Architectural Sketches by Jerry Kwong Kit Lam

YEAR 2009 Travelling scholarship Exhibition organizer

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Tracing Romeâ&#x20AC;?

// ABSTRACTION, REPRESENTATION In 2009, I was nominated to receive the Italian Society of Tung-hai Lee in Hong Kong taking form of a travelling scholarship. The purpose of the trip to Rome is to set an examples to other current students on how to abstract and represent architecture.

Day 1: City centre

Day 5: Baroque Rome

Piazza del Popolo Tomb of Augustus Palazzo Borghese Spanish Steps Piazza Barberini Fontana Trevi San Giovanni in Laterno / Cloister San Maria Maggiore

Chiesa del Gesù Sant’Andrea al Quirinale Palazzo Barberini Carlo alle Quattro Fontane Sant’Ivo alla Sapienza San Marcello al Corso Francesco de Sanctis

Day 2: Ancient / Late Antique Rome Coliseum Arch of Constantine Palatine Hill Roman Forum Largo di Argentina Pantheon Teatro Di Marcello Campodolio Basilica di San Clemente Day 3: Basilica Churches/Buildings S.M. in Cosemedin S. Sabina Cavaliere di Malta Libera Post Office Santa Maria in Campitelli Day 4: The Vatican Castel Sant Angelo Piazza San Pietro St Peters Vatican Museum

Day 6: Villas and Landscapes Villa Adriana Villa D’Este (Richard Meier Church of 2000, Tor Tre Teste) Day 7: Perspective and Proportion Villa Spada Tempietto di San Pietro Lunch - American Academy Day 8: Images and Objects Villa Borghese Museo e Galleria Borghese Villa Giulia Day 9: Modern and Contemporary Rome EUR Mus Del Civ Italiana Palazzo Dei Congressi MAXXI National Center of Contemporary Arts, Zaha Hadid

Italy has long been a city that contains huge value in terms of architecture and art. I had been studying the art aspect in my house analysis which referred to Surrealism in the past year that had aroused my genuine interests. This augmented my historical knowledge about Italy in postwar period, both culturally and politically. Later in Urbanism studies, I have gained more concrete understanding in Rome’s urban fabric development with reference to principles developed in Renaissance and learned to trace back Rome’s Medieval development by identifying the nodes in the city. At the moment, my immense interest is Rome’s urban development policy to articulate collective memories but at the same time serving as orientation and guildance devices for both citizens and visitors. Exemplifying are the nodes and memorials of oods happening in the past, locating at dierent specied points within the city. They are not only of tourism purpose but with a urbanistic function and that is currently what I want to investigate.

first year, analyzing a metronome gave me an opportunity to graphically represent and reveal the tool in terms of time, rules of rhyming and musicality, in addition to precise measurement of the tool per se and recording of its movement. In house analysis project, doing Casa Malaparte opened another perspective of architecture to me, I have gained skills in analyzing subjective experience and expressing its design intention in relation to the art movement, in addition to basic spatial sequence and structural analysis. Urban landscape designing experience gave me an opportunity to design to facilitate the environment and think practically about programming, on top of the design experience regarding primarily circulation and expressing the theme in year one house design project. Complex model fabrication skills was developed to investigate spatial arrangement, digital drawings and rendering Tracing Rome skills also reinforce my strengths in visual Proposal for the 2010 Italian Cultural Society of Hong Kong Tung-hai Lee Fund presentation. Jason F. Carlow, Assistant Professor Christian J. Lange, Assistant Professor

I have grasped extensive drawing skills throughout my study in architecture. In

Drawing is an integral part of an architectural education. A drawing can have many forms, whether it’s a quick sketch on a napkin or a sophisticated drawing of a detail, with precise information about an anticipated built form. Drawings and models are the key tools that architects and planners use to consider, communicate and build the world that we live in. The spaces of our everyday lives are first born onto the sheets of blueprints, rendered as models and visualized with digital modelling and animation tools. The world as we know it exists first in a set of drawings. Only through the manipulation of points, lines and surfaces is the world around us constructed. Rome is one of the cities of human history that reflects multiple layers of built form to a extent that is unique in the world. As one of the oldest cities of western civilization it includes layers of buildings from the ancient city of Rome to the renaissance, the baroque, the modern era as well as examples of significant contemporary architecture. While, all these styles have unique architectural expression, the tools they were conceived with were in cases very different. For instance, Borromini’s Pallazzo Spada or Bernini’s Piazza San Pietro are just two examples in the history of Rome which would

not have been possible without the invention of perspective. More recently buildings have Rome is one erected of the cities of human history that reflects multiple layers of built form a extent that is been that are highly based onto drawing unique in the world. As one of the oldest cities of western civilization it includes layers of buildings from the ancient city of Rome to the renaissance, the baroque, the modern era as well as examples of techniques madeWhile,possible computer, significant contemporary architecture. all these styles haveby unique the architectural expression, the tools they were conceived with were in cases very different. For instance, Borromini’s Pallazzo Spada or Bernini’s Piazza Pietro areHadid’d just two examples in the history of Rome Museum which would not haveof such as San Zaha MAXXI, been possible without the invention of perspective. More recently buildings have been erected that are highly based on drawing techniques made possible by the computer, such as Zaha Hadid’d Art Museum for ofthe Century. MAXXI, Art forXXI the XXI Century. This research trip and workshop to the city of Rome seeks to give undergraduate students of the University of Hong Kong a comprehensive and deep understanding of the concepts of drawing techniques throughout the history of architecture. The comprehensive itinerary will introduce students to various buildings in the city of Rome and its vicinity. Students will learn about the underlying principles of buildings and urban spaces and will analyse and document them through various studies and drawing exercises. Students will consider the meanings of architectural representation and the impacts that many historical visions have had. They will be asked to reflect on the relationship of technology to the way we think, draw, build and ultimately live. Site visits will be accompanied by daily lectures, which will introduce students to the various concepts and techniques within the field. The trip will also include guest lectures from architectural experts in Rome, who will provide the students with deeper historical knowledge.

This research trip and workshop to the city of Rome seeks to give us, students of the University of Hong Kong a comprehensive and deep understanding of the concepts of An anticipated outcome of this study trip will be an exhibit in the Faculty of Architecture in the fall drawing techniques throughout the history semester of 2010. Analytical drawings of the visited sites in Rome and a series of drawings that documents the results of various drawing techniques will be featured. We also anticipate publishing a comprehensive brochure of the contents that will be available to Hong Kong University students as of architecture. The itinerary introduced an introductory resource to all students. me to various buildings in the city of Rome and its vicinity. Throughout ten days in Rome, we learned about the underlying principles of buildings and urban spaces and have tried to analyze and document them through various studies and drawing exercises. Reconsider ingthe meanings of architectural representation, we have a different understanding of the impacts that many historical visions have had. Reflection of the relationship of technology to the way we think, draw, build and ultimately live, is considered the most valuable experience I have gained. The deeper the historical knowledge I have touched on, the more I think about why and why not use modern technology as the means

HOUSE ANALYSIS

2 4 3

i 5

Rooftop

2 3 4 5 6

Working studio Master room Wife’s room Atrium - Sculpture - Fireplace Undefined space

First floor

7 8 9

Cistern Guest rooms Kitchen

Ground floor

Storage use

Second floor

ELEVATION AND SECTION

YEAR ONE SEMESTER ONE - TOOL ANALYSIS Exploded axonometric diagram according to the function Load bearing walls and partition walls separated The second ﬂoor of the house being dominant in terms of privacy

ELEVATION AND SECTION

Plan, Section, & Elevation Through points, lines and surfaces, drawings form a visual language. They are the basic tools of drawing and means to communicate form. Why have the basic tools of architectural communication not changed in thousands of years? The inspiration that comes from changing oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s absolute angle (on top, on the side etc.) is the basic tool to analyze during a creative process. It can, at times, convey implications on the background story of an architecture in reverse. Proportions, movement, scale.. all are essential components of space. The Spanish step was originally constructed to lead and rise towards a facade of French church. The plan shows its symmetric geometry falling on an axis centred to the church, where as the steps evolves into a projecting plaza, and crafted in oval to create optical experience in Baroque form.

Drawing in Perspective The invention and development of perspective drawing in the middle ages into the renaissance had a huge impact on the conceptualization of space and the realization of built form. It has also influenced religious architecture. Church typology was designed in a way that repetitive arches, vaults and buttresses defined an elongated hallway as a sacred space, where lights and shadows fall in order and almost mathematically. “Only gradually does it dawn upon us – as we watch people draw near to this or that monument, strangely they appear to shrink; they are, of course, dwarfed by the scale of everything in the building. This in its turn overwhelms us.” - Georgina Masson, The Companion Guide to Rome

Saint Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican City is an example of scale distortion as it almost pass the limit of human perspective. The altar with Bernini’s baldacchino centred in the Basilica is echoed by the huge arches defining the hallways. One cannot perceive the whole image as he walks towards the altar as it is too huge. The sense of perspective almost distorts receiving such intense visual sensations.

Mass production and Graphic Standards As the world modernized from the industrial revolution and 1st and 2nd world wars, the traditions of architecture and building shifted to accommodate new demands. Technological changes and drawing conventions standardized the world in a certain ways. Mass production is a new kind of religion to certain people. It inspires the mutation of classical forms and their theories. In documenting these standardized form, perhaps the most appropriate way is to get â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;inaccuratelyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; done - or an intentional imprecision.

The Sketch The cocktail napkin is often the starting point for many of the most iconic buildings and spatial ideas in architectural history. Before modern photography the travel sketchbook was the key to recording a journey. All architects and designers are trained to think through drawing. The sketch as the vehicle for the generation and embodiment of ideas is critical to the design process. The creators think not only in terms of scale, proportion and forms, but also the material, atmosphere, light and shadow. Such tactile information can only be recorded through an â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;incompletedâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; stage and act of drawing sketching. Through the use of different drawing material, the representation of this tactility are translated into inspirations.

Diagrams Diagrams are drawings that seek to explain the world in a non-representational way. Architects employ diagrams to research conditions and explain design ideas. It does not necessarily represent all the details of the architecture, not even in precise scale at times. Occasionally, it is more important to sketch in an unconventional manner. The Colusseum is a grandeur theatre space. To examine the basic composition, I chose to substitute the details of material stacking that creates single wall and arch instead of the representation of space.It is more important to me the arrangement of bricks, angled way of constructing wall patterns, and the interaction between fragment and bould components. At Saint Acca Sapienza, whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s more important is the framing of view from the arch to the main body of the cathedral. In this space, what constitute and blur the periphery of oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vision? In this way, I try to physically record the actual texture of the columns and arches. It could be the only way that can provide an understanding of how texture, a component considered to be the tinniest scale in the architecture, actually portray the complete picture and intention of the space.