Architectural Poetry

I chose the poem ALONE by Maya Angelou as my inspriation for my structure. The poem has great meaning and is also prophetic about today with how little people communicate face to face anymore. ALONE talks about how a person reflecting and observing the world around them. The person sees all manner of people ultimately alone and that it is like a storm that will destroy humanity if it is not changed. So to portray this idea, I decided to have lowered floor plan that creates a more intimate setting for the reader. Also the lowered plan gives a sense of rebirth after reading this very strong poem. But this space is also filled with many views and lighting effects that add a sense observation and enlightenment as well. The space also uses nine elements by the entryway. These elements represent the repition and growing sense of urgency as the poem progresses. The last element even towers the structure itself.

Poetry Concepts

I started working on designs for "Alone" by Maya Angelou. The designs I have chosen are a balanced design with both inward and outward pull of vision. There will also be lighting effects in all to represent the enlightenment after reading the poem.

This is the design I will be usimg for the final project. It lowers into the ground to make a more intimate space. It also is lowered to give a sense of rebirth. Great lighting and observation combination. The nine vertical elements on either side represent the repition of the word "alone"in the poem

This is my second design. Less observation, but better lighting. As I built the model i changed the design from my initial drawing.

My third design is more for observation and reflection.

Poetry

THE ROAD NOT TAKEN by Robert Frost

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;


Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,


And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.


I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

I chose this poem because it basically be read like someone deep in thought. It is someone who realizes in every situation there are two paths of action. We can't choose both, but we can study the choices and the live with our decision. This person is showing a feeling of regret. When you regret your decisions it can make you feel like you ae in a prison of your past and your own thoughts. But it is also a hopeful poem as it also shows the possibilities each of our choices can make.

In the first five lines it talks about the speaker coming to a choice and stopping before making a choice. The next five lines are about studying the two choices ahead. The next five state that only one path can ever be chosen because time pushes us ever forward and our choices cannot be undone. The last five lines show the power of our choices and how regret is often a feeling we get when we don't know what would have happened if we had made one different decision.

ALONE by Maya Angelou

Lying, thinking

Last night

How to find my soul a home

Where water is not thirsty

And bread loaf is not stone

I came up with one thing

And I don't believe I'm wrong

That nobody,

But nobody

Can make it out here alone.

Alone, all alone

Nobody, but nobody

Can make it out here alone.

There are some millionaires

With money they can't use

Their wives run round like banshees

Their children sing the blues

They've got expensive doctors

To cure their hearts of stone.

But nobody
No, nobody

Can make it out here alone.

Alone, all alone

Nobody, but nobody

Can make it out here alone.

Now if you listen closely

I'll tell you what I know

Storm clouds are gathering

The wind is gonna blow

The race of man is suffering

And I can hear the moan,

'Cause nobody,

But nobody

Can make it out here alone.

Alone, all alone

Nobody, but nobody

Can make it out here alone.

I chose this poem because i really like the idea of in today's world no one can be completely independent. That we will need to be helped and help others in need. That no one will be able to control every aspect of their lives. This poem is about the loneliness of others and should be read alone. But there is this idea of the reader seeing these things happening and not liking it. So any design for this poem should be a small intimate space with a view outward onto the world. It should be both for reflection and observation.

The poem is be written in a reflective voice, almost as if written in a journal. The first section talks about how in order for no one to go thirsty and hungry and people to be happy that we all must work together. The next large section of the poem talks about how even the rich are hurt by being alone and consumed by other things, showing no one is spared the feelings of isolation. The last large section drives the the idea that humanity will suffer if we cannot learn to work together.