Why Architecture Matters

In the book, Why Architecture Matters, by Paul G, Paul explains a lot on how Thomas Jefferson's buildings had a symbol behind them. They have a reason, and answer the questions, "Why?" and "How?" He tends to mix his materials and symbols together. For example, in the University of Virginia, he combined the element of the icy white of the brick and the warmth of the red brick together. They are very contradictory, yet the coolness of the white balances the boldness of the red. At times, he tends to make his works abstract but, in the same project he flat out displays his symbols

The thing is with architecture, because it has become it has become part of our daily lives, we tend to not pay much attention to it. For example, the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco or the George Pompidou Center in Paris, to tourist, it is a piece of work, nothing like it. But to it's commoners, it's just another bridge or center. We tend to look at it's uses rather than appearances after a while. Each person experiences architecture in different ways. Have different emotions associated with that building. When the building is in use, we examen each detail, yet when it's empty when skip that fact and just look at it for functions