Posted by Jon
A recent excavation in my office (an occasional activity, driven by the certain knowledge that I once did possess that particular long-lost piece of paper that I now so-desparately need) unearthed in passing a fascinating article that I clipped some time ago from the New Yorker, about Jorn Utzon, the Sydney Opera House architect.
A recent excavation in my office (an occasional activity, driven by the certain knowledge that I once did possess that particular long-lost piece of paper that I now so-desparately need) unearthed in passing a fascinating article that I clipped some time ago from the New Yorker, about Jorn Utzon, the Sydney Opera House architect.
There were three anecdotes that I loved, which readers here might enjoy. Discussing another of Utzon’s projects, when he was trying to design a low-cost housing development in Denmark, it comments:
“He developed his design by thinking about the various people who might inhabit such housing. He imagined the families in detail, writing short stories about them.”
How lovely. I can see the extension to proposals: a short story about each of the users, or buyers, or managers of a service that you’re about to deliver, as part of a design session.
Moving on: the architect used to tell ‘an anecdote about the Danish furniture designer Kaare Kilmt.
Moving on: the architect used to tell ‘an anecdote about the Danish furniture designer Kaare Kilmt.
Someone comes to Klimt’s studio and asks him, “What are you working on?”
Klimt replies, “I’m working on a chair.”
Eighteen months later, the same man visits and again asks Klimt what he is working on.
“I told you,” Klimt says, “I’m working on a chair.”
Wow! Would that I had such patience.
And then my favourite of the quotes that I circled, and perhaps the most relevant to proposal readers. Construction of the magnificent Opera House was often fraught. As difficulties began to mount, Utzon “recalled something the engineer on the project, Ove Arup, had said to encourage him”:
And then my favourite of the quotes that I circled, and perhaps the most relevant to proposal readers. Construction of the magnificent Opera House was often fraught. As difficulties began to mount, Utzon “recalled something the engineer on the project, Ove Arup, had said to encourage him”:
“He said it is like when you climb Everest. You get a glimpse of Everest, and then it disappears. For a long time, all you see are the rows of hills in your way, and you can’t imagine that you will ever get there. And then, suddenly, you see Everest again, sparking in the sunshine.”
Having been fortunate enough to visit Tibet a few years back, heading up to Everest Base Camp (the easy way – by Land Rover!), I can certainly relate to the comment. I guess a few proposal efforts feel a little like climbing Everest; establishing a clear vision of the summit from the outset is so important to keep the team going through the tough moments.