Dot, 1/28

Before reading Charles Jencks' article and definitely before attending class on Tuesday, I had very little appreciation for many types of architecture. Although I do realize when a building looks interesting or unique, I have never known the exact term or way to talk about such buildings. 

I have found that in many CMC classes, I have learned more specific details about things I already know a bit about and in doing so am able to heighten my curiosity and understanding of the world we live in. I often find myself just living life and taking many things for granted, especially the magnificent architecture the surrounds us, and not really stopping to learn about unacademic things that interest me. So far in CMC 300, I have learned numerous things that I have always wanted to know, but never took to time to investigate on my own. 

For instance, when I was applying to colleges my senior year of high school, I had no idea where I wanted to go or what I wanted to major in, but I thought that architecture and designing buildings sounded interesting. This idea was shot down by people who told me my inferior math skills would never allow me to be a major architect, but still I was curious. As I got more and more into the college search I forgot all about the idea of architecture and have never really thought about it since... that is until our class on Tuesday. 

In class, I was reminded why I loved the idea in the first place. Many of the buildings that we saw pictures of and the terms we discussed are, in my mind at least, very related to different forms of art. I see the buildings as the architect's canvas and the different concepts as his or her medium. I would like to ask an actual architect if this is how they feel about it, but for the time being I think it makes buildings much more interesting if we think about them in this way. I am very excited for our field trip tomorrow so that I may be given the opportunity to examine what I hope to be some great pieces of art which happen to be in our own backyard.