Alternatives Summary

From what I have read of my classmate’s (Kara Kooy, Kayla McDonagh, Abigail Buchanan) essays on alternatives, they all seem to have a thorough understanding of what this unit is all about. What I found most interesting about reading the work of others is how we all have our own individual understanding of the same basic information. For instance Kayla understood this unit in terms of a pizza, and how it can be customized and changed to suit the tastes/needs of people in other parts of the world. In this same way architecture is also changed and manipulated. “When taking from the past there is a need to make things your own, (Kayla).”

In this same way Abigail also focused on this idea of customization and alterations. When I think of alterations I usually of tailoring a dress or refitting your clothing in some way, but Abigail brought it to my attention that these apply to architecture too. If you stop and think about it, it is through alterations made to the models of the past that we get alternative solutions. “Those that do not study what was in the past are susceptible to repeating past mistakes, or recreating something that was better accomplished previously (Abigail).” This idea also reminded me of my own work on the subject. Salvador Dali was a key example of mine, and this reminded me of something he said, “Those who do not want to imitate anything produce nothing.”

Kara on the other hand took a more appreciate stance on the subject. Recalling her love for gothic architecture, and describing it in a way that let me see it through her eyes. In this she also showed a thorough understanding of the material by brining in quotes from the text and other outside material such as the bible. “There really is nothing new under the sun. Whenever and wherever there have been rules, there have been rule breakers (King Solomon).”