Let Me Get Wet First...

So, I've decided to become the greatest philosopher of my time. I'll admit, this will take some work, but not as much as it would have say, 300 years ago. People these days are simple, and are in a constant state of distraction.

All sorts of gadgets are designed to keep you from having to think while nothing is going on; cell phones, iPods, portable DVD players, and laptops just to name a few. Children especially suffer from this, as they're essentially forced into this, because they're just given these things. And when these kids do have to think, they throw a tantrum and complain.

I've been reading "The Ten Books on Architecture" by Vitruvius, and its quite interesting. It was written circa 1st century BCE, and the ability and knowledge of architects from then is quite astonishing, especially in terms of material properties. It makes me feel like we haven't really advanced much beyond them with exception of concrete and steel. Architectural theory is something completely different now though, and I guess if you were to consider architecture an art, theory may be the only thing that would change.

Recently one of my professors said something interesting, which was that, "nobody lives the true life of an architect anymore." What she meant by that was architects from before our modern era were able to understand and view the world in a completely different manner because they had to fill their time experimenting in drawing, painting and other disciplines. But basically now-in-days, our focus turns elsewhere as our lives are considerably more complex.

My Intro to Art History professor is also very interesting and he expressed that we, as a society, have really lost the concept of a shadow. Given electricity, we are forever surrounded by light. He told us a story of when he was studying in Milan, where he and his classmates had pinned up some drawings that had been repeated by students since before electricity. And after class the janitor made some comment to them about how they can't draw. Then the janitor offered to show them real artists drawings, and so they followed this guy into the basement of the building where students' work had been preserved for years, just trunk after trunk full of work from long ago. And he said it was the most incredible art, and every single piece put his and all his classmates to shame. Anyways, architects used to have really take into consideration the quality of light that each room of a building would receive, but with electricity, its no longer the issue that it used to be (though the great ones of today are successful at involving light).

I find history interesting, and learning different things can make you think about life in different ways, give you a different perspective. I'm not nearly to the point at which I think I'd be content about forming philosophic principles or something like this, but I think I'm well on my way. Part of what I enjoy about architecture is that it's a profession which can never be complete, there's always room for advancement or change in your personal theory, much like I think philosophy is, and I think I just need to be seasoned a little bit more.