Windows to the Soul

Windows to the Soul

Picking up where the last post left off…let this be a not quite seamless transition to further observations on how we employ nature to define and manipulate the architectural space, and thus our own sense of space, and soul.

Whether plants…foliage…hedge or vine, are used to create, or frame a window, or many windows, the result is by turns arresting, intriguing, mysterious and playful.  The endless  resourcefulness of humans, harnessing the abundance and generosity of nature, responds to  to our need for connection, intimacy, solitude and privacy, through the medium of design: shape, form, texture, and color- a function of light.

In the meantime, seeing through apertures  framed in a plethora of leaves…is…fun!  And, enlivening.  And fun.

Peekaboo to the Church on the other side of the hedge…

Ivy league feel…giving a sense of the venerable…

Almost done…

If the eyes are the windows to the soul, do windows offer a view to the soul of a building?  Or, are windows the eyes through which a building views its surroundings,  and sees our souls?

Either way it seems,  some aspect of  soul is involved.

Viva la Natura!

Hedge Funz

Hedge Funz

Peekaboo…

The use of hedges in Los Angeles…specifically Santa Monica and Venice, is fascinating.   In a place where folks seem completely at ease leaving their door wide open of a warm night, extraordinary arrangements of hedges which seem to be there to provide privacy, rule.

They may frame a doorway,

or a passageway, to be more exact.

changing size, height and shape.

They may enhance the mystery of a portal,

the thickness of a wall,

or the function of a fence.

They may be created from bamboo,

or have a topiary feel.

Or, they may define the distance from front to back, to front again.

Whatever their apparent purpose, the ubiquitous, albeit, creatively engineered hedge seems to have one function underneath it all.

To create privacy using the materials of nature.

In the process, they create some very interesting spaces indeed.

What sort of hedge funz do YOU have?

If you feel so inclined, please share about it with us here.

We love to hear from you.

Remember, we are all hedging our betz in this Life, Together.