Taking a breath and some reflecting - Faith and some of its architects

Being in the Pyrenees for a couple of weeks has provided some breathing space (in between DIY and climbing) for some reflection on the trip to-date. 

A few posts ago I talked about a concept of "architects of faith".  This has nothing to do with religion, rather, it's about some very special people who have been able to visualise then begin to implement a better future that will take longer than their lifetime.  There are a few of these in the world today.

However the architects to whom I refer set a pace, vision and blueprint for follow-through that have flourished beyond their lifetimes...and that's the intention they (either consciously or subconsciously) always had.

There are 3 whose echo is amplified and reverberates today that I have evidenced on my trip and who stand out for me - each for different reasons.

They are:

• Antoni Gaudi
• Mustafa Ataturk
• Nikola Tesla

As you've already guessed, the term "architect" here is not a literal one.

Gaudi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoni_Gaud%C3%AD
Gaudi did not leave hard and fast plans, rather he set some principles and aligned his designs with nature.  His beautiful buildings and designs were in stark contrast to his own modest (if not austere) home.  There are many buildings in Spain (and worldwide) that an trace lineage to Gaudi DNA.  He embarked (in fact inherited) the Sagrada Familia cathedral as a project he knew he would never finish in his lifetime.  The work he did complete and the principles for design into the future were enabling, empowering and (positively) demanding for those who followed in his footsteps rather than restrictive and prescriptive. 

Ataturk
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mustafa_Kemal_Atat%C3%BCrk
Ask the Turkish who has the most political influence for them today and don't be surprised if the answer is someone who has been dead for 76 years.  Army officer, Statesman, Politician and reformist -founder of a new-order country, Ataturk was an incredible man. 
He architected the new Turkey as we know it today, removed the barriers to dress standards set by the Muslim church, set women and men as equals and implemented a focus on economic reform and education. 


Tesla
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikola_Tesla
If you are reading this on-line, you have Tesla to thank for a large component of it...the light by which you are reading it, the power point that is either charging your laptop/tablet battery or powering your PC.  Tesla was the father of Alternating Current (AC) power.  While he is mostly known for this he also had some other inventions and experiments he is less well known for though deserves to be.  He and Edison went to war on DC v AC current (Edison electrocuted an elephant using AC power to show people how "dangerous" it was). George Westinghouse licensed the rights to use Telsa's AC patent - for the sum of $60k cash and stock and $2.50 per AC horsepower used by any of his motors in the Westinghouse appliances.  Tesla was later to "rip up" this contract when Westinghouse told him it would make things unsustainable for AC power appliance use. 

Tesla demonstrated a remote controlled submarine (the original able to be seen in action today at the Tesla museum in Belgrade) in the first decade of the 1900s

One of Telsa's experiments (funded by Rockerfeller) was wireless AC current.  This showed tremendous promise and the subject of renewed experiments today.  Rockerfeller pulled the plug on the funding when it became apparent that the ability to send wireless electricity had no corresponding "metering" and therefore billing potential.  There is a salutary lesson in the funding model for good ideas here! 


Similarities
Whether co-incidence or not, there is a common trait these three share - philanthropy and a focus on the greater good beyond their own comfort.  Co-incidence?