The AWOL Architect

I was in the 'net' checking my various 'googleable' profiles and found this gem from last December... After being back in Australia for almost two months now, this was a nice re-read to see how far I've come in six months and to reflect back on what now feels like a dream. https://wp.architecture.com.au/news-media/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2019/01/AIA-newsletter-An-article-by-Alison-Stout-AIA-NT-Chapter-Member.pdf

“Responsibility I believe accrues through privilege. People like you and me have an unbelievable amount of privilege and therefore we have a huge amount of responsibility. We live in free societies where we are not afraid of the police; we have extraordinary wealth available to us by global standards. If you have those things, then you have the kind of responsibility that a person does not have if he or she is slaving seventy hours a week to put food on the table; a responsibility at the very least to inform yourself about power. Beyond that, it is a question of whether you believe in moral certainties or not.”  ―  Noam Chomsky WARNING: grammatical errors and stream of consciousness ahead; this is not a cohesive essay (sorry). The past couple of weeks I’ve hit the stage where the amount of privilege I have in my position starts to make me extremely emotional…tears come on a day to day basis now with overwhelming thoughts coming to mind about leaving, saying ...

Hi Readers, I have a few ideas for my next blog post, but thought I would open it up to you as well....what do you want to know about my work in India? Or is there anything you'd like to ask me about architecture or design? Please post in questions or ideas below on this BLOG post only. Kind Regards,  Allison (Ali) G. Stout  (NOTE: Pictures below are from our presentation day at RNS Architecture School in Bangalore, India) 

Hi Readers,  I am sad to announce I didn't get the scholarship, but I am still motivated by the research idea.  I will wait until I return to Australia to pick it up again as construction of the Anganwadi at Bondalawada is taking precedence as we move to the final weeks before completion!  Today's post is a result of the firm I work for in Australia, MODE Design, asking me to provide some update for the internal staff newsletter.  It wasn't until I read the email aloud to my TAP colleague here I realised it should also be a blog post.... As you know, I started volunteering in late November 2018 and construction should finish on the 30th of April, 2019.  In that time we've conducted extensive community engagement, design consultation with the village teacher, and the children who are aged 0-6 in the community (mother's are alongside for those under 3).  We've produced a full set of documentation for tendering and are currently overseeing the con...

"Wonder rather than doubt is the root of all knowledge." - Abraham Joshua Heschel Hi Readers, I have been MIA, sincere apologies for going truly AWOL....but I was being productive... I applied for a scholarship to research something this week. The below Pecha Kucha talk from when I organised the Broome Pecha Kucha reminded me to just go for it ( https://www.pechakucha.com/cities/broome/presentations/the-bhag )! I did. I am currently a finalist and awaiting outcome to be announced this afternoon. Am I scared - YES! Have I put forward a challenge that pushes my intellectual capabilities - YES! Can I do it if successful - YES! So, as I say all too often...BRING IT (on) MUTHAF#CKER! Below is my submission, because even if I am not successful I now have the ground work to keep pushing this mad scientist side of me that has been dormant since highschool! I loved science but it was not put forward as a career path for me as a young woman, so it was never considered.... ...

"I know zoos are no longer in people’s good graces. Religion faces the same problem. Certain illusions about freedom plague them both." - Yann Martel On Holocaust Remembrance day,  I want to write about contained spaces.  I am reminded of a  fantastic chapter, early in the book, “Life of Pi” by Yann Martel, that argues any animal can become accustomed to it’s ‘cage’ or ‘compound.’ I didn’t really want to believe this as I delved further into the book years ago, and I still don’t, but having lived in what is basically an expat compound here in India for two months I have started to see what the author and character meant.   As animals we adapt to the challenges and constraints of our environment, rarely seeing the negative and always finding ways to make it positive or manageable. If someone had described this to me prior to volunteering, it probably would have turned me off of the experience and yet this “Ground Hog Day,” life that I now lead is reall...

“I don’t need sex, architecture f*c!s me all the time.” – unknown The music is loud, pumping, and intense with a deep beat pulsing through my mind.   A sense of euphoria comes over me as I gently slide my pen in a perfectly straight horizontal line as it caresses the top edge of my scale ruler. Stop. Look. Assess. A sense of pleasure spreads across my body.   I then rotate the scale ruler and begin the methodic scoring of the page from right to left – place rule, place pen, slide/glide, lift, look, assess.   Repeat.   Very slowly the soft HB lines become darker, thicker, and patterned and an image emerges from each permanent pen stroke that reinforces the diagram below.   Each stroke evoking a moment of bliss and release of serotonin.   This continues for hours and as the body tires; the intensity and focus and maintenance of control overrides the pain in one’s hands, wrist, back, and eyes.   We love this, we crave it.   And we wake up ...