Beauty is in the eye of the beholder
Goa 31st October 2011
Back in Goa for another round of fine tuning, problem solving and creative thinking. The Grand Hyatt Goa is looking splendid for the fresh tourist who arrives without knowing anything about the projects history. The general raeaction is one of wow! with guests admiring the grandeur of the hotel and their first impressions when checking in. How different is it for us designers who have been on the job for nearly 4 years and know every knook and cranny, know how it should have been, what the design intent was and see every little mistake, imperfection. I was here last in late July for the soft opening and left behind a long list of defects and issues to resolve and take care of. Now, nearly 4 months later the hotel is in full operation and I am here to take stock of the progress and support the hotel and remaining site team to put the dots on the -i- as they say. Programming, focussing, tweaking, the usual stuff.
The challenge is that only few of the original site team are left, there is little or no budget for any corective work so we have to make do with what is there. Time has also passed for any blame games…there has been too much water under the bridge in this project anyhow, but there is a place for determination and decisive action as otherwise it is never going to happen. That is my task for the coming days. I don’t want to hear: “it cant be done”, so often the easy way out for the contractor. I am kind of the meat in the sandwhich with on one hand my client and paymaster to satisfy and on the other the hotel operator Hyatt with whom I do other projects. Then to top it up there are my own standards to uphold. The solution will have to be a 3-way compromise on what can be achieved to best possible satisfaction, the final beauty of the project will be in the eye of the beholder.
In Light Watch one of the latest Philips innovation concepts just released, the microbial home, a concept based on an innovative and sustainable approach to energy, waste, lighting, food preservation, cleaning and human waste management. It describes a “Bio-light” using different biological technologies to create ambient light effects. The concept explores the use of bioluminescent bacteria, which are fed with methane and composted material. Alternatively the cellular light array can be filled with fluorescent
proteins that emit different frequencies of light. Hmmm… interesting, check out http://www.architectureanddesign.com.au/article/Futuristic-design-concepts-as-Philips-launches-Microbial-Home/532337.aspx
Light Watch 193: Microbial home.
The long awaited book compilation of Martin's first year of blogging is available. Order now.
Feedspot Top 100 Lighting Blogs