June 27, 2010

 "There were sketches of buildings such as had never stood on the face of the earth.  They were as the first houses built by the first man born, who had never heard of others building before him. There was nothing to be said of them, except that each structure was inevitably what it had to be."

~Ayn Rand; The Fountainhead

They say I'm a little off, not quite 'there', weird--actually, they say I have bi-polar but I never let any of that change the way I think, the way I look at things, or my view of the world around me.  It is absolutely fascinating!  And one of the things I find so endlessly fascinating are structures, buildings, houses, schools, churches (but those have a special place). 

 I love wood and nails, bricks and mortar, steel, glass, concrete!

Give me arches, domes, spires, stained glass, brass and chrome!

 I don't care if it's rusted, twisted, rotted, or abandoned.  It can old or new, ornate or simple, historic or common.  Give me Gaudi or van Alen, Gehry or Wright.  Make it Greek Revival, Federalist, Mid-Century, Ultra-Modern or an Anti-bellum plantation. 

 It could be the Jefferson Monument...

 ...or the apartment building around the corner.

There is something so wonderful and emotional about a place.  It's not just the bricks and mortar but the blood, sweat and total human energy that goes into it.  The stories behind them and the feelings derived from them.  It's having something that's 'concrete' evoked emotions of awe or fear or familiarity.  Experience and memories are born from these.  And I find it all absolutely beautiful.

 Yes, I may be a little weird and had I been any good at math I would have been an architect.  But, alas, I suck at math so I can only admire other peoples work and the beauty that time has dressed it in. 

 People are a lot like buildings.  A foundation is laid down,  over a life time we are built and eventually we become what we 'have to be'.