/syntax
/semantics
zuo yuchen portfolio
Syntax refers to how words and their most basic meaningful units are combined to form sentences in a language.
SYNTAX SEMANTICS
Semantics refers to the ways in which a language conveys meaning.
We all tell stories to make sense of our lives. Writers and poets tell stories primarily in words. Through syntax, words are synthesized to form coherent sentences, providing the needed clues for understanding. Semantics gives color and nuance to communication, adding the layer of meaning to language. Our inner intents can hence be conveyed across to the exterior world.
Architecture | Language The architect, on the other hand, tells stories in space and built form. In this sense, architecture is seen as a language of its own, where the cohesive arrangement of the basic elements of the roof and walls make up the syntax while the application of the above in the derivation of meaningful and fuctional spaces comprises the semantics.
1
This portfolio defines architecture in terms of its syntax and semantics, capturing my learning and developments from Year 1 Semester 2 of my studies in NUS Architecture. Special thanks goes to my tutor, Stacy Cheang as well as my fellow studio mates, for without thier generous help and guidance, none of the following would have been possible.
2
P R O J E C T 01
SYNTAX SEMANTICS P R O J E C T 02
P R O J E C T 03
3
Architectural Literacy: Form Language and Tectonic Articulation; Movement and Space
page 10
Body and/as Measure: Micro-Capsule
page 39
The Architect’s Apprentice: A Dwelling for a Client
page 63
4
5
SYNTAX
6
Project 01: Architectural Literacy: Form Language and Tectonic Articulation; Movement and Space
Writers have to start out as readers, and before they put pen to paper, even the most disaffected of them will have to internalize the norms and forms of the tradition form which they wish to secede. Seamus Heaney - The Redress of Poetry, 1995
Assignment Students will select two houses for study: one from a list of “international� works, and one from the local/regional list.
Deliverables: - Plan, section and elevation drawings - Analytical diagrams and models
7
Précis Project 01 focuses on the study of precedent houses, using drawings and models, as an introduction to understanding how architectural ideas and materials are translated into spatial, formal-compositional and tectonic articulation by different architects. Like how writers have to start out as readers of books, architects have to start out as “readers” of other architects’ projects. It is through the drawing and analysis of existing architectural works that we acquire the syntax of basic vocabulary and grammar of the fundamental language of architecture. This provides us with a medium through which to explore the potential, the possibilities of architecture ... to acquire and exploit its powers.
8
9
International House Fallingwater (1935) Frank Llyod Wright
10
Ground floor plan
page 12
Second floor plan
page 13
Third floor plan
page 14
Section A page 15
plan | section | elevation 11
S-E elevation page 16
12
13
14
15
16
Axonometric projection
analysis 17
Integration with nature Fallingwater embodies the integration of the built environment with the natural environment. The careful manipulation of form achieves a balance between the regularity of the building’s rectilinear language and the irregularity of the nature around it, allowing the house to blend into its context, as if risen organically amongst the rocks.
18
Geometrical composition The ability of Fallingwater to blend into its context is achieved through the overlap of simple squares and rectangles. This process of layering creates compound irregular shapes which distort the visual field, enabling the integration with the capriciousness of the context while preserving the rectilinear language of the building.
19
20
21
22
Spatial analysis Fallingwater makes use of the contraction and expansion of spaces in its spatial progression to highlight the hierachy of of spaces within the house, while the circulation is engineered to provide a plethora of disparate vistas of the scenic surroundings. The spatial quality is also further enhanced through the sound scape generated from the waterfall, increasing in intensity as one enters and progresses into the house.
23
24
25
Regional House Garlick Avenue House (2003) Kerry Hill Architects
26
plan | section | elevation 27
Ground floor plan
page 28
Second floor plan
page 29
Section A and S-W elevation
page 30
28
29
30
Axonometric projection
analysis 31
Arhitectural language
Geometrical composition
The obsessive usage of wooden louvres throughout the facade is complemented by the rectilinear form of the building, imparting upon it a strong directional quality.
Garlick Avenue House is composed with the horizontal layering of three rectangles of varying sizes. The layers demarcate the function of the spaces, which transitions between private to public.
32
The sanctuary within Garlick Avenue House embodies the concept of sanctuary, where the house is isolated from the strident exterior. Instead, a beautiful portion of the exterior world is introduced into the interior through the courtyard. The vistas are accordingly internalized, and the courtyard can be seen from each of the main spaces within the house, ccentuating its centrality.
33
34
Spatial analysis The spaces within the house form 3 disparate layers. The spatial flow within each segment is continuous, highlighting the homogeneity of the layers. Circulation between private and public spaces are clearly divided by these layers, linked only through a singular portal. Within each layer, spatial hierachy is also explicitly demarcated through variations in spatial density.
35
36
37
SEMANTICS
38
Project 02: Body and/as Measure: Micro-Capsule
Originality may often express itself suddenly but never without some previous experience with form... Imitation is a method of assimilation. In accepting it as such the student gains knowledge and experience and is the quicker thereby to discover his own originality.
Comments of Harwell Hamilton Harris to the Faculty, 1954
Assignment Design of a micro-capsule that articulates pospect and refuge in conjuction with occupation and leisure. The capsule shall not exceed the size of 8sqm and height 6m, and the programs are flexible depending on the site and persona defined.
Deliverables: - Plan, section, elevation and perspective drawings - 1:10 model
39
PrĂŠcis Equipped with the knowledge of architectural syntax, it is thereby a corollary that semantics follow. This project is thus a practice to add meaning to architecture through the introduction of function and human inhabitance. We have hence progressed from learning basic vocabulary and grammar to the creation of meaningful sentences through the synthesis of words. Project 02 focuses on developing and demonstrating the following skills in the design of a micro-capsule for individual occupation: - micro-spatial composition (anthropometry), - formal composition (dexterity with modules and dimensions), and - tectonic articulation (materials, construction)
40
41
Tu-shui Teahouse Earth | Water | Soul In pursuit of the sublime
42
Plan page 44 Section A page 45 Section B page 46 S-E elevation page 47
plan | section | elevation 43
Perspective drawing
page 48
44
45
46
47
48
Tea is the product of earth and water, brought together by the soul. The Tu-shui Teahouse is an abstraction of the above idea, introducing both elements into the interior space. The tea table rests on the central plaform that spans across both the river and land, where the fallen leaves rustle in cadence with the splashing water while the user indulges in the tea ceremony.
49
EARTH
SOUL
WATER
50
Anthropometric analysis
The expansion and contraction of spaces within the micro-capsule are guided by anthropometric dimensions, where measurements of the human body serve as a limiter towards the experience of space. The height of walls can be adjusted to reveal or block out views, and the proximity of the walls to each other affects the quality of the space perceived.
51
Design process
52
Hidden paradise The spatial sequence is based off the traditional Chinese folklore of 世外桃源 (Shi Wai Tao Yuan), where a fisherman chanced upon a hidden cave and discovered a hidden paradise on the other side. The entrance corridor of the house is intentionally claustrophobic to simulate the conditions of the cave in the folklore. The sudden expansion of space at the end of the tunnel enhances the ephemeral effect, as the user is greeted by the sight of the gushing river waters which marks the ingress towards “paradise”.
53
54
55
56
57
Less is more Tea culture is the celebration of the Imprefection. In this sense, the Tu-shui Teahouse is also an exaltation of the “imperfect”, where the space is managed more subtlely by a loose composition of four parallel plane walls and no region is “perfectly” enclosed and defined, reminescent of the Bacelona Pavilion by Ludwig Mie van der Rohe. Instead, the existing trees and bushes on site are incorporated into the demarcation of space, acting as barriers that disrupt the spatal continuity, directing the circulation with the building. Just like tea, the spatial negotiation of the sturcture is thus simple yet complex.
58
Tectonics expression
59
60
61
Teaism is founded on the adoration of the beautiful among the sordid facts of everyday existence. It inculcates purity and harmony, the mystery of mutual charity, the romanticism of the social order. It is essentially a worship of the Imperfect, as it is a tender attempt to accomplish something possible in this impossible thing we know as life.
62
Project 03: The Architect’s Apprentice: A Dwelling for a Client
Man’s taking measure in the dimension dealt out to him brings dwelling into its ground plan. Taking the measure of the dimension is the element within which human dwelling has its security, by which it securely endures. The taking of measure is what is poetic in dwelling. Poetry is measuring. But what is to measure? Martin Heidegger - Poetry, Language, Thought, 1971
Assignment Design a 120sqm, max height 9m dwelling for a client with the minimum provision of spaces dedicated to sleeping, eating/cooking, as well as necessities like the toilet and bathroom. The dwelling should also possess one or two activities/spaces as its special feature, based on the brief given by the client.
Deliverables: - Plan, section, elevation and perspective drawings - 1:50 model
63
PrĂŠcis With an elevated understanding of the meta-language of architecture, the sentence can be further consolidated to form paragraphs, engendering multivalent colour and nuances through the increasingly complexity of the semantics. Project 03 expands upon the exploration in P02 on anthropometry and materials, now applied to the design of a dwelling with the following parameters: - Designing for a client - Exploration of precedence in design
64
65
House H Deconstructing poetry Dwelling for Philip Larkin
66
Ground floor plan
page 68
Second floor plan
page 69
Section A page 70 Section B page 71
plan | section | elevation 67
S-W elevation page 72
68
69
70
71
72
Client Brief: To design a place of dwelling for poet Philip Larkin that tailors to his character and inspires him in the writing of poetry, with reference to the poem “Home is so Sad�.
Site: Empty 6m x 20m plot of land along Jalan Pinang beside a row of old shophouses spanning North Bridge Road.
73
Home is so Sad
Philip Larkin, 1922 - 1985
Home is so sad. It stays as it was left, Shaped to the comfort of the last to go As if to win them back. Instead, bereft Of anyone to please, it withers so, Having no heart to put aside the theft And turn again to what it started as, A joyous shot at how things ought to be, Long fallen wide. You can see how it was: Look at the pictures and the cutlery. The music in the piano stool. That vase.
74
House H takes on a dicotomous interpretation of the concecpt of deconstruction, whereby the component of “break down� assumes both the noun as well as the verb form.
75
The noun - formal language The poem “Home is so Sad” illustrates the transition of “home” to “house” when the inhabitant passes away, lamenting the state of decay where the meaning attached to the daily items within the home is gradually deconstrued with the fading of memory. Home is hence deconstructed to the mere House - an empty shell devoid of passion or sentiment. This facet governs the formal language of the dwelling.
76
The form of the dwelling is reminescent of a fading house, where planar walls are used to tangibly demarcate the interior space. Towards the back of the house, the walls are deconstructed to give frames, imparting a more intangible and ambiguous characteristic to the spaces defined. The increase in the diffusion of spatial enclosure from walls to frames further accentuate the notion of loss.
77
78
79
80
The verb - spatial configuration Through the act of deconstructing, the poem is reduced to its constituent parts. The spaces within the dwelling is governed by the structure of the poem, abstracted into architecutral language to give form to space. The house can hence be seen as an distillation of the poem.
81
Abstraction of rhyme and meter
Basic module
82
Rhythm and order The poem is strcutured by the basic module of an iamb and follows the rhyme scheme of ABABA. This rhythm is reflected in the spatial progression of House H via the alternating A and B spaces, where the “unstressed� A represent the servant spaces while the accentuated B are the served spaces where the user tends to pause and reflect. The system of the Golden Ratio is used to divide the spaces as an attempt to introduce a system of order to the spaces
83
84
The inquiry of meaning As we read a poem, bits and pieces of information get slowly unravelled as we progress down the stanzas. It is not until the end of the poem where the big picture is finally revealed that we can glean a nuanced understanding of the themes and motifs. The circulation is hence abstracted from this gradual unravelling of knowledge, revolving around the central water courtyard that is progressively revealed as one proceeds through the house.
85
86
87
Design process
88
89
90
91
92