A Walk Through The City

“When one recollects a certain street or house as a pleasant place to have visited, one is acknowledging that it has made itself memorable not as the great public spectacle is memorable but by handing out some small enrichment of life”

“What makes a building enter the consciousness and lodge its image in the memory in a particular way?”

Sinclair Gauldie, Architecture: The Appreciation of the Arts / 1

Firmitas, utilitas, venustas. Three attributes that Vitruvius said all buildings should express. Firmness, commodity, and delight. Firmness: is the quality of materials appropriate for this building? Commodity: does the building fulfill the function that it was designed to address? Delight: is it a beautiful building? These are a few concepts that I think about when I am standing in front of a memorable building. But it isn’t just the architecture that sticks in my memory, it is also the relationship to the environment where it stands. Its purpose in the environment. Its place in the world. There are numerous relationships to think about. Where is it located in relation to the street? What direction does it face? What kind of landscaping surrounds it? Do you like it? Why? No? Why not? What was the weather like that day? Was it sunny? How tall was that tree when you visited? Did it cast a shadow in an interesting way? Was the building under winter light or full summer sun? Do you think you would have liked it more if it had been raining instead? The more you think about these relationships, and the more you open your mind to their complexities and contradictions, the more impactful your engagement is with the place. The experience resonates more deeply for you, and your simple walk turns into a profound experience. Marcus Aurelius advised us in Meditations to “dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars and see yourself running with them.” If you seek these experiences out and open your mind to receive them when you have the opportunity, life will never be boring.

This essay marks the start of a new design series titled “The Landscape Series”.  The series will include six projects that will be presented in no particular order:

• The Japanese Garden Project
• The English Estate Project
• The French Estate Project
• The Backyard Project
• The Museum Project
• The College Project

Each design will be accompanied by an essay. The reader might recognize the Japanese, French, and English styles from the Designing A House series. In that series, I incorporated some elements from each style into the backyard. In this new series, each style will stand out on their own. My intention is to build upon those elements and create something exciting. The other three projects are more abstract, but they will revolve around a central concept. The intention here though is the same: to create something exciting. And, as always, to have fun.

The presentation will loosely follow the same structure as the Designing A House series. For the College, Backyard, and Museum Projects, we will start with some questions to identify our central concept. For the Japanese, English, and French Projects, we will review the elements that make up those styles. For all projects, we will review examples for inspiration. And as with all my essays, there will be an infusion of personal experience.