There’s only one way to really know architecture (or anything else, for that matter): by being there physically, in person, i.e., to experience it first hand, eyes and mind wide open.
And yet as a reality, architecture remains, for most, beyond reach and regarded, if at all, as irrelevant in the context of daily life, a life guided largely by far more pressing matters. The closest experience, more often than not, is as seen through photography, video, cinematography, exhibits, writing, or a car window.
What then might be the point of photographing, filming, or writing about it, all of which are second hand representations, views through another’s eyes or, in the case of writing, with language which fails even more to fully capture it? When seen or read about at a distance far removed from the day-to-day lives of most people, do any of these alternate attempts at communicating architecture really matter?
Besides its possible entertainment value, there is in fact one important benefit offered by someone else’s look at architecture, regardless of the fact that it’s no substitute for experiencing the real thing.
It’s this: certain images, whether in the form of photos, videos, film, drawings, models, or words, have the ability to penetrate the barrier of prejudices that limit ones private view of what’s possible in life. They penetrate the imagination, igniting inspiration.
The concepts we form over the years about what life holds for us shape our expectations and consequently limit our search for something better.
A photograph or a certain phrase may, like an ember, burn through those barriers, igniting the tinderbox of hope and excitement that even the most stoic of us possess in some quantity.
Lit, the imagination then expands, opening doors to possibilities previously lying dormant. Life moves ahead, becomes more exciting, more alive.
Architecture, one possible expression of being more alive, when presented first as an image, may then begin its journey toward reality and be experienced as it actually is.
WL
Wonderful collection of houses!
Thank you…a few embers in the wind.
i really love this one . . . . . and so your work gets closer to the point of entry to some new place . . . . me *L_
On Sun, Dec 9, 2012 at 9:39 PM, …architecture of the earth and the living
So true, Warren. And these embers come from such little details as you often point out. Great post.
Thank you Letizia…much appreciated.
Again, a fine and thought-provoking piece, Warren. In this case, certainly the connection you are making between photography and architecture is most interesting. (I don’t like to hit the “like” button without telling you why…) The illustrations you’ve chosen to accompany the essay are wonderful.
Thank you Patricia.
Translating architectural issues is tricky. Finding a receptive audience seconds only the actual writing (when I’m able to pull it off – not easy) as a reward.
I have nominated you for the addictive Blog Award. http://aquacompass7.wordpress.com/2012/12/15/thanks-for-award-2/ Congratulations!
Thank you. I’m honored.
i would like you to take me on a tour of one of the houses you are familiar with… ronda