Daily Prompt: Through the Window

Today’s prompt is to stare out your window for a full minute and then write about what you see……Cause, you know, we’ve all got so much free time on our hands that we can just stop and stare out the window contemplating the higher purpose of life and other such esoteric gems. :-\

the view.

So, this is my view. Little Rock, Arkansas – Downtown. I’m up on the 7th floor with a view of the historic Pulaski County Courthouse, which is also one of the projects my firm is currently working on. My general view consists of the old and the new, mountains and plains, land and sky. In short, awesome.

Coming from the great flat lands of Florida, this is an incredibly welcomed change of scenery. And not just for the landscape. The cityscape also, for me, is an improvement. While Little Rock doesn’t have quite the number of tall buildings that crowd downtown Jacksonville, there is a pleasant mix of old and new that is refreshing. “Preservation” is something that is actually practiced in the true sense, while most new construction is contemporary and modern. I haven’t come across a lot of historical copy-cat architecture which is so common in Jacksonville and other “historic” cities. If we, as architects, endeavor to create cities of our time and place in history, with an eye towards improving how people experience the world around them, then we can’t be constantly concerned with “style” and “period”. Little Rock is a city that seems to respect and honor the past while also providing for it’s future. Hallelujah.