NATIVE PLACES: THE NEWSLETTER
A collection of thoughts and hand-drawn sketches that illustrate the value of looking closely at buildings and places.
An Epiphany at the Loading Dock
The buildings on the campus where I teach stand in a picturesque setting of stately trees and lawns. But in my student days I thought this landscape was so staid that at night I planted moon vines among the hedges.
Recently I’ve enjoyed walking through the jumble of service yards, emergency generators, and loading docks that serve the main campus.
One afternoon, I noticed a vigorous clump of holly trees growing beside a concrete loading dock. Such a lusty patch of green seemed out of place in a gritty service yard. I speculated that many years ago someone planted and then abandoned four small holly bushes. Eventually the bushes grew into small trees, until one day a contractor ringed them with a collar of asphalt. They simply grew taller and shaded the loading dock.
Then an architect designed a building that blocked the sun. Still, the holly trees grew, reaching upwards to catch the morning sun.
Neglect was a sturdy shelter. No one came to prune or spread fertilizer or spray pesticides on the hollies, who looked after themselves.
If the ancient trees and lawns of main campus shape a setting of academic splendor, these forgotten trees in a leftover space are probably closer to real life. A mixture of divine and ugly, host to flocks of birds at night, vulnerable and resilient, bookended by pickup trucks, strange and beautiful and wild.
I didn’t see any need for moon vines.
Native Places: Drawing as a Way to See: A book by Frank Harmon. To learn more click here.
Frank Harmon is an architect, educator, and writer who is well known for designing buildings that cultivate the “native wisdom” of their place.
He sketches often, finding that the practice enriches his connection to the world. In his recently released book, Frank offers an invitation: drawing as a way to inspire curiosity, presence, and everyday joy.