BLOG REVISION #2

Syracuse in the 1800s.

As most European cities, Syracuse got extremely desolate and destructed during World War II, but they are doing everything possible to preserve the history of the architecture and preserve what is left of the cultural aspects of this. Sir Winston Churchill said "We shape our buildings, therefore they shape us." This is the perfect quote to depict my feelings toward historical buildings. They help shape our culture, our emotions, and our art. What amazes me is that even after a huge war, countries still manage to salvage a lot of their buildings and reconstruct them to preserve their history. Now, when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, the entire city was wiped out and they had to re-build the whole thing. This to me, is extremely sad. Every memory, every historical piece, was completely wiped away by a hurricane, which can be a lot less damaging then a full scale war. European cities with historical architecture prove to us that their cultures and memories are important enough to salvage and protect. Where I grew up in Europe, generations would grow up and live in one building. This was possible because buildings actually lasted!

The automobile industry started when a lot of the popular railroad routes were destroyed in the war. In those days, railroads got more damage then actual buildings, so when the automobile industry came in to the picture, it became "King". Since these cities already existed, roads had to be built around houses and towns, which created for much tinier and narrower streets. In the USA, streets were built before buildings a lot of the time, which is why we have bigger highways and streets. I will be discussing roadways and streets in Europe versus America in my next blog :)

Anyways, back to the discussion of preserving and restoring old buildings, this cute little website discusses Poland and the restoration that it needed after World War II. In a city called Warsaw, there are two major towns. These two towns are called Old Town and New Town. However, New town is almost as old as Old Town and both have been very well preserved. This reminds me a bit of when I was little and my parents would explain to me why there was a Old and New testament in the Bible. To us, 2,000 years old is still old!


Syracuse- A historic outline by Henry W. Schramm, http://syracusethenandnow.org/

I revised this blog because I felt like it was too short and also because I wanted to add another source to compare my first to. To me, preservation of old buildings is just as vital to each city as the actual preservation of it's history. So, in an effort to show this to my reader I thought another source with a link was an adequate way to show them my point.

BLOG REVISION #1

My dad told me when I was a little girl that in Europe, especially in older, more historic cities, buildings were built so closely together that neighbors could shake hands in the morning. Streets were built in between them, sometimes even those streets used to drive on! I thought he was exaggerating but this is a picture I took myself this summer in Germany. As I have mentioned before, roads in Europe were built before cars were invented, so they were mostly used for carriages or walking. The streets in the U.S. were built after the automobile Revolution; therefore they are more prepared for traffic and more comfortable to drive on. I literally thought I was going to die every day my dad would drive us around because it was so chaotic. Even on the freeways (the “autobahn” which for the most part has no speed limit) we would only have two lanes to drive on most of the time. Our freeways here in the U.S. are much slower and we have up to four or five lanes. Crazy right?
I will start out by quoting a blog “travel photo” who said this: Do you know the difference between European and American streets?

European towns were built for you to wake up and and get down to the street cafe under your apartment to drink your coffee. American towns were built very broad. That's for defense purposes - when Russian bombs fall and all the houses are ruined, tanks should have enough place to go through the streets of a town :-D
Click here for more!
This brings me to a totally different topic. Yes, it is convenient and much easier to drive in America, but there is something quite charming about European streets. There are cute shopping kiosks everywhere, food stands, and hundreds of pedestrians. Here in America, one almost gets out of the habit of watching out for pedestrians because there are so few of them! In Europe, pedestrians and bike riders are the majority.

When I looked up “Roman Roads” in the sixth edition of the Columbia Encyclopedia, it discusses how the roads were rebuilt after they were destroyed throughout the years and how many old bridges are even still in use. This is another element of Europe that I love. They don’t rip everything down and start over every few decades; they re-build and re-store. An old bridge can be absolutely stunning and contain a lot of history but every time a bridge in America is damaged (or just if we get bored with it) it gets completely ripped down and completely remade.

In Conclusion, European roads and American roads are very different because of their size, they atmosphere, and their history. This is a major part of European history and even it’s architecture. I feel as if I could go on and one about how important the atmosphere of a city is to it's history and that is what I will be discussing in my next blog! It is crucial to have a good atmosphere in a historical city not only to further it's historical charm but to satisfy it's visitors, who come for this kind of experience!

I felt this needed revision because it did not have a picture! I also made several grammatical changes and embeded my link into the "click here for more". These suggestions were given to me through my peer review response so I figured input from a fellow classmate was the most useful way to edit my blog. Also, it is now much easier to navigate through my page and more interesting to look at with different links and more pictures.

The streets of Europe...

My dad told me when I was a little girl that in Europe, especially in older, more historical cities, buildings were built so closely together neighbors could shake hands in the morning. Streets were built in between them, sometimes even streets to drive down! I thought he was exaggerating but this is a picture I took myself this summer in Germany. As I have mentioned before, roads in Europe were built before cards were invented, so they were mostly used for carriage or walking. The streets in the U.S. were built after the automobile Revolution; therefore they are more prepared for traffic and more comfortable to drive on. I literally thought I was going to die every day my dad would drive us around because it was so chaotic. Even on the freeways (the “autobahn” which for the most part has no speed limit) would only have two lanes most times. Our freeways are much slower and we have up to four or five lanes. Crazy right?
I will start out by quoting a blog “travel photo” who said this: Do you know the difference between European and American streets?

European towns were built for you to wake up and and get down to the street cafe under your apartment to drink your coffee. American towns were built very broad. That's for defense purposes - when Russian bombs fall and all the houses are ruined, tanks should have enough place to go through the streets of a town :-D
(http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/blog-481685.html)
This brings me to a totally different topic. Yes, it is convenient and much easier to drive in America, but there is something quite charming about European streets. There are cute shopping kiosks everywhere, food stands, and hundreds of pedestrians. Here in America, one almost gets out of the habit of watching out for pedestrians because there are so few of them! In Europe, pedestrians and bike riders are the majority.

When I looked up “Roman Roads” in the sixth edition of the Columbia Encyclopedia, it discusses how the roads were rebuilt after they were destroyed throughout the years and how many old bridges are even still in use. This is another element of Europe that I love. They don’t rip everything down and start over every few decades; they re-build. An old bridge can be absolutely stunning and contain a lot of history but every time a bridge in America is damaged (or just if we get bored with it) it gets completely ripped down and completely remade.

In Conclusion, European roads and American roads are very different because of their size, they atmosphere, and their history. This is a major part of European history and even it’s architecture.

Syracuse in the 1800s.

As most European cities, Syracuse got extremely desolate and destructed during World War II, but they are doing everything possible to preserve the history of the architecture and preserve what is left of the cultural aspects of this. Sir Winston Churchill said "We shape our buildings, therefore they shape us." This is the perfect quote to depict my feelings toward historical buildings. They help shape our culture, our emotions, and our art. What amazes me is that even after a huge war, countries still manage to salvage a lot of their buildings and reconstruct them to preserve their history. Now, when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, the entire city was wiped out and they had to re-build the whole thing. This to me, is extremely sad. Every memory, every historical piece, was completely wiped away by a hurricane, which can be a lot less damaging then a full scale war. European cities with historical architecture prove to us that their cultures and memories are important enough to salvage and protect. Where I grew up in Europe, generations would grow up and live in one building. This was possible because buildings actually lasted!

The automobile industry started when a lot of the popular railroad routes were destroyed in the war. In those days, railroads got more damage then actual buildings, so when the automobile industry came in to the picture, it became "King". Since these cities already existed, roads had to be built around houses and towns, which created for much tinier and narrower streets. In the USA, streets were built before buildings a lot of the time, which is why we have bigger highways and streets. I will be discussing roadways and streets in Europe versus America in my next blog :)

Syracuse- A historic outline by Henry W. Schramm, http://syracusethenandnow.org/

Why did they stop?

This is my favorite building in the world. I took this picture when I was in Germany this summer. This is the Berlin Cathedral. Now look out your window and look at the buildings we have now. You can even go look at churches built in the last century and you will find nothing close to this. Why not? Why has the architecture, detail, and extravagant art change so drastically over the course of the last millenium?
Some answers could be laziness, not enough time, or that we are in a different culture now. The answer that would make me the most sad is that people just don't care about art anymore. Sure, we still have our "art freaks" walking around every high school and college campus that dream to be sculptors, painters, and photographers, but who cares about old buildings anymore? Let me tell you why it still matters.

Each detail on this building was carefully thought out by an artist and put together with hundreds of sculptors, architectures, and just plain geniuses. These details were not only pretty to look at in the long run but also told a story about the history and culture of this building. The elaborate art on this building was thought out for decades, maybe even centuries, to entertain millions of people for years and years to come. Nobody comes to the U.S. to look at the buildings; our buildings are new, shiny, and will blow over the second a category two hurricane arrives. However, the buildings in Asia and Europe that were built hundreds of years ago are so durable and so majestic that they will still be standing in another thousand years. Each building was built in a different era and tells a different story about not only the building itself but of life back then. A glance at one building can teach you the culture of a whole people group.

My one big relief is that unless some total idiot comes and tears these buildings down, at least we will always have them to look back on. However, why not make our own history with art? Why do we study history and feel smarter just by looking at these buildings yet settle for the way things are today? Isn't it more interesting to look at a beautiful building for historical knowledge then staring into a text book? Without these buildings, I would have never been inspired to change my major to history just to stare into a book for the next four years. My inspiration was the beauty and art depicted by these buildings that contribute to the historical world.