Monday, November 17, 1997
Best-laid plans are those of the original architect
DREAMS:
Without a blueprint, life can seem as disorganized as new
buildings on campus
There’s been so much construction in my life, I’ve started
dreaming about it. My parents are getting a 5,000-unit subdivision
built behind their house. My neighboring apartment building is
having its roof redone. And my way to class is getting longer now
as the "black veil" across Bruin Walk protects me from the Wrath of
Construction.
Retaining composure is difficult for those of us who wake up to
roaring generators, hissing hoses, and the rank smell of tar. The
foreign sights and sounds which greet us as we awaken are merely
evidence of the campus-construction invasion. When construction
assails our minds, we are thereafter pawns in her state.
I am dreaming of buildings breaking out of the ground. Are they
friendly? They’re coming toward me! A whole crowd of them gathers
’round me. It’s Perloff, and he implores, "Who is the most
attractive building at UCLA?"
Ackerman interjects, "I’m the biggest so surely I am the best! I
get many visitors who just come to see the most stylish blond hair
on campus."
Kerckhoff speaks next, making the students second: "Not only
aren’t you the biggest, but I am the one with the best hair on this
campus!"
It behooved me to play the diplomat. "Even with the rebellious
hairstyle, Ackerman is not so bad. With the restored spires,
Kerckhoff, your hairstyle won’t make you royalty either." I wave
around the blueprints of the original architect to show everyone
how ugly the campus turned out.
Hopefully, that will stop all this further construction. Then I
can look forward to something invaluable to every student: sleep
with the option of dreaming.
After all the modern buildings had dispersed, Kerckhoff
explained to me, "The campus doesn’t like hearing about the
original architect and the blueprints he left for us to
follow."
I look up to Royce and Powell, so I go ask them, "What do you
guys think of the new buildings on campus?"
Royce laments, "They’re terrible. Ever since UCLA stopped
following the original architect’s plans, none of the buildings
look good, especially next to each other. The original architect
wanted us to all be of the same spirit."
After meeting my heroes, I patted Haines and Kinsey on the wall:
"You’re great, because you still believe in the original
architect’s plan!"
I wanted to show everyone the original blueprints and try to
convince them that all future construction should proceed according
to the original plans.
Powell thought I should be realistic. "It’s hard to convince
anyone by showing them the blueprints. But those of us who are
original hope that if we stand really straight and have a good
face, others will remember the architect who made us all."
Seeing Campbell gave me the idea of getting his support for the
campaign to reinstate the original blueprints. He was direct with
me: "No one cares if the construction has gone awry. I agree that
things can change, but architecture is not one of them." Was my
plan going to work?
My doubts were building. Covered by a shadow, I felt a tap on my
shoulder. As I turned around, Bunche stood there with his gang of
architectural hoodlums.
Bunche was spiteful, "You been sayin’ we ugly? You been
disrespectin’ what I stand for? "
Fearing deconstruction by the university, I hid the
blueprints.
"No, I just think you could be rebuilt on the inside. You could
also drop that mean facade."
The Inverted Fountain growled and rushed toward me. But I wasn’t
about to be flushed down the toilet by a bunch of monolithic
blockheads. I then kicked the proverbial "chicken legs" Bunche, who
fell, crushing his band of misfits. And on that day, Towell passed
on from our campus.
I am free from the grips of construction! No, neither the ugly
buildings nor the construction that produces them at an alarming
rate has been eradicated. I am free in the sense that as a writer
and as a reflective individual, I can expound on the deeper meaning
of life, and any other fantasies. The real profit comes from
unlocking the vault that holds the secrets of dreams. It is my
alchemic intention for us to now cash in on what might seem
nonsensical.
I do not rant about construction because, as a rule, it is
always unnecessary. I do feel that construction should have a good
purpose. Some construction, in my opinion, is unnecessary (retiling
Bruin Walk near Powell), or so atrocious that it makes ugly
building uglier (the entrance to Public Policy and the arches on
Ackerman are two of my vexations).
My contention is that as long as this campus troubles itself
with building, it should at least obtain a decent architect and do
the job right. Let us not exacerbate the already intolerable level
of eye strain present in Westwood for would-be Bruins.
On another level, we can also extract a message about life from
UCLA’s use of an assortment of architects with conflicting
visions.
If we live without knowing our grand purpose in life, then our
lives also become a jumbled assortment of experiences and
impressions. As we listen to our culture say that "anything is
possible," we no longer feel the need to pour our heart into the
thing that matters to us most; we may find ourselves at the end of
life with a bucketful of sand and no rocks.
If we had blueprints for our lives, would they be constructed
more meaningfully than our campus?
As an architect wants to build well, we want to live well. If we
do not follow blueprints, we might think that good living involves
maintaining a good facade, rather than considering that all
glorious structures were painstakingly built from the inside
out.
Whenever new construction gets under way, I always wonder if
it’s going to turn out well. Holding the blueprints, we can monitor
our progress. Before following any blueprints, we should consider
the credentials of the architect who drafted them.
An experienced architect who has already built what we wish to
build is the one to be sought. As we wish to get some part of
greatness for ourselves, wouldn’t it make sense to seek out the
ones who have done that before us successfully?
Who has a better claim to that than Jesus Christ? Our real
longing is not to do things our way, but to do them the right way,
or for some, to do them God’s way. The essence of freedom is not
being able to do what I want, but being able to be who I want to
be.
St. Paul exhorts Christians to partake in the work of God: "So
then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow
citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been
built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ
Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole building,
being fitted together is growing into a holy temple in the Lord; in
whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in
the Spirit." (Ephesians 2:19-22)
In contemplating the words of St. Paul, let us be reminded by
Horace Mann that "if any (Bruin) seeks for greatness, let him
forget greatness and ask for truth, and he will find both." Where
is the truth you seek?