One could surmise that we mark or "sign" this earth or "space" as soon as we enter consciousness. I must admit that I had to read this particular article several times over to make sense of it. I should say to make my own sense of it. There are probably as many interpretations as there are reader.
Wow I totally agree. As I've mentioned before, I have the reading capacity of a 7 year old. When reading this article, I fealt as though I was in a room full of mirrors and couldn't quite grasp what was going on from one paragraph to the other. In reading these responses, I also have found that there are as many interpretations as "mirrors in the room". (Joe Rasnick) With original thought we have the opportunity to see outside the normal area of reality. Every moment in our lives is unique and sets us apart from all others, even if that difference is minute.
What a sad and boring place this would be if we were all the same. We have to have differences to add spark into our lives and to make things "new and different" [Barbara Jo Agnew?]. Architecture gives us the chance to make our mark or "sign" on society and the world in a tangible way as well as a conceptual one for future signs.
What we do is a precursor to other things. Buildings evolve and styles change as time goes on, which time inevitably will always go on (the clock is always ticking).(But what if there are no new materials, architects now don't seem to have better or differnet designs, they just make the same ideas more interesting by thier use of materials. I wonder if we ever run out of new materials, will architects start thinking about design rather than how they can use glass? Is good architecture made of glass, steel, and concrete?) Russell Gibbs A sign made today seems wonderful and distinctive and hard to improve upon.
But as we have learned from fumbling through project after project, and being told that we can't be satisfied with our current designs and as we are encouraged to try different things in hopes to find something that will improve our original designs, we have learned that we can always improve on our original sign no matter how distinctive and hard it may seem to improve upon, we always can. Our excitement and sense of accomplishment is new and fresh and that particular moment can never be recaptured in the same exact way.
However the process that we go through and learn about as we develop our designs is pure. This purity is felt by Qfwfq about his first sign. Yet as we grow and develop our lives are touched by other signs and events as we evolve.
We are influenced by so many things that we are unaware of, but in the story it is clear that Kgwgk is influenced directly by Qfwfq. The signs we make are ours and exclusive within the moment. Signs we make in the future will inevitably be vastly different yet still will be connected and influenced by the signs we make today. It is important that we learn and move on to make positive change and not dwell on or attempt to revisit yesterday. The past and what we've done can't be erased but tomorrow is a wonderful mystery just waiting for new and improved signs.
Alisa you have just pointed out a great fact. No we should not dwell in the past. On the other hand we should (like you said) simply learn from our pasts and continue to move onward to making even better designs.(Ryan Simon) P.S. If I see anymore wet stuff come from your eyes these last 3 weeks your neck is mine!!!!!!!!!! I agree it is better to move on to the future and not dwell on the past, but don't we learn from the past. If we look back to things we have done, doesn't that better prepare us for what lies ahead. If you forget about a snake biting you, then you'ld pet it again the next time you saw it. I think it is important to look back into the past and let it better equipt us for tommorrow. Russell Gibbs