So Peter has been teaching us from the start of second year and a few months from the end of first year. Peters a very interesting lecturer, he’s not like many other lecturers I’ve had in the past. He’s probably one of the most difficult lectures, when I say that I mean he will push you so much. In all honesty he’s teaching style is very motivating and I’m on those people who will always try and put there everything in their work, and sometimes I need a really good push which Peter does!
So he’s talk was based around the different projects he’s done individually or in collaboration with his company. He specialises in Water Parks, however the work he showed was so diverse and extraordinary. The main work he showed us was either about Sport facilities, Residential buildings, Interior Design, Water Parks and the competitions he’s competed in.
Most of the work he’s produced is outside the UK and what was interesting to see was the different countries he’s worked in. For example as Peters has a Russian background, he has produced most of his work in Latvia. He’s also worked on a Water Park in Baku, Azerbaijan for those not aware this is a place which has been said to be the “new Dubai” because of the amount of wealth they have.
Peter did say this was quite a challenging project because he wasn’t able to visit the site or client all the time, so most of the time he was communicating with he’s client over Skype. Also the construction company employed made a few mistakes with for example the foundations, internal fixtures, etc.
The foundations they produced the first time wasn’t actually strong enough and wasn’t according to the foundations suggested through the drawings, so they had to redo the foundations which obviously meant time and money was wasted. Also the internal fixing and fixtures used on site wasn’t according to those suggested in the drawings. For example, they was meant to meant to use waterproof plaster but they used normal plaster and for a Water Park this is a fatal error because of the amount of water and humidity within the park. As the plasterboard will start getting damaged and mould will start growing and after a year the Water Park will look like it’s been about for so many new years and people won’t be able to tell that it’s a new build.
He said sometime you may create the most detailed and amazing drawings however depending on the construction company employed by the client may not be able to produce exactly what you wanted. They will always find ways where they can save money for example using cheaper materials. It’s upsetting because if a project is constructed really well then it could be something really incredible.
So a project doesn’t always go the way you planned and problems may occur which you may not have necessarily accounted for. This is where you have to make some drastic decisions to ensure a project can be completed on time.
Peter has told us before that there are some nights where he won’t be able to sleep because he also has deadlines to meet. For example, he worked on a project for a competition which took place over two days but it meant he couldn’t sleep. It was crazy to see the work he produced over only two days, because I wouldn’t be able to create something like that in a couple of months. I wasn’t surprised that he actually won this project.
He did say there maybe projects which you work on for a very short period of time and there maybe overs which are more long term. However sometimes the project you done in a week maybe more successful that a project which you work on for a month and this is mainly down to idea behind it and the level of work you produce.
Peter finished off the talk by saying if you want to get somewhere you need to be passionate about it and willing to take the risks. He said it’s very important that we remain ambitious and have a drive! This was defiantly an inspiring talk and it’s remarkable how much knowledge he actually has. It definitely helped us understand him better as a person and why he’s very persistent with us. (I have uploaded images at the top of this post, I would definitely spend a few minutes looking at the project is you found this interesting)