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Blog 15.

matthewcwarner@yahoo.co.uk (matthew warner) — Sun, 24 Oct 2021 13:19:36 GMT

Culture and modernism in Turkey

The re-opening ceremony of the Atatürk Kültür Merkezi (AKM) in Taksim square is set to potentially be a crowning moment in the alignment of Turkey’s rich cultural past and its current modern dynamism.

The depth of Turkey’s historic cultural wealth is arguably second to none amongst the world’s nations and it represents a natural resource that is akin to huge reserves of oil, gold or precious stones.

A significant step towards maximizing this potential and extracting latent wealth has already been taken with the extensive investment in infrastructure that has transpired over the last 15 years. The improvements to the highway system, the new metro lines, the Marmaray Tunnel under the Bosphorus, the Osmangazi Bridge, The Çanakkale bridge project and of course the amazing Istanbul International Airport (to mention just a handful of recent projects) have all helped catapult Turkey into the modern era and form a solid platform for future investment and growth.

It is this continued rapid modernism of Turkey combined with its impressive cultural reserve and unique geographical position that will help attract ever increasing numbers of visitors and investors in the years ahead and assume an increasingly important role as the whole world enters a new era driven by technological advancement.

Just as the gates of AKM, in the days before mobile phones, acted as a preferred meeting point, Turkey, as the land where East meets West, is a natural hub and, with its heightened connectivity, one that enables visitors both to more easily access its cultural treasures and explore its new found Modernity.

Blog 14.

matthewcwarner@yahoo.co.uk (matthew warner) — Sun, 24 Oct 2021 13:10:46 GMT

The Road ahead. Advice for the next generation

Aspire, inspire, strive to be the best that you can.

Take the time to embrace the wonder, happiness and joy in every day

and however small those things may seem, be thankful for them.

You may achieve, or even exceed, your wildest dreams,

or life may take you down a different path,

but what you live each day can neither be taken away nor added to.

it is the record of your life,

so ‘live’ it to the full

and experience every moment.

Blog.13

matthewcwarner@yahoo.co.uk (matthew warner) — Sun, 24 Oct 2021 13:03:34 GMT

Re-awakening the power of caring

The world we live in today is changing at an astonishing rate on a multitude of levels. Even America, that cornerstone of global stability, appears to be suffering somewhat of an identity crisis, the ripple effect of which is already extending way beyond its own boarders.

This is a situation brought about by a breakdown of our sense of community which has transpired by a slow process of encroachment that started in earnest in the middle of the last century and reached its peak through the first two decades of this century, whereby we had collectively been sucked into a consumerist society. A society where the lust for personal satisfaction outweighed the needs of the wider community, or of the planet that we all share, turning us increasingly into a selfish society. .

In the wall of uncertainty that faced us there appeared a crack through which light, at first weak, but now gaining in strength, has begun to shine. It is a light that is bringing new purpose to people’s lives, setting down new foundations towards a changed world. That light is a re-connection with nature and with humanity.

It has been triggered by an extraordinary series of catastrophic events of biblical proportion from pandemic to floods and raging wildfires which, through their unprecedented nature, have jolted our collective consciousness, and forced us to recognize our own frailty and that of our planet.

Confronted by the unknown and by losses that have been suffered, many of us are once again discovering the value of meaningful interaction with our families, friends, society and with the natural world around us.

We are all together on this planet and it is through this togetherness that we can chart a path towards a brighter, more sustainable, inclusive future.

Let us re-awaken the ‘power of caring’.

Blog 12: Evolving workspaces, post-Corona.

matthewcwarner@yahoo.co.uk (matthew warner) — Sat, 30 May 2020 14:12:15 GMT

Towards a better working environment

When Corona eases and businesses get fully back to work, we may well find that we see a combining of initiatives towards changed occupational habits.

This relates to concepts that were already on the agenda, but which are likely to be picked up with a renewed sense of purpose as regards our work spaces in terms of i) sustainability ii) flexibility and iii) quality of workspace experience.

i) Sustainability: was rising up the agenda before Corona hit. Whilst little room has recently been given for further comment on this important issue as the world went into shutdown, we will come out of this malaise not only with a renewed sense of importance in terms of our relationships with each other, but also our relationship with the planet.

We have been given a chance to pause for breath and to realize that the damaging path we were on is not the ‘necessary evil’ of an unchangeable consumerist existence. We have seen how, when forced upon us, it is possible to achieve huge reductions in carbon emissions. We have also seen that we cannot take for granted the enjoyment of our outside spaces and we have been forced into a greater appreciation of all of the wonder that our planet has to offer. It is like a light has been shone showing us a different path towards a more caring society where collective action towards changing our life priorities can lead to enhancement for the common good.

This heightened awareness of the value of our environment will manifest itself in many ways, but in terms of our business space it will lead to a drive towards more sustainable office solutions in terms of efficiency of operation as well as whole-portfolio occupational strategies based on a reduced carbon footprint.

ii) Flexibility: was fast becoming a buzz word in the run-up to the Corona shut-down, as we saw the expansion of shared work-space concepts and companies pushing the boundaries in terms of integrated work place solutions optimizing the efficiency of the workplace. Whilst attracting good media coverage these initiatives were, however, just scratching the surface in terms of the percentage of total office stock. Intransigent attitudes towards workers ‘needing to be in the office’ to deliver maximum results meant that working from a non-office environment, whether from home or an alternative creative space, was often frowned upon and given little real chance to flourish.

Here again change has been forced upon us with the Corona Pandemic. Bosses have been able to see that responsible workers often work harder when left to their own devices and (subject to the nature of business) are able to engage with a range of creative environments and varied working hours to deliver maximum results.

Working in a non-office environment does not work for all businesses, or sectors within businesses, but the ‘whole company’ trial that has been necessitated in many parts of the world, has clearly highlighted for many companies which sectors need to be in a fixed office and which flourish in alternative environments.

What this means is that we are likely to see companies focusing more intently on the nature of space that they actually need to properly reflect their business and to provide for their regular office-based staff and client interface. Alongside that to have an element flexible space to allow for team members who will be working away from the office to come in when necessary, to showcase their work and collaborate with colleagues and clients, when a physical presence is required. Such flexible spaces will, however, need to be subject to strict hygiene routines to make sure that any shared work space environment is fit for purpose.

These first two areas of change will naturally lead to the third aspect of the quality of workspace environment.

İİİ) Quality workspace environment: With companies in the past set on growing their space, taking ever larger premises to house all of their staff as business expanded, catering for the perceived need to find a desk space for each member of the growing workforce, compromises inevitably had to be made. This often led to a downgrading of locational preference, or even a split office solution, away from an optimum position, to contain overheads, leading in many instances to inefficiencies in operation. For those that tried to maintain their prime location, offices often became increasingly cramped again unwittingly affecting efficiency in terms of amenity, worker attitude and the ability to attract the best staff.

With a careful assessment of staffing ability enabling a percentage of the workforce to work away from the office, companies will be able to re-focus on locations for their physical office that work best for their business and to create an environment with a desk spacing regime combined with a range of bespoke hygiene measures (for those staff that do have to be in the office) that is not only healthier (in terms of the spread of germs/infectious diseases), but also creates a more spacious setting towards a better psychology for their staff, the ability to attract and retain the best staff, flexible options to allow for staff who need only sporadically to come to the office and an overall image more reflective of the business. In short a better quality working environment leading to enhanced results.

Offices will be a showcase of how companies wish to present themselves: creative, socially aware, environmentally responsible, contributive spaces.

There are already a number of developers who are championing the creation of such spaces, but with the heightened demands we are now likely to see from the occupational sector, others will seek to raise their game to the betterment of the urban fabric, enhancement of the quality of life, of relationships, and of our world.

For information on quality workspace opportunities please contact: Matthew Warner BA Dip PVL MRICS matthew.warner@astas-group.com Tel: 0090 533 322 4015 www.astas-holding.com

Blog 11:Social Distancing Bringing Us Together

Sun, 29 Mar 2020 11:18:37 GMT

Through Covid-19 and on to a better world.

Before the global shut-down, due the Corona Pandemic, there was a growing concern over the effects of globalization on climate change.

In an earlier article I highlighted how Corona has made us think more about our habits and what we are doing to our planet.

Covid 19 has in many ways forced us to ''think local'' and to re-connect with issues closer to home that are of core importance.

Let us hope that post Corona we move on from our love affair with consumerism and the alter e-go drive to self aggrandizement, towards restoring a former relationship with the world and society and all of the cultural richness that surrounds us.

How refreshing it is to see social media used for contacting (and showing solidarity with) elderly relatives and those in need of support, rather than showing off the latest item of disposable fashion. In effect social distancing seems to be bringing us closer together.

With the confusing noise of a pumped up greedy world temporarily subsided, let us use the quiet to re-focus towards a simpler, more thoughtful existence, where we care about our planet, all the natural wonders that exist on it and the society that we are part of.

To share ideas on how the physical spaces we live in might change to further encourage engagement with society, do contact me on Linked In, Instagram, or Facebook

Blog 10: A new way of living

Sun, 22 Mar 2020 09:57:02 GMT

Life after Corona

However you may look at the current Corona virus episode that is affecting us all, you cannot escape the fact that it forces us to reflect on our lives and (trusting it will pass shortly) I would urge us to treat it as a wake-up call to see how we can do things better.

Of course there are those who may liken it to some sort of plague sent by a higher force as a punishment for inaction, in relation to how we are treating our planet. After all the youth have been crying for years that we need to take action on climate change and the elders have been slow to act. So when a virus comes that targets the old and seems not to affect the young, a virus that forces people to stop flying, not to travel to the office, but to work from home and to hold video conferences rather than mass gatherings involving travel from further afield, one might see how such an opinion can be formed.

For me I like to look at the positives, however dark the days get. I like the saying that ‘every cloud has a silver lining’. So let us see how these events could make us reflect on how we go about our business and to work on how we can improve things in the future.

I am old enough to have seen 5 very different decades. When I was younger travel was a thing of wonder, including the journey itself, and a very special thing that individuals and families (save for the odd serial intrepid traveler writing his travel memoirs, or mapping remote hideaways) did quite rarely (certainly not more than once a year at tops). They brought back unique presents from unique locations around the world and gave a taste of the exotic to their friends and families through such gifts and the slide show of photos that followed for months afterwards.

On the work front people tended to work in the towns they lived in and certainly the countries in which they were born, with those who flew the nest to work in far flung places few and far between.

Then came the opening up of the airways, mass travel, mass consumerism and globalization. Starting innocently enough and almost imperceptibly building into a giant snowball which absorbed all in its path and connected everything such that boundaries and the sense of identity that came with such became blurred, one thing indistinguishable from the other.

The unique identities of foreign destinations and the experiences they offered were increasingly being lost as each retail street in each location began to look the same with global brands all pervasive and local colour and local crafts faded.

Commutes into the office became ever longer as more and more people worked further from their place of dwelling shrinking quality family time and the drive for ever more things placed mounting pressure on parents to work until they dropped.

So let us see this crisis as an opportunity to take a step back, observe the beauty around us, appreciate our local communities and spend time with our families of all generations, let ‘precious time together’ be what we strive for and let us enjoy the wonder of the world and, as I have said in my earlier blog: ‘’let us be happy knowing that we have all that we need rather than needing to have it all’’.

When normality returns let us not accept yesterday’s norm, let us work towards a better world driven by our relationships and a desire to protect, preserve and embrace the planet that we live on.

For a discussion on how we can ‘build in’ a more sustainable existence through the spaces we occupy contact Matthew Warner

PHOTO: by Matthew C Warner

Walking The Other Way On Climate Change

Thu, 05 Mar 2020 05:01:30 GMT

Blog 9: Walking The Other Way On Climate Change

Whilst hugely important to address, climate change is not the core problem, it is a symptom.

To alleviate the symptom we need to tackle the cause.

The cause is global greed fueled by excessive consumption and ignorance.

That is the principal issue we must tackle.

We have reached a dark place as a society whereby we feel that we are defined by the things that we have.

Instead of consuming ‘things’, however, we should consume knowledge and culture.

Let us promote knowledge, culture and understanding as the key measure of worth.

We should invest in relationships, friendships, experiences and sharing knowledge …… not simply collecting material possessions.

There is light at the end of the tunnel, the new generation is not only super concerned about what current and past generations have done to our planet, but they are seeking new ways to live and work based on sharing not owning.

Forward thinking developers are heeding this message and creating amazing new collaborative spaces, often converting older spaces and changing its use minimizing the carbon foot print of such initiatives.

Let us not walk the trodden path let us walk the other way.

We will shortly announce a new platform to share ideas and knowledge ….. Watch this space.

PHOTO: Walking the other way on climate change by Matthew C Warner

Matthew C Warner. 04.03.2020

Destruction

Sat, 12 Oct 2019 15:05:27 GMT

Blog 8: Destruction.

It’s all connected:

The plastic

Crumbling High streets

Selfies

Globalisation

Barbies

Consumerism

Botox

Self-harm

Isolation

Fading identities

Nationalism

Melting ice caps

Oh yes .... and again .... the plastic.

Destruction: Poem by M.C.Warner

High Street Reborn

Tue, 21 May 2019 04:58:28 GMT

Blog 7: The return of the customer experience

The High Street reborn.

Word is that the ‘High Street’ is dead.

Globalisation has seen the same brands and products spread throughout the world causing every high street (and for that matter shopping centre) to look the same …. killing individuality.

Combine the intoxicating drug cocktail of mass consumerism mixed with the hedonism of the selfy – society, retailers producing ‘fashion goods’ for the moment and the ‘I want it all …. I want it now mentality’ and for sure we have seen the high street dumbed down to the lowest common denominator of the ‘all for a pound’ experience.

With prices and associated quality at rock bottom, the concept of creating a retail ‘experience’ has been consigned to the history books with shoppers no longer ‘customers’, but pawns (consumer addicts if you like) caught up in a vicious cycle of ever degenerating standards.

The whole experience of shopping has become tedious, something that ‘has to be done’ to be ‘seen’ to be up with the latest misguided disposable trends just to be ‘liked’ for an instant on social media.

Drab high street shops are no match for the ease of internet retail which seamlessly blends into the alter ego existence of today’s youth.

There is no doubt that today’s high street is broken, but perhaps instead of discarding the high street we could take a leaf out of an ancient practice related to the Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi , which calls for seeing beauty in the flawed, or imperfect. Rather than simply expressing regret and turning our backs, consider regret as a spur to action, a desire not to waste, but to accept change and to find a way of turning what is broken into something even more beautiful.

The art of Kintsukuroi ( which means “golden repair”) that flows from this is the act of fixing broken pottery with a special lacquer dusted with powdered gold, silver, or platinum which gives the broken piece a unique appearance and the love poured into the mending makes the restored object even more desireable.

Such attention and love is what the High Street needs to be properly repaired.

Every High street around the world needs to rediscover its uniqueness. The retail experience needs to engage its audience, pulling it back from obscurity verging on obselecence.

The path to such repair is paved with original crafts, art, the interconnectivity between the virtual and the real and the value of the individual.

Mended in this way it will be more beautiful than ever and each one will regain its uniqueness and individuality creating a customer experience that is treasured and to which people will flock as a place to meet, engage and explore.

Brands which do not value service, quality, engagement, or any sense of wonder at the experience that traditional retail can and should offer, should be forced out of the high street which they have pushed to the brink of failure. They are like weeds that have taken over a garden through their rapid expansion and verocity, overrunning the original flowers and plants and taking away its colour.

Such retail brands should reserve their products for the internet where they belong.

This will clear the way for the new shoots of a high street dedicated to customer experience unique quality products, entertainment and social interaction. It will also enable local retailers, arts and crafts to resurface bringing back a local and unique feel to high streets in different parts of the country and between countries.

In this way, what is broken will be mended and more valuable that ever.

All you need

matthewcwarner@yahoo.co.uk (matthew warner) — Fri, 24 Aug 2018 12:01:47 GMT

www.altere-go.me Blog 6: All you need

‘‘ The path to inner peace is to know that you have all that you need without needing to have it all ’’.

Matthew C. Warner

www.altere-go.me Blog 5: Social cohesion by design

matthewcwarner@yahoo.co.uk (matthew warner) — Sun, 04 Mar 2018 19:44:55 GMT

Social Cohesion by design

www.atlere-go.me Blog 5: Social cohesion by design

As buildings get closer together it seems that all too often the sense of community drifts further apart.

With the increase in density and height of apartment blocks we should be looking at how we can ‘build in’ social cohesiveness and connectivity.

There is the beginning of a revolution taking place in the way that people work and occupy workspace.

The residential model could learn a lot from this, creating beautiful urban spaces with heightened social interaction being at the heart of the design.

Concepts such as connectivity, integration and inclusiveness should form a central platform to development projects.

The issue of integration through thoughtful design of shared spaces throughout a project culminating in effective common areas (relevant to the modern era), providing amenities that attract and encourage social integration and inclusiveness for all ages, becomes increasingly important in a world where so much ‘free time’ is increasingly consumed in the physically separate world of the e-ethosphere, or e-thosphere.

Note 1: e-thosphere is an invented term referring to the world of digital social media, where individuals relate through their electronic devices on social media platforms rather than face to face.

Note 2: Recent trends have seen residential units whether high rise or low-rise developed in increasing density due to land shortages and escallating land prices. Despite the closer proximity of such units the sense of community often associated with traditional streetscapes has diminished, potentially leading to a sense of isolation and detachment.

The Global Identity Crisis

matthewcwarner@yahoo.co.uk (matthew warner) — Sun, 11 Feb 2018 17:36:05 GMT

The Global Identity Crisis

In my last blog I outlined how High Streets across the world had become ever more homogeneous with the proliferation of international brands pushing out more uniquely local retailers leading to a loss of sense of place and a subliminal diminution of national identity.

This is also related to comments in earlier blogs concerning the rise of extreme consumerism. Consumerism for consumerism’s sake, which in itself had created a culture of disposability and reduction in quality of product to match.

This quick fix retail therapy has, however, been wearing increasingly thin and, with credit cards pushed to the maximum and nothing of any substance to show for it, people are left wondering where it all went wrong.

The watering down of local culture, customs, arts and crafts in the frenzy of internationally orientated consumerism has left people questioning what it really still means to be American, to be British to be German etc

As really high end luxury brands have been forced to raise the bar both in terms of quality and price in order to differentiate themselves, the glitter of the mid-range international brand experience seems to have begun to lose its lustre.

Such brands rose to popularity in a wave of brand euphoria, as the ‘brand experience’ became more accessible through cheaper production and associated lower prices. They benefitted from the yearning of their consumer indoctrinated audience to be seen wearing the latest season’s fashion.

Quality of product that fuelled the original concept behind a brand’s success seemed less relevant in a society where it was not considered cool to be seen wearing the same item twice.

As weary debt laden consumers begin to wake up to the fact that they have nothing of any real value to show for their hedonistic frenzy of retail gluttony they begin to question who they really are and yearn for a greater sense of individualism, a sense of identity.

As they look around, however, even the very individuality of their city, the place they call home, seems also to be under threat.

It is not just uniformity of High Streets with the spread of multi-national retail chains that has begun to erase the individuality of cities. The rapid proliferation of high rise office and residential buildings as well as the proliferation of shopping malls all designed by a relative handful of international architects (or else under the influence of such) with little attention to the unique nature of the Cities in which they are constructed, has seen many of the physical hall marks of national identity erased.

What lies behind America First, Brexit, or the political shifts in Germany may well be part of a growing sense that whilst global principals and opportunity are to be championed this should not be at the expense of a sense of National identity.

So as not to ‘throw the baby out with the bath water’, far more needs to be done to examine what National identity really means and how it can be regained and to co-exist within a global community. Mutually supportive rather than overpowering and all consuming.

Individuality in the built environment may well have an important role to play in maintaining National identity whilst embracing global standards, interconnectivity, and flow of business and ideas.

There is a great responsibility, therefore, on developers to take up the challenge to create sustainable projects that contribute to the built environment and individuality of the location whilst furthering a sense of belonging and enhanced community.

Globalization and The High Street

Sun, 07 Jan 2018 08:12:56 GMT

Blog 3

Over the last few decades we have seen how globalization has increasingly had a physical effect on the nature of our cities and our lifestyles.

Has it now got to a stage where it has begun to irreversibly erode our sense of place and identity? Or is there a path we can tread where globalism and individualism can comfortably coexist?

30 years ago when I travelled to different cities around the world each high street had very much its own identity, and unique selling point.

From London to Istanbul the local character of these cities was ever present from the nature of the streets, style of building, goods on sale, and even the attitude and attentiveness of shop assistants.

In the intervening period with the spread of global brands and, to a certain degree, global architecture and design ideas, the individuality of these places has been watered down such that we live in an ever more homogeneous world.

These days, when visiting international cities, the streets are adorned with many of the same international brands, taking away the unique sense of place that used to exist. For coffee shops, core brands like Starbucks (with over 24,000 units worldwide) or Café Nero provide your coffee experience almost wherever you travel and the dominance of retailers like Zara (over 2,200 stores globally), Massimo Dutti, Swarovski, The Body Shop, Lush, Nike, Mango, McDonalds (over 36,000 outlets globally), Burger King, KFC (20,000 + outlets) etc. etc. (the list can go on and on) means that the individuality of experience is no longer what it used to be.

Driven by consumerist appetite and with the high street no longer able to contain global proliferation of brands we have seen the rise, to a point of saturation in some cities, of shopping centres, multiple Aladdin’s caves to feed the incessant need of the retail junkie.

In these self-contained pods the unique characteristic of the cities in which they are situated is almost completely forgotten.

Within this, however, may lie at least one part of the solution to the global identity crisis.

With the rise of the shopping centre, traditional high streets around the world began to suffer. Once highly sought after units have become more accessible. Perhaps then this provides the opportunity for the return of individualism. Perhaps we can start a ‘High street revolution’ where local products, designs and F&B experiences can flourish, bringing back the unique flavour of the city.

International brands are here to stay, but the need for such can be catered for by shopping centres, multinational retail emporiums, with national character preserved on ‘the street’.

Alter e-go Exposed

Tue, 12 Dec 2017 05:04:04 GMT

Blog 2

In the form of the alter e-go (the second self in a selfie society) the individual possesses a type of comic book super power, being the ability to transform oneself into the character that, at that moment, he or she wishes to be. This is then projected via social media platforms for all to see.

In this world there are no limits other than the boundaries of the imagination and the fear of exposure in the real world.

The jet-set lifestyle of the alter e-go has, of course, to be supported by enough true life props so that our super-hero can seamlessly move from world to the other.

This leads to further consumerist pressure, the consequences of which are wilfully overlooked as the alter e-go soars to ever dizzying heights.

Consumed With Consumerism: An observation on modern living

Thu, 20 Aug 2015 08:19:30 GMT

Blog 1

This first blog is the opening to my ‘maybe sometime’ book entitled: Consumed 'with' Consumerism - Consumed 'by' Consumerism.... The rise of the ‘Selfie Society’ and the ‘alter e-go’. ©

It seems that we have entered a phase in terms of global development where consumerism, or rather the desire to consume, has become paramount.

This is a world where all too often the 'need' of the individual is put above all else and combined with a desire to be constantly recognised and ‘liked’.

This is a 'selfie' society and perhaps increasingly an inherently selfish society, or at least on the path towards becoming so.

It is a world of dual, or rather, parallel existences and e-egos or e-gos, where the next generation exists at one level in the real world as one persona and co-exists in another e-dimension with an entirely fake persona an ‘alter e-go’.

This ‘second self’ is distinct from a person’s ‘normal’ or original personality and yet at the same time is intertwined so two versions of a single life progress in tandem, projecting into another dimension and to an extent therefore bending time.

The above opening paragraphs to a book of which the rest is yet to be written are outlined here so as to begin sharing a range of ad-hoc ideas around a common theme ‘the beauty of life’.

In a fast moving and rapidly changing world let us not forget to take the time to reflect on what is really important, our friendships, our families and the beautiful planet on which we live with all of its amazing diversity.