{"id":727192,"date":"2024-02-07T08:47:03","date_gmt":"2024-02-07T08:47:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/?p=727192"},"modified":"2024-02-07T08:48:56","modified_gmt":"2024-02-07T08:48:56","slug":"the-secret-architect-pimp-walking-into-a-pcsa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/opinion\/the-secret-architect-pimp-walking-into-a-pcsa","title":{"rendered":"The Secret Architect: Brazilians do it differently"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\">Turns out, overworking has its perks. My excessive commitment to the project\u2019s intricacies and the PCSA process has paid off. I\u2019m the designated architectural representative at a week of technical workshops hosted by the contractor\u2019s engineers \u2026 in Rio de Janeiro!<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">Well, it\u2019s actually two days of pointing at drawings and finding new ways to say \u2018no really, no column there\u2019 in Portuguese. But I am planning to ride this gift horse for two whole weeks. It lowers the carbon footprint per day! It\u2019s a cultural exchange! The flights work out 7 per cent cheaper anyway!<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">One of the engineers has been allocated as team translator; apparently he lived in the US for a few years as a kid, which explains why some early 90s hip-hop terminology is making its way into our morning structural review workshop. I noticed he has a phone cover of \u2018dOn\u2019T bElieVE tHe HyPE!\u2019 sprayed onto a red brick wall. Is he making a broad statement about late-stage capitalism and the global culture of nihilistic self-promotion? Or is he also just a fan of Chuck D\u2019s denser vocal stylings? Francisco the translator is thinly spread across four sub-meetings, so I don\u2019t have chance to find out.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">Our lusophone colleagues are accommodating, patient and very generous with the coffee, the kind you can stand a spoon up in. By 11am I have the shakes, which is unfortunate, because we\u2019re sketching everything in lieu of verbal communication. I\u2019m trying to explain why having a beam that\u2019s lower than the architrave won\u2019t work, and can\u2019t we move it over 500mm so it sits hidden within the wall? Lots of head-shaking and huffing. Wouldn\u2019t get that quality of interaction on a Teams call, would you?<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">The translator re-emerges just as the senior engineer looks like he\u2019s going to snap his favourite pencil. \u2018What\u2019s up what\u2019s up WHAT\u2019S UUUUUUUP??\u2019 he booms while pimp walking into the room. I catch myself staring and panic, turning the Britishness up to eleven. \u2018Ah, just the chap! Could you mosey over here and help us with our \u2026 little misunderstanding? So good of you.\u2019 Why am I like this?<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">He is undeterred. \u2018My brother here is saying that you either gotta have the beam, or the column, ya know whaddamsayin? Can\u2019t be out here trippin\u2019 with pre-tensioned slabs just \u2026 floating around. You feel me?\u2019 I\u2019m not sure I do, but I can feel the creative director to my left is about to use this levity to initiate more \u2018fun alternatives\u2019, which I am absolutely not \u2018down\u2019 with.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">Ok, ok, how about \u2026 a column here and the beam aligned over it, and we move the door over there slightly? So they don\u2019t clash, but the column isn\u2019t asymmetrically loaded and you can keep your slab foundations as they are? After a tense pause the engineer nods, shakes my hand and walks off, sketch in hand. The translator makes finger guns at me.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">Next up is the fire engineer. Slippery, this guy. Doesn\u2019t answer emails, never joins calls (even client ones), no drawings, no reports, nada. We wait 15 minutes and he\u2019s still not here, so I ask the translator for help \u2013 where\u2019s your fire expert? He goes to find out. Ten minutes later and he returns empty-handed. \u2018Looks like our boy went home for the day.\u2019<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">Our? Boy? Now I\u2019m annoyed. It\u2019s only 1pm, I braved a free trip across the Atlantic for this, can you please \u2026 retrieve him? There\u2019s whispering between the senior engineer and the translator. \u2018Oh man, you know, sometimes them\u2019s the breaks!\u2019 Nope, not good enough. Find me a fire engineer. More whispering. \u2018Yeah, he\u2019s in the bathroom? He\u2019ll be here in, like, an hour.\u2019 I\u2019m so jet-lagged I can\u2019t even be bothered to ask; I just eyeball the senior engineer. He sighs again and walks away.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">Seven minutes later and a work experience guy shuffles into the room. He actually is a boy, and although this is not his project, he\u2019s being very game about it. There\u2019s more whispering, some doodling, and he tentatively agrees to amend the fire strategy. I do not feel confident and look to the translator for clarity and reassurance. He puts two fists in the air.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">\u2018Boom!\u2019<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">Quite.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Secret Architect attends an interesting PCSA meeting in Rio de Janeiro<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9844,"featured_media":728449,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"ep_exclude_from_search":false},"categories":[745],"tags":[100769,1343,72352,1780],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Secret Architect: Brazilians do it differently<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Secret Architect attends a PCSA meeting in Rio de Janeiro\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/opinion\/the-secret-architect-pimp-walking-into-a-pcsa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Secret Architect: Brazilians do it differently\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Secret Architect attends a PCSA meeting in Rio de Janeiro\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/opinion\/the-secret-architect-pimp-walking-into-a-pcsa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Architects\u2019 Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-02-07T08:47:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-02-07T08:48:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cdn.rt.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/01\/31102107\/secret-architect-jan-24.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"620\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"414\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"The Secret Architect\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Alan Gordon\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/opinion\/the-secret-architect-pimp-walking-into-a-pcsa\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/opinion\/the-secret-architect-pimp-walking-into-a-pcsa\",\"name\":\"The Secret Architect: Brazilians do it differently\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2024-02-07T08:47:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-02-07T08:48:56+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/c9b9ca3ca79c0132ddcdae56307b2ff2\"},\"description\":\"The Secret Architect attends a PCSA meeting in Rio de Janeiro\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/opinion\/the-secret-architect-pimp-walking-into-a-pcsa#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/opinion\/the-secret-architect-pimp-walking-into-a-pcsa\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/opinion\/the-secret-architect-pimp-walking-into-a-pcsa#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Secret Architect: Brazilians do it differently\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/\",\"name\":\"The Architects\u2019 Journal\",\"description\":\"Architecture News &amp; 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