Musings on architecture
Human beings live in houses designed by the architects. No escaping them! As a non-architect, ordinary citizen living in urban homes (at home and abroad), I wonder how much the human mind replicates the easy friendliness of Mother Nature.
Look at our buildings: the vast majority use too many angles and right angles.
Why this rigidity? Now look at the natural environment, and note how few are the sharp angles and right angles in the scenes we see around us. The trees and flowers do not look geometrical, but there is an elegant pattern in the background--aesthetic and artistic elegance peeping out.
Curve and angles: note the flow of water; the rivers and the sea. The bodies of living things (including the human body) have mostly no sharp angles. How to be in tune with Nature?
Our high-rise buildings are rigidly geometrical, with straight and sharp angles everywhere. The movements of the eyes of the viewers seek relaxing contours. Why curves are avoided? Realise the impact of a winding path and a straight highway. Has life become mechanical (in the urban, materialist society). The rigidity and inter-facing effects have to be examined more carefully. Find angles in the body of a baby.
Zen paintings are interactive, therefore attracting and appealing, allowing the viewer to complete the picture and enjoy it subjectively. Note the economy of style: minimum ink, paint, time, and details--the difference between additive and subtractive art. Leave something in the background-why crave for the front stage at the time (the mother is always in the background like the way we breathe, intuitively). The human models parading the stage look so artificial. Distract or attract?
There are many other aspects which parade the minds of the readers. We miss harmony, tuning and empathy in the modern materialistic world. It is difficult to be natural. There is a difference between pose and poise.
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