It started out simply enough: I like to start my day with a good cup of coffee. So I decided to learn how to make one. 

Lessons Learnt

1. Coffee is the new wine. In fact, coffee has more aromatic and flavor compounds than wine, an estimated 1500 vs 200 in wine. 
2. Pulling a good shot of espresso takes training. And practice. And then some more practice...
3. Most good things, including good design, take practice. 

It was 1996. I was visiting UCLA when I walked into a talk by Marcos Novak. That's when I first heard about the Situationists and Transarchitecture. 

I was planning to study urban design, driven by a vision to shape how people experience cities. 

Until I met Marcos Novak. He got me thinking about a new kind of 'liquid' architecture, cut loose from traditional logic and laws of gravity. Where spatial configurations exist at the intersection of virtual and physical, and mutate in response to people and events. 

He was the man who helped me 'see' Minority Report years before it was built.

Graduate school was where I learnt how to code (though I don’t make a very good coder/ the best technologists I know have more patience!). I learnt how to think in terms of liquid architecture (virtual spaces generated algorithmically); write algorithms to create interactive spaces in dialog with the audience (music that plays based on where and how many people are in a room); build virtual worlds (first UCLA Campus VR map; 3D spaces inspired by paintings). 

Inspired by the Situationists, I built a Virtual World with the words from the Latin palindrome In girum imus nocte et consumimur igni ('we turn in the night and are consumed by it') which was featured at the Getty museum.

Lessons Learnt 

1. You never know when life can take an interesting twist.
2. We live in a time where the spaces we inhabit and the spaces we interact with are merging. We, as users, can choose how to experience this new space. 

Everyday life. People. Conversations. Travel. A good cup of coffee. Chocolate cake. Simple things inspire me.

(Many) Lessons Learnt 

'The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.' - Marcel Proust

My first avocado. Uni. Spanish chocolate. Churros.
A: What else have I never eaten before? Let's go exploring. 

The first time I saw an XL cup of Coke at the movie theater. 
A: What is that? Can one person really drink it all? Can good design nudge people and societies to make smarter, healthier choices?

The time we wandered for 5 hours trying to find the hotel we were meant to stay at.
A: Smiling and pointing can take you far, but sometimes Google Maps is quicker. 

The man I sat next to in Pompidou  Cafe, who later sent me his recipe for clementine cake.
A: You just need to talk long enough to realize that there is often no more than 2 degrees of separation with people you just met. Just check Facebook or LinkedIn to see all the friends in common. Plus, you never know when you'll find your next favorite recipe.

A conversation with a monk about 'where is home'
A: Sometimes strangers can show you your path. And the next TED talk worth watching.