What's in Washington D.C.?

As residents from Virginia, we have the luck and privilege of living right next door to what a lot call the capital of the world, D.C.. Of course, after living here many years, and anybody from Northern Virginia could agree with me one way or another, the excitement of living so close to the nation's capital slowly wears away. It simply becomes  normal, and even frustrating at times because of the ridiculous traffic, but still D.C. is home to some of the most widely known architectural wonders of the world. The first of which I suggest that anybody who truly appreciates works of art should visit is The Robert and Arlene Kogod Courtyard, better known as the Kogod Courtyard. This is not one of the most known attractions and monuments from the capital, but it is certainly worth of being include in them.


The Courtyard is a "part of two building houses: the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian American Art Museum" (The National). The renovation of the building began in 2001, at first only few improvements were proposed and minor changes, but in 2002 the original project was greatly expanded and new ideas were brought (The National). The biggest change was the enclosing of a simple outdoor courtyard. The challenge for the architects and engineers was to create a closed courtyard that had the same outdoor feel and look of an open courtyard (The National). The challenge was met, and in my opinion exceeded, by a group of London based architects who came up with the design for the new courtyard (The National).

The finished product is a beautiful courtyard, with small trees, bushes, and plants around its perimeter and small pools in the center, overlooked by a breath-taking ceiling unlike any other. This ceiling is the main attraction, of course, and it is a an "elegant glass canopy" which was designed to make it look as if it is floating in the air (The National). The 28,000 square feet of glass also allows daylight and nightlight to enter without any problem creating a natural look and feel allowing for many types of plants to grow freely (The National).

If you have never visited this incredible place,  then I suggest you do. I guarantee anybody will love it, and if not, there is free Wi-Fi, so no room to complain (The National). If this does motivate you to go, please comment.






















Works Cited
"The National Portrait Gallery/Museum Information/Kogod Courtyard." The National Portrait 
                 Gallery/Museum Information/Kogod Courtyard. Smithsonian, n.d. Web. 29 Jan. 2014.

The Beginnings...The Cairn de Barnenez

Maybe not every person finds Greek and Roman architecture as incredible as I find it to be. Also, Western Civilization may not be very interesting for most, and some even hated having to take that class in college, therefore I will not attempt to teach it. Instead I will simply provide a few examples of the most influential designs and buildings from the past, and explain a few things that make them unique. Here is the first.

The Cairn de Barnenez:

http://barnenez.monuments-nationaux.fr/en/

This structure is perhaps one of the earliest in the history of human kind. It dates back to around 4,000 and 3,500 B.C. during the time that is now know as the Neolithic era. To put it in perspective, that is around the time when humans had just begun to farm and was no longer nomadic. This structure is believed to be tomb and was cleverly constructed using flat and rounded stones. In my opinion it is amazing how humans, even when there was no writing system, language or identified math, were able to construct a structure so well that even 6,000 years later is still visible and standing. What do you think? 

Nature vs. Man-Made

In Earth, there two indisputable wonders that cover its surface with unprecedented beauty and complete amazement. Yet these two constantly go against each other since both can not be in the same place, at the same time. Unfortunately, one or the other has to emerge victorious, taking the losers place entirely. These two foes are nature and man made objects. For centuries, architects and engineers have fought in the minds for solutions to this great problem. Although it seems as if nature is fighting a losing battle, there are many great examples of how the human mind creates new ways for nature and man made objects to exist together in harmony. 

As humans, we have a certain universal ambition. Some more then others, of course, but in one way or another we constantly aspire to be better, to be bigger, and to have more. Even the person who says that he or she is humble still has ambition, to be even more humble perhaps. But, no matter how, that certain trait of humanity can still be seen in that person. It is this ambition that has caused the rise of many cities, empires, kingdoms, and countries, along with their technology and architecture. Sadly, this same ambition has caused many of those once great group of people to decline and fall. But, even after their fall, these empires, cities, and kingdoms remain alive through what they left behind. 

Architecture, in my opinion, is the mean through which human beings display their capacity and, in many ways, their greatness. When a person stands at the foot of the Great Pyramid in Egypt, it is almost certain that a level of amazement will flow through their body, arousing millions of questions. The first, probably, of all is: How? It is is for these reasons, and many more, that I have chosen to pick and highlight certain architectural wonders, and, allow my readers to see what I see every time I stare at a work of architecture. I wish to inspire in others perhaps not necessarily the desire to become an architect, as how I wish to be, but to plant a seed of self belief. I wish to inspire others, with visual evidence, to believe in themselves, because the human mind is capable of wonders.