link to this rant on archidose blogspot the other week...i thought then that she seemed 'fiesty'

Aug 3, 07 9:04 pm  · 
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Liebchen

This thread is attracting misogynistic comments like honey attracts bears!

"fiesty" "tap that" come on!

Aug 3, 07 9:12 pm  · 
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holz.box

wow. that's old news...
and she's not amoking, but if i was in a slump, and if the mrs. was game...

Aug 3, 07 9:28 pm  · 
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morgan2sims

darn.. i was thinking of posting it here..

Aug 8, 07 6:15 am  · 
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postal

apparently we've won

...for what it's worth, talking about architecture is waaaaay cooler that talking about literature...

dear writers,...

Aug 8, 07 8:55 am  · 
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postal

that = than...

damn you writers!

Aug 8, 07 8:56 am  · 
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rfuller

Am I the only one who didn't find this letter to be that funny or witty?

Aug 8, 07 10:01 am  · 
 · 

nope

Aug 8, 07 10:09 am  · 
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sunsetsam

I think the glass dildo she is referring to is the st. mary axe - every lonely woman's dream.

Aug 8, 07 10:26 am  · 
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4arch

Not funny, not witty.

Aug 8, 07 10:38 am  · 
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eastcoastarch03

she wants someone to pick up her drink because her broke-ass writer self can't afford one

Aug 14, 07 4:08 pm  · 
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cityboy9

i thought it was hillllllarious! (because so much of it is true!)
ha!

Aug 29, 07 1:02 pm  · 
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cityboy9

like this one: "One architect friend figured out that my apartment was one hundred and eighty seven square feet.." bloody brilliant!!

Aug 29, 07 1:03 pm  · 
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eastcoastarch03

^would you be british?

Aug 29, 07 1:09 pm  · 
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Androohy

this letter was brillant!!! some people need to find their sense of humor.......

my favorite part:
"I hear that Rem Koolhaas is always sleeping. He is, I presume, sleeping right now. And I hear he gets shit done. And I also hear that in a stunning move, he is making a building that looks not like a glass cock, but like a concrete vagina. When you sleep more, you get vagina. You can all take a lesson from Rem Koolhaas."



Aug 29, 07 1:38 pm  · 
 · 
post-neorealcrapismist

the best way to find out if someone is british is to askl them to spell mustache. them brits, always adding extra vowels.

Aug 29, 07 1:41 pm  · 
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eastcoastarch03

i saw a glass cock on the sidewalk when i used to be a busboy. you'd be surprised the shit you see sweeping a parking lot.

Aug 29, 07 1:41 pm  · 
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futureboy

yes, all too brilliant.
i'm not for beating up on my own profession, but i think her observations are really funny and quite true...whether we'd like to think so or not.
how many times have you been a room full of architects telling stories and suddenly thought to yourself...."my god, am i this depressed and boring as well"...and it's at that point that you realize that you probably are. which isn't a bad thing....depressed and boring is the state of the world...but passing it off as the newest of the new and exciting only makes you look delusional.

Aug 29, 07 1:44 pm  · 
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eastcoastarch03

post-neo

i think it was the "bloody brilliant" part that got me thinking

Aug 29, 07 1:50 pm  · 
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alfrejas24

When I first heard her rant I though she was just one of those whiny, spoiled, everything haters. Which after reading her blog, yeah I was right.
BUT she is right about architects. We went into architecture for the love of it and not money or fame. So of course we want to talk about it all the time. Yes, we could talk about Survivor, Paris Hilton, or hedgehogs but why?

Aug 29, 07 2:04 pm  · 
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cityboy9

eastcoastarch03,

no, i'm not british, but many of my favourite bands are!

Aug 29, 07 5:25 pm  · 
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emaze

this is what happens when you live in a 187 s.f. apt

Aug 29, 07 5:37 pm  · 
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