Week 45

Yesterday, reasons given for slow progress of the teams included 1) One team leader has a new child, some others were not available, 2) Another college project - building a house, about which I had not previously heard - was running into lateness penalties and team members had to be re-deployed there, 3) our director was waiting for money from investors, in order to pay our team members, etc.

Arriving at our college with some brochures about EcoSan toilets (pdf) and energy efficient heating, I suggested a visit to the office of co-authors, the Construction Ministry with GTZ (German Technical Cooperation). A small deputation, Gursed and Dalai, Bolormaa and I, called in to the Construction Ministry in the city centre. I hoped we might ask to see the plans for the new (energy efficient and accessible) Mongolian pattern school. I explained our school had instead been referring to the 1965 Russian edition of Neufert for planning diploma projects. Our Ministry contact person Gantsetseg was on holiday (until...?) and no-one else there could help us. We decided to try the GTZ project office (1 Ikh Toryuu) and Tumen Od joined the group from his adjacent workplace.

By now most GTZ staff were at lunch, but after happening upon a friend Mathias Pretzsch, I was fortunately able to speak to programme manager Frau Ruth Erlbeck, between meetings. She showed me an impressive masterplan for the new Eco-City near UB Airport, and was able to provide more brochures, and promised a presentation of current projects to the college. I explained my vision - that Mongolian architecture teachers would desire to be conversant with the Pattern School, and other examples of contemporary and internationally benchmarked practice in architecture.