If you want to be an architect ... don't go to the Louvre.
Go to the Lowe's.
As a young man I got into architecture because of a love for art and artsy things. But over 35 years, I've discovered that architecture is roughly 10% art and 90% hammers and nails, and plumbing and heating.
One of my Aha! moments came some years after graduating from architecture school: I started looking forward to going to the Lowe's Home Improvement Store. (Actually where I lived in Philadelphia, it was Hechinger's. But Lowe's is the same thing).
I used to hate going to stores like Lowe's. It meant another house repair. And I -- Mr. architect -- hated house repairs.
But one day as I walked up and down those aisles at Lowe's, I put two and two together, so to speak:
If I only knew about all of these tools, all of these connectors, all of these appliances, all of these thousands of gadgets, all of this lumber, ... if I only knew how to use them and connect them, I would be one formidable architect.
These days I really like going to the Ace Hardware and talking to the knowledgeable people there. I love talking over house repair problems with them. And learning from them. During these sessions I never tell them I'm a -- good grief -- an architect. That would ruin it all.
This is not to say I'm not thankful for that 10%.
I'm not sure you can buy the Art of Architecture at the Lowe's. And for me, the art of it will always be with me. For example, every time I need a 10 penny nail, I'd have to truck down to the Lowe's and learn about nails all over again.
(And hey -- I do now have a truck).
But the Mona Lisa at the Louvre, well, I can tell you a few things about her and her kind ...
Logos2Go
Exodus 26.1-6 Moreover, you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen and blue and purple and scarlet yarns; you shall make them with cherubim skillfully worked into them. 2 The length of each curtain shall be twenty-eight cubits, [1] and the breadth of each curtain four cubits; all the curtains shall be the same size. 3 Five curtains shall be coupled to one another, and the other five curtains shall be coupled to one another. 4 And you shall make loops of blue on the edge of the outermost curtain in the first set. Likewise you shall make loops on the edge of the outermost curtain in the second set. 5 Fifty loops you shall make on the one curtain, and fifty loops you shall make on the edge of the curtain that is in the second set; the loops shall be opposite one another. 6 And you shall make fifty clasps of gold, and couple the curtains one to the other with the clasps, so that the tabernacle may be a single whole ...
Go to the Lowe's.
As a young man I got into architecture because of a love for art and artsy things. But over 35 years, I've discovered that architecture is roughly 10% art and 90% hammers and nails, and plumbing and heating.
One of my Aha! moments came some years after graduating from architecture school: I started looking forward to going to the Lowe's Home Improvement Store. (Actually where I lived in Philadelphia, it was Hechinger's. But Lowe's is the same thing).
I used to hate going to stores like Lowe's. It meant another house repair. And I -- Mr. architect -- hated house repairs.
But one day as I walked up and down those aisles at Lowe's, I put two and two together, so to speak:
If I only knew about all of these tools, all of these connectors, all of these appliances, all of these thousands of gadgets, all of this lumber, ... if I only knew how to use them and connect them, I would be one formidable architect.
These days I really like going to the Ace Hardware and talking to the knowledgeable people there. I love talking over house repair problems with them. And learning from them. During these sessions I never tell them I'm a -- good grief -- an architect. That would ruin it all.
This is not to say I'm not thankful for that 10%.
I'm not sure you can buy the Art of Architecture at the Lowe's. And for me, the art of it will always be with me. For example, every time I need a 10 penny nail, I'd have to truck down to the Lowe's and learn about nails all over again.
(And hey -- I do now have a truck).
But the Mona Lisa at the Louvre, well, I can tell you a few things about her and her kind ...
Logos2Go
Exodus 26.1-6 Moreover, you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen and blue and purple and scarlet yarns; you shall make them with cherubim skillfully worked into them. 2 The length of each curtain shall be twenty-eight cubits, [1] and the breadth of each curtain four cubits; all the curtains shall be the same size. 3 Five curtains shall be coupled to one another, and the other five curtains shall be coupled to one another. 4 And you shall make loops of blue on the edge of the outermost curtain in the first set. Likewise you shall make loops on the edge of the outermost curtain in the second set. 5 Fifty loops you shall make on the one curtain, and fifty loops you shall make on the edge of the curtain that is in the second set; the loops shall be opposite one another. 6 And you shall make fifty clasps of gold, and couple the curtains one to the other with the clasps, so that the tabernacle may be a single whole ...
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