April 21st, 2010

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Last Sunday morning I took my sister to the Santa Fe Depot downtown to catch the train. When I walked in for the first time and saw the paintings, architecture and ornate fixtures, I stopped in my tracks. I marveled at this time capsule I’d walked into. I felt that with all the transformations that occurred around this building (built in 1932) we’re fortunate to still have it.

Someone asked me why the Pei Project is important, and I think it’s because the art and architecture of a community are a part of it’s cultural DNA. Think about the many things that make a city unique…the history is a part of that. History expressed through a timeline of architecture, retail, social events, parades and celebrations, vehicles, art, film, photographs, streets, neighborhoods, even my home I’m sitting in now.

I think that what makes these historic relics mean so much to my generation is that they give dimension to our experiences today. They help us make sense of the community around us, and part of the way we define our personal and social identities is by the community we live in. I feel that the way we’re trying to define the community at this point is by preserving the past. There’s a feeling in the pits our stomachs when we learn how these old beautiful buildings that defined OKC in the past were demolished. We don’t understand how anyone could demolish our art, our history. How can you take that away when my identity’s rooted in it? When the identity of OKC is rooted in its history, art and architecture?

At the same time, we revere Pei’s model as sacred. Just like our historic structures, it’s a relic that defines where we are now. It helps us see our city as a palimpsest that captures past and present in the same moment.

My generation knows that our history is integral to our understanding of our present experience, and informs how to proceed in our future. When my generation becomes the oldest, I want to have the stuff around that I treasured back in the day to make a physical bridge between me and the younger generations. Because I know that there will be young people like me who want to know where we came from.