Humans are congregating in greater numbers within the urban cityscape we choose to define. Too often it is drab, basic and “cookie cutter” in its origins. The interior is often a combination of what was cost effective and also readily available at the time.  Debates separately  by academics and  in society, readily propone that children experiment and crave to express their individuality but too often their non-conformist attempts to be different result in conformity. Adults were all once children; but they seem to have lost the ability to differentiate or desire to be just a little bit different. Children then grow up immersed in this dutifulness to belong. The average human spends between eight and twenty-four hours in their house, but often so little effort is put into differentiation, into making a space that can be considered uniquely theirs. How rare is the sight of a truly unique, breathtaking or simply original surroundings to house our bodily selves? We may see spectacular efforts in commercial buildings or in the homes of the wealthy but, more often than not, it does not enough exist within the ordinary fabric of our lives.

Western culture has evolved centered around identical superplexes, malls, and parking lots with big box warehouses essentially, surrounded by subdivisions of boring, uneventful houses. Even drab institutional or public buildings frequently offer a revolution with no life, no interest and certainly nothing original exhibited in their conception. Other cultures have managed to take the utilitarian and create something unique or at the very least, interesting to look at or pass through. The Japanese take design very seriously. Their design has invaded everything from skyscrapers right down to the lowliest pencil or toothbrush. European cities artfully blend the old and the new. One just has to look at cites like Prague, Berlin or London. Buildings are being built that both inspire and awe tourists and locals alike. The Disney Opera house in LA, the Burj Al Arab in Dubai and even the OCA addition in Toronto are all exemplary of innovative and creative designs yearning to more than just beauty. Modern examples aren’t always appropriate. One just needs to look at the pyramids, temples that hang off mountain sides in Indo China, or the Coliseum in Rome to understand that even when technology was non-existent and building was extremely expensive, it was perceived as valuable to create something beautiful that fulfilled more than just the desired function.  These buildings are lavish and extraordinary and should be held as an example that can be aspired to even in our daily lives. There is a glut of availability in building and design. Show after show on the television, store after superstore, whole sections in bookstores are all dedicated to it. The availability is staggering. So why are we all so boring? It is my belief that humans have a need to blend in, to conform, because for reasons I cannot explain, being different has been considered terrible. And we teach our children this.

CAN WE NOT SHOW OURSELVES SOMETHING MORE?

CAN WE NOT TEACH THEM SOMETHING BETTER?