next time you space out, think of me.


Pro Tip for ADHD

If you have to start doing something that you don't wanna do, just pop an L-Tyrosine.

This week I read about ADHD and how it actually relates to our brain's dopamine system. Basically I found out it's not our fault for not paying attention if something is boring. I space out during discussions the same way I used to lock in during CS:GO matches. You see, gamers are valuable members of society. Without us obsessing over shit, there would be no progress.

Games, rules, challenges and growth. This next quote sort of fell in my lap yesterday:

We need clear rules to play the game.
We need to have respect for the law. If you play a chess game but after two or three moves you can change the rules, how can people play with you? Of course you will win, but after 60 years you will still be a bad player because you never meet anyone who can challenge you. What kind of game is that? Is that interesting? This game is not right, but who is going to say,
"Hey, let's play fairly?"

Anyway, this week is about some visual language I saw at Paris Fashion Week 2025, including Brutalist architecture, gaming and political discourse.

I'm also adding The Hacker Ethic - a book I read exactly 10 years ago. You should read it too.

Recent articles

Gaming Fashion and The Hacker Ethic

Coperni's Lan Party and Balenciaga's live action Snake game hint to the anxieties of living in a simulation, with the subsequent looks.

Brutalist Architecture. The State of Resistance

Off-White took over Espace Niemeyer and gave it cozy colours, actually making it even more uncomfortable than it already was.

The Hacker Ethic

Probably the dorkiest philosophy book you will ever read. If you don't read it, just remember to only prioritize the three F's: Food, Family and Fun.

I'll end this with another quote that fell into my Instagram feed:

Life itself is intelligence riding everywhere on chemicals. We mustn't make the mistake of thinking that the rider and the horse are the same. Intelligence is free to go where it likes, even where molecules cannot.

Thanks for reading and think about me when you space out during discussions.

GG

Barbu Vacarescu 164 E corp A 13.5, Bucharest, Bucharest 020285
Unsubscribe · Preferences

Sorina Dumitru

The topics will be mostly about architecture, design, and some personal development I had to do along the way (so you don't have to learn the hard way, like I did).

Read more from Sorina Dumitru

This week's mental struggles I went viral by accident because people argued in the comments about whether a building was beautiful or not. 'Information Wants To Be Free' is one of the prime directives of the Hacker Ethic. It stands against the gatekeeping of knowledge. Illegal drone shot of ETH Zurich Campus This week I visited ETH Zurich, Albert Einstein's alma mater. It's a Swiss university that has been doing science for over 150 years. Some notable breakthroughs are: simulating human...

This Week's Mental Struggles money and sex is all we exchange Looking back, this whole train of thought was triggered by a new life event that's about to happen (stated at the end of this email). In January, during the expedition for my next book about Alpine Vacation Architecture, I visited one of those very familiar types of car centric city: Salzburg. Looks great from the car, but not much to see aside from the city center - your standard issue European pedestrian area. The outskirts are...

If it triggers an emotional response, it's designed to. Here are some of this past week's struggles. Pinterest used to be one of my favorite platforms for visual inspiration. However, me and Pinterest had a little falling out. I hadn’t been using it actively for almost two years. Last weekend I spent some time on it and it surprised me how useless it’s become. The interior design content was flooded with AI generated images. I could barely find real pictures of existing spaces for...