Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Thinking Big with Arrebita!

Olá readers!

Last week was a beautiful one. The sun was shining and team 7 was reviewing the applications of the future team members. Even though we received a lot of applications, we enjoyed reading each and every single one of them. In the end we were pleased with all of them and we’re moving further on with the selection. More on that in the days to come!

After a while we decided to get creative and ‘’think big’’. So on Thursday morning we were greeted by Edite Amorim, positive psychologist working for Thinking Big, who moved the furniture around in order to create a different space for the workshop that was about to begin. In the beginning we were a bit confused and didn’t know what to expect from this workshop, but at some point it got interesting and, in the end, it was funny and practical. Let’s put it like this: we revealed our deepest desires in terms of what we want from Arrebita!Porto in the month to come; we tried to come up with the best qualities that we find in our team members only to try and discuss them later on in groups of two; we brainstormed on the "have" and "have not" qualities for the future team; and last but not least we ate some so-called Hungarian cookies, which ran out quite fast

Our blackboard put to use
Social skills matter in Arrebita

There were a lot of activities involved but the one we enjoyed the most was the one where we had to change our place with the person that had the same ‘’secret word’’ - coffee, chocolate or tea. We had to pay attention at what Edite had for breakfast in order to keep a chair. We played this game just to get a bit warm but, in the end, it turned out to be the funniest of them all. We are laughing like little children!...

We had a lot of fun with some of the activities
It was a good opportunity to get to know each other better

In the game of sticking post-its on each others back, all of us got really surprised by some assumptions that were made. I think it’s easier if I give you some examples:
     ‘’Jose likes to sing’’
     ‘’Alexandra is mysterious’’
     ‘’Filippo likes to play the drums’’
     ‘’Leo likes to scream’’
     ‘’Margarida is sugar’’
     ‘’Philippe is funny’’
     ‘’Daniel is clean’’
     ‘’Rita likes to paint’’
Even now when writing them down, the assumptions are really funny and surprising.

 
We found out more about ourselves and a lot more of what we want in this last month in Porto. So, thank you Edite for a wonderful workshop and giving us the opportunity to express ourselves freely. Also thank you for the well-deserved break from the daily routine.

On the construction site things are progressing quite fast. The roof is more than 3 quarters done; the only part that’s missing is the one on East side. In order to finish that part, we need to cover the outside wall of the adjacent building with corrugated metal sheets. We have the two skylights already installed and we are getting ready for the future works.

A general view of the top floor in Rua da Reboleira No.42
The big skylight is now in place
The timber and metal structure of the roof in full view
The east slope of the roof and the neighbour's wall that needs to be waterproofed
The tiles keep being added to the roof

In the meanwhile, back at the office, we have been working on a new assemblage concept for the A!Box. The team has to come together once again to finish this task, as it is running since the day that the first team started thinking about it. We are feeling optimistic about this new concept because it simplifies the production and assemblage process, while also introducing customized options for the buyer/user.

The A!Box is a work in progress

As a part of our agreement with the very experimented carpenter João Pacheco, a personal facebook page is about to be born. We have also been talking about taking advantage of his expertise in order to build a 1:20 presentation model of our building.

João Pacheco visited the team on the construction site

So this is it for the past week. We will get back to you as soon as possible. Until then, Arrebita!

1 comment:

  1. LOVELY!
    It's a pleasure to be part of this Arrebita(do) team!!!
    And congratulations for all the work done!
    Edite Amorim
    THINKING-BIG

    ReplyDelete