This is why the drawings produced by the design institute are full of errors

Thread Content

01 Repeatedly pulling out drawers, constantly making corrections and facing setbacks, and needing various process diagrams. As the saying goes, \"One go with full effort, two go and strength fades, three go and it’s over.\" These days, it’s not uncommon for a project to require four or five attempts; even the most patient person can’t withstand such repeated efforts. No matter how skilled or dedicated one is, it won’t work; paying for each drawing done also doesn’t work. 02 The actual time available for drawing is far too short. To be honest, the design timeline isn’t always that tight; however, a large amount of time is wasted on preliminary steps and discussions, leaving perhaps only one-fifth of the total timeline available for actually creating the final design drawings ready for construction. Washing a radish before it’s ready to be used goes against the objective laws of nature. 03 The actual design staff have low or even very poor skills; those with high skills are either relying on their past achievements to hold management positions or have left for client companies. There is already a significant loss of excellent design professionals. Small projects are fine, but for large projects, having a highly skilled professional responsible for drawing up all the drawings was something that was possible 10 years ago. It’s not very realistic at the moment; it’s always necessary to have younger people do the drawing, and both the process and the outcome are uncontrollable, plus there’s not enough energy for that. After all, one is the best judge of their own drawings; others can only get a superficial glimpse of them. Then why is the skill level of designers poor? You get what you pay for! Why doesn’t the master train his apprentices properly? Even the masters can’t take care of themselves; even if a master is willing to teach a disciple, once that disciple learns the skills, they can go to another place and get a higher salary. Then why not raise the salary to keep the apprentice? The master earns only 8,000 per month while the apprentice earns 5,000 per month; how can they increase their earnings? Don’t the leaders of the design institute realize that you get what you pay for? There really isn’t any. The managers think that technology isn’t very valuable; those simple drawings can be done by anyone. They believe it’s always possible to find people who can do the work well, for little money, and with dedication. Even if they were aware of this, they don’t have the capability to offer high salaries, because aside from the design fees for key projects in a few large facilities which are quite high, most tasks come with very low payment rates. 04 The proofreading and review processes did not provide proper oversight; following the procedures used in design institutes during the planned economy era, such processes had clear scope of responsibilities and specific tasks. By following the rules, most problems can be identified. It’s not possible to carry out this plan right now – there’s not enough time, not enough money, and not enough expertise; it mostly remains just a formality. Generally, it’s done through mutual review and checking; there’s no time for that, so they just sign off casually. Even some full-time proofreaders and reviewers are just using their words to fake credibility in order to get the job; they can only spot superficial issues related to font styles, but they’re completely unable to detect any real underlying problems. 05 There is insufficient coordination between different specialties; for a single project, each person has to work with several different specialties at the same time. For the reasons 1 to 3 mentioned above, people become physically and mentally exhausted; it’s inevitable to have to revise the conditions set earlier while drawing, and others also have an impact on you. After a while, one becomes numb to it. Logically, all departments should review the drawings together before the final version is produced, but by the end everyone was exhausted and went through the process perfunctorily. 06 There are too many distractions during the design process; as the saying goes, “one cannot do two things at once.” 20 years ago, projects weren’t as tightly organized; there were fewer procedures and requirements, incomes were decent, and managers didn’t engage in as much psychological manipulation. Sometimes, you can really turn a blind eye to what’s going on outside and focus on listening to music for a while, completing a project in peace. These days, one person has to take on several projects at the same time; there is coordination required for both the initial and later stages of these projects, and design work is also ongoing. There are constant calls and people coming to bother you every day, and you have to deal with matters that have nothing to do with the projects you’re working on. You also have to attend meetings both at home and elsewhere every day. In this world, with my limited perspective, I really can’t think of any mental work that requires quiet reflection that is like that of a designer: you are interrupted every 30 minutes on average, your brain has to keep switching between different tasks and strive to recall and think, you also have to constantly explain things and negotiate, and meanwhile your brain keeps thinking, \"If I keep doing this until the end of the year, it seems I still won’t meet the targets, so there’s no chance of getting a year-end bonus.\" In the end, you sadly realize that you shouldn’t even think about a year-end bonus. The previous drawings were wrong again; the client got angry, and the manager will criticize you once more. And that’s not even the worst part – suddenly, colleagues start talking about some building in the city having collapsed or caught fire. Your heart skips a beat, and you pray to yourself that it definitely isn’t a project I’m working on! 】. If you can find a more frustrating mental work job than this, please let me know; it would help me comfort myself a bit. Thank you! 07: Is it enough to make corrections later if there are mistakes? It’s not a big deal. The key issue is the high rate of staff turnover – once the year-end bonuses are paid out at the end of the year, those employees leave. Who else will go to the extra effort of reviewing the drawings for you after they’ve left? Even if they didn’t leave, new projects came along, and a new cycle began. Even if you wanted to go through the drawings carefully again, you don’t have the energy for it. 08 Summary: In conclusion, there are numerous errors in the drawings, and it is highly likely that these are caused by the reasons mentioned above. Before 1990, the quality of hand-drawn drawings was extremely high; some drawings created by skilled artists were so good that one might mistake them for those produced by computers. Before 2000, the quality of drawing design could maintain a normal level. Between 2000 and 2014, the quality of the drawings declined, but they were still acceptable. After 2014, the quality of some drawings declined sharply. If you get a set of drawings, the quality is very high with few errors. There are two possibilities: 1. This design firm offers good benefits, has a positive work environment with few complaints, its designers are highly competent, the management is open-minded, and the relationships among colleagues are good; the older employees are steady-minded while the younger ones are more energetic. Few people leave the firm, as everyone treats it like their own home. The projects themselves aren’t too complicated, and the client’s technical skills and character are also excellent. 2. This designer, despite facing financial difficulties and a heavy workload over the years, remains highly dedicated to his work. He does not care about personal gains or losses, considering his professional skills as a lifelong pursuit. He serves his clients with the mindset that customers are God, works for his employers with gratitude, and designs carefully for homebuyers with compassion. He is willing to make selfless sacrifices as long as the country can become more prosperous and strong. Time and again, he is moved to tears by his own dedication. One day at the age of forty, he carried his suitcase out of his rental apartment and stopped at the entrance to the \"Oriental Alice Waterfront Amazon Garden Luxury Community\". He wanted to go inside to take one last look at his works as a farewell, but the security guard said he couldn’t enter without a keycard. He tried to explain that he was the architect of this community, but the guard remained stubborn and refused to let him in. It’s nothing really; he doesn’t care. He’s proud, he’s smiling, and he points at the children, saying, “Look, Dad is an architect! The most famous residential complex in this city was designed by Dad!” ”