CONTACTS 
0201 - Kwan Henmi Arch & Planng           415 777 4770 fax 5102
020101 - Mr. Denis Henmi; Principal

SUBJECTS
Kwan Henmi, General
Culture Shock, Communication Metrics
Communication Metrics
Partnering

0906 -    ..
0907 - Summary/Objective
0908 -
090801 - Followed up work at ref SDS 21 line 58, ref SDS 20 line 58.
090802 -
090803 - Had chance to review magazine articles offering perspective on
090804 - architecture and the issue of culture shock that seems to arise when
090805 - people encounter SDS.
090806 -
090807 -     [See follow up at ref SDS 24 line 64.]
090808 -
090809 -
0909 -
0910 - Progress
0911 -
091101 - Denis got tied up at an interview with the City of San Francisco. I
091102 - waited until 1330 then left a message on the table in his office.
091103 -
091104 - While waiting in the lobby, I read through a magazine on architecture:
091105 -
091106 -                          l'Arca
091107 -
091108 -
091109 - Partnering Design and Build Firms:  Revisioning
091110 -
091111 - This was a foreign magazine -- I am not sure if the language was
091112 - Spanish or Itallian, but it had english translations for the main
091113 - articles.  There were several articles of interest:
091114 -
091115 -
091116 -    1.  Sylvia Kwan wrote the lead article introducing a professional
091117 -        event for architects, as the chairman of the event.  Her main
091118 -        point seemed to be changes in design philosophy and project
091119 -        management that would be presented at the event by particular
091120 -        architects under the general name of "Revisioning."  This seems
091121 -        to be another term for combining the design and build phases
091122 -        under a single authority, using partnering methods.
091123 -
091124 -            [See follow up at ref SDS 24 line 111.]
091125 -
091126 -    2.  Several other architects had welcoming messages describing
091127 -        aspects of design objectives relative to social and
091128 -        environmental criteria that reflected Sylvia's point about
091129 -        change in the profession.  They seemed to relate primarily to
091130 -        Southern California, especially Los Angles.  These articles
091131 -        seemed overwritten.
091132 -
091133 -
091134 -    3.  There were other articles with pictures and explanations of
091135 -        designs for Montana and one on the Embarcadero Center in San
091136 -        Francisco.  Another was for a furniture showroom in Florida.
091137 -        These and others seemed to offer configurations of materials
091138 -        and structure contrary to current and traditional building,
091139 -        seemingly attempting "futuristic" arrangements, the purpose of
091140 -        which was unclear.
091141 -
091142 -         ..
091143 -        Culture Shock
091144 -
091145 -        Follow up ref SDS 17 0001.
091146 -
091147 -        The explanation of these designs seemed intended to create a
091148 -        distinctive identity for the architects on the one hand
091149 -        (consistent with point 2), and second to draw attention to the
091150 -        building beyond its function.  The furniture showroom for
091151 -        example benefited from this effort.
091152 -
091153 -        In any case the "look" of these buildings was "shocking."  It
091154 -        supports the concept of "culture shock" set out by Alvin and
091155 -        Heidi Toffler in their book "Future Shock," reviewed on 950911.
091156 -        ref SDS 17 4E3N  When a design or method is significantly
091157 -        different from familiar patterns, as with the architectural
091158 -        designs in the magazine, they shock.
091159 -
091160 -
091161 -             Future Functions Need Future Designs
091162 -
091163 -             SDS aims to improve management.  Management is complex, so
091164 -             to accomplish anything worthwhile, SDS has to integrate
091165 -             time, information, people and documents.  The "design"
091166 -             required to do this is shocking, because it is different
091167 -             from what people are used to seeing and does things nobody
091168 -             ever thought of doing.
091169 -
091170 -             Similarly, Communication Metrics is shocking, because
091171 -             managers never see a record of what they did, what they
091172 -             saw, what they heard, what they think about it and what
091173 -             needs to be done as a result, with linkages to information
091174 -             that shows all of these "what's" are correct.
091175 -
091176 -             Seeing a record like this is shocking, even though its
091177 -             purpose is just to help people, as found by PG&E,
091178 -             ref DRP 2 line 21.  Typically, an executive would want to
091179 -             say, "Okay, I am shocked!  Is there any thing of value in
091180 -             these new functions?"
091181 -
091182 -
091183 - I left Denis a note congratulating Sylvia on her selection as chair of
091184 - an important professional event, and on her remarks, particularly
091185 - since they could actually be comprehended.  The others struck me as so
091186 - remote as to suggest architects might be a good target for ideas like:
091187 -
091188 -    •  Investing Intellectual Capital
091189 -
091190 -    •  Automated integration of time, information, people and
091191 -       documents.
091192 -
091193 -    •  Converting information into knowledge
091194 -
091195 -
091196 -
091197 -
091198 -
091199 -
0912 -
0913 -
0914 - 1447 Denis called back
0915 -
091501 -
091502 -
091503 -