Buildings have tremendous inertia. Each one is like a seed. And I believe that those who design and make them must take care to craft this seed as something that is capable growing alongside its neighbors into the rich ecosystem of a place that we all seem to desire.
One way to do this is to focus on a building's intrinsic qualities. Not what it means, or who thought of it, or how it relates to others throughout history. These are auxiliary concerns. It is something else I am after. It is something that be removed or ignored, which radiates through time, which calls one to care, and which in turn repays the care of generations. You know these places. You remember them. It need not be profound, exquisite, or exceptional in any way. In fact, the opposite is more often the case. More often than not, a good building goes without notice, working in shadows of consciousness, quietly supportive — a balance to the chaos and shock of modern life. |
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