Air - weel 1 journal

ARCHITECTURE DESIGN STUDIO

AIR QINGYI LUO 531665 SEMSTER 1, 2013

ARCHITECTURE AS DISCOURSE

WEEK 1 - ARCHITECTURE AS

DISCOURSE

ARCHITECTURE AS DISCOURSE

ARCHITECTURE AS DISCOURSE

ABOUT ME The very first subject I've ever touched associated with designing is the Visual Communication Design in high school. I had a lot of fun with this subject and learned the first digital tool which is the Photoshop. It is great software to create graphic design and relatively handy and in fact, I was always able to find the opportunity to use it in my college design subject.

Virtual Environment was the second subject on design process and was taken once I got into college. The subject has the concept with different shape, and the contrast between dark and light. It is a very inspiring subject but for me, from the beginning, it was a nightmare. The digital tool relevant to this subject, Rhino, is the hardest one I’ve ever learned, and I still couldn't use it properly till the end of the semester. In my opinion, Rhino is a quite complicated tool that is able to create different shape with different material and texture. It is flexible but also hard to control.

The other designing subject in year one I took was Designing Environment. It has made more sense in the aspect of design and quite like a foundation of the year two studio. I’ve self-learned SketchUp in this subject and found out it is lot easier than Rhino.

In year two, I took two studios, Earth and Water. They both helped me to explore even more in the designing field. I’ve learned the process of translate any inspiration to the concept of design by free hand drawing and using digital tools to further produce it.

ARCHITECTURE AS DISCOURSE

ARCHITECTURE AS DISCOURSE

Architecture is generally considered an art but is differentiated by it in one respect: Function. The definition of architecture changes from time to time and from culture to culture. In the ancient, for example, in Egypt, architecture was originally more like an expression that represents the religion of that country, such as the pyramid and temple. The layout of the building, the façade decoration and the interior design are all created to correspond with the Egyptians’ religion rules. Church in the western country is also a good example. I think in the old ages, people were more focusing on the cultural and regional or even personal expression when designing building.

However, in the modern ages, people started to have more expectation on the function of the building. In my opinion, a building can be regarded as functional when its able to meeting people’s needs, and have the purpose to serve people. Also in the other hand, it needs to be durable, stable and sustainable. This change has shows on the aspect of structure from heavy, solid to simple and light-weight, and on the aspect of material from stone to timber and steel.

Beautifulness is another demand in architecture but only when the funtion is satisfied. So for me, a successful building is to be both beautiful and practical.

WHAT IS ARCHITECTURE

ARCHITECTURE AS DISCOURSE

ARCHITECTURE AS DISCOURSE

PRECEDENT Darcons Headquarters The building was conceived as a frame that captures part of the landscape and at the same time defines a plane that divides the intercity from the suburbs. The skin of the building plays a dual role: on one hand it is the transparent material that allows the view through it, and on the other hand, it is the opaque continuous skin that defines the shape of the frame and protects the interior from solar irradiance.

This skin was manipulated in order to differentiate the public space from the internal activities of the company: the main reception and the costumer rooms are outside the envelope raised above the ground as a Piano Nobile and organized as self defined entities. The operation space is contained within the envelope and flows throughout the building in a three dimensional open plan that honors the hierarchical organization of the company.

Architects: Arquitectura en Proceso Location: Chihuahua, Mexico 2008

ARCHITECTURE AS DISCOURSE

ARCHITECTURE AS DISCOURSE

Tama Art University Library In the outskirts of Tokyo, this university library is designed to be a place where crossdisciplinary events and collaboration can occur. The sloping site provided inspiration for a structure wide arches through which users could permeate freely.

The concrete receives a steel cladding on the exterior but remain bare inside, creating flowing sculptural forms. Spaces are delineated according to where these slender arches meet the floor. The structure provides lighting beyond the plentiful daylighting with simple circular fixtures.

Evoking the architecture of medieval celebrations of study and learning, architect Toyo Ito uses a graceful and light touch with poignant meaning. The detailing articulates the spaces from there.

Architects: Toyo Ito Location: Hachiyoji Tokyo Japan Structure: steel, concrete mixed structure, reinforced concrete construction Scale: 2 stories, 1 basements

PRECEDENT

ARCHITECTURE AS DISCOURSE