11.12.12

Today, Professor Powers visited our class. He talked to us about architecture, which I never really considered a form of art until now. He was so excited to talk to us about architecture and it’s really nice to see someone so passionate about something. The quote, which opened the lecture, made me start thinking about architecture in a different way, “Architecture is a symbol of the ethos (a framework of what the ruler/builder thinks about the building and the people)…” I never thought of architecture as representing the thoughts and feelings of that time. This is where I see a correlation with music and art.

Before the lecture, I thought buildings like courthouses and federal buildings looked similar so that they would be easily recognizable to people like immigrants. I never really considered that the style, Greek and Roman, symbolized reason and balance. Now that I’m thinking about it, maybe it became so widespread that similar styles were used not only to evoke a certain ethos but also to aid in recognition.

I also find it interesting that the Gothic style symbolizes religion. The Gothic style of schools makes sense to me because during the Romanticism era when there was a gothic style revival, people began to question things and become more about the individual. It seems ironic to me that churches would be built in this kind of style especially when this is a time when people began questioning religion. The only thing I was able to rationalize why churches were built in this style was because of the towers and spires reaching up into the sky toward heaven. Again, I think that this type of style also became an archetype for immigrants to be able to identify churches.

-Amber G.