Welcome to On Verticality. This blog explores the innate human need to escape the surface of the earth, and our struggles to do so throughout history. If you’re new here, a good place to start is the Theory of Verticality section or the Introduction to Verticality. If you want to receive updates on what’s new with the blog, you can use the Subscribe page to sign up. Thanks for visiting!
Click to filter posts by the three main subjects for the blog : Architecture, Flight and Mountains.
‘We lack the wings to fly, but will always have the strength to fall.’
-Paul Claudel, French poet, 1868-1955
“The instinct to climb up to some high place, from which you can look down and survey your world, seems to be a fundamental human instinct.”
-Christopher Alexander, British-American architect, born 1936
Anecdotes : Machu Picchu and A Fear of Heights
I recently took a trip to Machu Picchu in Peru, and spent four days hiking the Inca Trail through the Andes Mountains. The hike included exposed, narrow trails up steep mountain sides and cliffs, and the experience put me face-to-face with a long standing but waning fear of heights. It got me thinking about my personal history with this phobia, and how far I’ve come through exposure therapy.