Favorite Place – #Architalks 8

Welcome to the 8th Edition of #Architalks. This week’s topic is “Favorite Place,” via Marica McKeel (on behalf of Bob Borson who is currently focused on the annual Playhouse competition in Dallas).  To read the rest of the posts from other architects, please scroll to the bottom of the blog post after you’ve read my take.  Thanks!

So, let’s get started…

What is Your Very Most Favorite Place On Earth?

For me, I immediately think of childhood places in my home state of Ohio: spending time in Catawba Island, Lake Erie on my step-grandfather’s sparkling new 42′ Chris-Craft yacht, or running around in Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, or playing out in my backyard in Columbus, setting up a game of pretend Olympics during Spring Break, or hanging out in my parents’ basement rearranging old furniture and junk to create zones and special play areas.

Being Online Can Be A “Place:”

Not all places are physical.  We can go places online.  Facebook forums, for instance.  Back in 2009, I had gotten so caught up in a debate thread that I had started on OBOCE (it was called “Study Group for Atheists”– don’t ask…).  Anyhow, things had gotten really heated and I needed to step away from the computer; my then 8-year-old daughter begged me to join her and my husband in the pool.  As soon as I dove under the water, I experienced a feeling of complete tranquility, utter calm.  It was a stark contrast from the intense bickering I’d left back at the computer; it was as if I’d put my head under water for the first time in my life.  I opened my eyes wide under the salt water and looked around at the aqua blue walls of the pool, I studied the undulations of the bottom, noticing stray leaves and rocks that had sunk below, and I looked up toward the surface of the water to see the sun’s rays streaming through.  But I heard nothing other than the muffled sound of gently splashing water and my daughter’s carefree laughter.  It was glorious.  And I suddenly realized that I had unfortunately immersed myself in a “place” – online – that I didn’t need to be, a “place” that was neither edifying or productive.  It was lunacy!  What I hadn’t realized was the online behavior I’d allowed myself to be subjected to was nothing less than verbal and emotional abuse.

We All Have Endured Some Non-Favorite Places:

Perhaps like you, as a child, I sometimes had to go places that were not of my choosing. One rainy afternoon in particular, I encountered one of the most depressing rooms I can remember as a child– it was small, about 8′ wide by 10′ long.  It was not pretty, it was very boring with all chalk-white painted thin wood shelves stocked full with plain white sheet music stacked in some order that made no sense to me, and the jalousie style window, operable with a crank (but you wouldn’t want to), had glass panes that were all blurry as if they had been permanently rained on. The view was of a white sky and some overgrown shrubs; no promise of a sunny day to look out upon. Nothing about that room was inviting.  It was a storage room, after all, located on the far right side of the back entrance vestibule to the main sanctuary when facing the main road, except no one hardly ever entered that way because most people would come from their Sunday School classes which were located (opposite the back entrance) behind the pulpit and baptistry. The only times I remember people entering through the double doors was during Vacation Bible School when they lined all of us kids up and we marched in to a song being played on the piano or when there was a wedding or if newcomers visited for the first time.  Most of the time, people exited those doors only after the service on Sundays, to shake the pastor’s hand and to comment on the sermon or the weather.  Since then (the 1970’s), the congregation has hired an architect and they’ve rebuilt the sanctuary so the entrance from the Sunday School building is actually at the back of the sanctuary and the pulpit has its back to the main road.  In other words, they switched it around.  So, everyone’s happy now.  And I’m assuming the old music room has been re-designed and relocated near the choir room, but I’m not sure.

Your Personal Sanctuary

I think most of us would agree that a favorite place is one in which we feel safe and comfortable, unconditionally loved and welcomed.  As part of my recent “sabbatical,” I went on a mini-vacation to Lake Austin Spa Resort in Texas Hill Country. It is a beautiful and luxurious property, with delicious food prepared by professional gourmet Chefs and great views of luscious landscape and water, ran by gracious people. However, my family wasn’t there so I was lonely at times.  And, since the rooms’ exterior doors open directly to the outdoors, there wasn’t that extra layer of security I’m accustomed to in most hotels.

How Would You Describe Your Favorite Place?

Is your favorite place in a building somewhere?  Or is it outside?  Is it famous? Or is it a low-key spot off the beaten path?  In a meditation program I attended years ago, one of the mental exercises they guided us on was to imagine our “safe place.”  It could be anywhere.  The speaker asked us to close our eyes and describe in our mind’s eye, to ourselves: what was our place like, was it beautiful?, who was there?, where were we?, what did the fabric feel like”, were there any pets?, and to go on and describe the things in our “safe place.”…  It was a very calming and rejuvenating experience.

A ‘Sense of Place:’

In architecture lingo, we like to talk about what we call a “sense of place.”  It might be a place of historical value, or an architectural wonder that we describe as awe-inspiring, or a building that has the wow factor.

But, I’ve visited The Guggenheim Museum in NYC, for example, and frankly, I did not feel a strong sense of place there.  No, instead, the museum docents moved us along, forbid us to take pictures, and parts of it were under re-construction.  It didn’t flow, and the museum store felt awkwardly located, constricted and crowded– definitely not a place you’d want to linger and browse– the opposite of a “favorite place.”  In other words, just because a building is considered an iconic work of architecture, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s going to create a sense of place.

On the other hand, my family and I couldn’t get enough of Time’s Square when we visited in fall of 2013.  It was constantly hustling and bustling with people and colors and images changed and flashed all around, keeping us continually entertained.  It wasn’t *my* “favorite place” but it definitely had a “sense of place” I shall never forget.

My Criteria for a “favorite place”:

 is one that is~~

• Quiet
• Beautiful
• Has a good view or interesting focal point
• Is inviting
• Where my family is
• Safe
• Welcoming
• Filled with people whom we mutually enjoy each other’s company

So, what about you?  What is your criteria for a favorite place?  Please share in the comments section below…

And now, here is the list of other architect bloggers who are participating in this round of Architalks #8:

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Marica McKeel – Studio MM
@ArchitectMM
Do You Have a Favorite Place?

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Enoch Sears – Business of Architecture
@businessofarch
Where Do You Like To Go When You Aren’t Working?

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Matthew Stanfield – FiELD9: architecture
@FiELD9arch
Ruby Slippers

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Andrew Hawkins, AIA – Hawkins Architecture, Inc.
@hawkinsarch
My Favorite Placein the Wild

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Lee Calisti, AIA – Think Architect
@LeeCalisti
favorite place

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Evan Troxel – Archispeak Podcast / TRXL
@etroxel
My Favorite Place

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Lora Teagarden – L² Design, LLC
@L2DesignLLC
ArchiTalks meets #ThisOldHouse

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Cormac Phalen – Cormac Phalen
@archy_type
Baltimore

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Jes Stafford – Modus Operandi Design
@modarchitect
Making Space and the Favorite Place

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Michele Grace Hottel – Michele Grace Hottel, Architect
@mghottel
favorite place

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Meghana Joshi – IRA Consultants, LLC
@MeghanaIRA
Oh, The Places You’ll Go!

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Amy Kalar – ArchiMom
@AmyKalar
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Michael Riscica – Young Architect
@YoungArchitxPDX
MIT Chapel – My Favorite Place

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Stephen Ramos – BUILDINGS ARE COOL
@sramos_BAC
Cinque Terre

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Brian Paletz – The Emerging Architect
@bpaletz
Favorite Place(s)

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Jonathan Brown – Proto-Architecture
@mondo_tiki_man
Favorite Place

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Eric Wittman – intern[life]
@rico_w
my [first] favorite place
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Mark R. LePage – Entrepreneur Architect
@EntreArchitect
My Favorite Place

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Thank you for reading this far!

As has become my customary ending, I’d like to leave you with a song:

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