If you haven’t read Madas’s post please do so first :http://www.livejournal.com/users/madas/24247.html

Architect vs Housewife…

I write as both,architect and housewife.When it comes to the design of a villa,there are rarely any rooms that lack space,so the owner can fulfill his dreams of having her majesty over for tea or not.When I design a 600m2 villa,it is not up to me to decide wether 400m2 of it go to the guest entertaining section of the house or the family occupied section.This has nothing to do with creativity,this is someone's house and they know their needs more than I do.Trust me when the salon is something like 15*15m.the bedrooms are quite spacious and so is the living room where the family spends most of their waking hours.I do agree with Madas however on the inhumane ways we are dealing with our maids and the coffins we stuff them in.During the last year when I was looking for an apartment to buy I have seen rooms that are around 1.5*1.5m,that are designed to fit the maid and her belongings,along with the washer,dryer and laundry!!!I was designing a house last month and I tried to make the maids room bigger and the owner refused..it suddenly struck me that the poor little girl will be living in a room that is samller than my daughters queen sized bed!!And we want them to be kind to our kids!!and love them and care for them!!!Everyone’s reasoning is that she comes from a poor country where she lived in a hay hut along with tens of other siblings..how mean!!Anyways,back to the main topic,when it’s an apartment building I am working on,it’s a little different,I do agree that we allocate much bigger areas to our rarely used rooms but trust me,as an architect,you can’t force people to live under your criteria.It's not a showroom or gallery it's their own place and they want it tailored to their liking.And when a building consists of four to ten apartments,it is always necessary to try and do what most people want ,to make it sellable,and as you have noticed most people want bigger larger guests rooms for the wajaha..and who knows..maybe one day her majesty would actually pop in for a visit.Now to be honest,I have to say that after getting married and having my own family and my own messy kids,I started seeing why people think so.My living room,which is by the way quite spacious and which is occupied 95%of the time we spend awake at home,and where the TV is on continuously and where we receive all our friends and close family ,is so messy I sometimes like to call it the pig farm.My kids have this weird habit of making me feel like we work in a circle,I take the toys inside to their room and they sort of always find a way to bring them out immediately ,while I am taking the next batch in they would be getting the first one out again.lego,duplo,little people,Barbie clothes,batteries,tools,computer cartridges,books,crayons,play dough,tiny hair pins and food,you can find any /all of these things under my couches.And my black couches are already worn out from all these sleepless teething nights that often start with barney and a milk bottle and end up with vomit and scrubbing and washing into the early morning hours.This said,you can imagine my need for a room that my kids only enter as visitors,where their stuff is not welcome and my favorite décor items are off limits for their tiny little hands.I had to put the Christmas tree in the salon this year,though I much prefer to have it where we sit to enjoy it, because my living room is in no shape to be seen by anyone outside our small circle of friends.So you see,regardless of the fact that I only use the salon like 4 times a year,when I do it is such a comfort to have,specifically that us arabs,we don’t entertain in small numbers,when I have a family dinner,it’s my parents,five sisters and one brother,my aunts who live with my parents and my husband’s parents and sister and brother and their spouses and kids.How many are those?around 25 maybe ?and this is just the immediate family.I am sure most of the people who read this relate to these figures.
If I didn’t have the space then I can’t have people over.Period.So now I somehow understand why people insist on larger salons.

And don’t get me started how so many people come to you with fixed ideas and beliefs that you can never change ,and sometimes with primitive sketches drawn on wara’ bayani that they need you to realize into professional drawings as is..no changes allowed.In my kind of work you get the client who is willing to let you go as creative as you wish because he a: wants to have a bold different design for his building or b:because he really can’t visualize what the hell are you talking about and wants to get done with it Asap. You also get the client who gets advice from every Tom,Dick and Harry whom he meets on the road and wants to do kol elli fe nifso in this house.It’s a tough business,and takes a lot to get hold of this crucial balancing point between your wishes and the clients commands.I am working on that but when do I get there?I HAVE NO CLUE.