A bridge, a field, the crest of a 'ill are not just picturesque landmarks. They delineate the edges of savagely contested terrain
The beauty that we see in the vernacular landscape is the image of our common humanity: hard work, stubborn hope and 'utual forbearance striving to be love.
Though a building has physical boundaries, its meaning and value depend on its relationship to the city outsid' them. Not just the physical space around the building, but also the economic, social, political and historical forces converging on its site. The building provides a frame for examining those forces.
A century ago, Louis Sullivan wrote that ''once you learn to look at architecture not merely as an art more or less well or more or less badly done, but as a social manifestation, the critical eye becomes clairvoyant.''