Alexandr's+portfolio

=**Exchange Activity** =

Hi Eliza, what's up! My name is Alexandr, but you can call me Alex, I'm 25 years. I'm an architect, but right now I'm studying a master degree in architectural design. I'm from [|Xalapa, Veracruz], so meanwhile I study in "la UNAM" I'm staying here in the "big city". I haven't brothers or sisters, I'm the only one, but I have a lot of cousins and friends. So, how about you?

I have a lot of hobbys, but my favorites are watch movies (of any kind or if I can choose, I'll choose movies from directors as Tarantino, Coppola, Kubric, Oliver Stone, Snyder, Ridley Scott, etc, etc), I like a lot music as hard rock, stoner rock, progressive rock, alternative, and classic rock (something like Tool, Nine Inch Nails, Queens of the Stone Age, King Crimson, Mars Volta, Mastodon, Pink Floyd, Zeppelin, etc, etc.) Almost all in english, but I have a guilty pleasure, and that is the music [|Joaquin Sabina], he is a spanish singer and songwriter and I think you could learn a lot of the spanish language if you listen to him, he has a great management of the language and his lyrics are fantastic, some people call him a poet. You can see some of his lyrics and listening some of his music [|here] ... I also train basketball when I can, and sometimes, only sometimes I like to go out to a party or go for some drinks... So, what can you tell me about you? I hope we can be in touch...

Take care!!

Mar 25, 2011 9:49 am Hola Alex, I apologize for the delayed response, I'm still trying to figure out the logistics of this program, but I am looking forward to our correspondence and learning more about one another. I am in my second year in University, where I am majoring in Studio art. I'm 28 years old and I have a son who is 9. We love to travel, our most recent trip was in February, when we went to Chile for a Permaculture Design course. It was very inspiring and made me think a lot about taking a break from school to get more experience in Permaculture. I love the idea of living outside the city culture and being immersed in nature. I'm not very involved with sports, but like you, I love to listen to music. I also like to listen to rock music as well (metallica, Nine Inch Nails, The Beatles are among my favorites), but my absolute favorite artists are Bob Marley, John Lennon and Manu Chao. I would like to listen to more spanish music as I know that it will help my communication skills and would also expose me to different styles and beautiful sounds. Thank you for recommending Joaquin Sabina, I feel that here in North America, we're not exposed to spanish music as you are to english music, so it's so nice to get recommendations of artists that you enjoy, so please feel free to give me more suggestions. I love watching movies as well, though I rarely have time for it. The most recent movie I've watched are James and the giant Peach and The Motorcycle Diaries. I never party, except when we are travelling. And I don't drink, because I am allergic to alcohol, which is very strange to a lot of people. My favorite activities are reading (history, for the moment and a book called Earthseed), painting and learning traditional skills like gardening. What about you?.... What are your favorite things to do? Do you like living in the big city? What are your hopes and dreams? I look forward to hearing from you, Eliza

Mar 28, 2011 12:13 pm Hola Eliza...

No te preocupes por no haberte podido comunicar antes, entiendo que sea un poco complicada la logística del programa, siendo dos cursos totalmente diferentes, tan lejanos y con diferentes horarios. Pero que bueno que lo lograste, me da gusto saber de ti.

I took some studies of art history when I was studying in the university, is very interesting. I liked a lot. But now in the master program, we are having subjetcs-matters more contemporary, something like the Permaculture design that you wrote about, we're more focus on subjects like sustainability and stuff like that. I'm doing a research about liquid architecture, which isn't a subject very focus in enviroment matters, but is more focus to the re-utilization of old buidings or the desing of buildings that can change his programs to new uses and designs, something like mutable buildings. Please tell me if you can understand this, do I make myself clear?.. hehe..

Yo amo Nine Inch Nails, de hecho vinieron a México hace como dos años y el concierto fue una belleza, un espectáculo genial. De hecho es de mi bandas favoritas junto con Tool. Metallica también es una de mis bandas favoritas, la escuchaba mucho cuando estaba en la preparatoria, mi cuarto estaba lleno de posters de James Hetfield, era como Dios para mi, pero ahora lo son Trent Reznor y Maynard James Keenan. Dejame recordar otras bandas en español, que podrian ayudarte con tu dominio del lenguaje, por ahora solo se me ocurre una banda española de Rock, que se llama Standstill ([] ), baja su disco llamado Vivalaguerra, es muy bueno, si encuentro un link de descarga te lo paso...

Have you been in Mexico? Yo should visit someday our university, is great, I like it a lot. Mexico city is not my love, is very big, noisy, and stresfull... But the campus of "la UNAM" is one of the better places in wich I have been, in there are a lots of things to do, courses, activities, concerts, expositions, etc. There is always something new to do there... Sorry that you can't drink alcohol, but we always can drink some coffe or tea.

Bueno dentro de las cosas favoritas que me gusta hacer pues serian ir al cine, a algun concierto o alguna fiesta. Pero ahora en realidad estoy realmente comprometido con la maestría, la cual toma la mayor parte de mi tiempo, y en la cual estoy enfocando todas mis esperanzas y sueños, para hacer si es posible un doctorado en el extranjero, por lo cual tampoco voy a visitar mucho a mis padres, no me gusta mucho la ciudad de México, aunque existen muchas cosas para hacer aquí, me es muy estresante, prefiero vivir en una ciudad pequeña como la mía, ademas de que esta muy cercana a la playa... jeje...

So, I hope you can undertand my band english, and I hope be more in touch with you, please tell more about you, yo seem be a person very interesting, and what else can you tell me about your major and your university.

Saludos!! Te mando un abrazo y un saludo para tu hijo. Por cierto ¿Cual es su nombre?

Take care!!

Mar 31, 2011 8:21 am Hola Alex, Tu ingles es bueno, es mas mejor que mi espanol. Cuando estuve en Chile, yo no entiendo mucho de hablar, pero apprendi que es mas facil a leer, entonces me alergro que escribimos el uno al otro. Pero gustaria visitar tu pais tambien, porque I have never been there...este verano mi hijo y yo visitaria Costa Rica en una communidad se llama Sonador. Voy a practicar la Permacultura alla, porque es muy importante para mi. Sin embargo, no es parte de mi programa en la universidad. Solo parte de mi sueno de autosuficient y mi viaje de apprender separate from mi escuela. Permacultura es muy alucinante, es una grand sistema que unilizar los conocimientos traditional y moderno por vivir en harmonia de la tierra. Quizas la te gustaria tambien, porque eres interesado en la sostenibilidad, y permacultura supone muchos campos de conocimientos. Espero que tu entiendes, si no entiendes, por favor preguntame. Yo se que mi espanol no es claro a veces, porque tengo problemas con el orden de las palabras. How does liquid arquitecture work? It sounds very interesting...did you mean that the building changes depending on how it will be used? I listened to Standstill, y me gusta la cancion se llama La risa Funesta, las letras son muy poeticas, pero creo que no entinedo todo. Tengo una cancion favorito ahora, alli esta the link: [] Do you know George Carlin? He is my favorite comedian, here is a video that you might like: [] Es un poco largo, but it's worth watching because it may help to relieve some of your stress. I like going to concerts as well, but it's been a long time since Ihave been to one. The most memorable concert I ever went to was U2 in Toronto. Bedouin Soundclash came to Guelph a couple of years ago, but I wasn't able to go. All my time goes into school as well, I try to balance my time between work and being with my son. By the way, his name is Jude. He is 9 years old y es un artista. What do you want to do your doctorate on? And where do you want to go? Hopefully, you will end up in a smaller city, maybe with a beach nearby. Have you ever been to Canada? We have beaches too, but the water is always cold, even in the summer. At school, I am not really honoring my major, because I don't like being told what courses to take. I really like taking art classes, but we are also required to take a lot of Art history, which doesn't interest me as much. I try to take courses that interest me, most of the ones I have completed are spanish and Philosophy. I like history as well, but wish that they offered a world history course, because I feel that it's really beneficial to learn about history as a whole, rather than in pieces. Human history es fascinante en collectivo, and it is amazing to see the interrelations that is possible in learning it in a world context. But it might also make a person angry, because our history is full of injustice, pero es lleno de la fuerza tambien. I want to concentrate on Photography later on, but currently, I am taking courses that allow me to explore many different types of mediums. I have learned that I really love to make sculptures and that drawing is also a lot of fun. Well, I have to get to work on my essay. We are in our last 2 weeks of class, and is always the hardest for me, because there is so much work to do. I hope this letter finds you well, Saludos, Eliza

Apr 1, 2011 12:18 pm Hi!!!

How are you? Thanks a lot, for your words about my english. You'll always have the doors open when you decide that you want to travel to México. It's very good that you're being very committed and involved in that what you really enjoy, like the permaculture. And yes, I do understand you, I can see some problems, like you said about the order and the structure of the statement, but I guess I have it too, that's why we're trying to study and learn some other language. And yes, Liquid architectura is related with that, the building changes depending on how it will be used, but is not only a reuse, of some old building, is about to desing buildings that are not going to be used for just one plan, is a building how is capable or change completely is structure, but how you can see, I'm not very sure on what it really, is, hehe, that's why I'm studying about that.. hehe..

La risa funesta es una canción muy buena, y si a mi también a veces se me dificultan un poco las letras y los significados, porque son muy metafóricos. No puedo creer que te guste George Carlin, es mi comediante favorito también, el junto con Bill Hicks, son personas que creo que realmente tienen muchas cosas buenas que decir, ademas de que su discurso es muy bueno, y si claro, le añaden un poco de comicidad, pues mucho mejor... Justo ayer publique un pequeño vídeo de Carlin en mi Facebook. Por cierto, ¿Tu tienes facebook? ¿Te molestaría si te agrego como amigo?

Do you have an artirst in your family? That's great, what is he doing? Painting? Music? Or is he a prodigy? I'm very happy for him, I hope that you guide his talents. I still don't know in what phd doctorate on, I don't know even if I'm going to do it, but I'd like it, to do something related to advanced architectural projects, which is given in the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. I'd like to visit Spain, Portugal as well, Norway, Finland, Netherlands, CANADA, Australia, I want to visit a lot of countries!

Yo nunca he visitado Canadá, pero como te dije, me gustaría mucho visitarlo. Tengo una prima que esta viviendo allá, ella debe tener ahora unos 23 o 22 años, fue allá a trabajar un poco mientras estudiaba al mismo tiempo un poco de ingles y francés, hace un par de años. ¿Pero que crees? Allá conoció a un muchacho canadiense, ya se casaron, y esperan el nacimiento de su hijo por estas fechas, creo que va a nacer el 6 de abril, realmente espero que todo salga bien, ella esta muy feliz viviendo allá, lo único que casi no le gusta es el frió que esta haciendo por estos días.

It always very nice know about, I wish you the best of luckys on your finals reviews, you seem to be a very hardworked girl, so I'm sure that you'll be very focus in your works, and with that always come along good results.

Fue muy agradable comunicarme contigo de nuevo, espero saber un poco mas de ti y conocerte un poco mejor. Y de verdad, espero que te vaya muy bien en tus exámenes finales! La mejor de las suertes...

Saludos!! Take care!

Apr 6, 2011 9:31 pm Hola Alex, Que tal? Quizas tu primo ya ha dado a luz? Did I say that right? Maybe your cousin already had her baby. Por supuesto, si tu venga a Canada, siempre seras bienvenido aqui. Ahora es mi tiempo favorito del ano, porque es la primavera. Despues del final de este semestre, podria disfrutir la estacion. Mi hijo es muy artistico y es muy sensible tambien. El asiste a una escuela que es enfocado en los artes y quiere dibujar mucho. Yo quiero a visitar muchos paises tambien: Tanzania, Egypt, India, Greece, New Zealand and Mexico, of course! I would love to cross the ocean on a boat someday as well, pero gustaria apprender a nadar el primero. Si, tengo Facebook. Just look for Eliza So, I'm the one with the profile picture of a pig laying happily in the mud. I'm not very active on it, as I normally just use e-mail, but it's fun when I have the time. Entonces, tengo que escribir mi ensayo ahora. Espero que conocerte mejor tambien. What are your dreams for the future? What do you hope to do in your lifetime? Gracias for your kind wishes, I am indeed working hard, but I will be happy when I get a break. I hope your studies are going well and that you are content and at peace. Tu amiga, Eliza

Apr 8, 2011 10:04 am Hi Eliza...

I watched the video of George Carlin that you send me in the last mail, is very good, that video I haven't seen it ever, George Carlin is really great, I like a lot his way of talking, is very bad that he already pass away... No he podido contactar a mi prima, supongo que ya por estos días debe estar aliviándose, yo creo que cuando leas este mail ella ya habrá tenido a su bebe. Espero que todo salga bien para todos ellos... I'd like to visit a lot of countries too, I'd like to visit Japan, India, Norway, Island, Australia, Brazil, Spain, Holland, Germany, and many others, I have in mind finish the masters here in Mexico, and later study a phd in some foreign country... But how knows...  ¿Has podido escuchar los cantantes que te mande? ¿Que te parecieron? Tengo otra banda que podría interesarte Soda Stereo, ¿Los has escuchado? Ellos son argentinos, supongo que si, ¡Son muy buenos! By the way, my teacher wants that we write between us, in the main page of this site, where everyone are having is comments, I want to ask you if you don´t have any problem to do this, if you don't understand the way to do it, I can copy and paste the latest mails that we´re sending to each other.. Is that okey with you... Do I make myself clear??

I wish I'd keep talking with you of more stuff, but I have to run, I have a lot of things to do...

Cuídate mucho Eliza, fue un gusto saludarte!!

Apr 9, 2011 12:53 am Hola Alex, Si, por favor, si puedes poner los mensajes en la pagina central, estaria bien, porque mi profesor me pregunte si yo participar en este actividad. La semana pasada, la mostrarme como navegar este sitio, pero es todavia un misterio para mi. Gracias por tu sugerencias, I will listen to Soda Stereo as well your other recommendations after I am finished writing my essay. I wish I could listen to music while I work like so many people I know, but I need complete silence when I have to think in an organized manner. I also wish that I could write more, but it's a busy time for me as well. Later, Eliza

Hi Eliza!!

It was great to me to have the oportunity to meet you, you're a very interesting, intelligent and nice person, I really hope that we can stay in touch a much longer and get to know each other a little bit better. I know that you're overwhelmed right now 'cause your exams, but I'm sure that you're going to be great on that.

Asi que pues, fue todo un gusto conocerte, como lo dije anteriormente me gustaría seguir en contacto contigo, ya sea por correo o por el face... Me despido esperando que lo mejor venga para ti y los tuyos...

Saludos!!

Cuídate mucho

=**Cover letter** =

15 Thayers Farm Road Abingdon Northampton NT12 4PF

UNStudio PO Box 444 Richmond Surrey SJ5 4TS 11-4-2011

Dear Mr. Bos

I'm writting to apply for the architect head-chief planner position. As requested, I'm enclosing a completed job application, my certification, my resume and three references. The oportunity presented in this listing is very interesting, and I believe that my strong technical, theorical and creative experience and education will make me a very competitive candidate for this position.

The key strengths that I possess for success in this position include: I have successfully designed, develeoped and supported a variety of designs and projects. I strive for continued excellence, I provide exceptional contributions to team work for all workers under my charge. With a degree in Architecture and a master in Architectonic Design, I have a full understanding of the full life cycle of a development project.

I also have experience in learning and excelling at new technologies as needed, as well as a perfect understand of a variety of languages as English, Spanish and Klingon. Please see my resume for additional information on my experience. I can be reached anytime via e-mail at rhmasark@gmail.com or my cell phone, 5551844825.

Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to speaking with you about this employment opportunity.

Sincerely,

Rhett Alexandr Cano

=**Description of a spot in the city** =

= = COYOACAN

Coyoacan is a whole district in Mexico city, so I'm going to refer to the most emblematic and interesting places in it. In the center of Coyoacan or as we know it "El parque de los coyotes" there are lots of bar's, pub's and restaurant's. There are so many people, a lot of tourists get together there to drink, eat or party, and always, it's seems very fun and entertain, even if is day or night. But drinks and party isn't the only things to do there. Also there are a lots of museums, like the house of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, the museum of Leon Trotsky and many other. Also there are a lots of parks and gardens to hang around for a while of to take a raid on bicycle, of playgrounds to play a sport. Coyoacan is one of the most cultural, entertain and recreative places here in Mexico city. There is where the UNAM is located, and also in there are a lots of thing to do.

=**Review of a movie/book/concert/etc** =

The movie is called "Fight Club", it was directed by David Fincher, the same director of movies like Seven, Zodiac, The curious Case of Benjamin Button and The Social Network. He also is going to direct the "refrito" of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. The movie Fight Club is based on the homonimus book written by Chuck Palahniuk. It starts Brad Pitt, Edward Norton and Helena Bonham-Carter. It's based on a critic of the contemporary sociaty of compsuption in where we are find, is a critic to the actual societies, ways and styles of living. It last´s two hours and the plot is a little bit complicated, but in the end all is resolve in a weird explanation. Itps about a couple of guys who starts a club in where men fight to free himself of the opression of this modern way of living, and later create "Project Mayhem" how the are calling, in which they perform a lot of vandalic acts to umbalance the structure of capitalism, etc. The acting and the story is really great, the best part in the movie is when you realize who was the real creator of "Project Mayhem". The movie is full of symbolic aspects, in the beggining could be feel like a movie of fights and action. But in real, the movie is about the problem to men and women to make boundary's acts of relationship beetween each others. I'd recomend it to anyone who likes action and also a good and entertain plot, and anyone who wants to search in it for signs and simbols, that make think to himself, beside to anyone who is involve or sick of this way of life. This movie is liberating and inspirational.

= **Story** =

One day, a few years ago, two friends and I went to a contest and a congress of architecture in Merida, Yucatan. When we arrive to the city we took a taxi to drive us into the hotel where we're going to stay, eventually, while we where crossing the city we saw a big building. The buiding was nice, atractive and some pretty, my friends and I where delighted with that modern building, when the taxi driver notice the attention that we where put it on the building, he said: "That is a horrible building, it doesn't help or serve for anything, I hope someday pull it down. F*cking architects! They are useless!! By the way, what are you doing in this city?" Asked the taxi driver, and a friend told him: "We are architects, we came here to attend to an architectural congress" To they surprise he didn't speak in all the remaining travel, and so are we.