Foundation: Stages of Our Growth and Development as Architectural Design
From the Palace of Versailles in France and the mausoleum Taj Mahal in India to the villas in Croatia and the plantation estates in the US, there are many sizes, varieties and styles to the architectural constructs that we live in and that surround us. Can these structures serve as a model for our own personal growth? Can these structures provide us with a symbolic representation for our individual development?
There are models that touch on the “shape” or formation of our personal growth and psychological development. Abraham Maslow’s “Hierarchy of Needs,” for example, shows a triangular structure to express this idea. 
Where as, the bhavracakra or the “wheel of life” is a buddhist tibetan symbolic representation of the balance of life which later was adapted, reimagined and translated into a similar yet more specific circular structure used in coaching and counseling known as the “wheel of balance.”
These two shapes are excellent starting points in viewing our personal design and development in a 2-dimensional way. However, when living in a 3-D physical reality, and for some expanding beyond the third dimension, we see that the structures surrounding us implicate many other sides, angles and viewpoints to our growth process.
If we begin at the foundational or fundamental level of some of the most long-lasting structures such as the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt or the Pyramid of the Sun in Mexico, may of these eternal structures shared similar characteristics and components. Stability, strength, right proportion are laid above ground while a similar, almost mirror like, micro cosmic mage is constructed below the surface existing underground.
Linking the two concepts of psychological design with architectural design and the idea of the reflecting nature within the foundation of the architectural models and the foundation of self realization or life balance will hopefully give a glimpse into our personal shape, formation and design. Stay tuned for my future blog post on the how this personal blueprint in relation to architectural design can be used and what the next step is in our personal development!