A 1700-ton telco building that was relocated while running in 1950
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A 1700-ton telco building that was relocated while running in 1950
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Re: A 1700-ton telco building that was relocated while running in 1950
#2Faninating story, I first heard of it while listening to the latter part of linked 99% Invisible podcast episode.
There’s some information on Jorge Matute Remus the engineer who designed and ran the building move on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jorge_Matute_Remus
Re: A 1700-ton telco building that was relocated while running in 1950
#3I actually saw this building and the statute of Jorge Matute Remus pushing it while visiting Guadalajara last year. Fascinating story.
Re: A 1700-ton telco building that was relocated while running in 1950
#4I actually saw this building and the statute of Jorge Matute Remus pushing it while visiting Guadalajara last year. Fascinating story.
Did you know about the story / history behind the building before visiting the area?
Re: A 1700-ton telco building that was relocated while running in 1950
#5I actually saw this building and the statute of Jorge Matute Remus pushing it while visiting Guadalajara last year. Fascinating story.
Did you know about the story / history behind the building before visiting the area?
No I had no idea, just kind of randomly came across it while walking around.
Re: A 1700-ton telco building that was relocated while running in 1950
#6Impressive feat - however, I was puzzled by this:
> Naturally, some of the workers were nervous about this idea. Matute Remus was sympathetic to their concerns, and wanted to reassure these operators and make them feel safe. So his wife Esmeralda agreed to also go into the building while it was being moved. She even took along their seven-year-old son, Juan Jorge.
Maybe this could work as a publicity stunt to persuade the general public that there is no risk, but I can't imagine that you can reassure an expert who is familiar with the actual risks by rising the stakes. (Not to mention putting his wife and child in danger for a psychological exercise)
Re: A 1700-ton telco building that was relocated while running in 1950
#7Impressive feat - however, I was puzzled by this: > Naturally, some of the workers were nervous about this idea. Matute Remus was sympathetic to their concerns, and wanted to reassure these operators and make them feel safe. So his wife Esmeralda agreed to also go into the building while it was being moved. She even took along their seven-year-old son, Juan Jorge. Maybe this could work as a publicity stunt to persuad…
He realized that the issue wasn't the stakes themselves, but rather the perception of the stakes.
Re: A 1700-ton telco building that was relocated while running in 1950
#8Impressive feat - however, I was puzzled by this: > Naturally, some of the workers were nervous about this idea. Matute Remus was sympathetic to their concerns, and wanted to reassure these operators and make them feel safe. So his wife Esmeralda agreed to also go into the building while it was being moved. She even took along their seven-year-old son, Juan Jorge. Maybe this could work as a publicity stunt to persuad…
You are correct in that… however I think that this harkens back to "talk is cheap, actions lead." That is, it is very easy to say "this is safe" even if you don't think that it is. By putting something that you value on the line, then you are showing your level of commitment to the statement that "this is safe".
I think that you will find it is not the "technical experts" who were afraid, but the workers in the building. This is exactly the sort of action that reassures these people, since they see that you have "skin in the game". It is also worth noting that he almost certainly didn't believe that he was placing his wife and child in danger.
Re: A 1700-ton telco building that was relocated while running in 1950
#9Re: A 1700-ton telco building that was relocated while running in 1950
#10Impressive feat - however, I was puzzled by this: > Naturally, some of the workers were nervous about this idea. Matute Remus was sympathetic to their concerns, and wanted to reassure these operators and make them feel safe. So his wife Esmeralda agreed to also go into the building while it was being moved. She even took along their seven-year-old son, Juan Jorge. Maybe this could work as a publicity stunt to persuad…
The nervous people were the telephone workers inside the building, presumably not experts. By having having his own wife and child inside the building, the responsible engineer puts his money where his mouth is, so to speak.
This is similar to the Chinese government ordering airline executives to be on a flight on new year's eve Y2K, so they won't cut corners to save money or whatever to make the fixes required.