Biking up to Scogin and Elam’s Federal Courthouse I encounter a “stop” sign. It’s not a true stop sign, but a red octagonal sign that causes me stop and read its words…words which are

LOOK

THINK

ASK

I don’t know why the sign is here, but it’s a good approach to encountering a work of architecture. Look—really look—at the work. Look at the materials, the massing, the order or lack of. Look at the parts to the whole. Think—think through how one approaches, enters and moves through a building. Think through the relationships between the architectural work and how it relates to the neighboring buildings around it. Think through the relationships of the rooms inside. And ask questions. How does this work reflect its cultural milieu? What is the architect trying to say though this work of art? Will this building transcend time? How does this building address the urban context around it? Is it a good neighbor or an aloof prima-donna? Is it civil toward the natural environment. Does it work with nature or ignore it? How does it embrace the people in its shadow and its volumes? Ask, think and look some more.