Little rant about architecture

I have no clue what category to put this in but I like to study architecture so school I guess.

I LOVE ARCHITECTURE SO MUCH. The idea that for centuries and centuries and centuries humans have been making shelters for various purposes (living, learning, religious stuff, etc) and sometimes they decided “hey. You know what would be cool? Let’s hire someone that has a passion for this and get them to design our building to be really cool and pretty. And let’s hire one that specialises in a specific style I like.” is SOOO cool. 

And there’s SO MANY different styles of architecture that reflect what was going on in the world at that time and place. Romanesque architecture? Has thick, impenetrable walls because European nations were at war and worried about defending themselves against an invasion. International architecture style? Cheaper, minimalistic, and easier to build and design because there’s less decorations and more functionality, because builders and the people funding them grew resentment for the “useless” decorative things that had no function. Brutalism? Defiant, completely out of the norm at the time it was created, blocky, geometric, rough because people were trying to be creative and different.

Don’t even get me STARTED on places of worship. Am I religious? Absolutely not. Will I spend hours staring at a place of worship given the chance? Give me a camera and 4 hours and I’ll be happy for the rest of the month. They’re always so bloody PRETTY. All of them, not just Christian churches. It’s like whichever architect(s) designed it ascended to wherever whatever god(dess) the building’s for roams and specifically asked them for instructions. ESPECIALLY WHEN THERE’S STAINED GLASS. I LOVE STAINED GLASS. If I ever see a place of worship with stained glass I WILL fall to my knees and sob at the beauty. You know that feeling when you see the most beautiful thing in the world? Whatever it is for you, the sky, an animal, the ocean, whatever, that’s the feeling I get when I see buildings (and the moon/stars but that’s not today’s topic)

Also, pet peeve of the century, I HATE when I’m looking at buildings on Pinterest and I look closer and it’s FUCKING AI. I DESPISE AI. Like there are SO many GORGEOUS buildings and you chose to use AI?? WHAT??? If I see one more ai generated picture of architecture, I am going to sob pathetically.

And. Cambridge University. Oh my god. What gods of people designed Cambridge University? I love Cambridge. And Oxford for that matter, but particularly Cambridge.

I could go on and on honestly. My favourite style right now is either classical or gothic (originally known as Opus Francigenum)

I hope you enjoyed my ramble. There will be more in the future.