Adjaye studied the imperial villa in Katsura, which was considered the essence of traditional Japanese design, and took classes on the history of Japanese Buddhism.
A generation ago, it was considered the essence of wisdom to accept that vast, impersonal forces made history happen without the condescending assistance of anyone's awakened conscience.
Much is written about the cinematographic beauty and the use of montage in pre-sound films (for Sergei Eisenstein, sound destroyed montage, which he considered the essence of cinema) but of equal importance were the closeup and the performances.
He sought what he considered the essence of illustrating style, the gesture: the way a woman drapes a coat over her shoulder; tilts her head; crosses her legs; swings her skirt; and, back in the '50s, would hold a cigarette.
After all, there is a huge leap from making fluffy sweaters and fur gloves, as if for a boxing ring, to absorbing the heritage of a designer who is, even today, considered the essence of high fashion.
In a poem simply titled "American Poetry," Mr. Simpson described what might be considered the essence of his work: Whatever it is, it must have A stomach that can digest Rubber, coal, uranium, moons, poems.
"We shouldn't try to change something without understanding it, without grasping why it is that one man and one woman open to children until just a very few years ago has always been considered the essence of marriage and the heart of family," he will say according to an excerpt of his prepared address in the Australian.
