In Search of a Soul, by Raymond Moriyama When I saw this event advertised, I was excited to finally have an opportunity to hear Moriyama in person, and possibly even meet him. After spending so much time with his work, I'm starting to understand a bit more about the process, and about how Moriyama connects the mind, body and soul into the architectural design of his buildings.
His topic for this lecture was "sustainable architecture". And he talked mostly about the design of the Canadian War Museum, and the subtle details of the museum's architecture which reflect the stories of war. It was absolutely fascinating. For example, did you know that the windows along the hall are morse code for CWM (Canadian War Museum), and "Lest we Forget"? Did you know that the pool of water in the Remembrance room was designed for sacred reflection (not a wishing well to throw change in), and an invisible water source drops a drop of water ever twenty seconds into the pool - twenty seconds being the breathing cycle in meditation? And at exactly 11:00, Nov. 11th, the lighting hits the window to the room where the tombstone of the unknown soldier resides, and illuminates the tombstone perfectly? ...and so many more stories!
Sitting in the auditorium I became very aware of the fact that I was out of my league. I was probably the only non-architect in the room! I did, however, discover an untapped resource of single men! Who knew?! I should be hanging out with architects more often!!
After the lecture, we were invited to an exhibit hall to see an architectural exhibit and for a wine & cheese reception. I had a feeling this invitation might have been for the architects specifically, but they weren't checking credentials so I crashed the party. Raymond Moriyama was there to sign copies of his book "In Search of a Soul". I waited in line, and when it was my turn, I introduced myself as "not an architect but an archivist". His response was autographed below:
"Be a great Archivist!"
I will.
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