US1

US1                                                           It's All Around Us


(This image found at : http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Primitive+Hut&view=detail&id=05FC2672A6804380065548834496CA13A4635F1A&first=0&FORM
=IDFRIR)

         Why would we, the current rulers and roamers of the Earth's soil, find the need to study the shelters and structures of the past?   Are their buildings really pertinent to the situation known as life today?   Could they truly "unlock the secrets of the past" as we are so often prescribed to ponder?
          In my own travels, I think I have often answered this question with a 'sure, they're probably unlocking all sorts of secrets...for scientist or other people that might actually care, like a historian...but for me, they are just really cool to look at, and put my hands on.'  This was often times my rationale, and not to take away from the beauty that I myself felt when in the presence of such spectatular sites, but the meanings behind, or the viability of these ancient structures would and should be left up to the professionals, at least that was what I believed.   I was simply a tourist in the gallery of life.
          But through this class, and more especially, the first several weeks, I came to realize the fallacy of this ideology, or perhaps the stupidity behind the ignorance arguement.    These tangible structures we are visiting in class give us insights not just for the explanation and comprehension of the past (in fact quite the opposite, as our professor has allowed us to conjure up our own interpretations of the symobolism and make our own assessments and assumptions), but to help us explain, understand, and define our present and future.
          We have taken an unfettered look at sites such as Stonehenge, the Roman Aqueduct, the Acropolis, the Xiang yang Palace.   We have learned of their immense planning, the dedication to constructing structurally sound products, and the attention to detail that was harnessed during their design process.   But most importantly, we have focused on their design elements.
          The design elements : Circles, Groves, and Stacks became our first welcome into the world of understanding.   Once we were presented with these tools to view our landscape and the structures that we not only visited on campus but also the structures and places we read about in our text, we began to make sense of Stonehenge, the Acropolis, etc.   These tools gave us the reasoning behind why specific construction styles were choosen and this is what allowed us to contemplate their symbolism, their meaning for past civilizations.
          But as we are learning, these three elemental designs styles help us to understand our present and future surrounding, and more importantly, our choices for exactly that.   It is through learning about them, that we can make sense of today.
          The image I have choosen above, was actually out of luck.   I initially set out to display an image of a primitive hut that one might see as shelters in a third world country or that one might just build as an "off the grid" ecologically friendly structure, and explain its viability in present day (i.e. it is still meant to and capable of serving the most basic or elemental needs of man) through utilizing all three design styles : the circular parameter, for a centered approach to life and lifestyle, the groves of the walls, for the materials to be that of and mirror the landscape, and the stacked roof, to symbolize its reach heavenward.   But then I found this image apptly named the "Primitive Hut in the digital Age," and thought, what better example to explain my own personal feelings of a trans ition to jump out and off of the tourist role and into one of belonging and comprehension.   Thankyou.