parallels

OK, you ask, "How do I believe it to be beautiful?" (see previous blogs)

Well, we are all born into a wonderful world of nature, where everything has a pattern, proportion, and purpose to it, from the way a tree grows, the way a rose unfurls, or the way a Nautilus shell grows. We do not necessarily see the patterns or recognize the proportions in nature but they are there nonetheless.  These patterns are perceived, recognized, and cross referenced by our subconscience. Some will argue that proper use of these patterns and proportions give us a sense of calm and deepen our feeling of belonging and connection to our environment.  This can also be called beauty. The ancient Greeks understood and believed this and used this knowledge to give us the classical forms of Architecture.

As Jonathan Hale wrote for his opening paragraph in the must read book The Old Way of Seeing,  “There was a time in our past when one could walk down any street and be surrounded by harmonious buildings. Such a street wasn’t perfect, it wasn’t necessarily even pretty, but it was alive. The old buildings smiled, while our new buildings are faceless. The old buildings sang, while the buildings of our age have no music in them.”

I will suggest a parallel between Mr. Hale's opinion on architecture and the current state of contemporary lighting.