During Monday’s seminar class, Professor Powers came in to talk to us about architecture.  I was looking forward to it because, unlike what we usually cover, I thought I actually had some prior knowledge and experience with what we would be discussing.  For a long time, I had a dream of becoming an architect.  I even took some architecture and design class in high school.  To my surprise however, what Professor Powers discussed in his presentation was actually new to me.  In the classes I took it was more about how to draw to scale or make floor plans, but Professor Powers actually went into detail about why certain buildings were built the way that they were.  I found this to be very interesting, and even loved how he brought together history and architecture into his presentation.  I would never have connected the gothic style of schools, and gothic revival in general, to the rise of romanticism. Irrational and sentimental are great words to describe this period, and because of this, it comes as no surprise that Christianity was beginning to be tied into America.  When taking this into consideration, the fact that all these schools were being designed in a style that symbolizes religion, during this time period, makes perfect sense.

Overall, Professor Powers helped me change the way I look at architecture. I have seen many of the building and bridges he talked to us about, however I never really gave much thought to why they were built the way they were.  I also never knew that buildings that serve the same purposes, such as banks, are usually designed with the same style.  I often find myself looking at all the buildings I pass more closely now, which definitely makes my traveling experience more enjoyable.