Synopsis // Reaction Paper

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (HONOURS) IN ARCHITECTURE THEORIES OF ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM (ARC61303/ARC2224)

NAME: VICKY LEE WEI KEE LECTURER: NICHOLAS NG SYNOPSIS NO: 1

SYNOPSIS: REACTION PAPER (MARCH 2015) [5 MARKS] ID: 0313317 TUTORIAL TIME: 2.00 – 4.00PM READER TITLE: Life between Buildings Using Public Space (1986) AUTHOR: Jan Gehl

Life between Buildings is one of Jan Gehl’s earliest classic text on the fascinating range of public life in cities. By observing a street scene, Gehl propagated how our cities, our architecture, and our planning influence the life between buildings and the lifestyle of the people. This idea is also similar to one of the five elements of Kevin Lynch (1960) in which he suggested that street plays an important role in public urban space as people understand their surrounding through mental mapping.

Gehl also states that the degree of occurrences of outdoor activities greatly relates to the physical environment in cities. This statement is substantially applicable in the tropical context of Malaysia, however outdoor activities is also very much influenced by equatorial climatic factor which encourages or discourages the use of streets as a setting for activities in cities. For instance, especially in the evening when the weather is cooler and less humid, outdoor recreation activities are more encouraged.

Other factors like the additional shade provided by trees, pedestrian arcades and covered walkways of buildings flanking the street will also promote one’s comfortableness for involvement for outdoor activities.

Gehl also pinpointed that residential areas and public communal spaces in cities offers positive contact in a modest way. This is reflected in the shop houses of Malaysia which comprises of a combination of residential units on the upper floor of commercial shop lots, creating a lively and vibrant urban neighborhood where social interaction is much anticipated. The Georgetown of Penang is indeed a good example that characterizes our country’s cities by portraying its street’s play of different social mix and creating a unique sense of place as one can experience walking through the streets.

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DATE: 10/4/2016

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BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (HONOURS) IN ARCHITECTURE THEORIES OF ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM (ARC61303/ARC2224)

NAME: VICKY LEE WEI KEE LECTURER: NICHOLAS NG SYNOPSIS NO: 2

SYNOPSIS: REACTION PAPER (MARCH 2015) [5 MARKS] ID: 0313317 TUTORIAL TIME: 2.00 – 4.00PM READER TITLE: Semiology and Architecture AUTHOR: Charles Jencks

Semiology and Architecture is one of the chapters of Charles Jenks’s The Language of PostModern Architecture. By focusing on Meaning, Inevitable yet Denied, this text basically discuss on the language architectural discourse. Architecture can therefore be understood in direct analogy with language and being expressed in semiotic terms, instead of words by using visual codes.

According to Jencks, any architectural element or expression should stand for a certain architectural meaning. The physical environment created by an architect has to be able to be identified by members of society as their own. Meanings in architectural forms is pretty much interpreted or shaped by the society in their own way. In this case, Jenks semiotic approach in architecture is translated into The Semiologic Triangle which surpasses both models of Pierce’s triad and Saussurean’s semiology in which it is not an individual but the act that Jencks is concerned with.

Jenks theoretical point of view places its importance for the act of interpretation. It all depends on individual in both creation (which is the architect) and interpretation (which is the inhabitant or user) of architecture in an open-minded and engaging attitude. For an instance, Frank Gehry is one of the architect who has driven the Post-Modern architecture into discussion of a possible architectural syntax. His work clearly shows that architectural semiology has extensively utilized the linguistic pattern in a way that it somehow has considered architecture as a language.

In this new modern era, the act of interpretation as a method in design practice must have slight relevance to its actual function, space and place. Based on the semiology knowledge gained, I personally think that a good architect is able to change the space into some meaningful signs for themselves or add some other signs to it from the outside. And the design outcome itself is the result of a set of social–cultural factors in a large scale.

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BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (HONOURS) IN ARCHITECTURE THEORIES OF ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM (ARC61303/ARC2224)

SYNOPSIS: REACTION PAPER (MARCH 2015) [5 MARKS] NAME: VICKY LEE WEI KEE ID: 0313317 LECTURER: NICHOLAS NG TUTORIAL TIME: 2.00 – 4.00PM SYNOPSIS NO: 3 READER TITLE: The Eyes of the Skin AUTHOR: Juhani Pallasmaa

The Eyes of the skin is one of a classic text on Senses in Architecture of Pallasmaa, published in 1996.

Pallasmaa’s approach to architecture is very sensitive with the integration of human’s sensory experience to create a more genuine or authentic experience for the users in a building. He pointed out how our perception of spaces is always mediated by the senses. Comparing his statement with the scenario nowadays I’ve noticed that our cities have many buildings that are designed to please the eye but fail to delight the body as a whole. In my opinion, contemporary architecture nowadays is merely flashy design and retain value as iconic visual elements and there is a lack of the integration of the complete body of the person in the spatial experience and this experience for a person is not unique but rather universal. Thus I totally agree to Pallasmaa’s insights about seeing, the dominance of the eye, modes of vision etc has developed into a cultural norm, in which the eyes itself can be biased in stimulating the rest of the senses in our body. However, architects such as Peter Zumthor and Steven Holls’ are famous of their holistic approach in architectural designs that invited one to touch and explore the light, materials and atmosphere within the space and it can triggers the senses of users rather than just visual relationship between human body and environment. Steven Holls is also famous of his design playing with light and shadows not only stimulates the sense of vision but also the haptic sense.

In conclusion, Pallasmaa discusses the importance of all these senses in the design process. I personally think that architecture is in need for a possession of firm principles that give architecture its true meaning, and these principles are seeing architecture in a multi-senses and with a spiritual viewpoint.

WORD COUNT: 307 ASSSESSED BY:

DATE: 30/5/2016

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BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (HONOURS) IN ARCHITECTURE THEORIES OF ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM (ARC61303/ARC2224)

NAME: VICKY LEE WEI KEE LECTURER: NICHOLAS NG SYNOPSIS NO: 4

SYNOPSIS: REACTION PAPER (MARCH 2015) [5 MARKS] ID: 0313317 TUTORIAL TIME: 2.00 – 4.00PM READER TITLE: From “Towards A Critical Regionalism” AUTHOR: Kenneth Frampton

The word Critical Regionalism as mentioned by Frampton in his influential writing, is a modern approach in architecture that strives to oppose the placelessness and the lack of identity of the International Style. Heidegger addressed the ever-present issue of placelessness, the lack of “sense of place” of the modern environment and nonetheless everyone assumes that as a fact and follows it.

Although Frampton rejects both tradition and modernism, finding a balance between both by reinterpreting tradition with modern language, he seems to have more affinity towards modern principles and that they are essential in creating new regional architecture.

However, to me a good regional architecture advocates how local tradition can be adequately integrated with global modernity, while at the same time providing a unique sense of place. In modern culture, the authentic connection to place is very crucial in creating an architecture that not only responds to the basic needs of people in that place but is also an extension of local identity and a reflection of cultural heritage. I agreed to William J. R. Curtis’s theories about authentic regionalism (Curtis 1987) in which he demands for a reinterpretation of the vernacular architecture and adapted to attune to contemporary demands while retaining the local values using place-based solutions such as utilizing traditional building methods according to the specifics to place, interrelating culture and environment. The new architectural identity that Frampton seeks is the reinterpret of old traditions like culture, landscape, and climatic conditions of a region in a modern settings using modern techniques.

It means that Frampton’s approach to regionalism is by promoting the embracing of the past through means of modern architecture.

By applying this ideology of these two architectural thinkers into the phenomenon nowadays, I have observed that the developers whom is trying to modify a landscape do not truly consider the importance of places in the relationships between individual, community, and natural landscape. People or users are not placed in those newly-developed spaces and this is a phenomenon of placelessness in which we become disengaged from any sense of place. Thus, there is a need to consider the necessity of place for not only the individual but also for communities and natural landscapes must be considered more thoroughly by the developers itself.

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