There is hope in honest error; none in the icy perfections of the mere stylist.
- J. D. Sedding
There is no better way to subvert a revolution than to enlist it in the service of moneymaking.
Optimist: someone who isn’t sure whether life is a tragedy or a comedy but is tickled silly just to be in the play.
One of the things I love about New Year’s Eve, is standing outside & hearing the joyful voices of so many strangers, friends & neighbours, lifted in recognition of the turning of the year, in hope & in celebration. The sense, that in this at least, we are one, we are together, tonight.
A friend & I were discussing, today, the nature of architecture, & at what point does building become architecture. Is it beauty? this thing we so oft claim lies in the eye of the beholder. Is it functionality? as claimed by the Modern Masters: Form Follows Function, the injunction echoes in architecture school lecture halls everywhere.
Magazines publish carefully lit, thoughtfully framed photo-spreads of beautiful buildings. But few enter into serious critique of the day to day performance of the buildings discussed. We celebrate the image - but how can we not? most often it is the only way that we experience these buildings: via carefully selected images that are, crucially, two-dimensional records of something that is, in truth, four-dimensional (at the very least).
In the end, the most important part of architecture is often the least discussed - at least in public fora - that is the relation of space to use. If the spaces do not facilitate & enhance our activities - our lives, loves, work, rest, play, solitude & socialising - then it is merely a pretty, or at best, an interesting building. If it is beautiful but hinders or disrupts our activities, then it is no more than sculpture (although nor is it ‘less’, because sculpture is still a worthwhile endeavour). Whatever it is, it is not architecture.
Architecture combines the virtues of shelter (building) & art, adding humanity, wit & joy. The best architecture creates space for you to be yourself - just as hard as you can. For me, a house should be both cradle & platform. Both your nurturing retreat, where you may seek solace & solitude; & your solid ground, where you stand, where you go forth from & where you invite others to join you. It is you, your family, your life, as formed in sticks & stones, steel, glass & crinkly tin.
I’m gonna start taking dance lessons. My dad did not let me do it when I was young and I just can’t die without knowing how to dance.
My grandmother, 78 years old. (via chalkhopscotch)
This is both tragic & wonderful! I love the fact that she is going to learn to dance now; it is so sad that she was prevented from doing so when young.
My own grandmother took up painting in her seventies (she is now in her nineties & still painting when her health permits). As a depression era young woman, with 4 sisters & a father who died when she was young, she had no opportunity to go to art school - she went straight from the convent school into paid employment.
Everyone should get the opportunity to do what they love - & if circumstances prevent their doing so when young, more power to them for doing it when they’re older.
Beautiful!
A reminder that despite the horrors a few wreck upon the many, humanity is capable of wondrous things.
(Source: neiljamesmiller)
