At about age 22 I kicked around the idea of becoming an architect. My lack of confidence in mathematics, coupled with my local college not offering any architecture classes, combined to deter me from that. I became a teacher instead. And, I'm okay with that. A friend my age from California actually got his architectural degree, didn't like the field, so went into teaching as well.
Still, I have an interest in architecture. To wit, the building where our lectures were held at Brown University this past week, was at one time, a gymnasium. Rather than demolish it, wealthy donors paid for it's being remodeled into a functional lecture hall with smaller classrooms supported by steel stilts in the upper parts of the old gym. The architects utilized the same design for any wooden parts, as seen in the rafters, as well as replicating the wooden floors of a basketball court in the commons foyer. I really like how respect for the past was incorporated into the modernized functional use of a fine old Ivy League brick building. This more that speaks to the old adage: "fix it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without." It honors the past. That resonates with me.
Be well, do good...
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