Prompt: Describe a particular place or experience that has influenced your decision to pursue architecture (500 word MAX)
I am not going to lie. Architecture was a career I never would have considered. In a child's eyes, it seemed like a humdrum job that turned any amount of hard work into the archetypal building: an ugly rectangular block made of glass and steel that would become covered by graffiti and bird droppings. In watching Ted Mosby, from the sitcom How I Met Your Mother, repeatedly fail at finding success as an architect, designing buildings seemed like a dead end. Yet, one place in particular transformed my point of view.
Flash forward to the summer of 2013. Pismo Beach, California was the perfect vacation, far from the stress of school, and as a small town, far from the misery that I thought architecture represented. My family's first sightseeing destination was Hearst Castle. Any castle, I postulated, would have knights and swords. Although Hearst had instead built as a private residence, I was not disappointed.
Stuck in awe, I gazed upward at the towering, Spanish-styled facade that graced the main complex wondering how this beautiful and amazing structure could have been the work of an architect. Bringing my now sore neck down, I glanced around, baffled by the sheer amount of detail and craftsmanship that marked Hearst Castle. The place seemed like a time machine, able to incorporate the panache and style of the American twenties with the splendor and richness of the Greco-Roman, Renaissance and Baroque eras. To the history fanatic in me, architecture began to take on a new meaning; an architect works as a part-time historian who observes how culture and religion manifest themselves in architectural style. In designing, an architect not only can look towards the new but also towards the old for inspiration. Indeed, the artist in me was equally satisfied. From the gold-leaf fixtures to the impressive marble sculptures, Hearst Castle was an aesthetic paradise. I began to understand that architecture is synonymous with expression -- a three-dimensional work of art that not only echoes the architect's vision but also testifies to the creativity and beauty humankind is capable of.
Although Hearst Castle seemed created solely to look beautiful and to mystify but the estate was both practical and modern at heart; the architect had incorporated the castle's high elevation to devise aqueduct that transports water to the estate from a hill over seven miles away powered only by gravity. In translation, architecture is an applied science that recognizes the unique challenges a construction site presents in order to find innovative and clever ways of sustaining a building.
Hearst Castle proved to me that the architect was more than a "factory" that spit out mundane prisms of glass and steel. Essentially, a four-hour and $25 tour broke down what had been years of ignorance and hate. Rather, architecture was a synthesis of what I loved most: a perfect representation of me. The historian, artist and the scientist could all find their place and satisfaction in the design of a building.
*Any edits, revisions, suggestions and feedback are greatly appreciated* DEADLINE: March 30th
I am not going to lie. Architecture was a career I never would have considered. In a child's eyes, it seemed like a humdrum job that turned any amount of hard work into the archetypal building: an ugly rectangular block made of glass and steel that would become covered by graffiti and bird droppings. In watching Ted Mosby, from the sitcom How I Met Your Mother, repeatedly fail at finding success as an architect, designing buildings seemed like a dead end. Yet, one place in particular transformed my point of view.
Flash forward to the summer of 2013. Pismo Beach, California was the perfect vacation, far from the stress of school, and as a small town, far from the misery that I thought architecture represented. My family's first sightseeing destination was Hearst Castle. Any castle, I postulated, would have knights and swords. Although Hearst had instead built as a private residence, I was not disappointed.
Stuck in awe, I gazed upward at the towering, Spanish-styled facade that graced the main complex wondering how this beautiful and amazing structure could have been the work of an architect. Bringing my now sore neck down, I glanced around, baffled by the sheer amount of detail and craftsmanship that marked Hearst Castle. The place seemed like a time machine, able to incorporate the panache and style of the American twenties with the splendor and richness of the Greco-Roman, Renaissance and Baroque eras. To the history fanatic in me, architecture began to take on a new meaning; an architect works as a part-time historian who observes how culture and religion manifest themselves in architectural style. In designing, an architect not only can look towards the new but also towards the old for inspiration. Indeed, the artist in me was equally satisfied. From the gold-leaf fixtures to the impressive marble sculptures, Hearst Castle was an aesthetic paradise. I began to understand that architecture is synonymous with expression -- a three-dimensional work of art that not only echoes the architect's vision but also testifies to the creativity and beauty humankind is capable of.
Although Hearst Castle seemed created solely to look beautiful and to mystify but the estate was both practical and modern at heart; the architect had incorporated the castle's high elevation to devise aqueduct that transports water to the estate from a hill over seven miles away powered only by gravity. In translation, architecture is an applied science that recognizes the unique challenges a construction site presents in order to find innovative and clever ways of sustaining a building.
Hearst Castle proved to me that the architect was more than a "factory" that spit out mundane prisms of glass and steel. Essentially, a four-hour and $25 tour broke down what had been years of ignorance and hate. Rather, architecture was a synthesis of what I loved most: a perfect representation of me. The historian, artist and the scientist could all find their place and satisfaction in the design of a building.
*Any edits, revisions, suggestions and feedback are greatly appreciated* DEADLINE: March 30th
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