Reference Archive

My reference is a quote from one of my favourite books called “The rules of Magic” by Alice Hoffman.

"Anything whole can be broken… And anything broken can be put back together again.”

It’s a novel about a family of witches in New York City in the 1960’s. Love, magic and forgiveness are the main themes of the book. My copy of the book is full of underlined quotes and dogeared pages and I had a difficult time choosing just one quote as a reference. The reason I finally decided upon this one is that it might not necessarily describe how I view the world but rather how I would like to see the world.

I’m neither an optimist nor a pessimist. But I am both hopeful and terrified at the same time. And this quote reminds me that just as anything whole can be broken, anything broken can be made whole again. It’s a reminder that life is full of paradoxes and that one cannot exist without the other. No joy without sadness, no health without sickness and no life without death.

This quote ties together very well with some of my main interests when it comes to architecture, and subjects I’d like to explore further. I’ve always had a fascination with historical buildings and restoration design. I want to take care of the buildings that already exist and use whatever broken pieces that can be used to heal the scars in our built environment.

My other interest is in healthcare design and the subject of health correlating to architectural design in general. I’ve had several different health issues for more than half of my life. I’ve seen countless doctors and visited different healthcare facilities. I know what a difference the way you’re treated by a doctor or a nurse can make and I also know the impact the environment can have on a persons well being and capacity to heal. A welcoming and calm environment can lower stress levels and lead to faster and greater healing than a sterile and fear inducing space.

So I’d like to explore further how one can heal the world in many ways, and how it all connects in a holistic sense. One part of the whole always affects and is affected by the other parts of the same whole. How can healing a building also help heal a sick patient, and then help heal a community and society on a larger scale. Whatever we do has a ripple effect and with that comes great responsibility. So the quote can be flipped backwards.

”Anything broken can be put back together again. And anything whole can be broken.”