Big and small, dirty or polished, the forgotten and the immortalized, it can be new or old, expensive or cheap, urban or rural - a structure of the built environment can take on many forms and characteristics; and while beauty is often subjective, a sense of admiration is undeniable in any structure built with consideration & pride.
Small, forgotten, cheap, rural, old. I included this photo of a reconstructed teepee in a former settlement of the Blackfeet Tribe to demonstrate the breadth of what constitutes the “Built World” and to pay tribute to the often neglected inhabitants of North America. The general impermanence of these societies that inhabited this continent is both saddening, but also admirable. The best stewards of this planet are those that left it, the way they found it. No pyramids, no coliseums, no temples or pagodas, just the world, the way it was.
And if you must transform the landscape with a building, do it beautifully in conjunction with the earth below it.
The Ansonia, an Upper West Side landmark, is the reason I work in Architecture. It was my admiration of this structure that made me realize how impactful a building could be, and how our lives are affected by design, often in such unanticipated ways.
Rock Bottom!
