The
last of our six children was married on Thursday. Brandon and Melissa
were joined in Chapel Dulcinea (www.freeweddingchapel.org) and began
their life together as husband and wife.
As Lynn and I stood
between the warm orange glow of a setting October sun and the soft
blue-green shadow of the arches, I looked around and realized that
nothing I would ever design would equal the Living Architecture between
two people.
Not the twelve clerestory windows (the number of
apostles, the number of the zodiac), not the echoed number three (God,
Sun and Holy Ghost, man, woman and Deity), not the twenty seven gas
fired lanterns (27, the Hebraic number for Life), not the centerpiece
sculpture of limestone, water and glass, none of the sacred geometry
encapsulated, none of the numerology employed, none of the magic
implored by space and time and place, nothing designed by the mind of
man will ever equal true love between two people.
We try, so
very hard, to slow the energy of thought and passion down to the point
that it becomes physically manifest. We invest into the floor plan the
fluid movements of wind and water. We empower the façade with
the power of mathematical proportion. We expend enormous energy to stop
bricks and stone and steel and glass to stay put long enough to give us
shelter, to keep us warm, to inspire us as to our own creative power
but it all pales in comparison to the space between the lips of two
lovers.
This is my definition of Living Architecture. It is
romantic. It is full of meaning. It has purpose. It is a Living Way. It
is a Way of Living.
What then are we trying to define, to
discover, when we build a Circle K, a Seven Eleven, a towering hi-rise,
a church in a pre-fabricated metal-barn of a building? What gods are we
worshiping when we go gaga over all the mega-phallic-monstrosities
being whipped up in Dubai? Where is the meaning in the endless
billboard signage along any highway, USA?
I'm going to think
about that magic place, that impossibly powerful, beautiful space
between two lover's lips. I'm going to see if it's possible to create
an architecture that is as full of meaning and passion and purpose and
probability as the smile that passes between two people, friends.
Here's smiling at you!
One plus One is Three.
The One.
The Other.
And the Space Between- and in that Space is Everything.
