Henrique Barros-Gomes
  • Home
  • About us
  • Philosophy
  • Contacts
  • Portfolio
    • Residential >
      • Apartment II in Lisbon
      • Linear House
      • Loft in Lisbon
      • Apartment I in Lisbon
      • Tree House in Arraiolos
      • Private house in Reguengos
      • The Modernist Cabin
      • House in Odemira
      • Beach House in Luanda
      • House near Lisbon
    • Civic & Cultural >
      • Cultural Center in Vila Nova de Paiva
      • Cultural Center in Vila Velha de Rodão
      • City Library in Vila Velha de Rodão
      • Benavente High School Extension
      • New Lagos Train Station
      • Penedono Swimming Pool Complex
      • Porto de Mós Swimming Pool Complex
    • Competitions >
      • The Modernist Cabin
      • Loft Boutique
      • Green 360
      • Stockholm Library Extension
      • Coa Archaeological Museum
      • Porto de Mós Swimming Pool Complex Competition
      • Penedono Swimming Pool Complex Competition
    • Hotels and Retail >
      • Hacienda Branca Winery
      • Vale d'Algares Winery
      • Brio organic supermarket
      • Aparthotel in Olhao
      • Boutique Hotel in Luanda
      • Eco Resort in Tavira
      • Museum Coffee House
    • Refurbishment >
      • Apartment I in Lisbon
      • Apartment II in Lisbon
      • Loft in Lisbon
      • House in Ferreira do Zezere
      • Barn renovation in Ferreira do Zezere
      • Apartment III in Lisbon
      • Apartment IV in Lisbon
      • Apartment I - Before and After
      • House in Odemira
      • Building in Alcantara, Lisbon
      • Building in Mouraria, Faro
    • Furniture >
      • Zig Zag Chest of Drawers
      • Squares sideboard
    • Sketches >
      • Architectural Sketches
      • Landscape Sketches
  • News
  • Blog

1. A matter of perspective...

5/29/2011

6 Comments

 
Picture
A few years ago I showed my older son a videoclip of the song 'All I Need' by Radiohead. I always loved the music of this band and when I saw the clip, which I find very beautiful, I thought he would like to see it. Student and practitioner of an instrument with an essentially classical repertoire, he is always open to learn about forms of musical expression different than the ones he hears in the conservatory. For those who do not know it, the video illustrates, in a screen divided in half, one day in the life of a first world’s boy and the same day lived by a group of child workers in some unidentified Asian country. This dichotomy between completely conflicting lives, with opposite degrees of difficulty and hardness, inevitably makes us think about issues such as the economic, social or cultural environment in which we are born and how it influences our lives and the opportunities that arise ahead. It also makes us relativize the apparent difficulties in everyday life and get the sense that, although at the time they appear to be insurmountable, under normal circumstances these problems are bridgeable with lesser or greater effort. In most cases, it is fair to say that the way we live depends essentially on the choices we make, adaptability we acquire and the level of demand that we impose on ourselves. We have or had the opportunities and for better or worse, we also have the free will to make of our lives what we want.

All these considerations are decidedly truer if our childhood was, in essence, similar with what is pictured on the left side of the screen in the video of Radiohead. I do not necessarily believe in determinism and I think that however obstacles life puts ahead of us, we can always aspire to something else, set higher personal goals and, why not, overcome them. We can even turn the page of particularly unhappy or painful situations and achieve objectives that may have seemed, at times, remote or absurd. That ambition, or aspirational quality, is essential to the realization of any project, whether personal or professional.

But I recognize that there may be circumstances where the influence of all that surrounds you can be so overwhelming as to cut any chance of realize your aspirations or even to have them. These are extreme situations in which what is at stake is the most basic daily survival. Many people around the world live in these conditions. Fortunately, I never had, nor did most people I know, to experience such extreme and miserable conditions. We may live in a particularly difficult time, discouraging or even depressive, but we move in a cocoon of comfort and well being that should allow us to relativize the difficulties. We also have the option to decide to change, risk, seek job opportunities elsewhere or in other fields of work . The adaptability I was speaking about. In the end, I think it's really a matter of perspective, to be able to achieve an objective weighing of the scales.

At the end of the video my son, then about 10 years old, told me he liked it very much, both the music and the images. Encouraged by his response I risked the obvious question: ‘With which of the realities presented in the video did he identified the most?’ His answer was not what I expected to hear and I confess the perplexity that I felt at the time. Probably influenced by the fact of being accustomed to having to make the bed, tidy the room and help with some household tasks, not always with evident pleasure, my son did identified himself with the hard everyday life of the child workers pictured on the right side of the screen.

When I could make him see the obvious injustice and absurdity of his answer, and how lucky he was to live how and where he lives, he changed, ashamed, his opinion.

Again, it's all a matter of perspective ...

Radiohead ‘All I need” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdrCalO5BDs

6 Comments
    Go to the Portuguese version

    My views on architecture... and life!

    Picture

    Author

    I'm a Lisbon based architect. My architecture practice is founded on a contemporary design philosophy.

    Archives

    September 2020
    August 2020
    November 2015
    September 2015
    July 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    July 2014
    April 2014
    January 2014
    November 2013
    May 2013
    December 2012
    October 2012
    July 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011

    Posts by name

    1. A matter of perspective...
    2. Do it yourself!
    3. Why is an architect needed?
    4. My Dream House
    5. My kind of holidays
    6. God is in the details
    7. My dream house, part II
    8. Tigers, whales and some other animals.
    9. We can only step on the white stripes!
    10. Controversies and unanimity
    11. Guest post for Todd Vendituoli
    12. Conception and accomplishment
    13. The decisive moment
    14. From sketch to construction
    15. Interesting times
    16. From Howard Roark to Steve Jobs
    17. The Frankenstein-house
    18. Beyond the "Wow-factor"
    19. A balance
    20. Investing in times of crisis

    Want to subscribe my blog? Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    Categories

    All
    01
    2011
    2012
    Balance
    Case Studies
    Christmas Card
    Crisis
    Environment
    Frankenstein
    Hbg
    Interior Design
    Kitchens
    #LetsBlogOff
    Loft
    Networking
    News
    Opinion
    Projects
    Refurbishment
    Residential
    Sketches
    Travel

    RSS Feed