Institut Teknologi Bandung

In the Studium Generale themed "A Day with Legends: Architecture's Tale", Prof. Ir. Slamet Wirasonjaya. MLA, widely known by the nickname SLW, and Prof. Ir. Moch. Danisworo, M. Arch, MUP. Ph.D, both recounted the times when had just graduated with a bachelor's degree from ITB and then followed their career up to their golden days.

Prof. Danisworo added material about urban design, since he had worked for 41 years as an urban designer. One of his stories was about striving for pedestrian walks on Jl. Thamrin, Jakarta, to be widened and returned to its function as a place to walk, seeing as Jl. Thamrin is one of the busiest roads on workdays (Monday - Friday) in DKI Jakarta. In his talk, Prof. Danisworo said that architects are mediators who compromise their clients' demands with government regulations. Besides that, Prof. Danisworo told the attendees, the majority of whom were still studying in Architecture, to become people able to influence decision-makers, in this case private companies and the government. In the work place, those two forces are the ones who make the final decision in every policy.

After that, SLW told the story about being a lecturer, recollecting his experience as a lecturer in Architecture ITB. In his opinion, a lecturer should be able to open minds, not just plant ideas in students. Also, a lecturer shouldn't worry about inattentive students, but should rather worry about those who pay attention to the lecturer's every word. In this, students and lecturers both learn to correct each other.

Other than that, SLW also portrayed homself as an architect, a landscape architect, a land planner, to being a Muslim architect. At the end of his remarks, SLW gave a final message which he named the "Tree Philosophy", saying: A tree is a reality. Its shadow is a thought. Character is like a tree and reputation is like a shadow. While we are climbing up a tree, never think about climbing down. Don't be afraid of a shadow because behind a shadow, there is light. The main point is that when we are at the peak of success and popularity, we should still hold on to our character, because reputation is only temporary.

That is what SLW has always upheld in life. The reputation he gained in his career after designing Monumen Perjuangan Rakyat Jawa Barat (MPRJB), Monumen Jogja Kembali (Monjali), ITB's main library, and Sasana Budaya Ganesha (Sabuga) ITB, did not make arrogant, and he does not hesitate to share his knowledge to students to prepare them for their future workplace.

The two legendary architects succeeded in making three hours of lectures, attended by fellow lecturers of Architecture ITB, interesting and full of useful tips for the participants, who were mostly undergraduates of Architecture, when starting their career in architecture.