A CARAPACE of DESIRE Tutor: Dr. Michael Spooner Assignment: Journal W1-7 Student name: Ping Liu Student number: 3392657
Design Elective Semester 02 2012
Content
01 Chapter 1 Space 11 Chapter 2 Ideogram 23 Chapter 3 Diagram 33 Chapter 4 The Home 43 Chapter 5 The Desire 47 Chapter 6 Meaning In space 51 Chapter 7 Lyons Museum
Chapter 1 Space
Week 1
Ideogram An ideogram or ideograph is generally defined as a graphic symbol that represents an idea or concept. Some ideograms are comprehensible only by familiarity with prior convention; others convey their meaning through pictorial resemblance to a physical object, and thus may also be referred to as pictograms. In the metapolis dictionary of advanced architecture (p299)1, it is defined as the compressive character of the diagram manifesting itself in certain cases as the embodiment of a response and of a diagnosis: a synthetical representation that summaries recognition and response in a criterion for action; a selective conceptualization of information. Obviously, Leon van Schaik gives this word more magic as a vehicle of exploring new knowledge while standing in an innovative position of architecture. He "locates himself within the ideograph as a collaborator than commentator, producer rather than recorder." The ideograph he drew presents a kind of fluid thoughts about architecture and a new relationship between the observer and the realm of the sensation. In addition, Leon's drawing made me associate with the pictogram when searching for the definitions of 'ideogram'. His drawing presents a visual effect of the information and knowledge. It looks like a mess, you don't know where to start reading it but you could get it at first sight.2 It is an unexpected experience to attempt drawing different ideograms of one object from different angles or different styles. Sometimes, I felt it was totally an improvised creation and it was turned out to present like an artistic work which started from something unknown. It is a tool of leading me not only to observe objects and gain knowledge in a new way, but also to explore an unexpected myself.
1 2
Metapolis Dictionary of Advanced Architecture, p229 Richard Blythe, Thinking about Architects, Thinking about Architecture, foreword
Chapter 2 Ideogram
Week2
Spatial Intelligence Schaik introduces his topic with a deceptively simple question with complex implications: What if architects, instead of endlessly recombining elements from a stock vocabulary of building forms derived from a preoccupation with shelter, actually designed from “our ideas about space, our histories in space, our communal mental space all built upon that combination of inherited capabilities that have evolved into us over millennia, and the unfolding of those capabilities in specific environments?” 1(p9. "Spatial Intelligence") Schaik references to the work of Howard Gardner, theory of multiple intelligences, which identifies different types of human intelligence, including logical-mathematical, verbal-linguistic, bodily-kinesthetic, musical-rhythmic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalistic, existential, and visual-spatial — this last a special talent for visualizing and mentally manipulating spaces that is integral to our navigational abilities. In essence, Schaik proposes that we reposition the foundation of architecture relying on our spatial intelligence instead of our logical - mathematical mind. What impress me most in the latter chapter is his claim that architects should give the buildings ability to make people happy and offer well-being and joy to the human's life. Architecture could be promoted in this way. Take an example of Hadid's Maggie's Centre, in Kirkcaldy, Scotland (1986), the deployment of "a kitchen for making coffee and snacks, a large table adjacent for round-table discussions, a service area for the kitchen, a library, a quiet zone for spiritual contemplation, a sunny outlook — is accommodated." (p. 158) In a sense, it's as if Hadid had given the patients a design with which to exercise their minds while recuperating. What we can learn from this, is the deployment of creativity in the service of diverse needs is required to sustain a family, a city and a state, not only in constructional way but also in mentalistic way.
1
Leon van Schaik, Spatial Intelligence: New futures for architecture, Wiley Academy
Chapter 3 Diagram
Week 3
The Logic of Sensation As Bakhtaran has found that, in Dostoevsky's polyphonic novel, thought is the object being described in his works. Also, Deleuze found in bacon's paintings, the sensation become the object of painting. In Deleuze's opinion, sensation is the real foundation and the object to painting and all forms of art, none of them are not following "the logic of sensation". Artists, as a reporters, inventors and creators of the perception, give us the feeling and visual expression, let us be together with the feeling changing gradually, and firmly seize us in this way. Art is a language of sensation, and cannot be delimited. What it built, was a perceptible monument constructed by the precision of sensation. The writer creates the words into the syntax of the feeling, they twist, wring and split the normal language, make them stuttering, crying, shaking, singing and being hysterical, so is the painting. The violence in Bacon's painting is not representational or narrative, it is hysterical and generates power and gains strength to unlocking "area of sensation".1 In the modern art, painting can be a kind of philosophical thinking, philosophy can also exist as a kind of art form. Is it a kind of art form of expression by thinking and writing itself in Deleuze's book? This is another interesting thing I observed in this book: is it an art that how Deleuze to think the way of Bacon's thinking in the philosophy of the painting and being presented by the form of this book. I'm the outsider of them, and who are you in reading this and thinking what I was thinking?
1
Gilles Delezue, Francis Bacon: The Logic of Sensation, Chapter 12, The Diagram
Chapter 4 The Home
Week 4 Sir John Soane's Museum I like the sentence written by Jonathan Jones, that an architect is not just someone who can organize building for reasons; architect is someone who can express personal version of the world. A great architecture is portraying more than three dimensions. The building can express longing, nostalgic, pride, love and terror. He introduced Sir John Soane's museum in a very emotional way, like the dining room, which is the most conventional room in the building but with the dark wall based on the deep red interior, feels wired but personal. According to Leon van Schaik's analysis, the dining room was designed with several representative devices of Sir John Soane, like "the false structure with flat drop-arches defining the ideal central space", and the furnishing zone being "dissolved behind this implied structure through the use of glass and the placement of mirrors at key junction";1 the handkerchief dome giving the central place a concentration to stay and walk around; the side zones being distinguished by the light, leading passages with the light vault, and, that clear light goes down and down with staircase becoming weaker until only shadow left, you would find yourself in a deep dark world. Sir John Soane is a master of making the light, space, and scale into a formal expression. Each space in the house exists its specific meaning, and express something deeply personal. In this house, the architect portrayed his own vision of the world, the darkness and light.
1 Leon van Schaik, (1985) Walls, toys and the ideal room, an analysis of the architecture of Sir John Soane, in Mary Wall (Ed.) AA Files # 9
Chapter 5 The Desire
Week 5 The Little House
From the plot of "the little house", it leads the reader follow the heroine Merite moving along with a route in the building, room by room, as well as with the up and downs of their psychological changes, gradually approaching to the inner and private space. Merite starts from wavering on the virtues and visual feast to the torment between virginity and desire. In this progression, the elaborate arrangement of the changing architectural spaces was playing a role as "an active participant" in the story, leading her sensation and emotion. Finally, the latter defeat former, which means implying boudoir as a symbol of sensual pleasure defeats the intellectual dogma constraints, constituting a trip from enjoying beauty to feeling emotion; and a path from the interior space to the inner world.1 Basically, I agree with the point that architectural spaces should be arranged in suspense, serving the sensation and desiring as a task. On the other hand, functions should be satisfied preferentially as the basic desire. Spaces should be proportioned like rhythm, agitating the mind and striking a chord. Dimensions, shapes, colors and materials could be deployed in different ways and may build up unexpected effects with dramatic lights. Sometimes we could have this sensation feast not only in painting, sculpture, and ornament, but also the movies, games, fashion shows and Disneyland. Taking an example of the Storey Hall, it illustrates that the proportion of mezzanine level is derived from the composition of move scene. The sense of creation of a good architect should like a good movie director, a good musician, a good dancer, to give the plot with agitation and climax.
1
Jean-Francois de Bastide, The Little House.
Chapter 6 Meaning In space
Week6 Meaning in Space
In Leon van Schaik's ideogram of Lyons Housemuseum, three key elements have been explored in the book: "Collect: Commodity; Classify: Firmness, and Display: delight".1 In the first part, collection made me think of the relationship between "collective" and "individual". For private collectors, collections are collected by personal preferences; for public gallery, collections are collected by some specific reasons like Comic Strip Museum in Belgium; for some monumental museums, collections could also be the record of a period of history. One collection as an individual only has its own value, however, when it belongs to the collective, it defines the meaning where it stands, in the other word; it defines the social role of the space. In the second part, classification is more like a reflection of collection. One item could have many properties, so does a space. In the museum or gallery space, it builds up an order by classification to define each collection and the subspace it occupied. In that way, myriad subspaces are arranged into a logic and rational layout. In the third part, Schaik introduce the scenarist into the stage in the specific case of private house-museum. As the wire-puller of the space arrangement or commodity collecting, the classification and collection are both a reflection of collector's mental world. Looking around inside a museum, you may get to know the collector by collections; walking around the space in the museum, you may feel the thoughts of the architect's design. For the case of Sir Soane John's museum and Lyons Housemuseum, when the collector happen to be the architect, the bond is enhanced, you could probably read their more inner and intimate world, because they build up their own vision of the world.
1
Leon van Schaik, Meaning in Space, Lyons House Museum
Chapter 7 Lyons Museum
Week7
Lyons Housemuseum
It is my first time to visit a private museum in a residential house. It is quite an unexpected experience in Lyons housemuseum. Yuji Lyon is the owner of the house and also the guide of the house tour. The beginning part is like a museum tour, we traveled through some museum-like space on the ground floor. After that, the private property appeared slowly. Take examples, when you look through a series of paintings of Howard Arkley, you cannot ignore that it is also the dinning room of Lyons family; when you are surprised by Robert Venturi's hand drawing, you would also see the girls' sketches around, whose mother, Yuji Lyon would introduce those lovely drawings as proudly as Venturi's drawing. Both of them are precious for her, I guess. During the journey, it seems that we started to know about Lyons family except appreciating the artworks. We did not only read about stories behind the paintings, but also the stories about this family. In this case, Venturi's drawing is not only the drawing of a famous architect; it is also given some other properties like a member of Lyons family, which brought out stories of the space. After the tour of upstairs, we walked down to the right wing of the ground floor. It is a small auditorium for occasional speeches. The whole right wing brought us to a gallery space again, followed by the living room and the kitchen which is private again. At the end of the journey, some ladies around Yuji Lyon chatted about her lovely kitchen, which looks like a usual housewives chatting.