hART iN pLACE

The emotional aspect of the spot is a major impact on the people who visit. The view from the top looking at downtown Boston is one that draws someone to reflect about the past and think about the future. What the view looks at specifically, is less important than the idea of a spot to reflect. Spots of reflection are often vast and creates a sense of awe. What is of most importance is what someone brings to the view. A view of the ocean, or a view overlooking a mountain range, or the view of something smaller like a lake or open field all fall into this category. I am not suggesting that the specific view is not important. I am sure that someone from Boston would have a more defined understanding of the view from the top of the hill than someone who was just visiting and the same would go for someone who is from the coast overlooking the ocean. But it seems that the relationships that we have to these views are like looking onto a large blank canvas and we are the ones who fill in the colors and shapes of the painting from our past experiences, thoughts, hopes, and mistakes. At first when you sit to look at the view you may spend a few moments understanding what you are looking at, how far away the city is, how it is surrounded by tree and the hills, and on and on. But very shortly after, you sort of slip into a haze of reminiscing about the past your not conscious of at which point you do this but it happens. It’s like daydreaming, you don’t know when you start to do it but you know when you wake up. These types of views have a way of creating this experience and the spot is a very good example. The spot does not however generate specific outcomes. To go back to the canvas example, if I go to a store and buy a white canvas and some paint, I know that the result is going to be a picture of some kind but what is actually produced has nothing to do with the canvas. What type of painting I created comes from other sensations from myself; the canvas is just a platform that serves to present my expression. The canvas does not determine whether the painting is going to be successful or relly anything. The same exist for the view at the spot. There is no reason to suggest that this specific view is going to generate some undiscovered insight or even that it is a good experience. What the space does is present the possibility to have a experience. And I think that this is where architecture lives. It lives in the whisper of suggestion. We can create spaces that have a specific function like a classroom but as one moves to a more defined outcome, like what type of education is taught in the school, how inspirational or if the education broadens the students’ point of view. At that point, architecture becomes a whisper and the results are because of the people is actions themselves, rather then the design.