THE STORY OF LOVE OF LIFE THROUGH THE ENVIRONMENT                           CREATED BY ARCHITECTURE

Last year, after many years of leading the TGO community photo club, I decided the club would do much better in the hands of some new leadership – new enthusiasm, new ideas. 

Boy, I was right. It is now an exciting club.  They are capitalizing on the zoom technology and they have stimulated involvement.  At meetings there is so much discussion that it is hard to get a word in edgewise.

Last week at the meeting, there was a suggestion that members share, at the next zoom meeting, a photograph focusing on architecture.

Beautiful Island architecture

 

Well, you know me, before I set out to create a photograph of architecture  I had to do research on the web – “What is architecture?”

Beautiful NYC architecture

I never did find a description I liked.  You see, I am a professional post-graduate engineer, have designed a half dozen houses, taught computerized architecture drafting, but still I am not an architect. All that made me ponder even more about environment vs architecture.

My pondering concluded that architecture is just a tool to create an environment.  So, you see, environment is the end product of architecture . When designing a community, a house, a room we only use architecture as a tool to produce the environment we want. And my desired environment will be different then yours and different from the one I wanted 40 years ago.

Where I grew up with a back door to sneak out and wander over many farms and forests

But 40 years ago – even 80 years ago – my desire was to bring the outside inside, make it so I can get outside in just a few steps, give me space to wander once outside,

Chat room with Island visas

and make it comfortable for friends to sit in a circle and chat while having vistas that travel magazine editors would die for.  

The architecture of the old farm house I grew up in allowed me to sneak outside, wander 1/2 mile or more through field and woods to where neighbor farmers would have to bring me home – even when I was only 3 years old. My Drummond house had picture windows where every you sat, my Texas ranch house had

12 doors and 100’s acres to wander

12 outside doors so that where ever you were in the house it only took 5 steps to be outside, and my home with 6 round things under it could be parked with windshield vistas of mountains, oceans, or cities – while satisfying my strong need to wander.

Now, I knew I wanted to create a photograph showing how the architecture created an environment I loved to live in.

Thus, I created, to share with the TGO Photo Club members, photos that show the environment the architecture of the motorhome provided.

My home office with beautiful vista.

Windshield that reflects vistas of Bryant Park architecture (NYC)

Since we have 20 Condo now in TGO,  I had to dream of the future and Condo 21- we would still have the Nature trail, the alligators, the golf course, the tennis courts, 15 miles for safe bike riding,  and much more…….     Hey the future will be great!

As you swing thru life – Don’t think only about architecture – think about the environment architecture creates for you, your mind, and soul.