Archipelagoes F.A.Q.

Ok, it’s been a week since the last post on this blog. The reason was something I’d like to call “a collection of deadlines from hell” – meaning that I was at work every day of the last week until about one in the morning (sometimes twelve, sometimes two, depending on my concentration span). And in such a time I couldn’t quite find the right mood to post something. But that period is over, back to the normal…

Since some people have been asking me about the background of this blog, I decided to post a short FAQ here today.

Q: Why another blog?
A: The starting point for this blog was just my own private use. I guess that almost every designer has a folder on his computer with “assorted references and inspirations”. I have just that, and it is (of course) always developing. To give myself a little push to keep on actively pursuing this, and looking beyond the “nice images”, I decided to use the platform of this weblog.

Q: What kind of content do you feature?
A: Basically put: everything that interests me and could serve as an inspiration for architecture/urbanism/design. So it could be almost anything, be it cool buildings, green ideas, gadgets and what have you not.

Q: What about the name “archipelagoes”?
A: Well, on the superficial level it is a (rather silly) play with words – a way to fit the main subject (architecture) into the title. But it’s more than just that: archipelagoes are, as you might know, large groups of scattered islands. For me, this blog is just that: groups of islands of meaning: related, but not exclusively so. It is a collection of different inspirations and ideas that do not form a complete story. One can be understood as an entity in itself, but also as a part of the whole.

Q: Why don’t you post your own designs on this blog?
A: I don’t care too much to make this a big ego show – it’s about the process before the design: the inspiration. I don’t think that I should bother people too much with my own end results. Other than that: virtually all designs that I work on are either for the office that I work for, or collaborations with others. I think it would be disrespectful to them to bluntly claim the designs here without consent.

Q: Why aren’t your post entries actual?
A: I am not a journalist. I cannot compete with any of the big magazines or websites: they are faster and more complete. Other than that: there are already enough blogs that deal with architecture and design news. I don’t want to rehash the same content that can be seen on ten other blogs at the same time. Every once in a while something actual may pop up here, just because the subject fascinates me, but my goal is not to be a source of actual, up-to-date information.

Q: Why are most of your posts rather short? Normally, you write longer (and more critical) pieces…
A: I could do that, but I want this blog to be a sort of a “browsing book” – quick entries, easily accesible. I try to put links and references with every entry, to make it easy for those who are interested in more information on the subject to delve in.

Q: Who are you, anyway?
A: I’m Tim, and who are you?