THEORIES OF ARCHITECTURE & URBANISM [ARC61303] [ARC2224]- Synopsis: Interpreting Architecture

Synopsis No: 1 Students’ Name: Angeline, Anthony, Munirah, Fazlin, Irdina, Astriyani Text: An Architecture of the Seven Senses Author: Juhani Pallasma Year Written: - Purpose of the theory (Please tick X; you may tick more than one box)

X Identifying an issue or problem within the contemporary context

X Analyzing an architecture to identify a problem or solve a problem

Solving an issue in a broader context outside of architecture: presenting a theory/manifesto

Solving an issue within the context of architecture: presenting a design method

X Solving an issue within the context of architecture: presenting a theory

Others:

Please complete the following:

What are the issues addressed?

The text stresses that modern architecture is losing its essence; its sensuality. In fact, our culture is experiencing the ‘de-sensualization and de-eroticization of the human to reality.’ It is mentioned in the text that today, rather than using natural materials such as stone, brick and wood, we tend to opt for glass and metal, resulting in ‘repulsively flat, sharp-edged, immaterial and unreal.’

What are the design methods/strategy/theories proposed?

Based on the text, it is encouraged that when designing, we are to not rely solely on sight and that architecture is measured equally by the eye, ear, nose, skin, tongue, skeleton and muscle. To create a building that is memorable, we should create a building that we can relate to both mentally and physically – both emotions and touch.

Relate the text to architectural/urban forms by illustrating one key image. Justify the selection.

The Holocaust History Museum by Moshe Safdie Throughout this building, you experience the five senses. The form of the building is simple, yet when inside, you can experience the suffering they once went through. In terms of the form of the building, it cuts through the hills. This symbolizes history – it reflects a memory of the victims. At the end of the journey, a dramatic new view of Jerusalem is observed, which is the ‘climax’ of the journey in the building. In relation to the five senses, images of children and the coldness of the concrete brings one back to the past.

Synopsis No: 2 Students’ Name: Anthony, Astriyani, Angeline, Irdina, Fazlin, Munirah Text: Semiology and Architecture Author: Charles Jencks Year Written: 1969 Purpose of the theory (Please tick X; you may tick more than one box)


Analyzing an architecture to identify a problem or solve a problem


X Solving an issue within the context of architecture: presenting a design method


Others:



In the text, it is discussed that in architecture, there are several ways to interpret or give meaning to architecture. It focuses on how the meaning of a building is originated and also how this meaning is portrayed. This interpretation differs, depending on your role to the building (whether you are the designer or a client or a visitor).


1) If you give meaning to architecture, therefore it has meaning. 2) Meaning is multivalent – the meaning of a built form may

differ between one individual and another. 3) Meanings may simply be the opposites of one another. For

instance, off-on or dot-dash. In architecture, what’s mostly used: light vs. darkness / the idea of big vs. small (massing) / the relationship between the outside and inside of the building.


Beijing National Stadium Based on the alternative name of the stadium (the Bird’s Nest Stadium), the public tend to interpret it based on its literal representation. - From a distance, the stadium looks like a vessel However, there are other interpretations, such as: - The circular shape of the stadium represents heaven - The chaotic steel beam structures represent an artificial forest - In Chinese mythology the sun is represented by a circle, while the moon is represented by a square

In the stadium – reflected by the shape of the bird’s nest (circle, sun) and the Water Cube Aquatic Centre (square, moon)

These shapes are also the Chinese symbols for male and female

Synopsis No: 3 Students’ Name: Fazlin, Irdina, Angeline, Anthony, Astriyani, Munirah Text: Semiology and the Urban Author: Roland Barthes Year Written: - Purpose of the theory (Please tick X; you may tick more than one box)






Others:



The main issue addressed by the author is the problem in urban semiology; that when reading a city, there is no fixed method or interpretation.


Meaning is never „finite‟ or „fixed‟ – relationship between signified and signifier should not be a fixed one-to-one relationship

The city is a poem – many ways to be read – “you are either a native or a stranger”

It‟s not important to multiply the surveys or functional studies of the city, but multiply the readings of the city

Semiology never supposes the existence of a „definitive signified‟

Kevin Lynch‟s 5 elements – one of the „guidelines‟ used in reading a city – but can be vague (path, landmark, nodes, district, edges)

The urban nucleus of different cities (city centre/solid nucleus) does not act as the peak point of any particular activity, but is instead a „focal point‟


Case Study: Kuala Lumpur In the city of Kuala Lumpur, different areas of the city signify different meanings or interpretations. For example, in the image above, the city centre is highly contrasting with Kampung Baru. Other examples in Kuala Lumpur include Bukit Bintang (high-end street), Pasar Seni (arts and cultural area of KL) and Chow Kit (red-light district). In Chow Kit, for instance, the semiotics of the area is described through its people, the „negative activities‟ carried out, as well as its narrow and dark back alleys.

Synopsis No: 4 Students’ Name: Irdina, Fazlin, Munirah, Angeline, Astriyani, Anthony Text: Towards a Critical Regionalism: Six Points for an Architecture of Resistance Author: Kenneth Frampton Year Written: 1983 Purpose of the theory (Please tick X; you may tick more than one box)






Others:


What are the issues

addressed?

How to become modern and to return to sources; how to revive and

old, dormant civilization and take part in universal civilization?

Architects and theorists were disappointed with the direction

that architecture was taking under the influence of

postmodernism

Rather than unveiling the historicity of style in their designs,

postmodern architects became another avant-garde that

produced designs that mimicked classical style

What are the design

methods/strategy/theories

proposed?

CRITICAL REGIONALISM

Critical Regionalism – a cultural strategy – a vehicle of

universal civilization in architecture – explained through six

different points

To sum up:

An approach to architecture that counters ‘placelessness’ /

lack of identity and meaning in Modern Architecture by using

contextual forces to give a sense of place and meaning

For instance, buildings that are of generic forms –

housing, hotels, shopping centers

Adopts modern architecture critically for its universal

progressive qualities but at the same time values responses

particular to the context. Emphasis should be on topography,

climate, light and tectonics rather than scenography and the

tactile sense rather than the visual


Villa Mairea by Alvar Aalto

The house marks a significant transition from traditional to modern architecture – an example of critical regionalism as it does not just take into account the traditional elements of architecture or vernacular architecture but combines the elements of traditional and modern architecture as one

The design also morphs throughout the house, as materials shift form a stone to stone slab to glass and steel, from one room to another. This shift of materials gradually creates a more intimate relationship between building and user, which creates a sense of space.

The open plan and rhythm created by the columns emphasize the continuity found between the environment and the villa – a strong relationship between the inside and outside

Education

THEORIES OF ARCHITECTURE & URBANISM [ARC61303] [ARC2224]- Synopsis: Interpreting Architecture