Circumstance dictates that my brief visit to Gdansk is extended. Normally this would be an unwelcome imposition but i find myself pleased by the difficulties that keep me here.
This evening I had arranged to meet with colleagues but at a late hour decided to rain check and take the opportunity to explore further this beautiful city. I eventually found myself in one of the many subterranean bars. A pleasant place with sympathetic lighting and thankfully no music. I was reading an article on woven structures which is a subject that holds some interest for me when a young woman asked me what it was that i did.
I am an engineer.
Oh!
May I ask why you ask and how do you know I speak English?
With a deservedly mischievous smile I learn that she is an architect and of course the paper I was reading was in english.
We spoke for some time on the rebuilding of Gdansk but what interested me most was her view of the rolls that engineers and architects play in the creation of beautiful architecture.
We differed in that she believed that the engineer was responsible in part for the artistic outcome. This is possibly only true because the architects in the main lack the knowledge to complete the whole process. Engineers mainly but not exclusively see problems in practical terms, choosing to resolve them with mathematics and physics.
I imagine the architect as they truly are, the artist. The vision of any artist is what I believe is possibly the most important and poignant cultural manifestation of humanity. For what we observe when experiencing any form of art is the shadow of the soul of the artist, that which is illuminated by what it is that inspires the art itself. The artists is shaped like all of us by their life experience and the artist diffracts and shapes their view of the world as a result. Their expression is an insight into their soul.
I love all forms of art because I believe they allow a deeper insight into humanity.
