the weather was turning bad, said the radio, and the building itself was not cooperating with the searchers. 'not cooperating' -- that set me thinking. i could understand that. buildings are hard to deal with. they tend to have their own fixed ideas, and you can't convince them otherwise, no sir.
people think that if you know the mind of the architect, you know the mind of the building, but that just isn't so, any more than understanding the parent is the same as understanding the child.
there are so many things that happen to a child, to a building, as it grows. the plans themselves may be altered, slightly or significantly, materials substituted, corners cut. and after the construction is over? wind and rain and smog; the rumble of traffic or of the shifting earth; the flow of people through and around the structure; remodeling, renovation -- all these things change the character of the building in ways which are no easier to predict than the effects of life's experiences on the child, on the adolescent, on the adult.
and when the shock comes, when the explosion comes, who can look at the plans and know how the structure will react?
at that, the building is less stubborn than some of us. it has had reasons to change its mind, and it has become visibly more pliable -- just not in the ways the searchers wished.
sometimes i think it would take more than explosives to change *my* mind.
Copyright 1995 Edward Gaillard. All rights reserved.