Alex Reiner
Entry 14 - 4/19
After yesterday's class I got a better grasp on the
separation between space and place. In discussing
the architecture and towns along the Camino de Santiago the idea of 'place'
began to become more clear. In my mind a
place is a space that has a spirit created by the combination of the buildings,
the people, the smells, and the overall "feel" of the city or
town. While trying to grasp the concept I
tried to associate it with my life now, using my present 'place' as a reference
point. My present place being CNU brings
up interesting components of the line between forced place and space. For example, when you showed the picture of the
old monastery along the Camino with the roof tiling covered in moss and
vegetation and joked that if that were the case at CNU there would be someone
up their scrubbing the tiles until they were barren. Then I started to think of all the other
parts of our campus that are in a way sterilized to a point that it becomes
near impossible, as an outsider, to sense any sort of 'place' here.
There was an very brief editorial article written in The
Captains Log regarding the same concept, without as much philosophical overtones. It stated that while the campus in a
picturesque sense is in fact beautiful, its columns, brand new buildings, and
moderately genuine smiles on student's faces, it does lack a sense of
'place.' This lack of a sense of 'place'
lends to some feeling a sense of sterility, which I believe can be interchanged
for the word 'space.'
No comments:
Post a Comment