 |
| Image credit |
This is hopefully the beginning of a weekly series of posts for me. I'll highlight things I love about Scotland, the UK, other parts of the world, life in general.
Its ARCHITECTURE is definitely one of the reasons I adore Edinburgh. No matter how sad, upset or stressed I may be, a glimpse of the fantastic Georgian New Town restores me to a state of peace and harmony. I've spent hours wondering why that was and I think it has all to do with symmetry. The proportions are graceful and generous and incredibly pleasing. The mellow colour of the stone gives a fantastic contrast with the Edinburgh skies and the black/white painted wrought iron detailing; and in the places where ancient cobbled streets remain, strolling on a rainy grey afternoon in front of these magnificent buildings is an incredibly soothing experience.
I'm not an architect by any means, if you wish to know more about Edinburgh's Georgian architecture I found this article very informative.
The fact that the quarry that provided most of the stone for the buildings in the New Town is just a stone's throw from our (decidedly NOT Georgian) home is just serendipity...
And one last interesting note: I think my fascination with symmetry is a consequence of my dyslexia. I find busy images very difficult and tiring to process; a simple stroll through my son's primary school - with classrooms and corridors plastered with children's 'art', random printed images and letters, spaces crammed with unmatched furniture and bright, primary colours - makes me physically sick. My brain is struggling to process that chaos. If my school had been like that when I was a child, I doubt I would have been able to overcome the quirks of dyslexia as successfully as I had.
Surprisingly, my favourite street in Edinburgh is not Georgian but Victorian... yet is equally soothing through its symmetry. I'll take a picture at the week-end and update this post with it.
No comments:
Post a Comment