Lauren Knighten - Garden Atriums - Class 4/16

Yesterday in class, Stu and Trina the owners and creators of the Garden Atriums in Poquoson, VA came to talk to our class about aesthetics and their community. The Garden Atriums is a net-zero sustainable community made up of seven homes. Stu asked us if we knew what it meant for something to be sustainable and the answer he gave us was if it is net-zero. He told us the reason that people bought the homes was because they were beautiful. Stu and Trina answered a bunch of questions that they wanted us to ask them relating to beauty. Trina answered that the beauty in death is that life is a cycle and there is beauty in every cycle. Trina and Stu both said that to see the beauty during hard times means you must reflect and practice gratitude. Trina said that we should not define beauty and put limits on it. When asked why is seeing beauty beneficial, they answered that beauty can change one's perspective and that it lifts your spirit. What they said made someone beautiful to them is that person's inner self and the connection they can make with them. Lastly, Stu answered that the opposite of beautiful is ugly. Prior to them coming to our class, I met them on a tour of the Garden Atriums this past fall in my Environmental Ethics class so it was really cool to see all the different ways they thought about the environment and sustainability. Before

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