under:COVER

A disguise. A lie. A fake facade that concels the truth. Pretending to be what one is not. Saying one thing, while the truth and reality remains otherwise. A direct and intentional mislead.

That is what achitecture has become.

Stucco is a cover. It is used to hide the fact that a building is made out of cylinder blocks or some other material. It tells the viewer that the wall is a single mass, when the truth is that this barrier is made of a constituency. Many components working together towards a single goal- in this case a wall.

Why? What is so wrong about embracing the material used? So it's concrete blocks and not solid gold. Get over it. This material was chosen for a reason. It serves a function that is done very well and done inexpensively. Are these people ashamed of their decision? They shouldn't be. They made the right choice. So they shouldn't have to hide it. Embrace it. Embrace the texture of the concrete. Embrace the module it creates. So it may not be the most beautiful, asthetically-pleasing material pallet. Stain it. Cover it with something that brings out its nature in new way. I've seen panels of particle board that were treated and looked gorgous. And particle board is a material with a bad reputation and for good reasons. It's been misused. Mistreated. But a gathering/seating area inside Full Sail University uses it for benches and does not try to lie about it. And it looks amazing.

A wave of uneasment- no, more than that, it was more along the lines of a deep-seated anger- ran over me when I came across a building in Charleston that had painted over granite panels. GRANITE. EXPENSIVE, BEAUTIFUL ROCK. It was covered with SOME BLAND, NON-DESCRIPT GREY PAINT. It makes no sense. It's plain blasphemy. A crime. The only enjoyment it brought was this sense of discovery when one notices the peeling back of paint. Its like dusting some dirt of a rock and having revealed a beautiful jem.

Sometimes you just have to find the beauty in natural things. Sometimes you just have to embrace things for what they are, and let that shine through.

Sometimes, you can't cover the truth.