The Monument and the Bungalow by Pierce Lewis

“The Monument and the Bungalow” by Pierce Lewis is an eye opening read. It is a rare time that I have actually looked at a building and wondered the history behind it. As an every day citizen of society, I take these things for granted. Mr. Lewis' Geographical review is a stop and smell the roses type of writing. He takes the reader that may be disinterested and draws them in. He writes that there are two basic precepts that students need to develop before becoming landscape readers.

The first of the two precepts is a basic concept. Mr. Lewis states, “Students need to develop and cultivate the habit of using their eyes and asking nonjudgmental questions about familiar, commonplace things.” (qtd. Lewis) This made me stop and think about what this meant. I cam to my own conclusion and thought about times that I have just stopped and read the landscape that I could see. The most prominent thing I could think of was seeing land from the air. The way that the land is divided. Why is it divided that way? Is it because it is boundaries of property? Or is it a farm that has a specific purpose for its squared shape? I came to the conclusion that I do this task without even thinking about it.

The second precept is acquiring vocabulary. In this definition, Mr. Lewis says, “Students have to learn the habit of using their eyes of paying attention to the commonplace things that they rarely notice.” (qtd. Lewis) From this precept, it is my understanding that in order for us to be able to really see the landscape and be able to describe what we are seeing, we need to have the knowledge of what it is we are seeing. Mr. Lewis uses a plant as an example, saying “In plant ecology, certain species of plants are signals of indicators of ecological change – but one has to recognize and identify the plants before one can begin to speculate about what is happening.” (qtd. Lewis) He uses the plants to compare thoughts about the background of something that we need to know the history on.

Buildings are our biggest, most prominent visual proof of history. We live our day-to-day lives in and around our proof that there was a history here before us. Take the Capital Building (examiner.com) in Washington D.C. For example. How many people 100 years from now are going to look back and remember that that is where the first African-American President was sworn in on January 20th, 2009? That is a piece of history that might just be the biggest event since Lincoln became President; yet in the future we will take that for granted as well. I am sure that the people that live and work in Washington D.C. Pass all of those things every day without even thinking about what they stand for, and why they are there. As a young student in Junior High, I was lucky enough to go to D.C. and visit those places. They are larger than life. The idea that someone could have such an impact on society that they build a huge memorial of him (Lincoln) is breathtaking.

If we were all to take the time, and slow down a bit to remember the way that we came to be; and to take an excerpt from Mr. Lewis' writing, “In sum, landscape is a historic document that tells a story – nay, multiple stories – about the people who
created the landscape – and the cultural context in which that landscape was founded.” (qtd. Lewis) We need to, in effect, stop and smell the roses, appreciate what we have and how we got it, before we are beyond repair.