The Memory

Atami, a place that I consider to be one of the most beautiful spaces of architecture that I have experienced thus far in my life, a hidden beach in El Salvador. This place is one of my favorite places because it has a few houses that sit on a peak of the mountain where you rent them for the day and you could see the whole ocean from wherever you are, a whole 180º view. And on the far left you have these houses located on the ends of the mountain that kind of make you feel like you are in the southern region of Italy, in Sicily. In order to actually go to the water, you have to go down through a set of stairs, they say its 100 steps all carved out on the side of the mountain. Once you reach the beach it is the most beautiful thing because you don’t see it until you reach the last step and turn completely around that you see this amazing body of water with this black sand surrounding it. It gives you such a feeling every time and that is the power that architecture has.

The Realization

One of my most significant memories I have of this place was something that I never knew would be so significant. It was January of 2020 two days before we would leave El Salvador and come back to LA. My father and mother and I were standing together at the edge of the mountain watching the most beautiful sunset I had ever seen. We were talking about how blessed we were to be seeing this and being able to spend time with the family. Before the sun set completely, we thanked God for another year (2020) and laughed and said that we couldn’t wait to comeback in December 2020. Little did we know that the world was going to completely change when we came back to LA. It is such a significant memory because it was such a beautiful day with the family, the memories, and the sunset, a sunset that I wouldn’t think I would be wishing to see and be there again. A memory, a place that who knows until when I’ll be able to revisit and relive again.

The Future

Having this memory and experience really changed my view of architecture. Architecture is sometimes only believed to be a form to enclose you and I believed that, but architecture is much more than that. It is a way to make you feel, a way to create memories, a way to impact you and make you want to come back to that place whether it be inside or outside. For the future I plan to do just that in my education. I want to make sure people always have a feeling of returning, of peace, and of making memories. A feeling that all architecture gives without even knowing it, but in my case, I want it to be known.

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