3 minutos
At last you’re going to be the shining star you always knew was lying latent inside you. The real journey starts now, but don’t worry because we’re here to help you. Here you have all the little secrets, hidden to the eyes of the world, that will help you become a Young Celebrity Architect.
The first step on your new voyage will be to find a teacher. All the great architects had one, so why shouldn’t you? So start looking for your nearest celebrity architect or, better still, your favourite foreign architect, and try to get into their team any way you can. If they don’t offer you a contract, don’t worry. Mummy and Daddy will pay your bills. You’re a true lover of architecture, so Spain’s Collective Agreement for Engineering and Architecture Firms isn’t for you. Your prestige comes from your life, from having articles published in magazines, from your salary.
The second step is crucial. Once you’ve established your HQ (your boss’s HQ, obviously), it’s time to extend your network of contacts. It’s absolutely indispensable for you to attend all the events in your city (and, of course, in the surrounding areas): official architects’ association events, university seminars, workshops, lectures – it makes no difference. Just be there. In the front row. And if you can, ask a question that’s goes on at least as long as the best speaker’s presentation. Be seen! And in the canapés and wine afterwards, choose your target. But be careful: opportunities come and go. Go for a university dean, a head of department, a studio boss, a councillor, or whoever. Introduce yourself and be introduced. You have to get onto their radar. After all, you want to be one of them, don’t you?
But don’t stop there. The canapé scene is only half of what people see, perhaps even less. The third phase is to mine your social networks. It’s important to be present on all of them, or at least the indispensable ones: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn. (The more invented positions you include in English in your profile, the better). What’s your sales pitch? Are you an intellectual or an entrepreneur? Are you old school or a rule-breaker? Choose wisely… or don’t. Maybe it’s better to just bootlick left, right and centre. You never know who you might end up having coffee with next week.
Then, when you’ve got your networking up and running and have a platform, it’s time to generate “activity”. Your fourth step will be to create a “personality” for yourself. Get together some photos of trips you’ve made, and spam bomb your contacts with them for a few months. That’ll make your life look like a never-ending pilgrimage. Or take 20 photos of the same drawing from different angles and stick them all on IG. It doesn’t matter what you produce as long as it looks as if your production line never stops working. Stories are your allies. Let the whole world hear how full your life is. But don’t go into too many details. People like to see other people doing things, but they’re not all that interested in what. The important thing is attitude. Your profile has to look as if it’s sponsored by Mr Wonderful, as if your bedside books are “The Secret” and “The Alchemist”. *
All celebrities need the right attire. So your last step will be to dress accordingly. We architects have our own dress code, which basically comes down to one of two antithetical styles: black sobriety or recalcitrant flamboyance. Anything in between is not for you. So now you know: your clothes should either let you pass for a priest or look like something a unicorn has thrown up. You decide!
All you have to do now is wait. It’s a question of mental, economic, physical and social stamina. The longest day must have an end, as they say. So be patient, Young Celebrity Architect. If you firmly believe in your dreams and work hard, you’ll make it, xD.
