DEAR ARCHITECTS, WHAT ARE WINDOWS FOR? -asks & reminders by (me!) ~topps

 two considerations; one less suspicious than the other.  but first, an example:

the best example i can provide is when ATM's first entered into our everyday lives.  (year?);  not sure, but what stands out is how ATM's at banks were non existent..  and then absolutely everywhere.

how much time, effort, money went into the design? the programming?  the installation?  how many people contributed to the creation?

but no one..

out of all those people; no one   -as we would learn; no one USED the ATM's in a practical way, in the actual settings they would be used in,  and so..

countless people were standing in front of ATM's unable to read the screen which was blacked out from the direct sun.

live and learn   -write.

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this brings me to my less suspicious reason for why we are seeing, with more frequency, buildings, apartments, condos, townhomes, timeshares..   where the windows from one apartment, are directly across from the neighbors window.   -you are no longer looking  -out-     you are looking  -in-  someone else's living space; and vice versa.   zero privacy.

-sales for window coverings which black out the view are on the rise.   now, people who should have a window to look out, are essentially turning that space into a wall.

why haven't the architects shifted the windows?  

my less suspicious guess is that they have factored in the size, weight, structure, physics involved, what foundation, which lumber, plumbing, on and on (and i only have laypersons vocabulary to work with), 

but they have neglected to experiment with what it will be like  TO ACTUALLY LIVE IN IT.

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my husband and i, visited a condo, where  every. single. window. in the entire house, (kitchen, bathroom, living room, bedroom, patio,  opened directly into someone elses window)    -guess what everyone does..

closes their curtains for privacy.   -why have the windows?    we will never return.

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my suspicious thinking is this:  designs that incentivize people to close themselves in.  out of sight, out of mind.  and/or, forcing an invasion of privacy.   

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there is tremendous value, life enhancing value in windows.  being able to look -outside.  to see the sky, the sun, the rain, the snow, the stars, the clouds; experience natural light  -space, trees, landscapes, birds, activity of passersby, etc.

to see beyond the space you occupy with your physical being.

do this;  stare at a wall.   look out a window.

is the solution that simple?    dear architects..   scatter windows,  -this one to the left, that one to the write; do not line them up looking directly into another persons space.  design windows which allow people to look out; not in. 

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speaking of being closed in:

pros/cons for all things; all things can be used for good or evil,  yes

these virtual reality opportunities for people..   for people who are, immobile, for people who for one valid reason or another  -elderly, disabled, 

for shut-in's, 

for this population, virtual reality, video games, computers are a gift.

but i am very concerned, and use my imagination to see that,  -for young people..   young healthy people spending who knows how many hours in front of a screen in doors   -gaming, shopping, browsing, 

 well, i can see how, for those who reach an age where they can no longer run, hike, ski, walk, explore readily and freely

-how awful to look back and realize..    when i could  have done all those things; i wasted it.

let it serve as a cautionary tale for anyone who has ears to hear..

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from a spiritual warfare perspective    -where the mind is the battlefield;

how your mind is occupied in any given moment is very much worth paying attention to.

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lastly, i will close with..    how, having lived in over 30 places, each time i moved into a new room, i arranged myself to look out a window into the world; the sky

not into someone elses space.

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  In Jesus name, amen & amen.  

posted by SANDRA HARRISON KAY @ 9:54 AM