Foundations of Design : REPRESENTATION, SEM1, 2018 M4 JOURNAL - FRAME vs FIELD LU ZHANG
953964 Naomi Ng, Studio 25
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WEEK 9 READING: PERSPECTIVE AS SYMBOLIC FORM
Question 1: What are Durer’s rules for perspectival projection? For a better understanding of Durer’s definition of perspectival projection, the whole picture must be viewed through a “window”. Through this view, a “the spatial continuum” may be seen, covering all isolated figures upon the material surface as a “picture plane”. Durer stated three rules for perspectival projection. Firstly, he believed all perpendicular lines would converge at a central vanishing point related to the viewpoint. The second rule was the different angle of its corresponding parallels would only result in different distance between the central vanishing point and these lines’ common vanishing points. Lastly, he considered when the perspective space moves towards the vanishing point that the equivalent dimensions would diminish gradually.
Question 2: Describe homogenous space? A homogenous space can be explained through two assumptions. Firstly, with an unmovable eye and a visual pyramid that creates a replication of our optical image through a window, homogenous space has the character of infinity and statics. Secondly, in terms of structure, homogenous space, created by construction, is a mathematical space where all the elements as the functional tools will lose their own information in order to represent the relations in the overall space.
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INVISIBLE CITY: Hypatia
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STORY ANALYSIS Before visualizing the city, the deep meaning behind the story needed to be explored. At the beginning the main idea of the story outlined is that the language of Hypatia has been changed through objects rather than words. Prior to entering the city, Marco Polo had a great expectation for Hypatia. He expected a city filled with beautiful sights and scenes such as a magnolia garden and blue lagoon. However, upon exploration, he noticed a woman bathing beside two individuals who were hung and twined by stones and seaweed.Marco Polo realized that the atmosphere of this city was not as peaceful and as beautiful as he thought, which made him confused and motivated to discover the reasoning behind the city’s dark despair. Through the exploration of the city, what he found was an inversion of his expectation. He observed convicts hauled up with black chains in the central hall and an adolescent with dazed eyes filled with sorrow laying on the mat. These realities of the city made saddened him although he was still eager to understand the culture of Hypatia as a foreign observer and believed only a philosopher could give him an answer. By following the smoke, Marco Polo found the sage who was sitting outside the window. To his surprise, the scenes outside were harmonious and completely contradicting to the opposite side of the city. Children played games in the garden, which built a strong contrast to the harrowing view in the old quad. Marco Polo then paused beside the window and observed the activities on the lawn and the sage told him a critical hint to understanding the culture of Hypatia, which was “signs form a language, but not the one you think you know.” The philosopher’s words of advice made Marco Polo realize that the language of Hypatia was beyond what the eye could see. At this
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point, he thought he could not bear to stay in the city any longer and experiencethe fake prosperous scene. He also noticed the beautiful women with exposed thighs throwing themselves at a young foreigner, which made him feel uncomfortable and sped away from the city. At the end of this story, Marco Polo stood on the citadel’s highest pinnacle to wait for the ship, which meant the city quad, located on water level, was trapped in itself and only getting away would give him relief and comfort. As described, his trek to explore Hypatia was disappointing and he could not bear this squalid city filled with deceit. Conclusion: 1. This city has a strict societal hierarchy. The highest class consists of noble individuals, who are dressed superbly and dominate the other sectors of the Hypatia society (highlighted in pink). The middle class is made up by soldiers and slaves, who serve the highest class and obey their orders to punish offenders and convicts (highlighted in blue). Finally, the lowest class includes convicts, who are tortured by the middle class. (highlighted in green). 2. The decorations of the old quad are extravagant and rich (highlighted in yellow) as the highest class prioritizes superficial beauty and materialism. Due to the hierarchical system that operates in Hypatia, there is an extreme sadness and evilness that exists and therefore, although beautiful, the old quad has a cold and empty atmosphere. 3. Though people in this city are fatuous, only people from outside are aware of it. People in the Hypatia society are trapped in the quad and believe that their hierarchical system is correct. The weaklings and victims dare not question or confront this corrupt system that creates misery. On the other hand, the higher class enjoys the superiority and take advantage of it as they have the right to oppress the inferior classes. As the result, Hypatia is filled with a dark and wicked ambiance.
OLD QUAD ISOMETRIC
In order to portray the main concept of the city in the old quad, I added nine extra windows to three sides of the city. This emphasizes the closure in this society.As the result, only the left side of the old quad is allowed to enter or leave the city. Another beam was also added under the vault near the entrance with the purpose of providing the soldiers with a place to hang convicts. With regard to the readability of the isometric view, line weight of the outline is thickened and the edges between adjacent blocks and the roof is lighter than the base and columns. Additionally, the top and side sections are hatched with different degrees of darkness.
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OLD QUAD ISOMETRIC WITH NOTATIONS
The isometric view with notations explains the trek that Marco Polo followed. Due to the high expectations of the city, Marco Polo entered the old quad eagerly with a fast pace. However, after observing the first scene he was almost intrigued and frightened, causing him to slow down his pace to better understand what was happening. A naked girl can be seen tied to the beam at his left and two men are hung to the beam at his right. These harrowing views took him into a heavy mood as he was unfamiliar with the language of Hypatia. He stared at these scenes and felt puzzled. When he kept walking, he also noticed a man stripping a woman of her clothes and a woman bathing near two men who had committed suicide. At this point, he realized he must ask the philosopher to better understand the culture of Hypatia and thus moved at a quicker pace due to his eagerness to find out. After he found the sage by following the smoke, he stayed in the middle window observing the outside where children played surrounding the sage. Because of the advice given by philosopher, Marco Polo finally understood the language of Hypatia and was relieved, resulting in a light mood. He thought there was no need to stay in this city any longer and therefore left in a fast pace. However, on his way out of the city, he glanced at a man being tortured by others in the middle of the quad, which made him fall into a heavy mood again and sped up his pace. After he got away from this city, he felt at ease and revived himself in a light mood.
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QUAD PERSPECTIVE 1 + 2 The reason why I chose this perspective is due to the ability to view external space. This assisted in building the contrast between the city and outside. The camera is put near the edge of the old quad, which provides more space for interactions and contrasts between people of different classes inside the city. Also, the edge of the old quad and the composition of the columns in varying distances also provide extensibility of this perspective, which contributes to enhancementof the depth of field. Different from the second scene, Marco Polo will also be shown in this perspective to show a contrast to the local people of Hypatia.
For this symmetrical view, the focus will be concentrated on the central line. As the sage is sitting on the lawn as explained in the story, this perspective allows for a clear view of the outside space therefore providing a chance to show the activities outside. As the sage will be put in the vanishing point of this scene, the attention will be drawn to him which will highlight the importance of him in the story in helping Marco Polo understand the language of Hypatia. Also, there is enough space in this perspective to show the negative side of the city and allows me to utilize light contrast between the outside and inside to help demonstrate the mood of the scene and add a more dramatic effect.
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PERSPECTIVE SCENE 1 + 2 Perspective 1 (Deceitful beauty) In this perspective, the darkness inside builds a strong contrast to the light outside. This contrast is not only about the light but also the mood. The woman in front was looking outside without the intention to get away from this evil city, opposite to Marco Polo who was in the middle of the frame and rushing out of Hypatia, which corresponds with the concept that people inside the city are trapped and oblivious to the darkness that surrounds them. In addition, the women walking forward and the naked girl receive the sunlight directlywhich draws the viewers’ attention directly to these characters. However, these characters are in the highest and lowest class respectively so the lightingcorresponds to the strict hierarchy in Hypatia.
Perpective 2 (Angels and Demons) This perspective draws attention to the sage in the vanishing point. The scene outside is in harmonious in contrast to the inside of the old quad, where a man is being tortured by two soldiers. In addition, people beside the execution show no sympathy for the victims, which resembles the evil atmosphere inside the city. On the contrary, dogs and sheep together with two girls are sitting on the lawn whichsymbolizes peace and purity. The composition of these characters emphasizes the extensibility therefore the depth of field is enhanced making the scene and imagery more realistic.
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WEEK 10 READING: MAPPING THE UNMAPPABLE
Question 1: What is the difference between autographic and allographic practice?
The significant difference between these two kinds of the art forms is that allographic has the capacity of reproduction without the author’s direct involvement while autographic does not. Due to this, allographic is usually related to arts such as music, poetry and theatre which can be presented by different people, at different times according to the notation from the author. Autographic however refers to another kind of arts such as painting or sculpting whose authenticity is entirely defined by the original producer.
Question 2: Why do architects need new representational techniques? New representational techniques must be adopted to present more holistic information in order to meet the changes of cities where the buildings no longer only focus on the geography. This results in traditional tools being abandoned due to their limitations in the image level. Besides, the social and technological changes exert a subtle influence on the popularity of the new representational techniques to map the unmappable “edge cities”.
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FINAL DRAWINGS Cities & the sky 4: hypatia
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Perspective 1 (Deceitful beauty)
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The main concept conveyed throughout the two perspectives is the deceitful beauty of Hypatia. The city is decorated to look rich, grand and beautiful as are the people who are classified as the superior class. However, through analysis and exploration, it is evident that the this superficial and materialistic beauty is in fact masking a corrupt hierarchical system and evil hearts of the superior classes who take advantage of their power and oppress the middle and lower classes. The city therefore although beautiful, is surrounded by a cold and evil atmosphere.
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Perspective 2 (Angels and Demons)
APPENDIX
The vanishing point enhance the perspective with three dimensions.
The rule of thirds helps to bring attention to the sage and execution.
Contrast becomes weaker because of the atmospheric perspective.
The deep depth of field improves the reality of the two-dimensional photo.
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CHARACTERS
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BACKGROUND
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