I've recently started a new book - yes, after a long leave-of-absence from my reading phase - and like almost all of the other books I've read this summer it's amazingly inspiring. Already I think I've found reason for my less-than-awesome grade from Jefferson in Italy, as well as reason to keep going strong with my interests in archaeology and historic preservation. So I've decided to take this post to include some of quotes I've taken down in my sketchbook... hopefully I won't be inspired to write them all here, I have twelve pages written down from this book. (also, still haven't heard back from the graphic design job I just rewrote my resume for - and noone has confidence in me that I'll get it - yay for friends).
'And when a building has this fire, then it becomes a part of nature. Like ocean waves, or blades of grass, its parts are governed by the endless play of repetition and variety created in the presence of the fact that all things pass. This is the quality itself.'
'This seeming chaos - is rich, rolling, swelling, singing, crying, sleeping, order... it will be the forests and meadows of the human heart.'
'A building must be made, at least in part, of those materials which age and crumble. Soft tile and brick, soft plaster, fading coats of paint, canvas which has been bleached a little and torn by the wind... fruit dropping on the paths, and being crushed by people walking over it... none of this can happen in a world that lasts forever.'
'But we must give up altogether the idea that it is something we can capture, consciously, by working over drawings at the drawing board.'
'The same process which the simple farmer used to make his house, the same process exactly was the process which allowed people to generate these great buildings - the alhambra, gothic cathedrals, japanese houses.'
'But in our time languages have broken down. Since they are no longer shared, the processes which keep them deep have broken down: and it is therefore virtually impossible for anybody in our time, to make a building live.'
'They are willing to pay great prices for old buildings which were made at a time when people still knew how to make them.'
These are a sample of some of the notes I've taken from this book and while cryptic on the exterior, if you were to delve into this thing a whole illumination of understanding would hit you - or at least that's what happened to me. I'll admit some of his repetitive words and even a good chunk of 20 or so pages so far bored me, the parts that have captured me have done so stronger than many books on architecture that I've read before. (I really wish I hadn't already surpassed my book-spending limit by a long shot, otherwise I'd probably add this one to the shelves, too) I think I enjoy books like these - broad and generally inconclusive, misleading and sometimes poorly written because it's the richness of the writing that draws me in. Not to say I don't believe this guy entirely - and yes I'll use a double negative all the beautiful languages in the world do so - but anyways, there are things I'll let him have and there are points of his I definitely disagree with and I think he's a lunatic for saying, but isn't that something like love? You'll fall hard for certain crevasses and leap over others without turning back. I mean it's the tension, the tug-and-pull, the give-and-take of things that really binds us to them, and so it's been for me and this book. It's all the better that I don't enjoy every moment of it, it just prepares me for a better understanding of the parts that reach out to me.
Well, I'm not sure I'm trying to convince anyone to really read this thing. Convincing and winning people over on my side isn't really something I'm great at - I'd much rather people decide for themselves what to think - but I will say that I thoroughly enjoy this book so far and plan to read it all the way through. Hopefully I'll feel inclined to keep up this blog with the progress and future inspirations that come to me from the reading.
In other news, Martha's Vineyard is fast approaching and I can't say I'm as stoked as I was a couple months ago. In fact I'm kind of on edge about the whole thing and I just hope that some great time traveling of the feelings will miracuously happen - even though the likelihood of this occurring is probably comparable to the likelihood that I'll actually get a job ... pretty much zero percent. Ah, and can't forget my trip into Studio today. The walk down Sage was actually nice, all those cracks I used to hate looking at in the sidewalk as I'd run to class in the rain were taken in with each breath. The few cars on the street weren't as depressing as they are at 3 in the morning, and even the turn up to the Greene Building didn't bring me to have a mini heart attack. Somehow this whole thing was manageable. Even being in Studio - the dreaded Oatman studio - didn't make me want to cry and melt away. I was calm and ready to work, I liked having conversation and seeing the new mezz area. Sure, some thoughts about the reality that will soon set in made me a little uneasy, but because that day isn't here yet, I don't feel the anxiety piling on. I remember over winter break, the night before the first day of classes, I was on this blog writing one of my first posts - not a care in the world. I didn't want to start school, but I had noooo idea what form of hell was ahead of me. I liked my little three person apartment, the older archi I lived with and looked up to, and the older guy roommate who I felt I could trust as a guardian of the place. But once again - little did I know I'd hardly have a moment in that apartment all semester long. I would have a few chance encounters with the big living room window and the comfy couch situated there. I would cry myself to sleep a majority of the nights in my new, soft bedding and hate myself for my designs and lack of intelligence. All I can hope for is that this does not happen again.
I guess that's probably why I dive into these architecture books and fall so hard. I'm looking for some answers - something that will prevent the onset of anxiety and depression that comes every semester. These feelings that I can't even see ahead of me the night before the first day of school...
- c
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