mrt, Jenks 9/14

     Our discussion today really got me thinking about anamnesis and how far we can take the notion of nostalgia in regards to it. In the example made about the Spanish tiles, it does make sense to me that since most of us probably have no personal connection to Spanish architecture historically, even though we can attribute this feature to a specific style or even time period of architecture, we have no real experience to liken it with. However, I wonder if other styles of architecture can transcend stylistic choice into nostalgia and/or anamnesis. In class we looked at an image of the Theatre Royal De La Monnaie and while as the title states it is a theatre, upon viewing I immediately assumed it was a government building because of the Greco-Roman aspects of its build (for example the columns and the fresco). Most of the government buildings I’ve personally seen also incorporate facets of this design, giving me at least some lived experience to relate the image with-- we briefly talked about how the government buildings downtown exhibited a similar design furthering this idea. I feel like Anna’s use of the word “likening” when describing anamnesis really helped me get a better grasp of the concept and I wonder if since we immediately liken government buildings with some of these stylistic choices, they are more than just a genre of architecture that we can recognize and put a name to, but rather part of a suggested recollection (which happens to be how I defined anamnesis in my notes from the Jenks reading). 

    Greco-Roman architecture has been used in the design of government buildings since their conception as many aspects of Western government are derived from practices used in these original edifices. We may associate columns or frescoes with government buildings, but does nostalgia have anything to do with this or is it just something we’ve learned to correlate? This then got me considering the notion of nostalgia in itself, can we truly be nostalgic for something we’ve never experienced? Can we have a collective recollection of these buildings when no one living was present to see those that inspired this trend? I want to say yes, but I don't know. I don’t even know that there is necessarily an answer-- or maybe there is, but it differs case by case. I’d be interested in looking into other examples of this and seeing how they play out. I guess to determine if this specific case is an example of anamnesis we would first have to decide if nostalgia is a prerequisite for anamnesis or rather simply a commonly occurring trait.