ASL Project 2020 Part 1
Community service is something that I have been doing ever since I was in seventh grade. I have been a counselor, girls scouts troop leader assistant, volunteered in soup kitchens and helped during my sunday service at my church. When it came to this year, I decided to branch out from what I had experience in and learn from something new. For this year's ALS project, I decided to go on Zoom Universe and branch out my passion in history by doing a project called “World Architecture Unlocked”. This project transcribes one of the most comprehensive and mysterious collections of architectural photography in the world. What this project does is it takes you back in time to old architecture in a country of your choice and shows how the architecture used to be. I chose this project because I have recently gotten more into history as I take my emergence in global society class and learn more deeply about wars, revolutions, and more. You may choose any countries you would like, so I chose 6 countries: France, Germany, Greece, Brazil, Holland, and Bolivia. Many reasons why I picked those countries was because they have a lot of history behind them or I'm interested to learn more about. My favorite and main pick was France, because while taking AP French in High School I learned a lot about the history and culture and speak the language very well. Although I learned a lot of new information, it has made me aware of how important it is to fully know unknown facts about ancient architecture. As I did my service, I analyzed pictures of old architecture like statues, churches, or other stuff. I had to state based on the information given in the picture or general knowledge in order to let people know missing information that can lead to learn more about the history of it. It heightened my awareness on how important little details and numbers can be when it comes to history and architecture. When I was younger, I would literally look at architecture and would have thoughts like “this is beautiful” or “this is nothing too special”, but after becoming more aware of the questions the service was asking, I came to realization that small details like numbers, words, and small hidden details can tell us a lot about what happened during that time or information that can be used in the future for teachers to teach the right information. My thoughts on architecture and history changed once I fulfilled my six hour requirements. I learned a lot about the importance of details in statues, buildings, or other pieces of architecture that can help us know about history. I found more interest in history as well, and It has made me want to travel to France even more because of an image of the old Notre Dame de Paris to compare the old and first construction of the church, to what it is now after the renovation from the fire. This project made me want to appreciate the world more and become more cultured with important sights like the Statue of Rio De Janeiro or important castles in Germany. I would truly recommend this to someone because it's very interesting and can help many decide where to travel to next, or maybe become interested enough to make more research on these beautiful architectures. I can see myself doing this with my dad who loves art and would love to learn more about architecture in the old days in different parts of the world.
ASL Project Part 2
Part B
Although many of us like looking at art, we never comprehend the importance of learning and investigating old architecture. In the beginning of my service, I was intrigued by the idea of looking at old architecture because I thought I'd be like visiting all these different countries at once going back in time, but once I had to report information like small details, the city, and numbers in the picture I wondered why it was important. According to forum.savingplaces.org, “Like painting, music or literature, these buildings help us understand our capacities as humans”.
This quote really stood out to me because it made me think the way I think. The old information found in the World Architecture Unlocked project can help many people like historians, archaeologists, and teachers learn more about the history of a monument or statue that can help us learn more about the history of a country and later teach and inform others. The amount of capacity we have as humans is something taken for granted. Back in the days, people didn’t have many materials to investigate or know history based on any piece of architecture. We comprehend how the world used to be before and understand what went on in history while this was built. Many small details from old monuments can also be used to learn what the artist was trying to imply while in the making. Many people like Picasso and other famous artists used art in a way to advertise or inform what was going on during the time. Those details could mean very little or a lot to many in order to comprehend the past or the purpose of the design.
Work cited:
https://forum.savingplaces.org/blogs/forum-online/2014/05/23/why-do-old-places-matter-architecture
Greece project- taking encounter the details and numbers shown in the picture to report.
Germany Project- Reporting details from an old casket
Holland Project- Investigating an old house and reporting information shown in picture
France Project- Looking at old statues and reporting the information given, as well as important details.
Bolivia Project- Reporting details from an old church in a small town.
Brazil Project- Reporting missing information and important numbers about an old church
