Some quirkiness in the Pacific Northwest. Seattle, WA.
Virginia Inn (originally the Hotel Livingston), built around 1901.
PLACE
Thoughts on Place & Grief.
In many ways I feel that who I am depends on where I am. This week has been one of the most bizarre and scary weeks, between COVID, loss, California fires, and heat. I miss home. I miss the rainy, humid, heat. I miss sporadic thunderstorms and heavy rain for 10 minutes. I was talking recently about my grieving process. I discovered that it is so linked to place, that I don’t start processing grief until I’m in a certain environment, or maybe that processing looks so different I don’t even recognize it as grief. For some reason, where I am now doesn’t feel like that environment. I’m so accustomed to being in community tied to a place & often communal grieving is how I grieve. But how do I process grief without community or place?
Architecture Appreciation
This past weekend has been the hottest and strangest in Oakland. I witnessed my first summer thunderstorm since moving here in 2013. The relentless rays of heat sent me scurrying to shade anywhere in sight. Oakland isn’t particularly designed like a hot city, there aren’t overhangs or awnings lining building perimeters at every corner. So walking around the town in the afternoon can get exhausting quick without any shade breaks. When I came across this subterranean walkway, not only did I get my wish for shade and a seat, (which is honestly just as hard to come by these days) I was pleased to find myself in a quaint and peaceful pedestrian vibe below the street. The layout of the sub-walk traces restored Victorian buildings of Old Oakland and gives glimpses to the street activity twelve feet above. Dividing the sidewalk at different levels brings a dynamism to the street life. It’s almost like walking down to the subway into the sub-culture of an underground city. Instead of it being dank and dark, it’s a breezy, well lit, semi-private hidden (but not so hidden) treasure you’ll only know about by walking the street. I'm not sure the intent behind this design, and it would be interesting to see how this rare circumstance evolved into its current state. My guess: a result of the some 1860s programmatic needs from when the transcontinental railway had this part of town booming. Thoughts?
Old Oakland, built around the 1870’s, restored in 1960’s
Oakland, CA