Design Approaches & Methods - Reflective Journal by Juu L

REFLECTIVE JOURNAL

DESIGN APPROACHES & METHODS

joo liew #831400 tutor Sarah Song

CONTENTS WEEK 1: INTRODUCTION 06 WEEK 2: VOICE 12 WEEK 3: PEOPLE+DESIGN 21 WEEK 4: NARRATIVES 26 WEEK 5: PHENOMENOLOGY 31 NT WEEK 1-3 33 WEEK 6: SPATIAL LISTENING

WEEK 7: INFORMAL ARCHITECTURE

WEEK 8: MINIMALISM 49 WEEK 9: DESIGNERS’ FRAMES

WEEK 10: PERSONAL KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

WEEK 11: DESIGN+CONCLUSION 61 WEEK XX: REFLECTIONS 62

WEEKS 1 - 4 intro + framework

_WEEK 1: INTRODUCTION

REFLECTION

On preparation for Week 1, this required us to think about what kind of designer we think we are. Personally I was confused at this because architecture design and illustration (part-time outside of my studies) were always kept separate in my mind, similar to ‘keeping work separate from personal life’. Brainstorming the prompts helped close in on specifics and which decisions I make; this was then reinforced with the homework, realizing I take vastly different approaches for architecture-related tasks. I tend to rush through these whereas for illustration, I take my time in order to build the narrative. This is likely because architecture focuses mostly on technicality whilst art uses storybuilding more closely. On later reflection, I believe I have a Apollonian approach to architecture and a Dionysian one to art (despite writing I am in general, leaning toward Dionysia). I acknowledge restraint and logic is what makes an architectural design feasible, and that, although somewhat forced, does not affect my work efficiency, only influences my decisions. To research further on these types helped me study for different design characteristics and currently I am content maintaining a barrier between the two.` As for the lecture 1 exercises, designing this felt very spontaneous but I was calm despite the time limit given. The less time given, the more simple I tend to make my decisions. Because of the current Covid-19 situation, I immediately drew to what was a self-sustaining small bunker-like building with a basement level, for a small family and caged greenhouse above (to keep the family in but keep outsiders out). For time-based tasks, where the amount of time is short, it’s easier to make decisions based in ongoing issues in society or disasters stated in news and draw accordingly. This could help in future studio work approachers wherein inspiration is quickly drawn from current events. This could help my design thought process to adapt to situations more efficiently whilst still making rational decisions.

Recently incorporating both A&D mindsets but the result is not as satisfying as if I were to apply a fully Dionysian design thinking to my architecture studio work. It’s a challenge but I intend to find a balance to integrate the two. 9

Lecture 2 was slightly overwhelming due to the amount of information but ways to ‘achieve the voice’ made me realize the ‘mortality’ aspect motivated me to feel I should be less complacent about the way I work for architecture studios. Whilst efficiency has never been much of an issue to me, I feel I sorely lack the same passion for architecture as I do for concept art and illustration. However I can’t deny every tutor’s teachings has helped me this far and has accelerated my learning process and decision-making for art itself as well. I’m very grateful for this lecture and subject overall since I’m being informed of new ideas to help accelerate my art and also assist with pushing myself to be a better anatomical and building-focused designer. Nailing down the info from the lecture, I mentally fare better with a Jack-of-all-trades mindset though I intend to further master other aspects of my art outside my field of study. Discipline is also something I would like to continue to enhance and amplify further, especially through this module and my main studio, for current and future clients.

REFLECTION

Precedents and research used in past Studio Fable were a mix of speculative and existing technologies, in which some was scrapped however this was beneficial as it equipped me with knowledge I could incorporate in my current studio, Bathing 2.0. As Fable required group effort, this vastly cut research time and made for more experiments and iterations available. Group-focused projects did allow me to expand different ways of design thinking, helping me to be more versatile and open-minded in approaches to studios. However this semester I would like to challenge myself by going full independent- where there is a choice to avoid ‘group’ tasks in main studio, I would like to see and analyse through this module, how I fare by solely relying on my own ideas without the influence of others. I think reviewing the past self in former studios was particularly useful in determining ability and personal threshold to work in a group successfully, adopting a mind that allows for a lot of compromise in order to achieve an end product all members could be content with. It was longwinded and somewhat exhausting but the further the compromise, the more efficient or smoothly a project went. I understand this was not necessarily good for my mental health over many semesters of unintentionally getting into group-focused studios as I began to think of architecture as a factory, and myself as one of the many printer machines at the factory. It was all work, no emotion, a constant auto-pilot drive. As my final year before heading out to the design industry, I would like to investigate methods and analyses to regain at least a bit of what I had lost at some point- emotion associated with work, to further improve and expand my design processes and concepts associated with it. From past designs in bachelor’s, I fell into the traps of conformity and social gender normalities in design (eg designing feminine projects for women etc). This definitely has hindered my progress to a degree which I can’t specify what for now, but in coming weeks of this journal, I should be able to. They were stereotypical and this semester I fully intend to engage in the opposite, to address controversy where I can, and instead of having positive designs and products, I would like to deliver shock, either in post-production or distort the standard way of architecture workflow to still achieve an accomplished product.

REFLECTION

Later on I state and reflect that I support the architectural mindset of building for a dystopia, buildings designed to be resilient against disaster and conflict, whether manmade or natural. This in no way refers to the movement of becoming ‘green’ or going zero-waste. The tutorial exercise in week 2 has certainly made me feel more confident and determined about pushing my thought processes, rather than re-falling into the trap of compromising my opinions just to conform to the culture and my peers around me. However, future projects must be credible and thoroughly researched in order to support an unpopular opinion. I believe logic and thorough research imbued in especially the beginning stages of any project will, and must defend this stance. For future projects and designs, I will bring this phase of process stronger and intend to provide credible information from multiple research points for both myself and clients; to prevent confirmation-biasness from occurring as well. This biasness was a fault in decision making for especially my previous studio, Fable as no matter how much research was done on the feasibility of long-term building in space, it required extensive research done outside of architecture such as the adverse health effects on vulnerable populations if they were to take such a risky migratory move (to outside of this planet and atmosphere). The intention here is to also prevent doubt in projects and concepts, and shut down the notion of ‘stupid questions get you stupid answers’. If I am able to provide sufficient and adequate information which will require research decisions as well, this will prevent clients from asking things they shouldn’t even need to question in the first place.

This was the preparation for Week 2: Voice. Although I think I was able to identify what needed improvement and past attributes, accounts etc... These addressed elements of the past, not a future ‘voice’. The tutorial for this week helped identify factors to find a specific ‘voice’ as in what you stand for as a person not just in design. I found this to be helpful in defining what I did not approve of amidst writing this however. There are many aspects of architecture I cannot support that can seem harsh or controversial, such as my personal sight that ‘going green’ and ‘zero waste’ is either misunderstood or completely hypocritical. To build, architecture especially, will always produce some sort of waste as by-products. This is in no way ‘zerowaste’ to me, and chemicals as a by-product also count as waste especially if they are fuelled or carbonated toxins. These cannot be 100% recycled and thus I am unable to support the mindset, although I do appreciate the efforts and enthusiasm of others to better support our environment. ‘Lessening of waste’ is not entirely 0% waste, no? And we cannot build for anything more than a small-scale area out of purely plants that are living and left unprocessed, not in this current generation and times of technology. Architectural design, personally, should be a process of logic otherwise it is very difficult to make its products exist in the real world.

_3 things learned that day • confirming states of ‘hypocrisy’ • a voice is what you stand for as a person that can affect a design, not just what you design • ultimately i need to analyse more to have more clarification on ‘strengths and weaknesses’ _3 things not discovered that i might have liked to • how far does this ‘voice’ extend, is it allowed to change? how dynamic is it and does it disappear over time • is a ‘voice’ to be personal or does everybody want a ‘voice’ just so they can be influencers? • would like to expand my knowledge and this could be helped by listening to peers, because i don’t understand how ‘loud’ this voice needs to be? Is it a passion? Does the ‘loudest’ person always win the fight? _3 things to try out at another time • thinking more deeply about what other peers are saying (listening not just hearing) • adopt awareness about biasness in research • being more careful about how i present in main projects so ‘stupid questions’ don’t occur for the secon

Again I will take responsibility from my faults in Fable and adopt this awareness to this module, the current main studio and my other electives to come.

_WEEK 2: VOICE

REFLECTION

Onward to the rest of tutorial, we review several Pritzker Prize Awarded architects’ strengths, disadvantages, aspirations, results and also the traits of Novelty/Utility/Aesthetics/Authenticity. This felt like another condensed crackdown on comparison of ourselves to our peers and that which gives us insight to the architects’ thoughts and processes. From my chosen quick study on Arata Isozaki, I agreed with the point that problems and disasters are what catalyses design process and the necessity for works of resilience and built structural stability like his. It appears to benefit the people and environment as less money and resources are used for maintenance of such rigid fortress-inspired structures. Together as a group in class, we could understand design is ingrained in the creativity of people, and is only limited in of such. Isozaki focused his thought process on memories of the WW2 bombings in Oita, his hometown. The recollection had an adverse impact on his style, which gave me the impression it was a subtle showcase of his pains from the memories. His style of buildings appear to protect, aim to cage, keep everything inside separate from the outside like underground vs ground. Although I had come across his works, I didn’t fully engage in research on him until now. I have also felt perhaps I could incorporate my own experiences into studio projects but decided against them due to shame or embarrassment. Being exposed to a unexpectedly similar example and given the opportunity to analyse them does alleviate this fear and I feel it is beneficial to personal design growth. I was expecting the precedent to be unrelatable and jovial, but Isozaki turned out to be quite the solemn, down-to-earth character. His tendency towards the monochromatic has also encouraged me to reflect on my past designs-(why should I need to use vibrant colour schemes when I also much prefer the somber monochromatic? I wonder if this is due to my past attempts to conform with my peers’ sense of designing.)

REFLECTION

Quality designs include part of a response that resolves problems and puzzle forming. It is an infinite process with periodic conceptual shifts where necessary and backtracking to and fro in the process can help with iterating more design variations. I noticed this can also be applied to the same preference to studying not just building precedents as part of answering the question, but also looking at the personal characteristics of the designers themselves. Also, reviewing peers notes on their analyses of their chosen Pritzker Prize designers gave insight to how thoroughly they take their research and also which points every person chooses to emphasize on/found interesting etc. The diversity here has allowed me to realise, in a roundabout way, that adequate design should cater for an audience you must study about, not simply rely on research or personal preferences. Of course, this was known, but the feeling of realization is always different (ie actually ‘listening’ and not just ‘hearing’). This module’s reflective process reinforces our own design statements to follow up from and continue to strengthen, in which I am appreciative of this module- Also understanding that movement to a specific objective is associated with inter and intrapersonal shifts that can be obtained from other’s insights.

REFLECTION

The preparation for Week 3 felt very focused on creative play, routine and solving for ‘adjustments’. This seems similar to the notion of clients giving directions and the designer composes accordingly. On Greg Missingham’s extract of “On Cueing”, I much liked his analogy on the relationship of “games and works of art”. It explores the detached yet connected mental link between a creator and their art work, interpreting it as another dimension of its own. I suppose design does hold that meaning to some extent for me, as it is essentially a reflection of the mind’s recollection, except abstractly put into a building formation. After this prep exercise and tutorial, I revisited the Lord of the Rings films, considering the atmosphere, frameset and props within the composition. It led me to think design is best experienced where there is the support from a narrative, not merely a ‘concept’ derived from reading regulations and planning textbooks and excerpts. To find the balance between extreme logic and emotion in design, I think from this exercise, it would be beneficial for me to go back to the traditional ways of drawin. Maybe even try rotoscoping some scenes again, for my current projects and build upon that narrative, so that I can find whatever passion or feeling I once had for architecture as well-- that maybe ‘architecture design’ goes far beyond ‘client needs’ and ‘research research research’? Also, the Drama+Ritual prep was confusing. I didn’t know what a ‘set’ is; I assumed it was just a space holding all activities required together. This was probably too generic of an understanding but I did learn later in the next lecture that sets consists of many factors imbued in an environment to portray human behaviours. The very bland routine set drawn made me realize also how mundane my life is unfortunately. Most of it is ironically spent in the computer, either for work, or in MMO games which is technically the equivalent of going on a holiday and travel...at the desk. The more ideal situation would be to continue on with this, except I’d prefer working for something else that isn’t architecture.

_3 things learned that day • set design as a technique to get inspiration and motivation • faster analysis, to be in the same setting as the audience you design for • drawing out the ‘sets’ in sequences of small thumbnails is also efficient _3 things not discovered that i might have liked to • can this set sketching be extended to things other than architecture and how can it help out • more specific defining of the topics of Novelty/Aesthetic/Utility/ Authenticity concepts. • how do you find adequate evidence to prove to yourself that it is enough for the self-critique? At what point is it sufficient enough _3 things to try out at another time • tiny thumbnal sketching, even of the mundane or anything that comes to mind if suffering from mental blockage • being at the social setting or environment for the users i am designing for • taking out past notes and seeing what ideas i can not only recycle from them, but also take smaller elements, hybridize and use them for future projects 20

_WEEK 3: PEOPLE+DESIGN

REFLECTION

Post-lecture upon learning of Drama, rituals and sets, and then with a followup tutorial on People Design, it enforces the importance of finding deeper meaning even in the everyday mundane life or regular place settings. I feel it would be beneficial to be reminded of regular ‘rituals’ and draw inspiration for future projects from this. It can help with recalling new ways to ideate and I could incite this by even quickly doodling anything that comes to mind that occurs on a daily basis. I forgot that we could look to everyday circumstances, so this week serves as a reminder that ritual/set sketching would be useful to toher projects as it is a lot more physically productive and enabling instead of looking at a blank canvas and drawing on that for inspiration. The study for this week also reminded me of comic panel compositions, to which is an idea to pursue in my workflow as I remember it has helped me before. A concept could be more easily displayed to and understood by the client via storyboarding and cinematics or set sequencing. I will be applying this idea to my current studio as a confirmation in the coming weeks, as to whether I will keep it in the process of decision-making or scrap the notion. In relation to Missingham’s writings on “Architecture and Everyday Life”, I found it interesting that a sense of privacy could vary throughout intervals of the day and that also affected our choice in working environments and iterations. I felt slight uncertainty about this notion though, as my emotion tends to be relatively linear on a graphic scale and I usually only have ‘slight’ feelings (hence possible overuse of that word in this journal). I never had personal desire to choose my working places but have only ever worked in such places out of need/convenience and not wants. That being said, a change in sequences (all) work environments I venture to may be needed for trial. As working constantly in cold built environments indoors for this long period of time, may have contributed to my general lack of emotion and auto-piloting in the architectural design process.

REFLECTION

Week 3 tutorial exercise was surprisingly fun and very satisfying to experience. I enjoyed firming out the process of developing different iterations for the same scenario, and noticing differences between the effects of different working environments had on work. _Comfortable environment: Personally I felt more complacent in a comfortable working environment, where I was lazy and kept recycling ideas (although surprisingly this has to do with brain chemistry and adpatations). _Uncomfortable environment: Did not fare so well in a pitch-black room, mainly because I couldn’t see much so the iterations had to be ‘clean’ and simple. I was slightly annoyed drawing in the dark in a wide lecture theatre; the massive space made wind noises very loud and that was also annoying. I realize I prefer dark environments to be completely silent with no trace of sound like back home. This could mean I’m generally alright with a variety of environments for sight but noise in particular would affect my capabilities.

REFLECTION

_Environment related to the theme ‘forest’: I did get more adequate iterations in an environment related to ‘forest’ ie grassy lawn with trees but honestly this was also uncomfortable. Ultimately the related environment provided more unique iteration quality but less in quantity in the given time. In Herbert’s excerpt regarding psychology, there is a “thermometer of satisfaction” (p.29) and being in an inconsistent environment constantly seems to make one strive for more unique ‘thoughts’ or choices. For future projects it would be beneficial and much more efficient to process ideas if I create conditions to replicate a similar environment. This could probably be done through music and lighting especially if simulating the related environmental conditions indoors. In Preparation for Week 4, done late week 3. I was vaguely interested in what Option 1 of the tasks had to offer but had to do option 2 instead, due to the current Covid-19 circumstances. It is too unsafe to venture out to public areas at this time. Fortunately this exercise has exposed me to a rather unique precedent I would like to expand further research into and hopefully incorporate to the studies of the main studio. Daniel Libeskind’s extracts and works ‘Chamber Works’ had a clean rationale to it despite being seemingly abstract at first glance. A lot of it was inspired by the scores of music as discovered, and the distortion of parts of the drawings could make for unique plans and sectional spatial experiences. Frankly, I am in awe. This is a direct translation of something not related to architecture, suddenly intergrated into it, as though they were a family from the start. As I read through his excerpts, I hope to expand on some of the techniques and decisions he made and integrate this into my own workflow as it seems more efficient and productive to sketch ideas and develop them with a more liberative element (in this case, music being translated to technical drawings). This could help create atmosphere more easily, something which I am currently struggling in due to being in auto-pilot/ emotionally detached from my projects for too long. *Upon compiling this week1-3 journal entries, I realized perhaps I do not have enough diagrams and I am irked by the lack of balance, so I will be trying to incorporate more sketches or diagrams in future entries and reflections for the coming weeks. **30/03 The Sound tasks and studies are later visited in Week 6 program instead so this will be recovered. 24

ONLINE TUTORIAL W.4

_REFERENCES W1-4 _Readings Dehghan, Yasamin. 2018. “A VISUAL ANALYSIS OF LIBESKINDS ARCHITECTURE: DESCRIPTION OF SELECTED BUILT WORKS A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF NATURAL AND APPLIED SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY.” http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12622813/index. pdf. Edensor, Tim. 2015. “Light Art, Perception, and Sensation.” The Senses and Society 10 (2): 138–57. https:// doi.org/10.1080/17458927.2015.1042228. Lawson, Bryan. 2001. The Language of Space. Internet Archive. Oxford: Architectural Press/Elsevier. https://archive.org/stream/The_Language_of_Space/The_Language_of_Space_djvu.txt.

_Why the option was chosen: Because some of us are in quarantine/self-isolation due to the covid-19, soundwalk was not the most viable option. Hence option 2, which required reading and hearing extracts. _What left the most lasting impression: Looking at the artworks and analysing the relationship between sound and spaces, especially classical music extracts to which had many variable elements in tone, volume, timbre etc that would influence the frequency or spaces between lines and dots. _Did anything interest you (peer discussion)? Sound has a relationship to different volumes and spaces, that may influence a friend’s walk. Direct transition between two spaces that affects the frequency and vibration of the same sound. Same sound but different space causes different effects and atmospheres, and some sounds cannot move around corners. Similar to light waves, it travels in a linear line and bounces off surfaces.

Missingham, Greg. 2019. Designing Your Designing Evidence + Opinions. 1st ed. Vol. 1. University of Melbourne. Missingham, Greg. 2019. Architecture and Everyday Life. Missingham, Greg. 2019. Dramaturgical Analogies. Missingham, Greg. 2019. On Cueing.

_Other books & Journals ‌Simon, Herbert A. 1992. The Sciences of the Artificial. Cambridge: The M I T Press.

_3 things learned that day • brain chemistry may be what’s causing ‘complacency’ in comfort • inconsistent work place is more effective for ideation • working on tactic’ virtual experiencing to increase the feeling of a space or spatial drawing etc

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_3 things not discovered that i might have liked to • more examples of unconscious thinking being made aware of • are choices wholly due to brain chemistry/adaptation of needs or are some decisions due to emotions or both? is it a balance. • is actually thinking of scenarios as ‘cutscenes’ too static? alternatives to be dynamic in thinking. _3 things to try out at another time • challenging the differences of environments-how far can i push my working space conditions and how much can i change the variables • changing conditions of my current work environment • further study on Daniel Libeskind’s works and style

_WEEK 4: NARRATIVES

On mute, narrate to explain why/how the (architectural) space has a strong relationship to the event unfolding in the scene. The space sets the scene for a government meeting, the contrast in light and shadow and the king looking down on the opposition’s magistrate. It first shows the amount of resources and grand but excessively busy lifestyle of the protagonist king, via the sophisticated hybrid of Baroque, Renaissance and old Gothic architecture. The rooms reflect a downlight to the stairs, casting attention onto the antagonist. Contradictory to the position of the stairs, the antagonist has the ‘upper’ hand, and the architecture along with the composition of the scene, foreshadows the lowhanded deal the magistrate will offer in the war treaty. The classical elements also imply the concealment of civilised matters and the dread of impending social issues. The room is used in scenes for menace, debate, major fights, ruins-- a lot of the fiction , conflict and recollection is told in this specific room model. It has a strong relationship to the events because viewers get to see it undergo tremendous changes, from ‘riches to ruin’, following its owner’s downfall and death. Even in the second half, viewers can still feel a sense of dreaded intimacy and loss/grief as we see the architecture itself crumble to ash and rubble during major conflict, and each round of conflict escalates the ‘injuries’ to the building to a new level. Viewers get shown many perspectives of the building and its interiors throughout the movie so that gives a lot of time to build collective visual memory, and to grow familiar with it, hence the ruining of the building draws a lot of negative impact (and potentially sorrow) for the viewer when we witness its gradual misfortune.

REFLECTION

Diagram a narrative around the building that haunts your memory.

Evaluating the narrative types and its graphs, aren’t real life events closest to a ‘comedy’? Although it’s hardly ever ‘funny’, there is always the ups and downs in the graph of life, but a return to ‘normalcy’ or ‘getting used to a (new) way of life’ attitude. This refers to a building narrative that was drafted in the previous week, and to design this I disassociated from the events, looking down on it with a 3rd-party viewpoint. This was easier to recall, process the information of events that happened with no emotional attachment. Unfortunately this was the trait I was trying not to go back into, because I’m trying to get rid of this auto-piloting state I have towards architecture-based design (anything architecture-related in general) as it hinders my design innovation although it increases productivity and efficiency greatly. It is a give-take situation. This task did prompt me to recall past projects and I realized the one major thing in common with all of them is scheming them around a narrative of misfortune, or basing it on the premise the client is ‘unlucky (therefore they come to me to fix their problems’. It also has always been more personally entertaining to design for a dystopia, not a utopian circumstance.

Design a workspace inspired by this narrative.

Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. Perhaps instead of forcing my design traits to change to its complete opposite, I could adjust it a bit to be more versatile, but also incline myself towards misfortune-based projects? The ‘death’ and sorrow part is downplayed because I’m not keen on encouraging working in a neurotic state. It was far easier to come up with iterations focusing on the aftermath of the narrative, towards normalcy- rest and recuperation from compassion fatigue. This space is cramped, suited for one occupant so as to be very private and closed-off; the space is uninviting to others who want to disturb the process of self-healing. Having some remaining emotional fatigue and due to family upbringing, I noticed this directly influenced my design. In this case, my family runs on the basis of “any problems, handle it yourself”, “your mess, you fix”, so absolute privacy with space for silent lifeforms (such as plants or pets that are trained to be quiet) succeed in this built environment. The second iteration is closely related to my current room workspace but in actuality, I do wish it had less window, more solid walls. This is because I generally do well with darker, artificial environments and to some extent, provides me a ‘holiday’ to live in my own head, which is where ideas come from. In a previous task, I said it was beneficial for me to be in a environment related to the design brief. I lied. It is beneficial for fulfilling the brief to the best capacity I can offer, but on a personaldesign level, it did not help motivations toward finding my own consistencies in design thinking. Since I failed that task, from this I will try to improve on subtly ‘altering’ or adding to a brief that will hopefully make things seem less automated.

What worked well and fast, which was a relief- when I was stuck how to sequence the narrative, arranging multiple icons into a frame helped make thoughts more coherent and sequences more logical. Simple imagery helped overcome mental blocks, so this should be a beneficial logical practice to incorporate to future studios, finding concepts etc.

WEEKS 5 - 8 framework notes + reflection

_WEEK 5: PHENOMENOLOGY Acrostic

Guiding structure Free Structure

Portrait Grid

Quatern

Replicated Line Free lines

Square Grid

The formal structure overlaps/ dictated the start of the informal structure

The first line repeats as the second line of the second stanza - and so on

How to Design a Space following "Acrostic" Rules

How to Design a Space following "Quatern" Rules

-The design must have a central spine to link all spaces -Spaces can vary in size branching from the spine -Spaces must be a right angles to the spine

-Entry and exit must be the same be identical -All proportions must be divisible by 4 -One element must be repeated in each of the spaces

Imayo

Grid Diagrams for Week 5 by Mark, Jiajia, Danni.

Layout was a lot more succinct here, makes for easier reading which is something to improve on for next time. ‘Quatern’ is quite similar to our group findings on ‘Kyrielle’, which follows a systemic pattern of repetition albeit not consecutively. I discovered that poetry does form odd spaces for contemplation that could be emulated onto a plan, section or part of a facade. Moving forward, due to the collective impression for these grids, examining at an individualist aspect (positive and negative tension) can provide for more optimised spatial configurations for small scale works.

Landscape Grid

How to Design a Space following "Imayo" Rules - Each space must contain a “pause” - Each space must have the same length - The location of the break must align across the spaces

Individual Syllables Break within a Line

MARK, JIAJIA, DANNI

LEGEND. Pink- insertion of a element related to secondary element, but isn’t maintaining the ‘order’/structure. Black- Main elements, monotypical Grey/other- a secondary element that is related to the main subject but is overshadowed by the rest.

In this Phenomenology task the format that stood out most to me was the Kyrielle. Haiku was something I was familiar with due to learning it in high school and tautogram was rather systemic with randomized elements in the secondary part of the poem format. There was one hidden element that made the ordinary parts of the poem secretly stand out. I happen to like hidden connotations as this gives opportunity for users to dissect designs. Since this appealed to me most out of the formats, I could follow a similar pattern of work, where it is mostly routine but every once in a while there is a ‘spark’ or something opposing the routine that makes either my workflow progress faster or makes the design have odd attributes to it that may make it more interesting/ entertaining to the user. More analyses on Taj Mahal’s narrative and differen narrative forms that assist with architectural design. Iconography was certainly a lot easier and faster to get through due to the time constraints, and drawing out each panel was more time consuming than expected. From this I think it is better to get ideas across with quicker methods and leave drawing for actual production. 31

Phenomenology: Homework Week 5 Sense choice - Touch Typology choice - Laboratory Design 1 lab that curates experiences to do with touch. Think I was drawn to a research lab typology due to its potential to be a very hazardous and futuristic environment. It’s due to my mindset that labs are a place that you can design ‘chaotically’, looking ‘neat’ but actually having a lot of clutter due to equipment, desks and other utensils. Some techniques used were planar forms, which tend to be very static but I tried to make this more dynamic by placing them not so linearly. This extends to elements for clutter and cover, allowing inhabitants to feel comfortable with their organising utensils and environment. I used words, analogue, to give myself a brief ‘prompt’ before designing accordingly, and using the first thing that popped up in my mind to represent spatial experiences, because it is a faster way than to actually research visual references. I’m also not too reliant on computers and I found having too many visual references tends to confuse me on what I’m actually designing for in the first place. Typically I don’t empathise with user experiences when designing; I have to often ‘fake’ envisioning these experiences and go with stereotypes because these environments are what most people (generic public) would be comfortable in seeing/being in, but I prefer a much more haphazard and loose environment. I personally like my workspaces and living spaces as chaotic as my external art, but unfortunately that sort of thing is questionable in architecture, a field that still remains ‘neat, tidy, orderly’ despite trying to seem haphazard at times. (Dynamism in spatial experiences is not the same as being chaotic and disorderly). Unfortunately I still don’t agree with the standard workflow at this point but I am continuing to push and see how far I can get with integrating less orderly ‘art’ with architectural projects.

_NON-TEACHING WEEKS 1 DESIGN AS CULTURAL ACTIVITY Option 1. Suppress toxicity and block it (reject the culture)

Exercise. 1. Cultural heritage as an unconscious influence on design. Culture to me is also the accumulation of beliefs, customs and externalenvironment influences I ‘grew up with’. I hardly ever insert MalaysianChinese cultural elements into my projects (never, I think), because I feel I have no set culture. This is due to having moved from town to town, and later, migrating overseas. The longest time we have stayed in one place is ongoing- currently 7 years so far. Resolving studio problems were always incorporating Aboriginal or contemporary Australian ‘pop culture’ and social trends, rather than looking to my past for influence.

Option 2. Amplify the ‘culture’. (obsess over it)

3. The position of culture in contemporary modernism does give some influence over design but as someone who has very little knowledge of having one specific ‘set culture’ and grew up with multiple, I think it is not necessary in design. It could be necessary if the design brief needs the project to be respectful to the neighbourhood or area profile, but this is a very minor aspect as to what makes a project ‘good’ or fulfilling for both designer and the users. The extent these can interact can vary depending on brief but again, not necessary. Technology could be seen as a ‘culture’, but it is more acknowledged on a global scale, so it would be a requirement of the process rather than a specific culture in itself. But indication of successful cultural building in modern context is if the building respects its context, whether it be contributing back to the community, or is a landmark/icon of the community, or it is simply built from local materials(thus supporting the community). • • •

respect iconizes supports/contributes to a beneficial degree

Cabin Rones by Sanden+Hodnekvam Architects, has a compacted footprint and respects and adapts to the changing vegetation and site context. It’s also of contemporary Scandinavian architecture trend and being in Norway, this really does support the community making it a successful cultural project.

2. Country of birth: Malaysia. I don’t know much about either Malaysia or Australian culture, but there is the ever excessive competitive ‘kiasukiasi-ness’- hokkien for ‘scared of things, scared until die’. It’s a mentality almost similar to FOMO, but focuses on the subject trying to not just be included, but overachieve and succeed above others. If I have to design a space for people like these, there are 2 options: to reduce the toxicity and suppress triggers that cause this emotion in the culture, or to amplify it so everyone becomes incredibly toxic and try to outdo each other (in a single enclosed room with no escape, preferably) until they reach a state of ‘loss’ (because they are disabled from competing) or reach death, essentially. (Refer to sketches/diagrams) As an afterthought from the exercise and lecture, I guess ‘having no culture’ can also be a culture in itself, despite being an unpopular opinion. It is still a factor that allows people to identify having a sense of belonging regardless.

REFLECTION

Was really interesting to hear what peers had to say- they summed up culture holistically, and we analysed from the broader definitions to specific factors of life that influence a persons’ identity and ultimately which ‘culture’ they lean toward. The Hofstede statistics were not too convincing, I was very sceptical of the data due to lack of scientific insight and the terms used were perhaps too specific and limted. Nonetheless it is a good resource to look for inspiration for some studios. I realized architectural movements tie in with these cultures, and are constantly changing with technology, political agendas, social trends/social control and ages. The task is beneficial to general knowledge and development towards research for potential future projects as well as clientele research. While I think it’s useful for the future, to improve on this might demand identifying a specific identity and getting a gist of past history of a person or context so as to design for them and engage on a more intimate level. This could then make my projects more meaningful.

_3 things learned that day • Culture could be an identity that is result of exposure to elements. • political movements are a strong wave of influence to cultures for each specific area but it is unfortunate that misfortune is what causes us to ‘learn’ and keep adapting- changing or abandoning aspects of the traditional past in order to keep up with ‘competition’. _3 things not discovered that i might have liked to • Psychological or disability-related aspects to culture- why is this shunned? Is stigma a culture in itself? • Can having no culture also be a ‘culture’ in itself • Do disabilities or mental cognitive abilities modify and progress culture and vice versa? _3 things to try out at another time • clustering thoughts and analyses • explore biological factors that can influence design • Go through Hofstede’s cultural key factors again and think about how each one can modify ongoing projects (what can I get way with doing/ not doing)

10/4. Groupwork with Yuki & Mark.

DESIGN AS CULTURAL ACTIVITY

Interestingly, the architects that were more inclined to design according to their own culture came from less ‘indulgent’ categories, possibly due to having lack of resources (so they design to counter for this ‘lack’). They also seem to have a less predictable future and tend to design for the broader community and seek long-term benefits that go beyond aesthetic. Without the intention to build for an icon, they inherently become ‘icons’ themselves. Gender neutrality seems to follow the countries throughout, from past study I think this is just due to globalism and social thinking that changes alongside it. Materials are usually from local sources, which means they still respect the context of their culture and site. ‘Culture’ seems to be a subconscious influence, not everyone is aware of what makes them ‘them’ or what they ultimately stand for. The tasks have made it more pronounced that it does contribute to the person’s overall identity and ultimately gives quirks that each architect identifies with. From this intake, personally I haven’t adopted any extraordinary insights because I believe Hofstede’s and Ruskin’s categories are too broad and too limited, respectively. There is a lot more to identity and what makes design unique that may not come down to just personal factors and ways of living. The factors take into account the genericness of the populace, focusing on ‘people’ as a collective, but does not focus on the ‘individual’ person or ‘solo-designer’. I think further more specific individual factors could boil down to academic studies - what was remembered and what was not so significant, personal take on a very specific small-scale type of space, etc. The task was useful though, because it made me realize I have been using related factors that influence my design decisions, and this summarised some of it/made me more aware of what I have been doing. 35

DESIGN AS CULTURAL ACTIVITY STUDIO WORK RELATION

Process: Quick paper model iterations (making a few small ‘spaces’ then rearranging them), to sketching, to axo mass sketch, repeat a few more times... then developed to plans mostly to show the concept (not refined), and colour studies to how it sits on site, atmospheric spaces etc. The main thing about this I liked and found that worked for me coincidentally ties into the topic of Imagination for this part of my Studio E work. I was stuck on the plans for 3 of the floors- they had to tie into my concept of emulating the ‘flow of water along seadragon scales’ for a bath house. I ended up having a great mental blank because I wanted to draw character concepts, not building concepts and to distract myself from distractions, I played a video game for about 30 minutes. Going through the dungeons in the game, I memorized the path the character went through, the twists and turns, and decided to redraw that same circulatory path, but in plan form afterwards. It worked well especially for the basement plan, which is underground and meant to have similar atmosphere to a dark enclosed labyrinth. Though a lot of ‘complications’ in the plan were ommitted (just to make it more architecturally convincing and ‘rational’). In the end it turned out to be fairly helpful in my progress to making my concept stronger for third-party understanding. This particular technique will be adopted for some works from now on, where relevant, as it was the fastest way to get out of that mental blank state. Wouldn’t necessarily call it a block, because I had other ideas but I myself felt discontent with many ideas not being up to par with my standards. Though I detest this to large degree, I need all my skills and mindsets to not lag behind the other. What I learn here must support what I intend to do in the future, otherwise considered a waste. For this support as a stepping stone into a different career path, I continue to try my best in architecture school despite not necessarily fully desiring to be here.

_NON-TEACHING WEEKS 2 IMAGINATION+REFLECTION

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Exercise (mixed media). Design a home for an alien on another planet. (sketch)

I think since there is the enclosed building aspect, it probably could be placed in Earth anyway. To make it more habitable? Perhaps more cosier aspects or to have an open plan. Normally I design from seeing a vaguer, holistic image in my mind. It is difficult to zone in on details and construction material specs with only 5 minutes on the table, but the visualisation of stone does make for a hardy enclosure that adds to its habitability. Whether it is comfortable or not is an entirely different matter; that would depend on the viewer. Personally, coming from a poor childhood, any shelter is habitable and is as decent a living space as any other enclosure (as long as it can endure weather). More plants or artificial machine life forms could have been considered to make this less humanised.

From the lecture’s ideas, I can deduce that these sketches originate more from imaginative fantasy and trying to be strategic to fit to the prompt, but it is very little of any of the other imagination types. I also noticed I was going through a mental cycle of reflecting,‘how can this suit the prompt’ (so there is some level of conscious design) and then the rest is fuelled by ‘unconscious’ design- I wasn’t actually sure what I was doing since I just drew bits and pieces that popped up from my mind, hence both iterations looking so haphazard.

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From this I was able to learn about awareness and though the result is somewhat okay, I think I would have preferred a colder atmospheric effect just to make it seem much less related to real places. To improve on this, it is best to be slightly more conscious about this cycle as learnt and I believe that can now be incorporated as part of my thought process whilst sketching any other iteration.

Develop from the sketch and implement changes for improvement.

It was closer to designing for a scenario, rather than humans or aliens. I tend to envision ‘aliens’ as dystopian monsters or deformed animals, so they could live in ruins of some sort. It seems vague, in hindsight the drawing is probably closer to ‘world-building’ than ‘house-building’.

The next task here was to develop the concepts further and allow for cohabitation. Here I thought about the kinds of aliens I’d prefer to cohabitate with, in a more dystopian context (because I don’t believe in friendly mutations). I had a thought that what if these ‘animals’ could help protect our homes (but at the same time I also thought about how I wouldn’t want huge ones to live inside survival-metabolism pods, so this ended up having the result of a temporary nesting (assuming these animals would live with humans in the same colony, same area, and they would be potentially moving around and helping out with fieldwork. The pods can open and allow for humans to live inside them and feel comfortable even during night times despite being surrounded by seemingly safe yet unknown beings. I rejected the idea of a friendly humanoid type of alien, the stereotypical green type with antennas, mainly due to past influence. I was an avid horror watcher so this made me immune to, and actually even attracted to seemingly ‘ugly’ or distorted lifeforms. I think there’s a kind of beauty and elegance in the way that deformations present themselves. I interpreted the brief as such, and felt like designing for them in this moment. The task was entertaining however I think further improvements could be made for having some integrated above-ground shelter even for the different alien types and demographics. It’s a prompt that can go a very long way and could go as long as a 200-hour video game at post production.

Here is where architectural studies majorly influenced the conscious part of my decisions, to which I actually detest because I think architecture and concept art, while can be argued they are similar, they are completely different and should be kept with a barrier between the two. I detest situations when architecture influence intrudes my original imagination, because it hinders my artistic freedom (while they can benefit with rationalising iterations). They are specific mindsets that conflict with each other and I’ve tried- albeit failed many years already to merge the two and try to come to a compromise. The easiest way in this case, to design, is to determine, is this architecture or is this concept art? When I decide on one, I focus on rationality (architectural-based) or creativity for the other. I am aware this is what made me so detached from my architecture design work but as graduation draws closer, I’m afraid I’ll have to come to accept it for what it is. The average lifespan of a computer is 3-5 years, before it needs to be sent for maintenance or before it is disassembled and thrown. 38

Danni and XiaoPeng’s schemes were interesting in the sense they approached it opposite to my own. ‘Alien’ seems to have a stereotypical or unconscious mindset already ingrained into us possibly due to old media, where it would seem like the green naked, smooth skinned, creature with antennas and bug-cat like eyes. It was a bit odd to see they thought of it as a ‘house-for-all’ situation, perhaps aliens to them mean they are closer to human characteristics. That was the major difference in insights that assisted us with the design. From here I found that maybe architecture makes us tunnel-vision to an extent, as a very human-centric industry, we keep trying to design for humans and not very much considering of other species, animals, plants, microorganisms etc. Overall between us the ‘home’ is a comfortable dwelling to suit the organisms that inhabit it. More innovative improvements would be to redefine the home, it may not need walls or a roof as long as the environment is sufficient and suits the living conditions of the client we design for.

Observing the patterns, we all had similar interpretations of a fully enclosed space with different materials, either sturdy or durable. I personally headed for a more enclosed, protective approach in the Human design, regarding openings specifically as my groupmates went for an open courtyard approach. It’s possible this is because of influence as I prefer closed spaces compared to open ones and I prefer somewhat small and cramped areas (with good ventilation). I found that during the process of looking for icons, I also had other ideas to supplment the original idea, due to looking at ‘recommended’ diagrams and other icons. This helped build a visual library and left residual ideas of which I included those to further emphasize the point. Even brief glances at other things unrelated to the resource search helped with strengthening schemes; since I am more aware of this now, it could be a good habit to take note of. To ensure quality control and that ideas don’t get too ‘cluttered’, I will also have to make sure not to go overboard with spending too much time looking at the stuff on the side. For this task we were under a bit of a time limit, so that helped raise awareness to this tactic.

_NON-TEACHING WEEKS 3 / WEEK 6 GENDER DESIGN

Task done with Xiao Peng and Kay in reviewing Gender design in Architecture.

From discussion with Xiao Peng and Kay, it seems that female architects are more inclined to proceed with feminine or curvier types of tectonic language and/or in their design decisions. This is different to if it were a team of mixed architects such as Wutopia Lab. The precedent with team results gave a more artificial vibe when trying to design for specific genders- rather, Wutopia Lab’s project appears more gender-neutral (aside from the stereotypical colour coding).

The Wing (female only architects) were more successful in designing for a more instinctual space that encapsulates softer features. This informs me that planning and design thinking is also affected by core natures and that environmental conditioning does give unconscious decisions. In comparison with my own designs I’m not sure if I orientate toward more feminine or masculine architectural decisions, and even in art-- this depends on the client’s needs. Usually I have more experience with male clients so researching for their requirements comes more naturally to me (for illustration) but some feminine outcomes have occured in studios where teamwork was the main focus. Working in a team with other females did drive decisions to more ‘curvy’ or softer type of designs (eg refer to right-> Digital Design & Fabrication 2017, groupwork design for a Personal Space ‘helmet’). 40

REFLECTION

As a team, it was easier to set up the rubric. We defined the criteria descriptions first and set rules, then proceeding from what was an excellent standard and working our way down to writing on a passable standard. The quantifiable aspect was only done last as we felt the rubrics would be more quality-based. In comparison to the second group’s rubric, the ambiguity of using xy arrows for the quantifiable aspect appears a lot less jarring and essentially made for theirs to be a more user-friendly rubric. The rubric we designed as group 1 seems rigid and more student-orientated rather than suited for a general design workplace because of the numerical aspect. I realized from this we tend to design (matrices) according to what we are familiar with or what we ourselves have been judged on, so essentially ‘what we are taught, stays with us’ from architecture school. Being a rigid block grid type of rubric, I’d interpret this as a more masculine design in relation to a gender-based rubric, despite our team being of females only. It is beneficial to be aware of this fact as I can take note of specifically what part of a demographic I will design for in future studios. Stereotypical design factors (eg pink for females, blue for male) would change though, as not all shades of pink or blue will appeal to either gender. It would also depend on context, what community would be more accepting of stereotypes.

_3 things learned that day • really liked the design of the rubric by the other Group, as it has a threshold that doesn’t focus on the quantity percentage. It’s a more interesting approach as it really focuses on the qualitative aspect, compared to our group’s which has a more neutral-balanced approach-- we still did a x/y matrix with some quantitative parameters as well. _3 things not discovered that i might have liked to • rubric designs • masculine and feminine design decisions and ‘language’ can be interchangeable • challenging stereotypical design decisions or seeing what outcomes occur by conforming to ‘normal’ standards _3 things to try out at another time • a more qualitative rubric if required to make • focusing on the ‘detail’ and not so much on the holistic picture to prevent myself from getting the concept lost in all the tectonic language

Attempting this task under limited time and doing a bath house helps with the current studio work which is also to design a bath house, however for this task I used a more subdued typology; it isn’t as dynamic but there are less dead ends. I personally dislike the triangular tectonic but was encouraged to do so this was a more refreshing change. I did use relatively the same brief as the one from the main studio but approached it differently because I was fed up of the other. Because design is so subjective, it is difficult to make personal decisions-- many of the designs I had done in school was an amalgamation of supported ideas. I think being personally detached from your work has its advantages and disadvantages, the advantage being that there is no hesitation to restart or do things differently, but the disadvantage being that I generally pay not much mind to what happens after the finished product. A bath house is better left more simplistic, reviewing over the precedents again, but to have a detailed ritual or bathing sequence established through a narrative or circulation. This leads me to think perhaps planning and function is not always the major focus in non-residential or non-office related projects. In relation to gender influenced design, neutrality I find, is the safest, most subjective way to approach it as viewers can interpret the quantity of femininity or masculinity to their own perceptions. It is less controversial and less likely to incite conflict. From this I can deduce personal design preferences are more directed toward ‘safety’, to avoid confrontation on controversial issues outside of the design brief itself.

Design Rubric 2 by Group 2. 42

_WEEK 6: 500m^2 Bath House Design Bubble Diagram and DRAFT Ground Plan Requirements: • no less than 500 sqm in site area • vertical stacking • 3 zones: Male/Female/Unisex • refer to rubric groups 1 and 2 for reference to schedules • Options: plan/section/perspective/diagrams

Much faster to do the bubble diagram and a draft plan by hand. I visualised this bath house in layers, something I don’t normally do but due to main studio crits this week I think it’s best to look at these floor plates and sectional affordances in specific detail as I lost the main focus of my concept due to looking too hard to find the ‘bigger’, holistic picture. I’m constantly looking to learn and improve so I actually have no true consistent method of working, something is always changing with the process. This is because I’m not satisfied with the process nor the outcome and I find it difficult to attach myself to any of my works due to trying to improve, whether it be in process/ workflow, decision-making and/or in technical skills. This time I also try not to cram major bathing programs into one floor and instead spread it out through 3 floors. It produced a more effective circulation outcome so I think I will be using this mindset for my current studio projects as well, so I can progress it further.

Did collages in Photoshop using the polygonal lasso tool and brushes for colour and texture. I hadn’t done this before and I finally have more time to experiment so this was surprisingly fast to generate visualisations for the bath house. Granted I was going for a more minimalist, compact (small) design, it comes out grid-like. I tend to feel like there’s more freedom, ease of generating ideas without the limitations of a ‘neighbourhood profile’ so in this sense I realize my preferences for design briefs gear toward designing with a landscape, whether it is flat ground or under/ over a slope. For this task I went for a rather barren feel as well, envisioning this bath house to ‘grow old’ together with a newly developed environment, with ‘young’ nature/greenery... (continued next page)

Fairly linear pool but with stone walls and shower. Small enough for 2-3 occupants. Would be the second floor’s ‘pocket’ pool on the North East corner.

REFLECTION

Very simple and quick collage done of the main entry. It misses some elements because I felt that would distract from the minimalist feel I was going for but those elements (eg one slanted wall inside entryway) is not too obvious and minor compared to the two side spaces that consist of a darker ‘shower stone’ esque space. I chose a very muted primary colour scheme so that it is easy on the eye but still has some contrast to define the shapes even without using any linework. It was good to see the product finished within minutes so I think I’ve discovered doing such collages can greatly benefit for the amount of time I spend on visualisation and thus speed up the workflow. Although complexity will differ depending on how complicated the project is, for relatively simple facades, this proved to be an easier more efficient way to get one of my ideas across. I should be able to use this even in future studios and quick backgrounds for illustrations. To improve on this though I think deciding on a colour palette to use would hasten the flow as I did spend some time adjusting the colours to see which had more optimal contrast. Other things I would change is maybe try darkening the landscape or sky so that the building or main subject of the collage would stand out more, next time. The section also could have been improved by putting in double heights. Voids around the rooftop edges might be more effective in atmospheric lighting than windows and screens input as well, so it can give off a more lighthearted or bathing/relaxed feel. ~~~ On Burry (2011) ‘s excerpt regarding Mathematics of Space, I found this reading particularly helpful in insights for arrangement of rectilinear components. I took a ‘step back’/break from a review in the main studio and noticed there were a lot of mistakes and lack of functionality in the previous plans as well as treatment. From the reading I developed harsher rules to follow that were more pragmatic, trusting the core structure and its intersecting elements to do the speaking instead of forcing it to adhere to the site. This helped significantly reduce distortions, both in visual aspect and also during 3D modelling trials. I let the geometry do its own thing and didn’t stretch it or make it seem forcefully elastic/dynamic which turned out more practical than before. Although it is tamer than before, it is more organised and has more practical flow. Contrary to Burry’s findings and suggestions on testing the limits of certain materials, I did not curve glass in my model due to setting harsher tectonic rules, but it did manage to emulate the visual illusion (that it is flexible) due to the setting of the polygonal structures. It is less “freeform” but has less chaos than curves or Voronoi, which is implied by Burry to be more organised “around the hexagon”. I may not follow the triangular ruling as previously done due to its difficulty in composition and functional shortcomings so I will be attempting to adjust quadrilaterals and related forms to see if it can also emulate the illusion of a similar yet different tectonic; an idea gained from this particular reading. _3 things learned that day • to ‘collage’ more efficiently • spreading out programs; less condensation and less focus on site restriction practicality, look towards extending floors

Reworking on main studio Bath House Ground Plan, form and treatments so it is less disorderly. (Above: perspective; right: plan)

_3 things to try out at another time • changing the colour schemes for higher contrast • no trees, see how minimalistic this can get • extension of floor plates in number or also giving affordance for double heights 45

_WEEK 7: INFORMAL ARCHITECTURE In-Class: Step 1. Presenting to a Blind Audience. As presenter: To Mark, Xiaopeng, Danni Without visual aids, my group seemed to understand my ideas on the winding concept, granted I did change my notes from the past studio crit session so it was probably clearer this time around! I also managed to shorten the time of explanation to under a minute so I think getting straight to the point instead of trying to ‘read a story’ works better for expressing my ideas and concept, as trying to read a project as a story in the crit session only confused guests. Trying to be poetic was encouraged in the studio but I’ve never been good at verbal sophistication-- from seeing the results from my peers I think this helped me make a decision that I need to keep things simpler to understand. With the 3 minute time limit too, I found that peers just needed a little time to prepare for a more straightforward approach to the verbal presentation and possibly that constraint helped us stay on track and prevented losing the point. In-Class: Step 2. The Reveal. As audience: To Mark, Xiaopeng, Danni Looking at others audience vs presenter diagrams, they seem to be clear and similar among all of us. I think from this, visual aids actually can act as a hindrance rather than help us convey our main idea, since it seems to add a layer(s) of complexity to the verbal portrayal. So I found this beneficial in that distancing oneself from the visual components and essentially presenting a concept from an almost third-party point of view, drastically improves the speed and clarity at which the subject is portrayed. Amongst us we found the depictions were mostly accurate, there were some slight variations on personal perception but ultimately the main points were taken. Some new insights made were to keep it straight to the point; it is more understandable if we keep in mind there is an even shorter time restraint. Other insights made-- Mark mentioned that the plan is quite memorable there may be a memory-based biasness related to personal experience. He also used a perspective for Danni’s idea portrayal, possibly this is because of her description relating to vertical stacking and inward setting of a plaza-like element. I think he portrayed her ideas more successfully than Danni and I on this, because the perspective gives a clearer view of that stacking notion (almost appearing animated). As an audience role, I drew both plan and section because it was difficult for me to justify using either-or. I realize from this task that I tend to imagine architectural spaces as a flat map, like a contour map, and this could be due to childhood experiences. I was never the bookworm type and played a lot of computer games instead, a lot of the world building involved studying the maps of the world/levels to get a larger understanding of visualising distance between destinations. So the preference to draw as a 2D plan/map may have come from this. I don’t actually imagine such spaces in 2D, but the quickest way to get notes across is via plan for me. Perspectives tend to encourage me to focus too much on detail rather than the broad picture, and in this case the aim of the exercise was to capture everyone’s broad concepts. On recollecting the group discussion, I think plans, sections and perspectives all convey the same amount of information, but the type of information shown can be prioritised, such as a plan being able to convey more easily a ‘journey’, but so can a section and perspective. It may appear more linear on section however, so perhaps the plan and perspectives would be more beneficial in conveyance. However the section sketches were good for determining heights and spatial experiences, including voids and welled spaces present in Mark and Danni’s concepts. I was a bit confused with Xiaopeng’s description as ‘courtyards’ is a rather vague term for me but I assumed it was relatively low-mid rise buildings. For her concept, a hybrid between a diagram (as she talked about a life cycle) and section helped with understanding her idea as it could essentially appear as a flowchart with height elements. To improve on the vision, I think incorporating a perspective or sketch of a section-perspective ie hybrid diagrams could have worked well with condensing all the information given to us more succinctly. 46

REFLECTION

The task regarding verbally explaining our studio concepts to peers without visual aid was very helpful in that we would be able to see if our explanation was to the point. I had struggled in studio previously because I was trying to also focus on the more practical, less narrative-based side of things and having restricted time to form a quick description helped condense the longer narrative down. The informal architecture lecture reminded me of Paolo Soleri’s work, where in many of the informalised, self-sufficient or self-growing plans indicated a sprawl of the people. It felt very organic as buildings would have a mesh of character on its own due to its own inhabitants customising it to cater themselves. While I can see the appeal of practicing informality, it can get chaotic and practical building structure could weaken when customising. It leaves me feeling bit unsure about safety and stability. Having lived in a range of housing before, there were many times foreign things, wild animals or the common water leak and collapsed parts of the roof would happen, and doing such additions/subtractions especially in a DIY, sort-of-slum state, can sometimes create more problems than if the building were following a formalised urban plan or if just left alone. I’d rather live in a proper enclosure as it brings more security. From this, I see design preferences also are largely affected by past experiences, even in a geographical level, the places we used to live in etc. **... I think we could have also improved our interpretations or benefit from, by including what sorts of materials, tensile or compressive, could be installed on a ‘site’ like this as that could have passed more depth for thinking. The materials probably don’t have to suit a particular neighbourhood profile anymore in this case, if in anti-gravity, buildings became nomadic and floated slowly around the globe. The issue would be self-sufficiency per building, and possibly for convenience, typologies may have to consider putting in a residential component for the occupants. Interestingly, would this also give opportunity to reduce the use of transport, cars etc? It could be environmentally ‘sustainable’ or ‘safe’ in this case, as such a context could lessen the use of fossil fuel due to lesser demand. _3 things learned that day • Minimalism relies on the perspective of integrating ‘one thing’, I always thought it was a thought to ‘live simply, and basically’ type • The customisation of some buildings (informal architecture) as an actual practice, is surprising. I thought it was just DIY, ‘no money, no choice’ but to fix it yourself.

In-Class: Step 3. Parallel Universe. New strategies and ideas that came about was probably one of the more obvious solutions, but redefining what a ‘floor’ is (inverted roof structure) or having a flying building, possibly complete with aerodynamic structures is more likely to be able to hold loads better than cable ties tensions. The design agendas in general had to adapt to different height levels, each of us had varied perceptions of how strong anti-gravity pull would be, some going to the extremities and considering outer space. The office was considered to have sky bridges, which is an interesting use of future program; it is similar to having highways/freeways in the sky, and perhaps we could speculate that VTOL machines/Uber Air would essentially become the next ‘car’ equivalent. This context left debate on how far architecture limits can be pushed, which realistically, isn’t very far at all... but regarding design thinking, I felt the task allowed us to see different perspectives and refresh our minds away from our main subject content. Was also interesting to see the ideas other peers had for different situations. A completely inverted gravitational situation would cause building programs to be redefined or even replaced out of the norm. It seems closer to Missingham’s excerpt of a transplant as a lot of foreign ideas are embedded in this context... (continued **) 48

_3 things not discovered that i might have liked to • Not all building typologies would work in an anti-gravity environment, would that mean we would have to create new typologies? If so, I wonder if that means essentially technology would progress enough (eg instead of a floating bathtub, why not have a large water droplet that is able to stay cohesive and float on its own, like a plastic bag or balloon) • If heavier weighted materials would stay grounded to the earth, maybe this would not affect typologies too much. _3 things to try out at another time • I remember saying I wanted to try a darker collage, and was given the chance to do so for the Minimalism week’s task. • tasks could have been improved if I thought more carefully about reductivity, perhaps to lessen decisions by 1 more component less.

_WEEK 8: MINIMALISM & CAUSE+EFFECT Thoughts on readings-- ‘To the Minimalist Work’: The ‘One thing’ is the main element of the site, with utmost importance and ultimately belongs to its context. Therefore it has to make sense and essentially complement the site it is to provide for. It has a presence, but is invisible, in the sense it may be felt only if sought after. A strategy to incorporate this element is repetition. The thing also gives the place its presence (so it seems to blend together with the subject it serves). Thoughts on readings-- ‘TACIT’: Redefining ‘silence’, not as a void but as a element with presence despite not having an obvious display to any of the senses. It seems to be subconscious. It is part of the ‘context’, as in, it has meaning and purpose to be implemented within John Cage’s 4’33”. It doesn’t distract from other elements in the context, but it is still sensed and noticed. The impression I got from this is that it is a rather passive-aggressive element, neither ‘here nor there’, it is not powerless but does not seek to seem strong either. Rather, the ‘strength’ or ‘impact’ of minimalism comes from an absence of. It is not hostile in nature, but comes as a rational, calm and collected force. Its movement is repeated for consistency, hence the rationality.

Context response: Since there was no given specifications on context, firstly the house is managed for a small family of 2-4, with an immediate surrounding of open land or perhaps being surrounded by minimal forestation, which would allow for serene acoustics. Concrete is the main material, which could seem plain but ultimately I was going for a ‘timeless’ feel, where it would remain a constant throughout all seasons but still have a reflective hue when daylight changes colour on it, from dawn to dusk. In general I like to start ‘simple’ and craft my way to compaction which probably makes for a condensed building. Some of these influences on my design decisions come from the monochrome aesthetic which I find myself drawn toward, due to the sharp contrast in elemental transition. It is brutal, straightforward and honest, traits I also identify myself as an individual. The contention strives for ‘perfection’, but not without mistakes. I realize my design thinking is often driven by conflict - I want perfection but I know I must accept mistakes otherwise the design will never develop-- and to me, a design that can’t accept mistakes means it cannot take the first step to finding its most ‘perfect’ state. In trying to achieve this, a reductive approach allows me first tackle the main intent/priority of a design before I try to ‘decorate’ it or support it with other components.

Thoughts on Lecture on Minimalism by A.Selenitsch Thing(s) are reduced and repeated, which gives it a ‘reductive’ look. Hierarchy should be absent, minimalism doesn’t seek to overpower the elements/context it is placed in nor does it seek to overpower itself. Repetition, if used, should be used with careful consideration to the composition because this may end up causing the minimal component to suddenly gain a more impactful solidity in a composition.

In regard to socioeconomic status, my first thoughts usually go to imagining clients who have a similar number of occupants to my household but have had very different living experiences or history. They tend to live a clean lifestyle, uncluttered spaces, with a typically peaceful family/friend dynamic. There is little conflict and disability and they have ‘lived comfortably’ for most of their lives, demonstrated in the ‘boring’ planning of the floors, minimal stairs etc . This is emulated through the cubic, almost symmetrical form, through the occupant’s Archaeology. At its core, the Paradox, the design here is simply a dream for some kind of localized peace.

It is a element in neutrality. ‘White noise’- sound that is heard when there is an absence of the positive sounds that are more overpowering, but white noise also adds to the context, as a single element, that complements and supports its ‘context’ (in this case, background noise) instead of overpowers or distracts listeners from it.

We can deduce from the drawings and realizations above that, the outcome is ultimately selfish and unrealistic even though the design responds to the imaginary client’s needs and wants; I have projected my own past wishes onto the client because I was given the freedom to do so (not many specifics required by the task) and this is the typical result of living in my own head for too long.

Context: I found that Yukyee is quite people-oriented in her design decisions, Danni and Kay as well, except the user may be prioritised on a slightly lower level than other ideas they may choose to encapsulate in their designs, as they also have a brought influence from social media and religion (or lack thereof). Thinking of the different categories in the funnel diagram for context helped with personal awareness as to where some of my past decisions came from, such as whether it was psychological or came from being exposed to political issues or a hybrid of both. I was previously aware of some of the fields because I was interested to find out psychological trends in artists, how ultimately their success was affected by their mindset and what kind of mindsets they had. There was a broad spectrum as of course, no two individuals are overly similar however I discovered the degree of egos and neuroticism that tends to be more distinct in creative fields, especially art, music and any design fields. While it doesn’t seem to be necessarily a bad trait, I suppose the extent that a person has of it, could influence if they are geared toward more orderly, Apollonian type of design decisions, as compared to the Dionysian. Additionally what I didn’t notice before was that family history could have impacted how I developed as a person, which in turn also influenced design thinking. A lot of the seemingly brutal or rigid ‘rectilinear’ forms I tend to lean toward in many of my studio projects probably stem from this category of context due to a strong reminder being passed down- that we have to ensure we do anything to keep our position and not lose another home, or not have to flee elsewhere to survive. Exposure to vastly different politics and economic situations due to having lived in a developing and developed country may also have contributed to some flexibility; while I prefer the rectangular, I can adapt my projects and don’t mind scrapping the former to convert a new version, as long as there is enough evidence or logic to do so. Time limitations are generally not an issue as long as a third-party does not request a major change one day or few hours before submission, but even then, there have been times I willingly changed despite the crunch time (example below, a scheme changed in 1-2 days, scraps from Studio Fable). Ultimately this has me even more aware that designers can have similar processes, but there will always be something that is a different priority as part of the workflow or end product, which is what will distinguish them from other designers.

_Subject Readings for Insights Mark Burry, 2011, Geometry Working Beyond Effect, in: George L Legendre, ed, 2011, Mathematics + Space, AD Profile No. 212, London: Architectural Design /John Wiley & Sons, pp. 80-89. Missingham, Greg & Alex Selenitsch, 2002, Transplants, Transferences and Translations: Exchanges of strategies and design ideas, gardens and cross-cultural considerations, in: John Macarthur & Antony Moulis, eds, 2002, ADDITIONS to architectural history: XIXth annual conference of the Society of Architectural Historians, Australia and New Zealand, [available CD-Rom], Brisbane.

MISC. REFLECTION

_REFERENCES W5-8

_Other Makoto Sei Watanabe Architects. n.d. “MAKOTO SEI WATANABE.” Www.Makoto-Architect.Com. Accessed April 22, 2020. https://www. makoto-architect.com/. Pintos, Paula. 2019. “Cabin Rones / Sanden+Hodnekvam Architects.” ArchDaily. March 19, 2019. https://www.archdaily.com/913345/cabinrones-sanden-plus-hodnekvam-architects. Shuang, Han. 2018. “His House and Her House / Wutopia Lab.” ArchDaily. March 13, 2018. https://www.archdaily.com/890513/hishouse-and-her-house-wutopia-lab.

_What is your definition of ‘logical’ as opposed to ‘illogical’? ‘Logical’ to me, is just ensuring that there is a sequence to an idea or outcome, no matter how abstract that sequence may sound. However if something is done for ‘no reason’ or ‘why not’, that is my perception of ‘illogical’, simply because that shows a complacent attitude and lack of clean understanding as to why someone is doing/producing/showing something in the first place. Generally this comes off to me as superficial, and I have a tendency not to take such aspects seriously, which can possibly be detrimental? (I have yet to suffer consequences from ‘advice’ I don’t take seriously though, but there is always a chance.) I could change this skeptical mindset of mine but so far I have not been affected by it in any way, so it probably is working for me. _If certain animate objects hold a clearer source of inspiration and is more interesting than actual figures, what are the different qualities between them? The thing with observing animate objects or living subjects is because these can be understood in real time, and it is very difficult for both memory and time to capture the same moment of action that comes from that subject. For example, when observing the way Person A walks, would of course differ to Person B. However the first time Person A is walking, although the action is repeated in the future, the time Person A is walking say, at 12PM the same day, is not the same as 3PM the same day as well. There will always be factors that change every movement and animate objects will always possess the ability to have varied reactions, even if they are trying to repeat the same action. With actual figures, honestly it is very hard to draw inspiration from them because what I see and research from them (eg. master studies, precedents etc), is that I am seeing an ‘end product’. I am seeing their already-gained success and this does not motivate me one bit, because I have personally seen many of my peers have had opportunities fall into their laps out of luck, and so I cannot help but also be skeptical- which of these figures that are widely admired, are actually not worth admiring, because it ‘fell into their lap’? I can only find inspirations in figures that have shared their hardships less superficially- where there seems to be some evidence that their success ie my inspiration, is not luck-based. This mindset comes from personal experience- while luck determines where you are born and how you are born, I firmly believe that I have gotten this far in my life today due to only hard work and nothing else, so I also need my inspirations (if masters) to have had situations that can be empathized with, or else I’d draw inspiration and value from the next best thing- generic living beings. _Why do these elements have qualities of dimensions that cause certain inspirations/feelings? One of the more prominent feelings I have when observing others, the way they move, talk etc, is kind of bittersweet. This is likely because I was brought up not to value material items (take care of them to preserve their usage but not love them), and things like photographs were not often taken in my childhood. As a result of a not-so-advantageous beginning, our family treasures memories of experiences above all else so an observational eye and long term memory tends to run fairly well in us. Time is something we also value heavily, and this ties in with the bittersweet feeling, because it can be felt that one moment in a certain time is not the same as the next. It is quite hard to describe but the closest word to it is that it’s a ‘fleeting’ experience and one where ‘every second literally counts’. You can’t get the same kind of emotional impact from staring at the screen at information of actual figures you’re supposed to look up to, only, it’s difficult for me to admire one subject for a long time probably because I don’t actually value the information on a subconscious level (meaning there is not much impact felt/not memorable).

Watts, Peter. 2017. “Use These Story Structures to Make Messages People Talk About.” Medium. November 3, 2017. https://medium. com/fassforward/use-these-story-structures-to-make-messagespeople-talk-about-cee6ad96bc62. Yamada, Ryo. n.d. “Vertical Landscape.” Ryo Yamada. Accessed April 22, 2020. https://www.ryoyamada.com/vertical-landscape. Zumthor, Peter. 2009. “The Therme Vals / Peter Zumthor.” ArchDaily. February 11, 2009. https://www.archdaily.com/13358/the-thermevals.

I think this has affected my approaches in design in general, as I’m always trying to find new, better ways to resolve problems and I am not attached to any single kind of process. Because there is no emotional attachment with my approaches and methods, or even the end product of my work itself, I find it very easy to simply ‘throw ideas away’. This is a interesting realization; I actually see myself as quite a loyal person in real life but when it comes to design, if I can do anything to better myself or the design, I would immediately throw the ‘old’ idea without hesitation. In this sense, I appreciate and respect the process and product but do not love it. Although I suppose being completely unfaithful to the design process and approaches, is also an approach in itself, since there are no ‘hindrances’. I’d like to create the most entertaining, beautiful concept someday, regardless which design field that concept would lie in; so I feel that in order to do so, ideas are also just as fleeting as observing animate objects. Continuing on from here, it is usually perceived as good to ‘think outside the box’ and not be so conforming in some designs. When I can throw ideas away with no attachment, I feel like this helps also break a cycle of conformity, like breaking chain links apart. 51

WEEKS 9 - 12 notes + reflection

_WEEK 9: DESIGNER’S FRAMES Notes. GKM’s Account of Designing Ideas- present, no inertia Design underway- present, short term Design depots- middle inertia, chronic Frames- maximum inertia, subconscious, maximise the information/message as perceived by the user, including metaphorics and not merely through physical architectural expression; this in turn creates the “resonance” in a project and provides purpose to the work. The project itself is an amalgamation of social/ political/cultural desires that are as interpreted by the practice/firm responsible for designing the architecture. Beliefs, perceptions, morals that also shape the reflection and review of a designer’s process. In physical sciences, experiments show conclusive reports that prove or disprove their hypothesis. This is the scientific equivalent to the architectural focused ‘reflection’ on their own design, essentially acting as the designer’s frame. “Restricted speech” - metaphorical Are we designing for People as: - objects for counting - as spiritual beings - as tamed animals - as agent - as a wider, ecological system? Measured vs Real space - Abstract vs Existential/ Phenomenological Summers’ idea, Real Space of Social Use-- sculpture of the space, the tectonics that shape the experience of the users and thus influence their current perception of the area. A Human-centric design, considering how people ‘fit’ in the broader world context, how can architecture redefine what ‘living’ by designing is, and how to repair issues that arise in society, including manmade and naturally inherent disasters; design as to counter these issues and respond to surviving through these disasters, essentially? APPROACH: Frame-in-action (partial manifest) APPROACHES: set of Principles in comparison to other Approaches FRAMES: nested structures with multidimensional aspects and depth.

Apollonian Moodboard-- Designing according to perception, that affects the framework and processes. Culture may come from the same roots, but have contradicting values that arise, such as gardens and sculptures of the same location and century; appears to depend on a designer’s roots and ultimately their ‘hope’ during the context of which they are designing. Symmetry and order is a more rigid notion but potentially shows more enlightenment and stability in the designer’s mentality.From this, I perceived that the Apollonian is ‘less selfish’ than that of a Dionysian**. (explained in next moodboard) The rationale behind these two contrast but does not mean that Dionysian has a lack of reason. 54

Dionysian Moodboard-- Was easier for me to compile this moodboardcollage because I felt I instinctively knew what sort of atmosphere and types of context could be used to portray Dionysian principles. For the Apollonian one, I had to refer back to the lecture in order to understand that both categories are ‘balanced’, but in different ways for design. The Dionysian is more accepting of spontaneity and erratic decision making than the Apollonian. **The Dionysian is more accepting of discovering the Paradox, whilst the other very much focuses on the Archaelogy or Fields to serve others apart from itself.

PLACE LOCALITY

Usually Australia, Melbourne CBD or city surroundings.

FRAMING YOUR DESIGNING

Generally compact on a urban scale.

CHOOSING DESIGN APPROACH + METHODS

TRYING CONJECTURES + IDEAS

If not specified in the brief, usually options are determined by horizontal site area. Verticality is more preferable and a ‘easier’ choice for urban environments.

introducing a new addition into the demographic’s influence or something that is new to the community. Probably an unwelcomed addition, but should benefit them in the long run.

CONCEPTS

EXPERIENCES + AFFECT

site research first, sketches for ideas or analysis, then development of sketches.

urban site with usually flat contours or a small gradient such as 1-2 degrees of slope. Weather generally has corelation to the urban heat island effects in this case

Studio Fable - designing a framework that would reduce the effects of extreme heatwaves and allow for large scale thermoregulation in a futuristic Melbourne, where heat could potentially reach 70 degrees celcius and thus increase mortality rates.

comfort for the vulnerable populace such as old people (60+), the disabled and children (below 19) who are deemed to be most susceptible to heat fluctuations and prone to spontaneous stroke or dehydration

refinement of project from the sketches, reviewing the research to check if there is sufficient information to design for the site.

curved pathways but angular in turns to simplify the form and allow for more versatility in material choice for structure

Flow- designing a central tower with nomadic pods to house the vulnerable population temporarily during times of the extreme heat.

From the framing, we chose a temporary nomadic approach that allows for internally regulated temperatures whilst suspending itself from the ground (as the ground radiates heat due to the UHI effect and concrete as a bad conductor)

concrete and steel is used often for the higherscaled projects, due to the loadbearing capacity and flexibility in compression and tension.

Capsule pods and large thermoelectric generators to help sustain life. Assuming it was in a future Melbourne context, VTOLs and Uber Air could be established already and thus address the situation.

In ideas, the experience is ultimately a miniature home, where all necessities are provided (similar to a ‘lockdown’ isolation except in large communal tower frameworks that can be implemented throughout each suburb).

As per tutor/design brief.

attempt to redefine the urban space that is given.

RESOLUTION OF FORCES

PATTERNS

not really focusing on 3D until the post-production stage. So for production stage, most of the ideations are refined here but usually through drawing or determining floor plans.

ESD design usually implemented for targeting against UHI effects in the city site, such as a green roof.

Determining the Armatures seemed like an extension of the previous Context-based task, but really allowed us to delve into what gave the projects its purposes and later finding which master precedent we resonated with. I didn’t expect it to be Burle Marx; I hadn’t even seen his name around before... He’s a landscape architect but I somewhat agree with his philosophy and design values due to his ability to convert a landscape into his canvas and potentially treat the ‘architecture’ as art. This was a bit of a shock, I didn’t realize even with mixed reviews, he just went and did whatever he deemed fit with that ‘canvas’. He doesn’t seek to please his audience, he respects the canvas he uses and that was quite admirable and appealing to me.

It was challenging trying to relate to Yukyee’s armatures. I had stated in a previous entry she seemed very people-focused and completely selfless as a designer, which is neither a bad or good thing. Personally I can be quite selfish when given the opportunity to so it was hard to empathise. Kay seems to have a good balance, with wanting to form deliberate connections with her audience. I think she is more oriented toward a mass community focus rather than the individual, which I found easier to relate to, because essentially a community being a mass, could be easier to justify design processes and techniques for, since there is more tolerance for ‘error’ (not being able to satisfy everyone). Similarly to Kay, I tend to focus less on the individual and more on community focused elements, be it cultural influence or demographic. Similar aspects between all of us is that we tend to gear toward standard materials, timber and concrete namely, in our projects. It is probably because it is the most convenient and most studied materials in between all of us during our degree, so from this it is seen that we stick to what is familiar to us because it is convenient. This convenience leads to less research time are we just being lazy? :) So we have more time to spend on other aspects of our projects. Ultimately we each have different priorities, but material aesthetic is probably not one of the higher ones between us.

EXERCISE

Going through all past design studio projects: What Approaches and Methods did you employ? What do these imply about your personal Frames? What Frames/Approaches would you like to try? Why, exactly? Many of the studio projects were undertaken in a safe approach, not going too extreme in forms and function, or at least this is how it usually starts out as I try to ‘test the waters’ to get a feel of what is acceptable or not acceptable to the client/tutor. However they usually end with my taking a large risk at the end for change, simply because I personally dislike how lackluster the projects began. It also comes down to my referred frames of perception and morals; I don’t particularly agree with the way architecture school works, the work culture for this particular field far contrasts the more supportive illustration-based field although in both, the competitive aptitudes and thresholds remain fairly similar. Architecture school practice nowadays relies far too much on technology, which is something I do not agree with. Many of my projects take on a mixed media approach, but is mostly handdrawn for the whole process and end products. It is rare that I would use 3D modelling techniques unless forced to. These days the practice is that you don’t really need to have any drawing skills, you only need to know how to make a 3D model. Personally I see that this is more relevant to computer science, rather than architecture or any design field itself. As a result I experiment with every studio work, how far can I emulate the computer with simply just hand drawing? That is in terms of representation. In building the foundations of the project through research/informative sources, my approach is to always develop a more sensitive understanding of relationships in the ideas being portrayed. Thus research is always done first and foremost, and anything that takes away from this step ultimately delays or messes up my own process. Although I am generally flexible in changing the way the projects go about in development and refinement, research is the one step I have never been able to change the stage of. It always is done first and prioritised, so that I can have a strong understanding of the project characteristics before I can apply other attributes to it to enhance it. This is because it is the more logical step I perceive it to be, making less room for error towards the later design stage and so that the sequence of the project is less disorderly. Additionally, factors such as experience, site and places experienced can also contribute to my design processes and the end product in itself. Because I play a lot of fantasy related games, many of the environments I have ‘travelled’ to (yes, I consider these as holidays since I don’t travel often), sometimes their layout and spatial 3D experience raised inspirations for my projects. In this case, site/place, type of space represented, construction systems, and narrative associated with the spaces, contribute (vaguely/longwindedly) to my projects. Though sometimes unrealistic, these give me a specific criteria I follow in my mind, that is separate to the studio’s criteria and in doing so, I attempt to recreate that world. However in architecture, of course it has to be realistic so I can’t go overboard with it. The context for some ideas, however, may appear from there. I suppose in this regard, the frames I undertake tend to appeal to Logos (holding back ideas so the work is realistic enough) and undeniably Pathos, because I loved ‘unattainable’ environments, there is something very bittersweet about thinking of places you know you can never visit for real, and because nostalgia and reminiscence associated with these, is one of the emotions I prefer to feel.

(Above: Old Library, Below: Lego-inspired Base City) Some screenshots of a game I hold quite close to my heart in regard to its design, architecture and storytelling; the exteriors and interiors tell the backstory of each place even though there isn’t much written data for the players to get a sense of, when first starting out. These come from the game Nier:Automata, which was developed by Square Enix. One of the leading artists which I also elaborate on in the Comparative Analysis task is the director of CyDesignation Studios. I find that games in particular showcase a story with more depth as there is a specific criteria of spatial experiences provided by the company to give to their player base. Influenced by this approach of theirs, I also try to simulate the same kind of approach in my projects, acknowledging the uncertainty and risks associated (not all my projects turn out to be comforting for people to reside in) and that I find is perfectly okay, as even though an ideal environment is what we should be training to design for, it is even more unrealistic than these imperfect environments portrayed in fiction. Somehow I feel (pathos) the more perfect I tried to design a building, the more cold it becomes, and it might as well have been made by a computer; just click ‘model generate’ or download it off some algorithm. I tend to leave my mistakes in all my projects as I feel imperfection makes the project/environment a lot more easily empathised by the audience.

(*see also Week 11: Spatial Experiences chapter) 58

(Above: Residential ruins inspired by Kowloon City of Hong Kong, Below Left: Campsite under highway, Below Right: Path to Shopping Centre ruins) The moral of this perception is that I accept we are human and though we strive for perfection in most cases, it isn’t what we are accustomed to, and we don’t deal well with rapid changes or distortions; the more ‘comfortable’, sympathised environments are ones with a bit more clutter, more signs of life, rather than a clean based aesthetic. I find this is because it ultimately gives place and identity to the context, and as such the physical expression helps users to feel the genuineness and authenticity in a project I develop (or in this case referring to the game, in their projects as well). Such visuals are also effective ways of exposing the expression of the assembly of parts, with the character acting as a scale of reference, so the audience can be exposed to the circulation and what else they may encounter when looking and comparing the character scale to the rest of the visual. Of course, I can’t speak for buildings itself as I have yet to even contribute to an architectural firm, as a student. However the adaptability of living as portrayed in the backstory and current story of these visuals show ongoing primacy of the context and ultimately brings us back to thinking about the exercise on novelty a few weeks ago.

Although inspired by real life industrial areas such as the nuclear plants at Hiroshima and other industrial areas, the architecture shapes the user experience and considering this influence is an integral part of the design process for me as well. It helps to create moments that people can engage with, whether it be in nostalgia, sadness, or invoking any other emotion associated with such a visual.

REFLECTION

(Left: Industrial area)

(Left: Green rooftop above ruined hotel) Such environments are still appealing even in a post apocalyptic state, namely due to the symbolism it holds. The ruins determine the adaptibility and resilience of the built forms which gives architectural morality that emulates the same thing as real life architecture, but perhaps this is better perceived as a parallel timeline of sorts (what the world may come to be in generations ahead).

(Left: Inside shopping centre (ruins)) This particular area had a rather careful spatial choreography, it had a central lift core with an open communal area, but this could only be perceived if you searched past the overgrown greenery. It shows how people used this space on a daily basis for retail, with remnants of shop stalls and mechanical goods. Overall this created opportunities that we as players could see celebrated the ritual of gathering goods and purchase for happiness and instant gratification. I realised this perception of really understanding the emotion that should be placed into an environment, would help users empathise better with it, and thus engage with the architecture, whether they want to or not. Regardless of how happy a user is when in engagement, I personally find from this, that my designs require creating opportunities for engagement and appeal to emotional impact. However the user chooses to feel when viewing my projects, I leave entirely up to them.

I had this entire semester to really flesh out my own thoughts toward architectural design and although I was trying to appear weak and only hinting at it superficially, I’m coming out (unfortunately?) as someone who is not actually interested in architecture at all, at least, not for the real world. I have always been more attracted to things that cannot be understood so easily in the physical world and I tend to turn to the virtual when I feel that things get too heavy over here. The architectural projects assumes that there are possibilities that can be formed through the discovery of external resources that aren’t related to architecture. These influenced my workflow and thus affect variances in expression of the building identity. Deciding on colour schemes and defining a hint of atmospheric effect is also thrown into the research stage for me, as these allow me to contemplate and understand which spaces can evoke a time that appeals to a sensory experience of spaces (which sometimes helps enrich the project). So, each building project is approached as a sculptural subject, one that should contain light, or lack of, air, contextual response that is also addressing the physical context’s needs and respecting the surroundings. Generally from here the steps I undertake in a brief order: -research -sketches -words, ideas derived from sketches -less abstract sketches than before -development -research -refinement -development to post production _3 things learned that day • more in depth understanding in to how Apollonian and Dionysian factors can be perceived and also achieved. The collage helped portray what I failed to verbally articulate in words. • approaches to forces that are relevant and in reference to the site context • learning more about the preferences of peers- the diversity in range of design _3 things not discovered that i might have liked to • not sure what the next stage is after ‘trying’ approaches or frames; if this can allow for changes in the future part of the process _3 things to try out at another time • incorporating more dionysian type of aspects into my design projects • allow for diversity, what would a mix of apollonian and dio make towards the end product • try accounting people as a subject that isn’t simply characterised as ‘human’-- ie thinking more deeply about what other characteristics they could have and act as potential clients.

_WEEK 10: PERSONAL KNOWLEDGE Exploring Knowledge Management in Practice of Architecture: Pilot Study in the Turkish Capital: Subject readings Tacit knowledge: personal and context-specific. Hard to share Explicit knowledge: Quantifiable, words and numbers format that is easy to distribute and share. Architecture is best resigned as a tacit type of knowledge, that holds many different factors that affect the architectural process. The schema involves a myriad of sequences of analysis to synthesis, to appraisal and decision forming. My thoughts on this extract is that while the reading is interesting, the internet, while it is a ‘place’ that contains basically an infinite amount of information that is more readily acquired, it is not necessarily easy to acquire ‘useful’ knowledge. The knowledge given by the web is explicit, but often times requires a lot of mental filtering in order to either gain tacit knowledge from the distributor, or one gains their own knowledge through this experience of constant filtration. A lot of the information is required to be processed as we find that not every piece of information is either true (the info could be madeup or a hoax), mislabelled (misleading users), or has some worth in them.

Tools & Technologies for Architecture - Peng Liang, Paris Avgeriou I agree more with the Codification strategy, simply due to past experience regarding the process of filtering and intaking information that is not actually useless over a long-term consideration.

Printed materials used to be categorised under a similar label, however now that it is less efficient to obtain books, magazines etc, sources that undergo a professional editing service, I personally think these printed materials can be more exact in their information provided. This is because they have to undergo editing before printing, unlike on the internet, where everyone can share disorganised mashes of tacit and explicit knowledge, combined, separate or in packs as they so please. There is no order to this disorder and as such, filtering information is a valuable skill to have in today’s society; the ability to perceive which is information that can or cannot be held accountable for.

... This reading was actually very confusing. Based on the triangle diagram above that they briefly expanded on, I didn’t find much value in the rest of the information given-- it feels almost like ‘explicit’ information because I vaguely recall reading a similar excerpt, except, it wasn’t very memorable because I could not apply any of the strategies written into any practice I did, even outside of architecture, it wasn’t used. However, the parts that explain about stakeholders contributing to the architectural process links back to the previous reading in that these are external factors whose influences cannot be controlled by the operating individual. The quantity makes less of an impact than the quality of information given.

Algorithms and AI are actually rather nasty to deal with. On a personal level, a lot of it is based on opportunity arrival, which is ultimately dependent on luck. It is a factor that is completely out of a users’ control and thus the knowledge acquired from dealing with these is more toward the ‘tacit’ side, however, even if you distribute that same anecdotal set of knowledge, AI is constantly evolving and learning with every users’ input, and adapts to it constantly. Therefore the same set of knowledge acquired may not be applicable to a future similar circumstance, even with the experience. This hurts in particular, businesses looking to grow, as many social media algorithm ‘opportunities’ are now locked behind a paywall, or the ‘rich only get richer’ situation tends to occur. Understandably, if you have the money, of course the systems will be designed to serve the source of income.

Overall, this week’s readings were decent. I was hoping to learn more than what was already experienced, from these readings, and perhaps come across some ‘tools’ that maybe allow us students to gain an insight into entrepreneurship, rather than working in a large team of individuals (eg a studio). This is because with the current market and economy, it doesn’t seem as viable to create an ‘indie’ collaborative, because the currently larger studios and services... it will be hard to steal their audience. Without an audience, you can’t even have the work and will not even be able to apply this information given to us. I believe this is useful, but more for the people who have already learnt ‘how to float before they swim’. Some of us have yet to learn how to ‘float’. I think this week’s content of topics could still include this but it could also be more useful for future students taking this subject to also have readings on knowledge management to build a ‘future’ (business or studio) if they are looking to progress on their own, as sometimes not all of us already have immediate social circles who are keen to dive into similar careers or projects.

Furthermore from the reading, there are internal and external factors that affect the quality and also rate of gaining of knowledge to increase ‘success’, including productivity, decreased re-work, problem solving, etc, heading toward client satisfaction, profit and sharing. Architecture requires strong team collaboration in order to minimise the injury obtained from negligence of these influential factors. Cooperation is ultimately the aspect with the most damage-control potential and should be encouraged despite all the competitive natures that happen within our educational path. 60

_WEEK 11: SPATIAL EXPERIENCES

This particular exercise was first difficult to first recall a topic or subject that was memorable. I decided to go with what I was relatively familiar with- The Tolkienn series, mostly because that was all I ever watched/listened to when going through some stressful work nights. In terms of presentation, straightforwardness and clarity helped with delivery of the conceptual understanding of the project. The spatial experience is harder to judge for each project though, as that particular aspect is optimally judged through sight (imagery) rather than vocals. Images appealed more to empathy since we were able to directly interpret the pictures for ourselves which I suppose, since everyone has different perceptions even viewing the same project, we would ‘feel’ that we have a larger understanding to that design because of the level of empathy we could potentially have.

Ultimately we were able to discern, as a group, that as presenters we were able to have relatively fair distributed factors across the Logos/Ethos/ Pathos board. The most interesting thing about this task was getting into the specifics of the emotion felt when studying the contents of the topic chosen by one’s own choice and other peer’s chosen projects. It seems these are the more memorable projects at present moment to each of us and holds some sort of ‘ethos’ and emotional significance to us. Also learning about the categories through this task helped my gain awareness of how to structure presentations that I could use, into strategies on delivering a more empathetic project. This topic was more challenging to reflect on because presentation skills were not quantifiable and I actually have issues with not having a ‘number’ to support an evidence. In this sense, either I can get used to the idea of trusting the information spread in anecdotes more readily, or diagramming out the rhetoric triangle with more emphasis in pointers inside the Logos category could help with these trust issues.

_WEEK XX: REFLECTIONS _What have we covered in this Subject? What have you got out of it? We covered a myriad of topics in this subject that delves into allowing us to increase awareness of our own personal design tactics, as well as compare this to others to see how we can better improve or benefit from changing some parts of our approaches and decisions made. As for what I got out of it, this subject helped with my other design subjects as we focus more on reflective thinking, so this acted as a supplement/ support journal to other subjects. I also learnt a lot more design philosophies and awareness (verbal and written awareness) to design components I previously did not quite have enough conscious awareness of, previously, such as the factors of influence sometime in week 7+. Another thing that was interesting was where one of the weekly tasks required us to look at narrative structures and the graphics provided in the readings and subject links helped with mostly studio, but I believe this particular week could benefit my storytelling compositions in a future career, as I’m the type of person who actually needs some kind of ‘proven’ or graphed, quantifiable information in order to fully feel confident that a quality-based product can do well/be authenticated on its own. Also the comparative analysis part was quite interesting to research on, although I was confused on how to approach it. Some guidelines aside from the grading rubric could have helped with this. I’m also quite grateful for the fact we didn’t need to reflect on grasshopper-related ‘design decisions’ and approaches like we did in the bachelor’s equivalent of this subject, because at the time it was quite difficult for me to justify why a 3D program, does what it does.

_How will you do your final assessments? More reflective thinking, last-minute research to consolidate the project and bring the presentation to a cohesive whole. Since the semester is mostly running online, I have started preparing for studio presentation using a pre-recorded voice, this is more to keep with the time limit in consideration to others, and also because I dislike verbal repetition. For interim presentation, some of the content remains the same or similar, and personally I dislike repeating myself for the same kind of content. So a pre-recorded voice prevents my getting internally annoyed (and possibly hindering) my presentation within a constrained time limit. Because the studio I am in focuses on atmospheres, I will also keep plugging along with what I learnt on the narrative structured topics and also on integrating interior atmospheric art. It is more efficient for me to continue hand drawing everything using a drawing tablet, than to 3D model, actually... because 3D modelling requires ‘perfection’, there is no beauty in mistakes being made, whereas this idea is more tolerated in concept art and design. I often find these mistakes makes the presented pieces potentially more empathetic to the viewer. There could be some psychological aspect to it. On that note, maybe it would be interesting to have more topics diving into the psychology of designers, not just in tips and advice for us to work toward developing our psyche as designers but also feedback from others who have case studies on them. In my free time I would often read up on why there is a trend of negative, self-destructive self-perception in many artists. It is not uncommon to hear people, especially visual artists, say or put things in their profile like, “Follow me for bad art” or “I draw trash” or “Just another crap page to fulfill my trash needs”. (Not that I’ve ever done this, it’s not very professional if you’re trying to grow a business...) But I have had such thoughts myself, very often, that I’m actually a very mediocre and boring person maybe. Looking on the rational side of things, this is due to a high level of neuroticism that is often found in the brain function of some artists. Supposedly, it is incredibly pessimistic but can cause different outcomes: a) the artist throws themselves into an even deeper state of mental self-destruction and cannot benefit from it (may fall into depression or disorders), or b) the artist continues this cycle, is considered turbulent in nature, but strives to improve from it or may seek validation, which causes a spike in work and improvement. I am probably the latter...that aside it would be very interesting for us to be exposed to case studies that delve into these kinds of more serious topics, things that can affect the design psyche, that isn’t always a positive kind of topic. I read up more on this just because I thought it would be helpful for the comparative analysis but would have loved to have had more time and opportunity to see it in the subject (so we students don’t have to waste time scouring the internet for these resources (personal knowledge and management filtering!)) All that being said, thank you for allowing this subject to exist in the MC-ARCH stream. I honestly would have gone insane if there weren’t such modules like these and only main studio/construction stuff were in the stream. It’s a memorable experience and I feel I learn more from this kind of reflective subjects than studio (not saying studio is bad, please don’t come after me <3).

_What could be improved? What do you think ought to have been covered that wasn’t? As a masters subject delving into the design rationality component, I feel that the subject would also benefit from maybe one of the final two weeks to focus on both personal knowledge management and also ways to develop ‘externalised’ skills such as marketing for oneself or having a small introduction to what a individual can ‘design’ their way through to being more accomplished in either a studio or by themselves. The semester was interrupted by the pandemic and I thought the shift online didn’t really affect the learning quality but could potentially have missed some topics if we weren’t careful. I think other things that could have been covered are acknowledging the impact of other design roles, because the subject wholly gave me this impression the whole semester that it was ‘dangling on the edge’ of trying to appear very supportive of other design roles aside from architecture but the end ultimate focus was still architecture and then, in the DYD evidence reading, this touched on other variety of design roles but this would be considered quite brief. I felt this could have used more expansion on, to enrich the subject further (not just looking at architecture/ interior/landscape architecture but also graphic design, UI design, film and animation etc). I also would have liked to learn more foci on the philosophy behind small yet significant design decisions, which is something I try to delve into the comparative analysis, particularly regarding concept art, which I am more comfortable with because many concept artists in the industry think deeply about the philosophies of life that drive every component they place in their concept designs and iterations.

Thank you!

_What do you think was NOT required? I think most of the subject topics was beneficial to gain an understanding of, but I think more individual tasks rather than group-related tasks would have helped speed the workflow a bit. Especially since this is a reflective subject, it seems very personal and having to do a lot of groupwork made me inclined to pick design case studies that I was less self-conscious of, because other people would see it. I think this part can be detrimental as it hinders the ability for me to be completely 120% honest with what I prefer to have studied. I think introverted students in the future would benefit from having less group work toward the later part of the semester, where topics become more philosophical. Sometimes it is better to leave the student to discover for themselves how they operate their own heart of design, without the influence of their peers. Overall though, this is one of my favorite subjects by far throughout the architecture degree mostly because it focuses on design thinking, which I feel is a more valuable skillset to have since this is a quality-type of learning, it is harder to grow these skills than learning how to use a program, which is more often readily available through internet (explicit knowledge rather than tacit).

Design Approaches & Methods - Reflective Journal

Articles inside

WEEK 8: MINIMALISM

WEEK XX: REFLECTIONS

WEEK 11: DESIGN+CONCLUSION

WEEK 9: DESIGNERS’ FRAMES

WEEK 10: PERSONAL KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

WEEK 7: INFORMAL ARCHITECTURE

WEEK 4: NARRATIVES

WEEK 6: SPATIAL LISTENING

WEEK 5: PHENOMENOLOGY

WEEK 2: VOICE

WEEK 3: PEOPLE+DESIGN

NT WEEK 1-3

WEEK 1: INTRODUCTION