(no subject)

there's a game i've started playing with myself when i'm stuck *somewhere* just observing the environment - basically called "spot what the architect actually designed and what was tweaked after by the developer/client/company/regulations/future updates".

* checking a row of lights or ceiling tiles; is one light/tile a different color or randomly stuck in a corner not parallel to the others? are there fire sprinklers in random places and not spaced apart equally?

* is a piece of stone exceptionally worn away like compared to the surrounding ones like people have used it excessively? is a sign suddenly anachronistically metal with machine modern font instead of wood if it's in a castle?

* is a house/historical place mostly symmetrical except for one weird random room? does the room have a different structural design to it? is the wood floor a different texture?

* is an outlet super obviously on a really big bare wall at a different height than another outlet?  (was a tv screen planned there to hide it and then later removed?)

etc etc

it's been an unexpectedly fun way to train the mind to recognize all the little details that often go unnoticed in the surroundings, and to also ask oneself why (do people use things differently). a lot of times my biggest issue with people drawing interiors/settings is it doesn't feel "lived in", which this observation seeks to help with.