gotukola & architecture

National Inventor of the Year - 2010

2012-01-26T19:04:00.000-08:00

blind leading the blind...

2012-01-07T09:46:00.000-08:00

for those who believe aromatherapy works in architectural education...

Architecture, unlike other arts, does not find its patterns in nature.

G.Samper, 1834 inaugural lecture, quoted in H.Samper, 1880, 7

What man makes nature cannot make. Nature does not build a house, nature does not make a locomotive, nature does not make a playground. They grow out of a desire to express.

Louis Kahn, 1969, quoted in Wurman, 75

We should not then be surprised that architects have been working with colours again for sometime now. But their spiritual and creative poverty, their total lack of plain humanity is, at best, depressing. Today colours serve only to disguise their incompetence...

Potlatich, F. 1954, 46

... architectural discourse that it too often imitates or caricatures the discourse of power, and that it suffers from the delusion that ‘objective’ knowledge of ‘reality’ can be attained by means of graphic representations...

Lefebvre, H. 1974

It becomes problematic when leaders continue to think that there's only one way of doing things, that the relationship is hierarchical, tat positions aren't constantly changing. It's always been the younger people who bring about change...

Eric Own Moss

find yourself where you started, when blind leading the blind...!

MDP 2011: Major Design Problem

2011-12-02T02:30:00.001-08:00

MDP 2011: Notes

You see a disproportion between the vertical scale and the horizontal scale in most design schemes. In other words, most of the schemes look visually distorted. This visual disproportion is clearly evident in schemes with more than two floor levels and schemes that are dealing with double height or multiple height spaces.

What’s going on here?

At present most design schemes are drafted using CAD software using desktop computers or laptops. Here, all drafting is viewed through wide computer screens with different aspect ratios. The screen aspect ratio is the proportion between the screen height to its width.

At present you see screens that are with differing aspect ratios 4:3, 5:3, 16:9 and many more. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_display_standard )These are based on various standards in the computer industry.

For me the root of the problem seems to lie here.

When the drafting is viewed without ‘correcting’ the aspect ratio of the screen to give 1:1, the drawing content and everything that is viewed will naturally be with a definite visual distortion. In other words, if you draw a square, it will appear as a ‘rectangle’ and a rectangle standing up will appear as a ‘square’, a circle will be a ‘ellipse’ because the ‘visual height’ is reduced due to screen aspect ratio.

Often this visual impediment will go unnoticed at drafting stage because;

Students are unaware of the issue with the screen aspect ratio.

Often the drafting is done by someone other than the designer. Hence errors go undetected.

The final set of printouts are often the first time the designer gets to ‘see’ the ‘correct’ image without any distortion. It would be simply ‘too late’ to change anything at that stage due to deadlines and cost issues

The CAD drafted drawings go through a process of Photoshop image rendering and other presentation processes. Therefore, it would be practically impossible to make any changes once you have manipulated the drafted image for presentation.

Architecturally this is huge design problem. A series of final year design projects clearly shows a serious fault in their spatial and visual proportions.

The solution would be a simple one. That is to adjust your screen aspect ratio to give the images or drafted content, equal height: width visual ratio. In other words, adjust the screen so that the the user can see the ‘correct’ image as and when drafting is done.

FAO those compassionate animal lovers...!

2011-10-27T09:48:00.000-07:00

Suppose you'll end up saying that 'this wouldn't have happened if the animals were fed properly....'!

Level 2: Social Studies

2011-10-12T09:59:00.000-07:00

Some useful reads for level 2 Social Studies students:

Appeared in Sunday Times (10.10.2011);

Eng. K.P. Piyasena, Peradeniya writes: Housing for low income shanty dwellers in Colombo
Centre for Poverty Analysis (CEPA): Urban evictions: Protecting the vulnerable in post-election Colombo
An open letter from former Defence Secretary: Mr. Mayor, remember the rights of the slum dwellers

brotherhood of destruction

2011-10-07T10:25:00.000-07:00

Louis I. Kahn once said; “I revere learning because it is a fundamental inspiration. It isn’t just something which has to do with duty; it is born into us. The will to learn, the desire to learn, is one of the greatest of inspirations. I am not impressed by education. Learning, yes; education is something which is always on trial because no system can ever capture the real meaning of learning” (Latour, A. 1991)

I wonder whether Louis Kahn saw it coming; a day where a capital driven model takes over all forms of education from the cradle to that of the higher education institutes? Some say there’s no point in whining about these things and they say; ‘when the river water encounters a rock, it flows around it unhindered… and that we should be like that”. There’s some fundamental beauty and ugliness in this statement. For now let’s leave it at that.

We often look at the past in order to understand the present. We do not to hold the present at ransom to the workings of the past but as an attempt to figure-out the possible trends that might mould the future. This is a simple notion.

Within ‘Learning’ environments, we often find the ‘Teachers’ (we have to review this word later) sitting and waiting for the ‘students’ to arrive. This is not a philosophical statement but a simple observation. In Schools, institutes and even in the universities, this has become commonplace. Somehow, the students seem to be under the impression that the ‘Teachers’ are obliged to ‘teach’ them ‘whenever they chose to learn’…! This situation is most evident and problematic in universities. There can be a scientific evaluation of students’ punctuality and attendance although it’s rarely done.

This situation is probably a result of education being free and funded by the taxpayers of the country. For teachers, whether they ‘teach’ or not, it will not matter much as they will get paid despite students’ performance. But the nation as a whole is not that fortunate. It will suffer when what it invests in education is not later turned in to valuable capital.

In simpler terms, university students are provided with ‘free’ education now, with the expectation that they will effectively contribute to the prosperity of the nation in the future.

In reality this is far from the truth. You can be the judge of that.

What sucks is how a small number of students are able to actively ‘control’ the lives of others within the system. This minority is mostly driven by blind faith in some senior student with ulterior motives and this minority can cull progress in their peers by trying to propagate a mode of ‘homogenization’ in all spheres within the learning environment.

This homogenization is not a new concept. Its’ roots are at the heart of the socialist thinking where they try to drive some kind of an ‘everybody should be the equal’ philosophy that hardly allows for individual expression that seemed to contravene the grand ideology. Here ‘the group’ is considered paramount and everything should fall within the wish of the group. Anyone who is trying to rise up above the group or trying to be different will not be tolerated. This is the unspoken truth.

(This reminds me of the sad state in most of our villages where one person finds it hard to handle to progress of the neighbour. Where this happens, the person in question sometimes goes out of his way to curtail the progress of the other by mudslinging or even carrying out worse acts borne out of jealousy and envy. In addition to jealousy and envy, inferiority complex appears to play a major part in some students’ engagement with the peers.)

Self appointed representative and leaders within the group will regulate this ideology and above them you will find the seniors with vested interests. For the seniors this may be a part of some grand plan or mere power play, because they believe it’s their ‘right’ to decide the fate of the junior students.

The ‘leaders’ within the system, are often too stupid and blinded by the bad faith and don’t seem to mind the self destruction they are causing to themselves. Those at the receiving end for one reason or other seem to succumb to their fate without a fight. This majority can be divided into two sub-groups. The first sub-group is a smaller number of ‘bright students’. The remainder is in the mid level of academic competence. Within this second sub-group you often find students who are genuinely interested in their studies but require a great deal of guidance from the tutors and lecturers.

It is this second sub-group that looses out most due to the action of the ‘controlling’ offenders. This sub-group is normally a mix of students majorly from middle and lower middle class background and often from outstation schools. It is this group that should be making the most of the free education system and try to rise above their ranks in the future. Sadly though it is this same group who seems to be painfully silent and appear unaware of what their peers are doing to them.

Most of the culprits don’t seem to know of a world beyond the batch or the university. For some, becoming a ‘student leader’ or a ‘rep’ (Representative) amounts to a major achievement in life and this makes them assume a lot of authority and power to harass others. It is most unfortunate that these students are operating with a kind of ‘vengeance’ towards the others and are dwelling deeper into the inferiority complex that is evident in most of them. It is also certain that these students will not achieve much in the future nor fulfill the aspirations of the nation.

The homogenization plan works at different levels; symbolically and psychologically. The symbolic plan is mainly perpetuated by clothing and the physical appearance. The latter is mostly evident among the male students. Most of them grow hair in a particular manner and sometimes growing beards too. The males often wear rubber slippers (flip-flops) even when they venture out of the university without any consideration of the reputation of the institute that they represent.

Identical T-shirts that are sold to students are worn by both males and females that extend this iconography. This ‘dress code’ works almost like a uniform and ever so often when the students venture out of university they all wear the same t-shirt although there are different types of T-shirts among circulation. This cannot happen by accident.

The psychological threat begins with assigning ‘alias’ to all the junior students by the seniors. This is followed by pressurizing everyone to literally abandon their real names and to get known by their aliases. This concept goes to the heart of subversive or far right organizations (JVP) and terrorists organizations such as the LTTE. There are some well known examples such as Podi Athula, Loku Athula, (former JVP), Karuna, Pillayan (ex LTTE), Mahaththaya, Daya Master etc,. Often these aliases go beyond university years and sometimes sends real names of the students in to complete extinction.

Another psychological tact is to preach to the juniors extensively by a selected few ‘seniors’ or ‘leaders’ about how ‘weak’ they are as individuals and how ‘it is impossible to complete the course successfully without the help of the seniors’ (as the lecturers do not do the needful nor are interested in them), and because of the ‘language problem’ (lack of English knowledge) that they will anyway lag behind the ‘Colombo crowd’ and only the seniors can find them employment in the future and so on. This mantra is preached over and over and over until the students start to doubt their personal achievements and capabilities and begin to develop a great psychological dependence on the seniors and the leaders. This phenomenon often drives many students capable at entry, into complete ‘self doubt’ or ‘resignation’ if they don’t buy in to this preaching. This happens due to the critical mass that the seniors and the leaders create within the group that appears all powerful over any individual strength or trait.

In short, originally smart students ‘resign’ or go into self imposed ‘withdrawal’ and originally not so smart ones’ in to ‘powerless’ and totally dependent on others for their day to day survival and academic advancement. The preaching often covers basic needs of a student, like food and shelter as universities are often unable to provide good quality accommodation and food for all the needy students. The sermons are littered with references to how ‘we are all a tightly knit family’ and how ‘we will look after each other in times of great need’ that ‘all of you will be protected by the family as long as you are among them’ etc,. At the small group or individual level, the ‘leaders’ identify students who are most likely to be a threat to their ‘system’ and carefully manipulate well orchestrated situations into driving wedges between those students and even between students and the academic staff.

The culprits also, carefully get around the support-staff of the respective faculties and departments by addressing them, ‘aiya’ and ‘akka’ (‘elder brother’ and ‘elder sister) despite any disparity and carefully exploit thus formed relationships to manipulate deadlines, postpone submissions and even to get inside information about the workings within the academic staff and the departments. Often these students render small favours to the support staff and buy their loyalty and support. They also gather information that might be useful to them about the past and about individual lecturers and the departments.

Evidence of research or scrutiny about the above discussed workings within the university system is not known. There has not been a critical discourse or an effective public debate about the ‘real worth’ of the university graduates in terms of their contribution to national development. What can be clearly seen is when you observe closely (within some universities and within certain departments) that the tentacles of ugliness in metamorphic nature slowly spreading into individual psyche and creative mental space where the individual is completely deconstructed in to powerless entity and replaced by a highly inter-depended timid mass, carefully manipulated by a few.

Oh, when are we going to swim in that river...? (අනේ අපි කවදාක පීනමුද ඒ ගඟේ...?)

2011-08-09T10:00:00.000-07:00

Re: Revisions to BArch against RIBA Validation criteria 2011

09.08.2011 - 22.41hrs. The Latest Communique:

The workshop has been re-scheduled for this Thursday, Aug 11, 2011 at 11 am.

The Head invites all internal academic staff.

02.08.2011 Message:

The workshop will be held on Aug10, 2011.

01.08.2011 Message:

The workshop to discuss revisions to B Arch Honors will commence at 2 pm on Tuesday, Aug 02nd, 2011. The venue is AA (architecture auditorium)

Revisions to your modules/electives should be addressed to Validation Criteria of the RIBA. Attached is the latest document developed by the RIBA in 2011.

Refer pages 51-54

28.07.2011 Message:

The workshop will be held on 30.07.2011.

23.07.2011 workshop postponed to 30.07.2011 due to Local Government Elections

28.06.2011 Message:

Pl see the minutes of the workshop held on May 7th, 2011 and act accordingly.

Head of Dept has scheduled the next workshop for July 23, 2011.

Why Sri Lankan Universities Should Admit Foreign Students...

2011-07-05T06:39:00.000-07:00

The profound reason expounded by the Minister of 'Hire' Education...

Watch Video

Jayasuriya: Balls 4, Runs 2, Cricket 0, Politics 100

2011-06-28T20:14:00.000-07:00

Greed & Politics!

long march to protect free education system...

2011-06-23T10:19:00.000-07:00

21.06.2011 University Academics representing all national universities of Sri Lanka marching against the systematic destruction of the free education system in the country and the shameful attitude of a democratically elected government towards its intelligentsia.

Watch Video

Sri Lanka: A knowledge Hub? From Myth to Reality

2011-06-20T11:30:00.000-07:00

Sri Lanka: a Knowledge Hub? from Myth to Reality

Public Lecture at the Public Library Hall, Colombo

21st June 2011 @ 3.30pm

emBryo

2011-06-15T02:27:00.000-07:00

University system is crumbling... former VC writes

2011-05-24T10:34:00.000-07:00

Savitri Gonesekere, former Vice Chancellor of Colombo University writes in the Tamil Week...

Struggle for Existence...

2011-05-19T09:12:00.000-07:00

" The dependency of one organic being on another, as of a parasite on its prey, lies generally between beings remote in the scale of nature. This is often the case with those which may strictly be said to struggle with each other for existence, as in the case of locusts and grass-feeding quadrupeds. But the struggle almost invariably will be most severe between the individuals of the same species, for they frequent the same districts, require the same food, and are exposed to the same dangers. In the case of varieties of the same species, the struggle will generally be almost equally severe, and we sometimes see the contest soon decided… "

from The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin

Workswap - postscript

2011-05-08T11:28:00.000-07:00

Cost of a Workshop - Rs. 5700.00

Final Outcome - PRICELESS

Marks are a powerful weapon...

2011-04-28T08:56:00.000-07:00

Student life these days is one of self imposed silence and restraint. Most students feel that if they criticize anything related to their academic work, faculty or the institute that they will be victimised later. Sometimes this fear is justified. Sometimes not. It all depends on the circumstances and who you might be offending (knowingly or unknowingly) in the process.

From the Faculty's' side, 'Marks' are the most potent weapon that they use for and against the students. Both the faculty and the students know the power of marks. Sometimes the students will go all out to gain higher marks over their peers. Sometimes the lecturers effectively use the marks to control the students. This is where the worst things can happen. Students who are most likely to be critical or question the status-quo have a good chance of getting into the bad books of the lecturers and face the consequences. Often the consequences can be harmful in one way or the other.

Some lecturers try to over play on the importance of marks and make the students 'marks-oriented' instead of 'knowledge oriented' from inception. This can cause unnecessary divisions among the students. This will reduce the opportunity for the students' desire the address important issues collectively. Often this is for the benefit of the faculty and the institute. It is a kind of 'Divide-and-Rule' method. This eliminates any collective resistance from the student body. This is detrimental to democracy and accountability.

Lack of accountability leads to frustration and mistrust. This can also extend to the academic work apart from assessment issues mentioned above. Students, when they find it difficult to trust the Teachers and the institute will lost faith in what they do. The standards will suffer as a result. They will try to complete the course merely to gain the Degree instead of focussing on knowledge and skills. When the products of an institute are not competent as expected, the industry will suffer. There will be a bad chain reaction.

When issues are discussed informally and in private you will find that the students are aware of the problems and what can be done to mitigate the same. However, they will chose to remain silent as they find the risks too high. Especially in fee paying institutes, rarely a student will want to gamble with high fees they pay and end up repeating exams or the years.

At present many virtual platforms are available for the students to discuss their plight. Often exploit such forums like Facebook etc,. to express their feelings. However the lecturers may be 'too distant' from such forum or not interested in what the students will have to say. The lecturers often try to play to 'both' teams; the 'Institute' (because of money and power) and the 'Students' (because of their conscience and power)!. It is doubtful whether this is possible at all. May be the answer for the lecturers, is NOT to play for any team, but the be independent and focus on academic work. It is not known whether such a position will be a pragmatic one.

Unit System of Education in Architecture...

2011-04-14T03:42:00.000-07:00

Some years back the Architectural education system at University was transformed into a Unit based model. As a result the traditional 'End-of-the-year exam' was replaced with end of Semester exams. Since there are two Semesters per academic year, the students now have to sit for two exams per year. Often the total number of exam papers seems to be the same but sometimes more than that of the old systems. The biggest drawback in the unit system is that the students seem to be always working towards an exam thus missing the time and the energy to engage in anything but exams. This has completely robbed the chance of enjoying the university life, extra-curricular activity, engaging in any critical discourse or experimental study. This seems have brought the University to the level that of a normal secondary school in practice. The only difference seems to be that what is called a ‘Semester’ in the university system is referred as a ‘Term’ in school!

This looks almost like some big conspiracy to mess-up the quality of university education over cost. In the unit system the students can collect the necessary amount of ‘credits’ whenever they wish without missing on the year. In other words, a student can progress to the following year even if he has failed in the subject(s) in that particular year. As a result the student will be engaging in subsequent years’ academic work without attaining the necessary skills and the competence in the subject he failed in the previous year. Often students can be found studying in the final year, sitting for exams to pass first and second year subjects in order to complete the degree. Although it may be rather ‘easy’ for a final year student to ‘pass’ a First or Second Year theory subject , it must be noted that the student would have been lacking the same knowledge and skills in the previous years while progressing in to the final level. This looks a like a fundamental drawback in the system and is detrimental to the quality of university level education.

26.02.2011 - Death Trap - Fife Road, Colombo 5

2011-02-26T10:35:00.000-08:00

Watch-out for this 'killer', exposed manhole on Fife Road, Colombo. Find this on th pavement on the other side of the road, opposite Tasty Caterers. This is at least 5+ feet deep and ready to injure or even kill someone...!

Trust CMC is responsible for the up keeping of this road.

Colombo freezing in to extinction...!

2011-01-15T02:22:00.000-08:00

In the wake of freezing temperatures hitting the cities, it is reminded that air-conditioned vehicles are no longer fashionable nor a healthy mode of transport. Human powered vehicles such as 'Bicycles' on the other hand should be considered as a fitting alternative...

May the streets of Colombo, turn into, safe cycle lanes and the citys' (mostly sick) population wake up to realize the value of cycling.

Cycling is Zero Carbon, 100 percent environmental friendly, quiet and cheap. It goes beyond social barriers and prejudices as evident in some developed countries that have embraced cycling as the best mode of city travel.

Cycling is also a good way to exercise the human animal. Aliens' may not agree.

VISION '21 - The Exhibition of Paintings by JACK KULASINGHE

2011-01-06T18:16:00.000-08:00

VISION '21

The Exhibition of Paintings by

Dr. JACK KULASINGHE

Exhibition 6th - 9th January

at Lionel Wendt

Jack Kulasinghe makes a comeback after sixteen years' silence...

Design - the jargon

2011-01-05T19:12:00.001-08:00

Design

TIME SPACE MOVEMENT TECHNOLOGY SITE PROGRAMME PRECEDENT BRIEF COLLAGE PRACTICE OCCUPATION GENERATIVE ALGORITHM RANDOM SCRIPTING GENDER VISION MATERIAL COMPOSITION POLITICAL SEXUAL PLAN STRUCTURAL BUILDING RHIZOME OBJECT TEXTURE LIGHT UNCANNY PLACE DESIRE PERSPECTIVE EXPERIENTIAL VIRTUAL NANO CONVERSATION CONSUMPTION ECONOMIC POWER KNOWLEDGE MONTAGE AUTHENTICITY SECTION AESTHETIC PHENOMENOLOGICAL ACTUAL HEURISTIC SOUND GEOMETRY ZOOM TRANSLATION SEX DETAIL SURFACE POINT SOLID MODEL METHOD DISTANCE CITY BOUNDARY SHAPE ELEMENT CHANGE EDUCATION DREAM AVATAR PORN MORPH TRANSGRESSION SIMULACRA HOPE SEMANTICS TECHNIQUE BIFURCATION ALIENATION MAPPING SYNTAX METHODOLOGY IMMERSION RHYTHM ANALYSIS IMMANENCE EPISTEMOLOGY VOYEURISM TRANSPARENCY TECTONICS REFLECTIVE ACCOMMODATION SURVEY SCHEDULE PROJECTION TERRITORY FICTION TRANSLATION QUANTUM PROJECTION AURAL DURATION DECONSTRUCTION LIMIT URBAN ENVIRONMENTAL ECOLOGICAL SEMANTIC DIACHRONIC EXISTENTIAL LIQUID UNITARY IDEOLOGY FOLD SOLID FINITE ARCHITECTURAL INQUIRY ORIENTATION MODES DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION THEMES STRATEGIES FORMAL NARRATIVE RADOM REFINE TEST COMBINE IDEA PROCESS CONTEXT ISSUES PROBLEMS PLANNING SKILLS TIME EQUIPMENT BUDGET RELATIONSHIPS PRACTICE CONTENTS SITE CLIMATE PLACE LANDSCAPE HISTORY INFLUENCE MODERN MEMORY CONSTRUCTION INVENTION SUSTAINABILITY STRUCTURE SCALE IMAGE LAYERS PRINCIPLES ZEITGEIST FUNCTION TIMELINE PROJECT CONTRIBUTORS ANCIENT CLASSICAL MEDIEVAL RENAISSANCE BAROQUE ENLIGHTENMENT PREFABRICATION POST-PRODUCTION EDIT AUDIT CONTEMPORARY REALISATION REINVENTION PRIORI MEANING ENGINEERING ART ORNAMENT FACADE SIGN SYMBOL CULTURAL LOGIC TRADITION CONTROL SURVEILLANCE FOLLY UTOPIA EXPOSURE INDEX DESIGN MAKING LEARNING BEAUTY TRUTH FEAR

Bicycles & Architecture

2010-05-30T20:36:00.000-07:00

We realised our first recumbent. You might see us roaming the streets of Colombo. We have already cruised down Independence Square and the Galle Face Green.

It is a fantastic learning experience, making it. We experimented and learnt much about bicycles, mechanics, design and even architecture. We have noted improvements to the first recumbent.

We named her, 'Sweet Potatoes'. There is a story behind it. We managed to build it while the majority of Archi - Faculty students were boycotting lectures, which make the effort sweeter.

It is fast. Can be faster. Easy to ride once you get used to it. Safe as long as some maniac doesn't run you over. An absolute pleasure to ride in reclining position. That is the beauty of the baby.

So where does Architecture come into this?

The overall design, although driven by mechanics, needed a lot of attention to anthropometrics and ergonomics. It deals with four dimensions; 3D physical and the 'time' dimension. The design is a kinetic machine and involves humans. More importantly it is about fun, pleasure and joy. That is our connection between Bicycles and Architecture.

Archi' Style

2010-05-18T19:31:00.000-07:00

Children with special needs...

2010-04-27T08:51:00.000-07:00

People need to understand that children with special needs are not sick. They are not searching for a cure, just acceptance. This week is for special needs education. Ninety three percent of the people will not copy and paste this. Will you be part of the seven percent that will and will you leave it on your for at least an hour?

Ma lil’ homies ‘Cool’ Hair-cut is ‘Un-cool’ for STC (Mt) Authorities?

2009-10-04T01:01:00.000-07:00

Yeah, WTF?

Ma teenage – AL student – Mt. St Thomas College boys - cool - shaved head – well, latest hair-do’s too 'un-cool' for the school authorities... hence, they have ordered the boy to stay away from school until the crop grows to an acceptable length – the length that will be decided by no scientific method but according to the whims and fancy of the prefects – who are nothing but school boys given the licence to intimidate in the name of ‘discipline’ – what’s with one’s personal hair-style that rattles school authorities – which I have ignored during my school years even while the threat of expulsion was thrown at me many a times – but that was a government gulag compared to these private ‘concentration camps’ where some old-religiously-twisted-maniac(s) will decide what is good for us and what is not... damn.. This pisses me off so much – why can’t the bloody grownups leave the youth to express themselves, to identify themselves with current trends and fads, be creative...?

What The Fuck is wrong with being creative? Isn‘t that how the world is changed for the better and isn’t it how smart-special people standout from the rest...?

There’s hardly any difference in this bloody ‘conformist doctrine’s and the old fascist regimes where the ‘the party’ decided everything about peoples’ lives and how they lived it – what they wore, what they ate, what they did, what they didn’t do, what they listened to, and the list goes on... and in this new century, STC (and other neo-cons like them) should open their eyes and get realistic and down their thorny tools for the sake of future – for the youth – the future of our world without mental torture that drive them to suicide and self-destruction because of a simple image content stored in a mobile phone or because of a hair-cut...

Open your eyes you Mo-Fos!

Leave those kids alone...!

University academics should grow up...

2009-08-17T09:08:00.000-07:00

Found this interesting para in the special commission report on the violence at the Sri Jayawardenapura University:

The university is a community of adults who value the freedom of people to hold diverse views, eschew coercion and oppression, and is committed to the process of knowledge creation. It is a special place that provides the space, time and resources for young people to grow to their full intellectual statute. The academics and students are partners in the education process. Everyone irrespective of rank and seniority is on a "growth curve." In such a context there is a serous problem regarding attitudes when the students are referred to as "children" and the students prefer to be identified as such. There is a tendancy to treat the students as children. In return students also trend to exploit the relationsip by desiring connections that are normally given to adults.

(quoted from: The Report of The Presidential Commission on the violence at the University of Sri Jayawardenapura - December 2003)

Impromptu Architecture: SLIA Style

2009-06-21T01:26:00.000-07:00

Sri Lanka Institute of Architects (SLIA) is the legal body that police the practice of architecture in Sri Lanka. Its headquarters is situated in Vidya Mawatha, Colombo 7. Sometimes what happens outside the Institute is far more interesting and thought provoking than what happens within. It was hard to ignore this 'accidental installation' outside the building a few days ago and the SLIA's valiant attempt to claim ownership of it! If only more architects passing through the system had the creative energy as much as that of the cleaners.

U.S. Govt. should reciprocate to Al-Qaeda ceasefire - David Miliband

2009-04-27T03:18:00.000-07:00

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband in a statement today called the U.S.Government to reciprocate to the unilateral ceasefire announced by the Al-Qaeda yesterday. He also added that a ceasefire would facilitate civilians who remain trapped in the conflict zone to move to safety.

David Miliband's statement...

We reiterate and maintain our call for a ceasefire for humanitarian reasons. I have noted the Al-Qaeda's announcement of a unilateral ceasefire earlier today. I therefore urge the Government of United States of America to reinstate their own ceasefire, so that those civilians who remain trapped in the conflict zone can move to safety. The safety of civilians is of paramount importance and both sides must comply fully with international humanitarian law and ensure the protection of civilians at all times?

I welcome the current visit to United States of America by Sir John Holmes, UN Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs. As discussed by the Prime Minister and President Obama earlier today, I will be visiting United States of America on Wednesday, 29 April, together with my French and Swedish counterparts. My priority will be to address the humanitarian situation in northern frontiers and the continuing grave risk to civilians in the conflict zone.

I urge the Government of United States of America to allow civilian oversight of all Internally Displaced Persons as soon as they have left the conflict zone; and to fulfill the commitments it has made to improve conditions in the IDP camps, including: better access to medical facilities; transparent registration processes; international monitoring; and freedom of movement in and out of the camps.

geoffrey bawa: the future works

2009-03-27T03:25:00.001-07:00

I bet you heard about the plan to demolish the Ena De Silva house to make way for a Car park for the Durdens Hospital. It's quite hard to get the logic behind such a move but when it comes to private property and what their owners intend to do, it's not for others to pass judgments. Still it's sad to see an iconic piece of architecture disappear from Colombo.

There are talks of trying to re-erect this house in University of Moratuwa premises with the help of people who are willing to part with some of their cash for the purpose. The university intends to turn it into a museum and it sounds like the best option compared to seeing it vanish from the face of the planet forever.

Yesterday (26th), the house was opened to the public for the last time before the contractors moved in. It is quite disturbing when such things happen and we can see it happening with other rare gems in the future. So what can we do?

I believe it will be useful to decide what to do with a building when it’s no longer 'fit-for-purpose'. It might be useful to consider this at the inception and imbibe ideas of 'after-life' into the design itself. We can see this happening in other parts of the world where they talk about a 'life-span' of a building, then design and construct in such a way something useful can arise at the demise of the building.

It might also be interesting to see how the architect, in this instance the late great Bawa would've reacted to see one of his first masterpieces (I have no doubt that this is one of the Best pieces of Modern houses in the world) perish in the face of rapid urbanisation to make way for a car park for a private hospital next door?

If these acts are allowed to happen without any resistance, others too will follow.

What rights can the public exercise to preserve something of great value to its history, culture and heritage when the legal ownership is held by a private entity?

Marriage and Economics

2009-03-13T23:59:00.000-07:00

Marriage and Economics

Scott Adams (of Dilbert fame) blogs,
http://www.dilbert.com/blog/entry/marriage_and_economies/

Single people are free to take more economic risks than married people. It makes me wonder if there is a correlation between the average age of marriage in a particular area and its economy.

My hypothesis is that places where marriage happens early, by custom or religion, will also be the places with the slowest rate of development. In such places there might be fewer entrepreneurs and everyone would take fewer risks.

Exceptions would abound since economies are influenced by many factors, so if there is a correlation it would be on average and not apply to every region. And obviously the causation could work the other way too; a good economy provides the option of staying single longer.

On a similar theme, easy access to divorce, and a high divorce rate, might also contribute to entrepreneurial energy. And again this could work both ways because a risk-taking spouse is probably more likely to get a divorce.

His argument is supported by UN data and it looks like there’s something to learn here. May be this is something that we should consider (well, it’s too late for some of us) but we can encourage others who are not married as yet to stay single a little longer thus positively contributing to economic development of the country. It is a bit hypocritical to suggest others follow this pattern while we aren’t doing so but that doesn’t mean that we have no choice at all. Yes, as painful as it seems in a society like ours, the simple option available is ‘divorce’ and if done in the ‘right spirit’ (huh, ‘entrepreneurial commitment for sake of economic prosperity’) this may not be so bad after all.

But, I fear the ‘opportunity social cost’ of such an effort as marriage in our part of the world is expected to be followed by production of children. We can however get over this fact simply by following the western example of copulation without the pre-requisite of legal marriage. This also seems to be in tune with physiological development and with sexual development of the human animal where reproduction cycle peak around the age of 30-35 years for the female animal (I’m guessing here).

Anyway, I believe such a suggestion might generate much resistance from religious quarters and god related enterprise as their fundamental survival seem to depend on more and more people subscribing to their doctrines and the on fact that it is easier to get people brainwashed at a younger age than later. Also, most of these enterprises seem to feed on the suffering of the human animal as it is most likely the weak and the desperate will yearn for some spiritual salvation where economic forces have failed.

The choice is ours!

Architect 2009

2009-03-01T23:44:00.001-08:00

Brown, Brown, Silliband and a Tiger

2009-02-19T10:54:00.000-08:00

Dawgs' take on British PM's attempt to send a 'special envoy' to Sri Lanka. Frankly, Dawg thinks that they should go and fly a kite instead of trying to meddle with internal politics of an independent state!

my island

2009-01-24T10:38:00.001-08:00

enough enough

2009-01-18T04:33:00.000-08:00

Us n Dem

2009-01-16T21:17:00.000-08:00

Sheep Watch - Sri Lanka

2009-01-16T21:11:00.001-08:00

J' can't; but the Dawg can...!

2008-09-17T05:53:00.000-07:00

Oh yeah, the dawg can and the dawg will...!

Yes Darling, it was 'Cool' to get ragged...!

2008-08-24T16:46:00.000-07:00

This is not a critical analysis on University ragging. A simple reportage on what my batch mates & I experienced at University of Moratuwa (Mora) in 1990. The details have been stated to the best of my ability. Some gory details have been left out intentionally for sanity’s sake and to avoid pain of mind. We experienced Mora-Rag collectively as a batch and sometimes as individuals. Individual experiences stated are that of the authors’.

At least some of us had an idea what the rag ‘was all about’ when we entered the University. I was part of another education institute prior to entering the university and had experienced a physical rag that lasted no more than two or three days. It was experienced as a group and was limited to doing push-ups on grass for a few minutes. We all faked our threshold of pain in the face of screaming seniors who were threatening us to do more. But both parties knew their own limitations and no one dared to go beyond that. All this concluded with a party on the beach where we all got drunk and merry and ultimately ended up becoming friends. At least we got to know each other and as far as I know, no one ever held a grudge against a senior for that particular experience.

At Mora – it was a totally different ball game. Architecture Faculty seniors held cardinal ‘right’ to rag the ‘archi-freshers’. Engineering seniors had it over Engineering freshers and NDT seniors over NDT freshers. In addition the ‘seniority’ transcended over the boundaries of each of the faculties when it came to ragging. Within this unofficial arrangement the archi-fac was always at a disadvantage. They were small in number and started the new academic year after both Engineering and NDT students. Due to this and due to the lack of interest in taking the trouble, the Archi-seniors rarely bothered to rag the Eng or NDT freshers. Yet, when it came to the archi-freshers things were different. Everyone wanted to rag them. For the Archi-seniors as it was their ‘duty’. For the Eng-NDT seniors because some of them believed that archi-freshers were ‘hi-fi’, due to the higher male to female ratio (normally 50:50 which is very different compared to Eng or NDT), for some reason or the other, our female students stood out in a crowd or due to pure want. The result was obvious – we got ragged more and by everybody. In 1990 where the archi-fac ragging went on for three months (first-term stretched due to industrial action by minor staff that led to university closure prior to the ‘arch-faculty freshers welcome’) the Eng-NDT students had plenty of opportunity and time to inflict their reign on us.

By default our ‘immediate seniors’ carried the responsibility of ragging us. The ‘super seniors’ played a supervisory and observational role. They rarely interfered with the ragging bunch. But, some of them were vigilant and maintained limited contact with us. But, they had the ‘authority’ over others and sometimes used their veto powers when they thought things were getting too nasty. Generally the ragging batch did not appreciate this at all and sometimes inflict more pain on us if they realized that we had good relations with their seniors.

During the ragging, our seniors appeared from nowhere. Mostly through windows into our studio as entrance doors (that opened to the corridors) could be seen from staff rooms. Entering via windows was a dangerous act as our studios were on top floor of a building. A single slip/mistake would have sent them all the way down four floors and that would have definitely killed a person. This was not a deterrent. Guess it explained how important what they were doing for them and how committed they were. Respect!

They ordered us to carry out various tasks. During short breaks it was to creep under the desks, to pack 10-15 of us under one table until we sweated like hell and suffocated and died for some fresh air. Sometimes we had to kneel and carry our heavy chairs over our heads around the studio. Even the female students had to do this. Kneeling and crawling were simple tasks. The male students had to do push-ups for hours. To hang down from roof trusses for hours. To stand on one leg until you fell down. To hold the weight of the body by pushing the arms against a rough wall until it was too painful. To circumvolve until we lost balance and became completely disorientated. Carry our peers over our shoulders and kneel around studio. Fully body crawl on the floor. To stand up on chairs and desks and engage in various silly tasks that seemed to have no purpose but to prolong the mental agony over the physical pain.

Their weapons of choice came in the form of a barrage of ‘raw filth’ and screaming and shouting. Sometime they used props like sticks and timber planks. But they never made physical contact. We were not allowed to laugh or smile with them at any given time. We also had the choice of not going through the rag if we wished. Some of my peers refused to get ragged and opted out of all the above. They were verbally ‘attacked’ and frowned up on throughout. They we called ‘alayas’ (university slang for meekness / weakness). In a way it was hip to get ragged.

Your I.D. was your underpants. The very first thing in the morning was to remove our underpants and keep it in the pocket. If you forget to do this, they made you remove it and soak it in water so that you were not able to wear it during the day. We never thought of carrying a second pair of undees to subvert this task.

Male students faced ‘toilet rag’ on several occasions. They packed about 20 of us in a faculty toilet and then checked our ID’s. The filthy toilet was no more than ten feet by ten feet. It had one entrance, one long urinal tough, one WC cubicle and three wash hand basins and all of us in bare feet. Push-ups holding our faces right against the urinal trough, hanging from the WC cubicle lintel, pack about ten of us into the single WC cubicle until it was impossible to breathe. Get us to urinate intermittently. All this while the usual filth, screaming and shouting went on. Like most other sessions, this too went on for hours until everyone was infested with the smell of urine and sweat and mentally felt like shit. The ‘toilet rag’ was one of the worst.

Once some of us were cornered and forced to go to the ‘Wala Canteen’ during lunch hour by a bunch of Eng or NDT seniors. The place was overflowing with people. The ‘Jeshta Uththamayoo’ (honourable seniors) surrounded us and broke our group in to individuals. I was walked up to a table where some students were having lunch and was ordered to climb on top of it. A dirty plate of leftovers mixed with tap water with that they called – ‘soup’ was passed on. ‘Drink, drink, drink, drink it you fucker…’ they all started to scream. Most of the other students in the place just carried on as if none of this was happening. I noticed some of my batch mates on other tables going thorough a similar fate. The screaming was becoming louder and louder and I was just about to have my ‘soup’ when someone shouted ‘stop’. ‘Get down you son of a whore, get down’. A new face was shouting at me this time. I sensed something different and got off the table and went up to the ‘new person’/ He ordered me to follow him and walked me out of the ‘wala’. Once we were out of sight of others the ‘new face’ disclosed that he’s from a senior batch and was sent by my cousin who was in his batch to rescue me.

One day some NDT seniors ambushed me outside the university premises. They lead me in to place about half a mile away from the university. They had a list of names of all my batch mates and said that they will make sure that all will be taken to where I was taken. I knew I was being taken to a ‘chummery’ and those places were the worst. But I couldn’t think of a way to ‘escape’.

When we arrived at the ‘Bog Palace’ as they called it one of batch mates was already there with a few other seniors. The place looked as it was originally meant to be a single car garage. A pretty badly constructed one, no more than eight feet wide by twelve feet long. With low tin roof on timber frame and no ceiling. Head room clearance was low enough to touch the head. Exposed brick walls with two small openings fixed with concrete grills. It was the only source of natural light and ventilation. Rough cement rendered floor throughout. It had two old beds with painfully old coir mattresses. Two cheap writing tables and some chairs. A towel rack and a coat hook – a mere plank of timber with some nails protruding out. No wardrobe or cabinet. The place was providing accommodation to two university students.

The place was dark and hot like an oven. It was messy and dirty. We didn’t have much time to explore much. Our names, schools were checked. We didn’t try to hide that fact that we both were from Colombo schools. They would’ve known anyway. They started to hail abuse at a rate. They were screaming and shouting and banging timber planks from one of the old beds on the tables to make noise within minutes we were ready to do whatever they demanded. We were ordered to strip naked. We just did everything that they asked us to do. I don’t remember for how long it went on. At least two to three hours. Crawled face down on the floor until the dirt and sand scratched our skins and bled. We ‘cycled’ on a rough timber plank simply supported between the two writing tables. We rode uphill and downhill. Our balls cried in pain. We had to do push-ups on our thumbs and knuckles. Carry the weight of the other and crawl until our knees gave away. We were threatened with closing a drawer with our testicles inside it unless we cooperated. It got darker and darker. Warmer and warmer until we both had no energy left to carry on. When all this was over our clothes and a dirty towel was given and water tap outside the ‘palace’ was shown. We got ready for the ‘welcome’. They served some biscuits and made black tea for us. They introduced themselves and said that we no longer should consider them as seniors and we were all now ‘good friends’ and everything was fine. We sat down and made small talk and asked about their course and where they were from. I don’t remember any of those details anymore. But I still keep asking myself ‘How can two students live in a tin shed like that and study...?’

After the ‘Bog Palace’, I was taken to ‘cock palace’ and few other ‘palaces’ the names of which that I don’t remember anymore. The routine was somewhat similar. ‘Cock palace’ was smaller and was only a tiny room inside a house. It was made into one by a timber partition. The rag was more on the mental faculties. We had to strip and go through the cheap porn mags they served. It is too disgusting to talk about the details of this any further.

While the chummery ragging happened outside the university and mainly after lecture hours, the faculty ragging thrived inside the uni. Sometimes we got caught in groups to Eng-seniors who would take us to the university play grounds and give us physical exercises for hours in the guise of playing cricket with us. Sometimes we did play cricket with them. Those mixed play-rag sessions started to happen towards the latter part of the ‘rag season’. The tension was much less and most painful physical activities were mixed with some ‘silly’ tasks called ‘gon-part’.

At the end of ‘ragging season’ all this ended with a massive gon-part session combined with the ‘induction ceremony’ – drinking the magic potion, reading the ‘architect’s oath’ and with swearing our allegiance to the seniors and their cause (whatever that was)!

Eighteen years after having been at the receiving end of the university ragging over a duration of three months I am still unable to state whether I am totally against the rag or totally for the rag. I leave the reader to make their own judgements. If you doubt the authenticity of any of these incidents I will be too happy give you independent references to validate my claims. There is no intention to hold anyone responsible for these acts or to muster revenge. Both perpetrators and victims of these incidents now hold responsible positions in the society. We all have a habit of reminiscing about the lighter moments from that time when we meet even today. The hard experiences of the past have become sources of entertainment for the future!

Yesterdays 'Victim' becomes tomorrows 'Villain' - Crucify Who?

2008-08-22T08:10:00.000-07:00

Ponder the nature of the 'game' when yesterdays' victim becomes tomorrows' villain. The university ragging demands a lot more than the mere threat of expulsion or police brutality on todays perpetrators...

And when the victims get their 'turn' tomorrow, they can be worse than the previous lot. Who's going to cast the 'first stone'?

University 'Rag' is fine; if you are a 'Senior'....

2008-08-21T06:11:00.000-07:00

Senior Student: (in pure Sinhalese of course) 'Ado Sperm, put it down and I will crush your testicles you son of a hooker, go, go, go some more until the honourable Senior is satisfied. Go...

Fresher: Uhhh...

Senior Student: 'Aney sister, put it down if you are tired, I was only joking...'

Why can't a university student have an erection in peace?

2008-08-11T09:10:00.000-07:00

Why can't a university student have an erection in peace?

Trouble erupted at the University of Colombo on 5th August due to an alleged sexual abusing of a female student by two Marshals. An email doing rounds these days show an image with the alleged incident and other images showing the two Marshals who are named as the perpetrators of that incident.

During Dawgs’ time at the university, the Marshals’ were there to prevent the ragging. There can be some merit to this requirement in universities where there was a possibility of ragging taking place out of academic hours where no academic staffs were around. If there was no such possibility then what is the purpose of these ‘licensed thugs’ who always seemed to have ‘assumed’ and exercise a lot of authority over the students.

The key purpose of having the Marshals’ at least at Moratuwa University during Dawgs’ time was to act as the Vice Chancellors personal body guards whenever he did his rounds inside university or to stand guard outside his office doors whenever there was talk of some student protest or agitate. Dawg thinks that this is the main reason that the university authorities have these Marshals. The excuse related to the ‘rag’ is used to justify having personal body guards paid by the public funds to protect VC (and some other high-ups in the institute) from the ‘students’!

All students who enter universities are adults. They are over their age of consent. They are bound by the laws of the country, rules and regulations of the university. If they break those rules, then there is a mechanism to punish them. You don’t need an ‘internal police force’ to ‘watch over the students’. As adults, students can be dealt with the normal laws of the country by the police. Yes, getting cops involved in university issues can be tricky. Having a bunch of ‘licensed thugs’ instead is worse!

Dawg also wants to know what’s wrong with two consenting adults fucking inside the university premises as long as they do it in their ‘private space’ and ‘time’. Isn’t it possible to have such a ‘space’ and ‘time’ inside a university?

Dawg Loves Porn - Please Don't Ban It...!

2008-08-02T06:47:00.000-07:00

Dawg loves porn. Dawg knows that other Dawgs love porn too. Dawg's worried about Dawgs' God given right to porn being taken away. Internet saves time, money and energy. Dawg's aware of the energy crisis. Dawg wants to be environmentally friendly. Dawg doesn't want to drive or take a bus load of all the other Dawgs all the way up to Sigiriya just to see some naked Biatz. Dawg doesn't understand what's all this fuss about 'some tit'? Dawg's sad!

Brothers, Sons...

2008-02-06T06:07:00.001-08:00

04.02.08

2008-02-04T15:25:00.000-08:00

Eight DS students died from the suicide bomb attach at Fort Railway station yesterday (03.02.08). Bodies of Five were taken to school today afternoon for final respect. 1 . Kolitha Kumara Mahamudalige (A/L 2007 Commerce)

2. Rajarathnem Radeeswaran (O/L Tamil Medium)

3. Vimukthi Sajan Thewarpperuma (A/L Maths)

4. Supun Hallala (A/L Commerce)

5. Dinuth Priyasanka (After O/L)

6. Thiwanka Thisera (A/L Arts)

7. Eranda Chaturanga (After O/L)

8. Malinda Arumadura (Baseball Coach & Old Boy)