LOOKING UP

          It dawned on me when in England recently, that in looking at buildings I do not often find myself looking up.  I could speculate on a number of reasons why this might be so, but in general I would say, is the  top of a building interesting enough to catch my attention?  Usually not.  What I do know is that when I landed on the English soil, suddenly I was drawn to the tops of buildings.  I was constantly ‘looking up’.   They were interesting and unique.  Each building ‘top’ had a personality that made me smile.  Some called for respect and dignity while others seemed more playful and artistic.  All  claimed  importance as a finishing touch to the building served.

           While my camera kept catching the chimneys, my writings described them as ‘a line of pottery jugs sitting on a shelf’.  I found them charming in every way.   No two were the same. Even on the row houses – each chimney was a bit different.  The number, the shape, the height of the ‘pottery jugs’ . . . each chimney claimed its own voice as it spoke to the sky above.   I began to think of buildings that make us look up - that seem to speak to the sky above.

          Cathedrals!  Anyone who has visited a European city, village, or town knows that the church steeples can be seen from miles away.  Often it is the ‘top of the church’ that we see before anything else.  They stand out.  They are noticed. They claim an importance.

         Historical information indicates that the  design of the steeple was to make the church visible from every part of town - similar to a tracking device that helps one navigate and find a location.  Steeples were to be the tallest structure in the town which also spoke to the importance of the church to the community’s life as a place to gather, discuss, connect, learn, and worship.

        There were two other important features of church steeples and both relate to communication.  It is in the steeple that the bells are located.  They were sounded at times of potential danger such as fire or an attack on the town - just as they were rung for religious celebrations and high holy days.  In some cases the steeple also acted as a lantern, providing light to the center of the town.  

         The words of Karl Phillipp Moritz ring true for me as well as I reflect on English buildings . . .  Westminster Abbey, the Tower, a steeple, one church, and then another, presented themselves to our view; and we could now plainly distinguish the high round chimneys on the tops of the houses, which yet seemed to us to form an innumerable number of smaller spires, or steeples.  

         The tops of buildings!  Personalities like artwork.  Certainly makes it worth ‘looking up’! 


And thus begins a series of blogs on English place stories . . .


To learn more about how spaces impact our behaviors visit spatialimpact.com