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The environment that affects me

Blog Prompt #5 is "Explore through image and text how the built environment affects (supports or
oppositions." Even though Ozayr talked about what frameworks, clockworks, phenomena, and oppositions are in class, I'm still having a hard time grasping the concepts of what they are. But he also said in class that he would like to hear about why we are taking 1701.
So, first of all, why am I taking this class? Well, before taking it I had no idea what "the designed environment" meant, so the reason I signed up for it was because it was required. But now its definitely more than that. I feel like the lectures are really teaching me something, even though I don't really know WHAT it is I'm learning. It's almost like I'm learning about a new way to think. Which is really cool especially since I'm not an architecture major. I am just minoring in architecture, and my major is civil engineering so all the classes I am taking are really grounded in the concrete world, like math and probabilities and physics. Its a relief to have a class like 1701 because its such a change of pace, and I feel like I'm using a different part of my brain........
Which brings me back to the subject of what the blog prompt is asking. Well, from my understanding, clockworks and frameworks are part of a phenomenon, which is basically anything that has a start and an end, can be changed, and have a purpose. So I think an environment itself can be a phenomena. The environment that affects me the most is the environment I live in, like my apartment now or my dorm last year.
The dorm I lived in last year was Sanford, which is on the opposite end of campus from the rest of the dorms. At first, I figured this wouldn't be a big deal because I could walk over there easily, but in the end I think I went to the super block about twice in the entire year. So my living environment affected who I made friends with (ie people who lived in my dorm). The room I lived in for that first year was a triple made into a quad, since one of the girls was in expanded housing. Four of us basically lived in a room that barely fit two bunk beds and four desks. In fact, when we were all in the room, we could barely fit one more person in. I didn't think that this living situation affected me much and I felt like I was fairly happy. However, once I move out of the room for the summer, I realized how much the cramped quarters had affected me. After moving out, I felt like a huge stress had been lifted off of my shoulders and I was so much happier. That feeling has continued into this year, because the apartment I live in now has two bedrooms for four girls, a nice bathroom, kitchen, and living room.
It might not seem too luxurious and it isn't the nicest of apartments, but for me it is great. In terms of oppositions, I think this could be compared to the opposition of materials and tools. The example of this opposition given in class was the advent of electric light, allowing people to work at different hours and therefore changing the style of living. In my case, the addition of a few more rooms and new roommates allowed me to change my style of living into something I am more comfortable in.