This past June, I attended the architectural symposium hosted by Brian Mackay-Lyons at his farm in Nova Scotia, entitled GHOST 13: Ideas in Things. Each time I’ve tried to write about it or do something with it, or even tell someone what it was like, I’ve struggled and writhed and decided to take a break.
A major factor in my attendance at GHOST was actually Rick Hauser, partner at In. Site: Architecture, where I’ve enjoyed working for the past nearly 3 years. Here are some great posts on other people’s blogs and articles, shared by Rick, that aim to give a taste:Architectural Record, Ned Forrest Architects and
Design Build Bluff.
A new friend from the conference who returned home to Scotland even mentioned it – “The experience has been pretty much impossible to describe to anyone back here and do it justice!”
A new friend from the conference who returned home to Scotland even mentioned it – “The experience has been pretty much impossible to describe to anyone back here and do it justice!”
Ghost was a study in optimism, and a gathering of like-minded souls pursuing great architecture through a few very specific lenses: Craft, Place, Community. We all flew to Halifax, bounced through the beautiful country-side to Lunenberg and stayed in picturesque B & B's so typical of this harbor town. The next morning, we bounced through the country-side further, to the coast, to Brian’s family farm. We were greeted by mud and rain and farm animals and incredibly beautiful structures floating through the epic landscape like ghosts.
We attended lectures that should have been typical – they were professors, designers, firm principals, sharing slides of built work and sketches and photographs of things their teams had labored over for years, things they had already written about and spoken about before. And we’d all been to architectural lectures throughout our education, and if we’re fortunate or determined, since we’ve been practicing. But something in the air was different. I was hard pressed to find the person who didn’t appear fully involved. Most of the stereotypical fiddling with iphones and sketchbooks was actually an ardent attempt to record every word, every image, every notion. Also, it wasn’t one lecture, one passionate speaker, but more than twenty over the course of days and nights of full-body immersion. We were immersed in the love for quality design and the positive impact it can have on lives, but also in the immeasurable, unspeakable ways that the planet and the people and the structures we try to build are all beautiful and valuable…
[this waxing eloquent and yet saying nothing is specifically why I’ve avoided writing for so long… at least I’ve spared you most of it!]
We were greeted by the giants, people who I never thought I’d do more than read about. And we not only heard Juhanni Pallasmaa and Kenneth Frampton and Glenn Murcutt speak. We spoke to them, after their lectures, in line for coffee and over sketches and questions at lunch. Patricia Patkau and Tom Kundig and Marlon Blackwell didn’t just show slides, they showed great architecture and the deep personal involvement required to participate in its creation.
In the end, I think all we were trying to do was to understand:
- How to do work that matters,
- And that we are not alone in doing so,
- And that it is a lifelong pursuit,
- But that there are ways to improve your approach, and almost… to perfect it.
- That we all have taken up the mantle of commitment to ourselves, our clients, the planet, to create passionately and responsibly so that our buildings may be compassionate and compelling.