They’ve asked me to write a few quick thoughts on the theme “reprogramming your own life to escape alienation”.
It’s not an easy topic, and above all it’s extremely personal/relative.
So I’m speaking for myself here — this is not life-coaching, nor a mindfulness session, but simply a starting point from which anyone can take whatever they find useful: inspirations, general principles, or anything else.
So I’m speaking for myself here — this is not life-coaching, nor a mindfulness session, but simply a starting point from which anyone can take whatever they find useful: inspirations, general principles, or anything else.
Daily time
Clearly, every case is different. One life, one story.
But in my opinion, time is the most important variable to act on if you want to change your life in a desired direction.The first step is to create the conditions to become the master of your own time and to be able to use it as you see fit: for example, a shift-based employee job with grueling hours is the exact opposite of what we need. You’ll notice how, once a worker begins a specific career path, it becomes increasingly difficult to change it as time goes by.
I used to work as a “modern” architect and it was always the same slop, but I felt the need to study and develop traditional architecture until I could truly make it my own.
That’s when I realized I had to rearrange my time to carve out moments for self-education, day after day.
Your daily routine must align with the goals of this “personal restructuring”—your life objectives that arise from your inner frequency— so that they can unfold over a span of years. And this is the fundamental difference between short-term and long-term: think of the hobbies people took up during the COVID lockdowns—when everyone suddenly had that famous “free time”— and how those should evolve into something more instead of slipping back into the usual contemporary anomie. I began by creating this website with some friends...
But in my opinion, time is the most important variable to act on if you want to change your life in a desired direction.The first step is to create the conditions to become the master of your own time and to be able to use it as you see fit: for example, a shift-based employee job with grueling hours is the exact opposite of what we need. You’ll notice how, once a worker begins a specific career path, it becomes increasingly difficult to change it as time goes by.
I used to work as a “modern” architect and it was always the same slop, but I felt the need to study and develop traditional architecture until I could truly make it my own.
That’s when I realized I had to rearrange my time to carve out moments for self-education, day after day.
Your daily routine must align with the goals of this “personal restructuring”—your life objectives that arise from your inner frequency— so that they can unfold over a span of years. And this is the fundamental difference between short-term and long-term: think of the hobbies people took up during the COVID lockdowns—when everyone suddenly had that famous “free time”— and how those should evolve into something more instead of slipping back into the usual contemporary anomie. I began by creating this website with some friends...
It's an investment
It should also be said that this is a literal investment, because there are costs to face when retraining once you're already "in the race" professionally. Between lost earnings, additional expenses, and the likes, it's necessary to establish a roadmap and try to recoup the costs —meanwhile, you have to keep the accountacy books in order, perhaps support a family, and so on. For this reason, it's important to carefully evaluate the options available in your specific situation. Personally, as a self-employed worker, I have some disadvantages —especially fiscal ones— that I accept in exchange for other advantages. These have allowed me to set up my reprogramming strategy: I organize my work as I see fit, I work with people and not for people, and I have a direct financial relationship that lets me set the most appropriate rates to keep managing cash flow. Problem: controlling your own time costs a tremendous amount of time. So whenever I have a bit of it available, I remind myself not to waste it by "resting on my laurels" as goes the Italian saying, but to use it for the already-mentioned daily routine made up of small activities that point in the desired direction.
Dare with heart
Don’t let yourself be intimidated by the learning curve. As I said, it’s a marathon, and it’s normal to have to push yourself harder at the beginning to develop a set of skills that were previously somewhat atrophied —in my case, becoming proficient *enough* as a traditional architect— but once you gain momentum, it’s incredibly satisfying to see yourself improve day after day. A perfectionist like me had to stop for a moment and reflect on the fact that the time had come to throw myself into the fray, aware that I would never reach Michelangelo’s level. And this is just to say that if the learning curve feels scary when you first start climbing it, once you’ve gotten high enough, it starts giving you vertigo.
But the little sparrow has to fly, so it must jump into the void. In my case, it worked wonderfully because at my very first experience with traditional design, I immediately found a series of fantastic contacts through the association La Table Ronde de l'Architecture, which offered me roles as a tutor and collaborator, also providing an environment for me to grow into.
But the little sparrow has to fly, so it must jump into the void. In my case, it worked wonderfully because at my very first experience with traditional design, I immediately found a series of fantastic contacts through the association La Table Ronde de l'Architecture, which offered me roles as a tutor and collaborator, also providing an environment for me to grow into.
Currently, I’m satisfied with the process so far, even though it’s not yet complete.
After about 3 years, my business model looks roughly like this:
50% popular-priced renovations,
30% new buildings in contemporary Flemish traditional style,
20% pure traditional projects.
It’s from these last ones that the real satisfaction comes—where I finally start to tangibly be what I dreamed of becoming when I fantasized about reprogramming my career as an architect in a traditional direction. Other experiences can be useful for comparison, such as that of Vincent Veneman, a musician who lent himself to architecture and made the most of the structural free time between rehearsals and concerts to develop a great talent.
You can find him on Twitter/X—who knows, maybe he’ll even write an addition to this reflection based on his own experience.
After about 3 years, my business model looks roughly like this:
50% popular-priced renovations,
30% new buildings in contemporary Flemish traditional style,
20% pure traditional projects.
It’s from these last ones that the real satisfaction comes—where I finally start to tangibly be what I dreamed of becoming when I fantasized about reprogramming my career as an architect in a traditional direction. Other experiences can be useful for comparison, such as that of Vincent Veneman, a musician who lent himself to architecture and made the most of the structural free time between rehearsals and concerts to develop a great talent.
You can find him on Twitter/X—who knows, maybe he’ll even write an addition to this reflection based on his own experience.
Contacts and market niches
Along with time, contacts are also a hugely important factor.
Every project is a step forward: word spreads, and people take interest in my work in a slow but steady process. That said, to do traditional architecture properly nowadays, you have to work in luxury market. This has been difficult for me because, having moved to Belgium from Italy, I lacked the connections to get into the “right” circles. So by starting wherever opportunities arose, I inherited a network of contacts from those architecture firms I worked with that’s, let’s say, more “popular.” But I believe in the social function of the architect, so it doesn’t weigh on me too much. Rebuilding your own network to improve its quality is, therefore, yet another long process that must be pursued consistently.
Another option is to seek out new markets: so far, the analysis of traditional architecture in a multipolar world has proven wonderfully accurate, and the European market seems increasingly doomed for the reasons outlined in the mentioned article.
This is leading me to seriously consider opening a studio in Latin America to take advantage of the enormous potential there and to practice traditional architecture more freely, blending it with my ideas on sustainability—which, let’s remember, can be summed up in the motto: «tradition, sustainable by definition.»
Who knows? We’ll see. As said, every life is a story..
Every project is a step forward: word spreads, and people take interest in my work in a slow but steady process. That said, to do traditional architecture properly nowadays, you have to work in luxury market. This has been difficult for me because, having moved to Belgium from Italy, I lacked the connections to get into the “right” circles. So by starting wherever opportunities arose, I inherited a network of contacts from those architecture firms I worked with that’s, let’s say, more “popular.” But I believe in the social function of the architect, so it doesn’t weigh on me too much. Rebuilding your own network to improve its quality is, therefore, yet another long process that must be pursued consistently.
Another option is to seek out new markets: so far, the analysis of traditional architecture in a multipolar world has proven wonderfully accurate, and the European market seems increasingly doomed for the reasons outlined in the mentioned article.
This is leading me to seriously consider opening a studio in Latin America to take advantage of the enormous potential there and to practice traditional architecture more freely, blending it with my ideas on sustainability—which, let’s remember, can be summed up in the motto: «tradition, sustainable by definition.»
Who knows? We’ll see. As said, every life is a story..
Posted: 01/02/2026 12:53 — Author(s): Polemicarc
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