i heart wood.: April 2009

I remembered going to the National Cathedral on my 8th grade field trip to DC but I think I must have had a entirely different perspective on it's beauty back then. These days contemporary architecture and construction is all about speed and money. Although efficiency is important, I believe so is longevity. In this technological age we have improved construction efficiency to the degree that we make and replace things perhaps too quickly. So quickly that it almost makes the saying, "Rome wasn't built in a day" seem irrelevant: Irrelevant in the way that people appreciate the efficiency of mass manufacturing versus handcraft because of the time perspective. Living in NYC definitely emphasizes the fast moving world and visiting DC last weekend acted as a incredibly grounding experience, that I was not expecting.

Up on the hills of DC sits the National Cathedral which I learned took 83 years to construct. The idea of something taking more than a lifetime is pretty much lost today. And really makes you take a step back and slow down. Just the architectural integrity of building is inspiring enough to gawk at for several hours but inside it is filled with even more "move you to tears" moments. Serendipitous that this structure happened to be located right across the street from where I was staying and had it not been, I wouldn't have had time to go see it. Even better, it also happened that in it's centennial celebration it was showcasing a tribute to the artisans/craftsmen that contributed all the detailing that went into this Cathedral. I found one biography especially relative. I think I need to print this out so I have a daily reminder that things have a way of working themselves out.