If I were an architect, I think my work would be similar to that of the guy who designed the Leaning Tower of Pisa, except with the signature angle accentuated a bit more.  That is to say, it would be the “Giant Pile of Rubble of Pisa.”

I am not skilled in this field. My concept of a building is not complex. My design philosophy is perhaps best represented by this diagram:

Seriously, that’s it. Even the LEGO buildings that I made as a kid looked about like this. The everyday triangular roof is a tricky concept for me. And just forget about anything with curves! Whenever I see a building with curves, it freaks me out; how do they do that?

I’ve mentioned before my pathetic ignorance of this art. But I’ve been trying to remedy it by reading as much as I can about architectural styles, philosophies, techniques etc. I’m pleased to report that I’ve learned some stuff.

So far, I’d say that the closest thing to my “style”  I’ve seen is the one called “Brutalism“:

I like this style. There’s none of this “working with the landscape”.  It seems to say “See this? It’s a building. That’s right, a big freakin’ block for people to go inside of.”  Oh, sure, it’s ugly.  But if I were designing buildings, I’d be concerned mostly with making sure the thing was really solid more than I would be with looks.  I wouldn’t want to be remembered as “the guy whose beautiful building collapsed when a stiff breeze came up at the grand opening”. Maybe I’m too risk averse for this stuff.

Another thing I’ve discovered is about how I learn things.  Some people are “visual” learners: they need to see a picture to understand a concept.  Other people are more abstract, learning stuff by reading about it.  And some people, like me, need both pictures and words–usually several times–before they understand stuff.

If I just read a description of, for instance, Art Nouveau, I can’t picture it in my mind at all.  And if I just see a picture of it, I have no idea what about it makes it distinct from, say, Art Deco.  I have to pretty much carefully read a description of an instance of the one style, while looking at a picture, and then do the same for the other.  It doesn’t come naturally at all.  I think I’ve finally got it, though: AD tends to have more lines, AN tends to have more curves.

So far, that’s what I’ve learned. If I become an expert in the field, I’ll be sure to report back. Although I doubt you can do that just by reading Wikipedia…