While on our ramble on campus the other day I realized there were elements of nature right in front of my face that I had not noticed before. I found the portion of the excursion in which we observed and analyzed Kirby Hall of Civil Rights left me with lingering questions and thoughts.

This was so fascinating to me because never had I really considered nature would have an influence on a manmade structure that ultimately supplants nature. Furthermore, I had somehow managed to never notice nature had an influence on a building right here on campus that I walk by nearly everyday. From the numerous animals and branches on the elaborate entrance to the decorative flowers on columns in the foyer and a strange stack of acorns carved into the marble above an interior doorway, I began to wonder why images of nature make their way into the manmade world.

It is clear nature has influenced the manmade world, but I found myself wondering what motivates this incorporation of nature into manmade structure? Is this motivation due to the symbolism we find in certain aspects of nature, to their aesthetically pleasing elements, to a combination of the two, or to something else entirely? While during our rambling I found some of the embellishments of nature incorporated to be symbolic and some to be decorative, but I wonder if there was more symbolism or purpose to the things I overlooked or marked off as decorative features. Not only is this symbolism and use of nature in the manmade world something I want to better understand, but it is also something I think I will be much more conscious of from here on out.

Here are some more examples I found while exploring online!

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/showcasing/women-architects/