Just presented a paper in a conference with two of my friends (Ju-lin & Hanying). Interestingly it was not an architectural conference, but one on Tourism. It gathered researchers of various disciplines – mostly anthropologists, sociologist, geographers, and occasional mass comm researchers, to address the issue of rising tourists “Of Asian Origin” and “Rethink Tourism in Contemporary Asia”. Although we’re only one of the two delegates from architecture (the other one was a Prof from University of Philippines, who presented 3 beautiful islands), to my surprise many of the papers do talk about architecture. One local delegate even use the design of new Majestic Hotel as an example of new boutique hotel to illustrate how heroic/nostalgic “colonialism” was brought back to life (in a positive sense) through amalgamation of “post-modernism” and “globalization” (isn’t this what archi theorists talk about?). Sadly, none of these presentations made reference to any designers/architects involved, but merely reviewing the constructs without attempting to understand the mind of the constructors. Nevertheless, what strikes me is the relevance of architecture in other disciplines, especially today when boundaries converge. It's time to break away from our own little circle and start talking to other people. Well, think I'll join more non-architectural events in future.
Among the non-architects
