Nowadays one can find anything and everything in the Internet. Videos of cats, funny pranks, and even makeup tutorials abound. Yet in the renew ending cosmos of the internet there is a little blog names Modernist Architecture that, for me and other architects, is the reason why the internet is great. This blog is basically the ramblings and thoughts of a seasoned and unknown architectural photographer. The blogger photographs buildings the are interesting to him, and through his lens and written words, evokes interest in the reader as well. The main focus of his blog are the amazing pictures he takes, yet the text helps the blog’s visitors to grasp the photographer’s passion for the subject. Such text is normally supported by common knowledge (or information commonly known by architects) and important architectural magazines such as Deezen, Details and Design Milk. His writing, at times subjective, at times professional, is captivating and authoritative, but mainly gives off the sense that the blogger is doing this for fun and personal intrigue. His angle or approach to the topic varies from post to post. He generally writes and shoots buildings that are interesting to him, and explains his personal views and thoughts about such structure, trying to express and define the elements that captured his attention. He also talks constantly about his relationship with the architecture, how he came to learn about the building, his first impression when seeing it, his experience while photographing it. The buildings he explores are then linked to other projects around the world, delving the reader further into the architectural world.
This blog, for me personally, is one of the most exciting pages of the internet because it has a clear purpose: learn about the built environment and appreciate the architecture around us. As a blogger myself, I try to write about Mexican architecture because I am passionate about it, I want to learn more about it and I think not many people know about it. This blogger follows the same formula: find a topic you like and find interesting, explore the building and do research, post a brief story about he building and the reasons behind its importance. He manages to do this while always arousing the mind of the reader, making him wonder what is the history behind every cool building we pass by. Through a clean, simple and photo-centric layout ( what one could call modernist graphics), the blog reads easily and the pictures register the point made in the argument. Such layout also allows the reader to keep scrolling thorough its content, which, if you find architecture interesting, is a good thing because there are nearly a hundred posts, each significant in length and information. Given he has been blogging since 2013, and frequently posts different projects every two or three weeks, the range of styles and buildings he covers is great, a testament to perseverance and passion. And as I mentioned before, he does this for himself. He likes to learn about these projects, and the added commentaries and attention are just an afterthought. Similar to my blog, given it is such a niche topic, he rarely gets too many visitors, with his post varying in comments from 3 to 10, most of which thank him for his insight and work. He never responds, because, why would he? This is by him for him, and as long as he’s proud of it, nothing else matters.
So I’m thankful for the internet because I guess I just found a blogger role model. Someone who doesn't care about the spotlight, but about architecture and the beauty and meaning behind it. A blogger who is passionate, intrigued and invested. A blog that focuses on a meaningful topic over random videos of cats and celebrities. A blog that celebrates the architectural field.
http://modernistarchitecture.blogspot.com/
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