This is my Photoshow about my childhood
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Monday, December 13, 2010
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Why I want
My father is an architect. He designs and builds mostly utilitarian buildings – apartments, schools, bridges. When I was a little girl, I watched him spread out on his work table giant rolls of papers. He drew symbols and lines and told me not to touch them. At the time, I wasn’t aware that I was watching him create blueprints for buildings.
Though I wasn’t aware of my father’s work, I must have absorbed some of his creative talents – he says that he gave me pencils and crayons to keep me busy and that I drew and colored happily for hours. I still do. I love most to draw objects from daily life, ordinary objects that we see so often we don’t notice them. I enjoy seeing those objects in different, unique ways. I am interested in art and design not only because of the beauty of its expression, but also because of a reality beyond its literal, surface expression. For me, the unique challenge of the designer is to achieve functional efficiency without sacrificing aesthetic principles, and to express that achievement in a way that can be understood by others.
Architecture may be the most complete and complex of all the design arts. If ever architecture expressed spiritual ideas, it’s in medieval Gothic structures. If ever architecture expressed geometrical symmetries, it’s in monumental Classical architecture. If ever architecture expressed startling, unfamiliar possibilities, it’s in 20th-century Modernist structures. Architecture is design that we use, lived-in design, design that must first be useful if it is to be built. Architects who can add beauty to usefulness make lasting contributions to the lives of the people who live and work in their designs.
Architecture is complex design because it involves structural as well as aesthetic concerns. Architecture is not just the structure and the exterior of a building – it is the interior space as well. And that is what most interests me. Without a well-designed interior, a building cannot succeed. The outside and the inside must be the same. Think of a red apple sitting on two different tables, one made of wood and the other of glass. Although the same apple sits on the tables, the appearance of the apple is different because of the difference in the tables. Similarly, interior design has the power to change the perspective and the qualities of a building. Each well-designed building has its own purpose and design, and a major part of every building’s success or failure is its interior design.
Color, organization, shape, lighting, space, furnishings – these are the elements of design that I love to work with
Though I wasn’t aware of my father’s work, I must have absorbed some of his creative talents – he says that he gave me pencils and crayons to keep me busy and that I drew and colored happily for hours. I still do. I love most to draw objects from daily life, ordinary objects that we see so often we don’t notice them. I enjoy seeing those objects in different, unique ways. I am interested in art and design not only because of the beauty of its expression, but also because of a reality beyond its literal, surface expression. For me, the unique challenge of the designer is to achieve functional efficiency without sacrificing aesthetic principles, and to express that achievement in a way that can be understood by others.
Architecture may be the most complete and complex of all the design arts. If ever architecture expressed spiritual ideas, it’s in medieval Gothic structures. If ever architecture expressed geometrical symmetries, it’s in monumental Classical architecture. If ever architecture expressed startling, unfamiliar possibilities, it’s in 20th-century Modernist structures. Architecture is design that we use, lived-in design, design that must first be useful if it is to be built. Architects who can add beauty to usefulness make lasting contributions to the lives of the people who live and work in their designs.
Architecture is complex design because it involves structural as well as aesthetic concerns. Architecture is not just the structure and the exterior of a building – it is the interior space as well. And that is what most interests me. Without a well-designed interior, a building cannot succeed. The outside and the inside must be the same. Think of a red apple sitting on two different tables, one made of wood and the other of glass. Although the same apple sits on the tables, the appearance of the apple is different because of the difference in the tables. Similarly, interior design has the power to change the perspective and the qualities of a building. Each well-designed building has its own purpose and design, and a major part of every building’s success or failure is its interior design.
Color, organization, shape, lighting, space, furnishings – these are the elements of design that I love to work with
Two of a Kind
What’s it like to be a twin? People often ask me if my twin sister and I look alike, think alike, act alike. Mi-ae and I were born a minute apart: me first, her second. As we grew up, we constantly bickered over little things like who sat in the front seat of Mom’s car, or who carried the pink umbrella on rainy days.
Even though people around us know we’re twins, they often ask, “Where is your other half?” or “Which one are you?” or – most ridiculous of all – “Is one of you smarter than the other?” If I had a dollar for every one of these absurd questions, I would be rich.
When I was little, I hated, more than anything else, being forced to be one of a pair, a copy of someone else; a “Twin.” I never enjoyed the reactions (“Aww, how cute!”) when my mother dressed us in matching outfits. So I always wore different styles and colors, joined different circles of friends, played different sports, and even attended different schools.
Because I worked so hard to be different, we have grown up to be two different people. Mi-ae is great at math. She has won awards at her school and in national math contests. She is introverted and studious. She always earns good grades. She’s good with directions and at fixing broken MP3 players. I, on the other hand, am good at drawing pictures and at composing music. I am active and sociable unlike my sister. I love learning foreign languages, especially English. Unlike Mi-ae, I am terrible with directions and I do not know the first thing about what to do with a broken MP3 player. We each have our own values and personalities and each distinguishes us from each other.
But having a twin does come with some advantages. Since we are about the same size, we share the closet and wear each other’s clothes. More than once, we “shared” our homework assignment. Having a twin is living with a best friend (most of the time). We finish each other’s sentences, share the same thoughts, dream the same dreams, and speak the same words at the same time.
At times, when we were younger, we hated each other. We were so obsessed with the idea of being treated as separate people. Back then, I thought I could be the center of the attention if Mi-ae were not there. But now I see that, without her, I would be incomplete. Even though I still hate it when people cannot tell us apart, I cannot imagine life without my sister. She is my friend, my family.
Even though people around us know we’re twins, they often ask, “Where is your other half?” or “Which one are you?” or – most ridiculous of all – “Is one of you smarter than the other?” If I had a dollar for every one of these absurd questions, I would be rich.
When I was little, I hated, more than anything else, being forced to be one of a pair, a copy of someone else; a “Twin.” I never enjoyed the reactions (“Aww, how cute!”) when my mother dressed us in matching outfits. So I always wore different styles and colors, joined different circles of friends, played different sports, and even attended different schools.
Because I worked so hard to be different, we have grown up to be two different people. Mi-ae is great at math. She has won awards at her school and in national math contests. She is introverted and studious. She always earns good grades. She’s good with directions and at fixing broken MP3 players. I, on the other hand, am good at drawing pictures and at composing music. I am active and sociable unlike my sister. I love learning foreign languages, especially English. Unlike Mi-ae, I am terrible with directions and I do not know the first thing about what to do with a broken MP3 player. We each have our own values and personalities and each distinguishes us from each other.
But having a twin does come with some advantages. Since we are about the same size, we share the closet and wear each other’s clothes. More than once, we “shared” our homework assignment. Having a twin is living with a best friend (most of the time). We finish each other’s sentences, share the same thoughts, dream the same dreams, and speak the same words at the same time.
At times, when we were younger, we hated each other. We were so obsessed with the idea of being treated as separate people. Back then, I thought I could be the center of the attention if Mi-ae were not there. But now I see that, without her, I would be incomplete. Even though I still hate it when people cannot tell us apart, I cannot imagine life without my sister. She is my friend, my family.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
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