Step 1. The experience of the environment
Description of the space
It’s 15:00. I’m sitting under a tree, but it’s not just any tree… is the one with the best view according to me.
In front of me there is a lake which a few meters later turns into a water channel that it’s close to the “Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias”. The water is a little green, I think is because the seaweed inside. The wind moves the water, causing a small waves on it. The lake has a statue, is simple but has a clear meaning, looks like Poseidon.
There is a lot of sun but the tree covers me with in. Air refreshes the area and makes that trees move… I love that sound, the sound of the leaves colliding with each other.
In front of me, after the lake is the “Palau de las Artes”. One of the most incredibles buildings that I have seen. It’s so big it stand out above all else. In its surroundings there are buildings, not many… That’s good. Also there are many trees and 
much green color which makes that everything looks prettier.
There are people sitting under every tree, some in family and others with friends. Everybody doing the same thing: eat. There are children playing with balls and parents behind them. There are people taking pictures and others just are looking the sky.
This place smells like grass… I want to be here the rest of my life, just in this moment. I wonder, how will it be at night? Could it be prettier? I think the sun makes that everything look magical as the water shines, the walls of the Palau highlight and the green of the trees is seen. Yes, definitely in the day it’s better than at night.
This place it’s the perfect example about connection between architecture and nature. I LOVE IT!
Questions
1.Why did you choose this place?
I chose this place because it remember me to my dad who is in another country. I have some memories with him here 2 years ago more or less. He always wants everything to be perfect maybe like this place, every color and every figure fits and forms something spectacular. How the nature strengthens the beauty of this building and how this building beautifies the city. Sitting here makes me see how big I can be and at the same time reminds me how tiny I am. I’ve chosen it because is not only a beautiful place but because it generates something beautiful in me, it’s like my escape place even though it’s surrounding by a lot of people.
2. What makes you feel comfortable?
What makes me feel comfortable in this place is its smell, warm light and its cold breeze. Here I feel safe and I don’t have an exact reason why, here I feel that no one looking at me… that no one judging me. I feel like I could sit here doing nothing and I won’t feel like I’m wasted my time. Everything about this place makes me feel comfortable.
3. There is some disruptive element?
Yes, there really is. This place is modern, it creates the feeling that everything goes ahead with or without you, but just to the right is a slightly old building… no like the others in this city, but by comparison it is, its colors are pale orange and gray. Those tones break a little the futuristic harmony and color palette that the panorama has. It’s not something that bothers me cause everything else remedies it, but if I could take it off, I would.
4. Do you think you’d feel the same way in another space right now?
I don’t think so. All the places I love make me feel different things. But maybe there is a place where I feel similar: when I see the Palau I feel I kind of empowerment that I also feel when I see the ocean, so big and unreachable and so bright and unique as this place.
5. Do you think that the conditions of this space influence its occupants? How?
Yes, I really think there’s positive energy that spreads. Nature gives us a feeling of hope and peace. It’s a very inspiring and familiar place. This place makes people feel happy for an instant, forget their problems and their sorrows. It shows you how big you can be if you propose. It also makes people feel like a kid again. I don’t know if the people feel that but I want to believe that they do it cause when I’m here I notice that people laugh and maybe for that moment they’re happy.
It’s amazing that part, how it inspires so much without saying anything.
Step 2. Reading and understanding the text and writing reflections on it.
Reflection
This text made me feel a lot of things. It made me able to connect with this career even before I really know it. It’s like when you see someone for the first time and for an instant you know what it’s gonna cause in you or what a part of you will take. The text made me feel like I belonged, well I’m that kind of person who value those who know the difference between seeing and observing and those who perceive the things in common that are between loving and hating. It’s amazing how in “designing a building” there’s more than it looks. How an architect seeks a connection with people through things that some detract from.
The people say that beauty enters through the eyes and of course it’s true. But also, they say that something really fall in love when you know what’s inside. Like with a person, you look at her but you feel like you can’t lose her when you really meet her; is like music, the melody draws you in but the lyrics give the song meaning; like a painting, you see its contrast and it delights you but until you understand the meaning you realize why its value. The same happens with the architecture, we must create a story through forms and materials, we must generate a feeling of belonging with only the presence of a building.
This text talks about many issues that influence in design of a building and how we can make that aforementioned connection generated. It talks about the shape and the materials, how thousands of ideas can be born in a material… how we create on what is already created. It also talks about intangible things that influence our mood such as sound, temperature and light. It tell us that a sound makes us feel at home just by listening to our mothers arrive, or who the cold generates nostalgia or who the light makes us feel alive. Thinking of every detail to generate the feeling we are looking for is fantastic, how we should think about the body of our building without forgetting the psychology of society.
Something that I would like to highlight in this text would be the moment in which it speak of “architecture as a surrounding”. I love the idea of believing that we control time even knowing that we really don’t, but somehow we contribute to the memories of all the people in the world. Just as a song reminds us of someone or a moment in our life, a building speaks for itself and tell us a story whit its walls cracked or you tell it what happened next to it 30 years ago. I like to believe that we beautify the real world to real people.
I always knew that being an architect would be a great challenge, but this text made me realize that the real challenge is to tell something without speaking. It’s satisfying to think that even the places I’m gonna design will mean something to someone else, even if that person doesn’t know my name… knowing that I contributed to their life story is great. It’s like someone who wins and celebrates in silence.