Office-s Chapter Two

There are several strategies that one has to have in mind when going to an interview for a new job. For instance, selecting the adequate outfit, researching the company, being on time, turning off your cell phone, bringing your resumes, cover letter and portfolio, do not making jokes, etc.

After reviewing all the tips available to nail an interview I went to see Mr. Suleiman and Mr. Pareja at UPA Architects. So, trying to follow all the strategies mentioned above I prepared myself to get this position as a junior Architect. First of all I went to this nice store to get the perfect outfit. I just want to remind you that back then I was working as a server at this famous restaurant in Tenleytown, so all my income came from tips and some sporadic digital drafting classes that I used to give. Being an Architect makes very difficult the shopping process. You want to combine everything in an harmonious way, you want to include all kind of “avant garde” design concepts and explore new options. All of this for what? To ending dressing like Rem Koolhaas or Steve Jobs (all black). After spending two double shifts (back then I measured all my expenses in terms of lunch, dinner and double shifts. One shift = $100usd aprox.) in clothes I kept preparing myself for the meeting.

Another tip that you should consider when applying for a new job is researching the company. I visited their website, looked for their names on Facebook, MySpace, Youtube, AIA, FBI (remember I used to work for criminals) and Architecture Magazines. While searching I found that UPA is a very contemporary design firm with projects in Washington DC, Quito, Abuja, Virginia and Maryland, fact that made me very excited. I also investigated their origins based on their names. When I typed in Suleiman Umar immediately I got all sort of connections with the Arabic world and the African world. With the second partner it was more general. Pareja it is a last name with origins and roots in Spain, so he could be from anywhere in the world.

The day finally came and I got there 30 minutes before, turned off my cell phone, prepared all my documents, I even practiced different situations and learned new English words that I could use in the interview. My first impression was kind of shocking. I opened the door and I saw an African American male playing golf, barefoot and speaking in some language that I was not able to understand, next to him was a short male individual with familiar facial features speaking in perfect English (no accent) to some girl with a very thick accent about The Beatles and Frank Lloyd Wright. After recovering of this encounter of the third kind, I could see the guy who was playing golf waving at me trying to tell me to wait for him in the conference room. While walking across the hall I could hear at least four or five different languages I also could perceive a very nice environment where architects with different backgrounds were working on several new projects with very interesting aesthetics and concepts.

Mr. Pareja and Mr. Suleiman finally met me at the conference room after a 40 minutes wait (being late for the interview, first tip violation). Mr. Suleiman showed up wearing military shorts, no shoes, and a black T-shirt, Mario on the other hand was wearing Khaki pants and a polo T-shirt. (selecting the wrong outfit, second tip violation). The interview started very smoothly. Mr. Suleiman started making some racist jokes like “we do not hire Spaniard descendants that are mixed with native Americans”, (perfect description of my ethnicity, later I will learn that Mr. Pareja’s family background was from Ecuador), “We do not work with new comers” (perfect description of 90% of UPA staff), and he went with this kind of comments over and over, at this point I did not know if to laugh or to cry. (making inappropriate jokes at a job interview, third tip violation). So after thirty minutes of talking to Sule and Mario (they asked me to called them this way) they had been violated all the “rules” that somehow I thought were important to obey for a job interview , cell phone calls, talking in different languages, stepping out of the meeting without saying anything, etc. It was the strangest interview that I ever had in my whole short professional life. Before leaving the building I asked Sule if the office had any dress code to follow, to that question he answered back laughing and saying “just do not show up naked on Monday”.

I left the office with high expectations and knowing that I was going to work as a junior Architect for a guy that was born in Jos, Nigeria who came to the United States at the age of 17, who speaks 4 different languages and does not know if he is Muslim or Catholic because his family is 50/50 and his partner a very smart guy who was born in Quito Ecuador who came to the United states at the age of 5 who plays the bass in a rock band, who worked at Pope Leighey house as a tour guide (one of Frank Lloyd’s Wright houses in Virginia) at the age of 14 and is a frenetic fan of The Beatles. Believe it or not they are also real Architects yes!!

Monday: That first day of work I showed up before 8:30am. While waiting for Mario and Sule I had The opportunity to meet Hedrick Klein, a young German Architect who like me had been in The United States for less than three years, who went to the Bauhaus school and grew up in one of the Walter Gropius Housing complexes. (later we would be partners for the Holocaust Memorial competition design in Atlantic City). I also met Mr. Ziad Demian, a very talented Syrian Architect who was born in Damascus and is been living in Washington for more than 25 years. I could go hours describing the diversity of this practice, this felt like the United Nations where globalization and transnationalism are common elements in the day to day scene, characteristics that change the whole scene for me as an Architect. Sule and Mario Showed at 10:10am we started working on a Hotel for Radisson Industries In Abuja, Nigeria. Then we jumped to an African Market in Port Harcourt, Nigeria then to a House in Friendship heights in Washington Dc and in between of Architecture we had serious discussions about new ways to live, the role of architecture in the new world, music, girls, books, movies and different topics that made me understand why Architects are “Generalists” we know a little bit of everything compared to other professions like Engineers they know everything about one thing “Specialist”, good or bad I rather gather information about everything , this would lead me to the light.

Tuesday: same time 8:30am, same thing working with architects from all over the world, doing architecture, playing golf and listening to music, nice routine!. As usual Mario and Sule Showed up at 10:10am and the same on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Friday and sometimes weekends. After one month Sule called me saying that he wanted to talked to me. He wanted to let me know that 8:30am was a little bit early to come to the office, he explained to me that after all this years of experience he found out that 10:10am It is the perfect time to start working I still do not understand but it works for me.

It is been almost two years working for Sule and Mario, now they called me Associate Architect and we are planning our first trip to Nigeria. Compared to my first internship in Virginia, UPA was like rehab for me and I think I am slowly curing myself. It is been a Journey and there is a lot in the future coming for UPA, but the current times are tough and they were not able to afford me full time it was then when Mario Introduce me to Shinberg-Levinas Architects, this is a medium size firm in Bethesda Maryland, very contemporary and interesting firm the partners are Salo Levinas and Milton Shinberg, more on that later in the next chapter. Currently I work for UPA Architects and I am also a consultant for Shinberg-Levinas, I split my time in between the two firms and somehow I enjoy doing that, different experiences and different kind of Architectural languages and knowledge. Thank you for reading Third chapter coming soon! Today is September 9, 2011 a weird feeling is in the ambient Washington is full with police and they recommended not to go out or ride the metro. But following Mr. Wright’s philosophy when he expressed that “An architect's most useful tools are an eraser at the drafting board, and a wrecking bar at the site”. I am going to walk to the closest bar to grab a drink! Please find attached some Images of the projects that we have been working on at UPA Architects.