Mies Van Der Rohe

A little over two years ago I went to a party in Chicago on Lakeshore Drive. The building where the party was hosted looked somehow familiar to me but must have resulted unimpressive to many. Now, look at the picture below and try to guess when this high rise was designed. The answer is 1948. The architect is Ludwig Mies van der Rohe: one of the great minds that contributed to make Chicago an architectural masterpiece.

Beauty is around you. Sometimes you need to dig just a little deeper to appreciate the beauty of ideas and their impact on the world.

Will Beauty save the world? I’m still unsure but am slowly getting there, Fyodor.

The Purpose of This Blog

What am I talking about here? It all started from a Dostoevski quote: "Beauty will save the world”. Why am I obsessed with it? Well, the answer is simple: as anyone else, I’m constantly looking for “the” reason, the truth, the purpose, the answer to all our doubts. If you ever felt confused, misled or simply not satisfied with all the explanations that you’ve heard of about life and its purpose, here’s something self explanatory, immediately evident, straightforward and undoubtedly true: Beauty.

Now, it’s up to you to define what Beauty is.

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s Nobel Lecture on Literature might help you out.

Peer Gynt

Henrik Ibsen wrote a play to shape “the conception of poetry” in his country, Norway. On February 24, 1876 the first performance of “Peer Gynt” in Oslo featured incidental music composed by Edvard Grieg.

I don’t know whether or not Ibsen achieved his goal but am sure that he inspired music of unparalleled romanticism.

Will beauty save the world? Listen to Grieg’s Solveig’s Song from Peer Gynt and you will agree that it can at least save your day.

What do I know?

Will Beauty save the world? Not sure about that. What I know is that it makes it a much better place to be living in.