Architecture has evolved from ancient time to now in many different forms and functions. One thing we have to understand that they all come from a simple understanding of ‘space’.

As New Year had just passed, which is also a form of Roman culture invested in our life, festivities are bound to take place on all earth surface; fireworks, parties, heavy conjunctions, shopping activities and so on. So, what’s this got to do with architect as a profession?

As an architect in this era, our responsibilities mounted as high as a mountain, we are the core development on earth. We need to look back in history as a reminder on Roman Architecture, which is profoundly shaping the urban scape in many cities of the world. Whether we see it as a facade on a house, a building with functions, the roman style has been implemented as classical style that is easily to  be detected; massive structure of columns, heavy and bulky forms, and high ceiling. In contrast with this form, we now have high demands to meet special requirements such as: Eco-friendly architecture.

In some parts of the world this type of roman style is not needed, they would look strange and astray in totally different culture. Although so, heritage of the old colonial time in Indonesia, has left us many Dutch architecture which has a root on Roman style in some ways. They now stand as marks, but ridiculously there are some examples that try to imitate this style in totally new buildings. These inconsiderate moves will create foreign and fake feeling to the surrounding. We should know better, than recreating a Disney world into our own culture. What would be my advice to young architects out there, use your creativity to meet the clients request, without leaving out your own culture.

Happy New Year 2009!!!

May this year will bring happiness, good lucks, and success to all of us.

When flying across the Alps that evening, I was seeing the beautiful snow caps and take with me a freeze frame in my mind, just how wonderful the world is. And that gives me a sense of awareness, how this journey to Venice would be a different experience than many others. The journey from Weimar took almost 12 hours by it self to reach Venice in the evening, but this time I would bring with me a moment of architect’s soul in me.

bienalle venice 2008

The site was the whole Venice island, and as I choose only to see the architecture exhibition (there were also art, music, dance, cinema, and theatre), we decided to go to Arsenale where the architecture exhibition is and then later on to Giardini, where the pavilions of many countries are.

This year’s Biennale is titled “Architecture Beyond Building”. And so as an entrance in Arsenale, was this area where words have no meaning, the sight was so overwhelmingly emotional that I felt a rush of love for architecture in my vein punctured my heart. The entrance area was a dark space, with calming music and two arched screen on which projections of forms in colors and light were mingled in harmony. It made me feel as if I’m in an architectural heaven and it was by far the most probable of how it would look like.

Each step after that was more spectacular, well if you see things on a website, you might only feel as it can be only 3d models, but being there and can actually touch and feel them, was a surreal thing. The place for this was an unused area of dock or may say docklands. It was already disheveling and bad in condition, but the space that was created in it would make us think, this is a sight you would never imagined to be in, when it was only old storage rooms. The ceilings of these spaces are high, which let the creativity of architects run free.

Ideas have no limits here; this time the essence of architecture is being recaptured. What each architect’s opinion is important to what the result of their creation, and mainly we are talking about space here, not form, not building, because that is where the term got mixed up. Architects stars such as; Zaha Hadid, Frank O Gehry, Coop Himmel Blau, An Te Liu and so many others are congregated in this event. It is of no surprise that the ambience of creativities is alarmingly high.

Another point that was also being presented there was the emergence of urban design and planning. Whether we like it or not, our actions as an architect give an influence to a higher level of planning. And that is where urban design is translated as beyond building, which is a branch of this architecture exposition.

In Giardini, many of the countries who are participating in this exhibition do use some famous architects, but mainly also from educational side (university levels). Therefore it was quite a contrast between these two, but both are equally mesmerizing and enchanting. In this area, each country has its own building; many European countries are participating, but some Asian countries have their pavilions near the Arsenale main building. May be it was due to site’s and space limitation, but all in all, it was a very big show of force in architecture creativity.

I particularly like the Italian pavilion; it was very large of course, since they are the host. It also presenting so many pixels of its new architecture feature embeds with the theme of this biennale. The Danish pavilion would be my second choice with the giant globe and interactive tools. After that comes the Belgian, even though the show case it self was empty. The title was “after the party” it lays the understanding of a space of fun, interpreted by the tons of this confetti on its floor. It brought up some marks for its visitor, a mark that we have visited the Belgian’s party. A sweet reminder; try to have as much fun as possible by throwing confetti in the air, and see how the effect clench your heart. The rest have lacked the positive energy one should try to put up on this type of exhibition.

The day ended in a flash of time, when the lights are lighted, the sun sets on the water edge, while a cup of hot vanilla latte was served. Resting on a bench and sip through the drink, my mind was captured in a zen state, absorbing the fantastic creativity environment. I am in love again with architecture for the millionth of times.

Architecture and fengshui is the knowledge that two mutually related with one another. Basically, both of these things have the same objects to observe about one another, they are about the building, as the human, environmental and around the building is located.

Here I will try to explain a few things that can be related between architecture as a science, and fengshui as a science.

The origin of the word

Feng means wind, Shui means water. Feng Shui is the science that teach how to balance the elements of nature that move / flow.

Archi means art, design tekton means design and build, while the architecture is the art of design and built.

Who’s the specialist?

Fengshui = Geomanser, Architecture=Architect.

What is the objective?

Geomanser as a communicator, with a focus on ways to improve the welfare and prosperity.

Architects as a mediator, as a bridge between ‘dreams and reality, transforming a concept and notion that dwelling on the clients’ dreams to be a physical manifestation with the building.

For what?

Fengshui work to arrange the building of housing and the environment in harmony with the soul of the residents. Fengshui no longer only used in the homes, but also have been used for offices, housing, and commercial buildings.

Building as an architecture product is expected to provide benefits for all of the people around, especially related to the character of the area in the city

This design was supposed to compete in the Shinkenchiku Residential Design Competition in Japan, 2006; but due to unforseen circumstances, the final design didn’t make it out of the drawing board at all until now. So here it is, in all its glory, an architectural concept which my colleague, Endy Y. Prasetyo from Studio Rurale Surabaya, and I put together two years ago.

Theme Description

It is generally thought that the plan is a means for describing lifestyle. The fundamental principle of this descriptive technique is division. It is thought that the lifestyle inside a house is divided with the device of “walls.” Therefore, if only the elements called “walls” are picked out, and given an expression in which they are emphasized, people may understand the lines on a drawing that indicate the “walls” as describing the essence of a house.

Yet should a house be “walls”? Why can we not describe a house just by furniture? Why can we not describe a house just by tableware? Or what about a descriptive method using only floor textures? As the floor is the only component that the human body directly touches (actually, there are also doorknobs and toilet seats), if we were to describe a house by a technique of scanning with the body, the house would be described as a collection of textured floors. Or it would also be possible to describe a house in terms of air temperature, or in terms of malodorous places due to wind flows.

Why have I become so skeptical with regard to the descriptive method of walls? It is because I feel a sense of unease with the division of lifestyle, and the corresponding methods of spatial division. The cause might lie in devices such as mobile phones, which invalidate spatial divisions, and might also lie in the transformation (the becoming-amorphous) of interpersonal relationships and family relationships. Or, perhaps the “lifestyle” of the person that was the initial premise for the “division of lifestyle” disappears during the era of building a house. Because a person perhaps builds a house for somewhat distinct purposes, if this is investigated more thoroughly, the house, including every “thing,” rather than being something made for some particular purpose could also be said to somehow become a manifestation of its era. Taking a broad view of all of this, I am interested in a plan-less condition.

-Kengo Kuma

A house, in one of its narrowest sense of understanding, is a mere compilation of rooms, thus my partner and I have decided to discard the term room and replace it with a broader term of reference: location. In the end, the house, in our new interpretation, becomes a compilation of locations.

The word “room” indicates a concrete and completed component. Whereas the word “location” does not need to be a tangible chamber. It gains its meaning and character only when related to another “location”. As vague as it is, but at the same time, a “location” acts as a firm base for human activity. “Locations” calls for a brand new space, reffered to as “Space of no intention”. a space without intention directly confronts the functionalism of the modern era. Since the space has no specific function, it allows people within it to freely choose their own activity. Since there is no imposition, it is abundant with cues to activate people. Furthermore it easily relates to other spaces. The space exists wherever people act, so as to say, solidly yet liniently.

-Sou Fujimoto- Architecture Asia Issue 3 / Sept 2005-Nov 2005

In the attempt to achieve a plan-less condition, we decided to completely remove the interior walls therefore rendering the structure without massive spatial division, throwing away rooms, giving way to locations being a more flexible space which Sou Fujimoto refers to as Space of no intention which we interpret as spaces without clear definition since the type of activity the space contains is not yet clear. In our opinion, a space of no intention only needs a catalyst to encourage certain activities, and ultimately defining the location; rendering it no longer as space of no intention but space of intention in fact, the possibility exists for the space to become space with many intentions depending on the dimensions of its catalysts – which in the case of housing are known as furniture. As we have discovered, the larger the size of the catalyst, the greater the activities may vary.

An issue appears due to the removal of massive space dividing elements known as walls, and that issue happens to be privacy. As a solution, we applied different heights to each location, dividing it spatially by raising and / or lowering each location relative to the other; practically rotating the spatial zoning ninety degrees, zoning vertically rather than horizontally which is mostly done with housing projects. The public zone, is located at the very bottom since this is the zone in which various people have access to within it contains locations for living / gallery, and the kitchen. Above this zone, is the semi-public within it the group of people that have access is narrowed down. Locations in it are those such as : dining, and living. Then comes the semi-private zone, where the narrow group of people is narrowed down yet again to a more specific group of people. This level contains locations such as the sleeping areas. Finally, located on the highest point is the private zone containing the bathing area. Philosophically speaking, we think that people are true human beings when they leave all their attributes behind – literally – no longer being the military general he / she may be, or the businessman / career woman they may also be. Just human, simple and pure. Therefore this highly valued state is located in the highest point within the house.

Instructions :

Step 1 :Find your subject. Take notice of buildings and structures around you will more than likely become your favorite subjects.

Step 2 urchase a camera lens that can give you a long range focus. Use this lens when taking photos of buildings.

Step 3 :Move back from the structure you are attempting to photograph and take it from a distance.

Step 4 ay attention to the shadows as you are photographing the structures. Depending on what you are attempting to capture in the photo you may want more or less shadows.

Step 5 :Be aware of what the weather is supposed to do on the day that you are to photograph your subject.

Step 6 ay attention to the details. Add items into your photo such as the fence that is around it, the swimming pool in the backyard. Anything that will give a dramatic, artsy look to your photograph.

Step 7 hotograph a staircase by itself. It can have a very dramatic effect on your photography. Take pictures of just doors or windows, bridges or narrow streets. These are often not looked at as architecture but can be easily included in that category.

Step 8 :Wait until nightfall to photograph your favorite subject.

Step 9 lace emphasis on the point in your photograph where you want the viewer’s eye to be automatically drawn.

Picture taken at Great Wall, China

]]> http://ar-chi-tect.org/2008/06/how-to-photograph-architecture/feed/ 5 http://ar-chi-tect.org/2008/04/urban-architecture/ http://ar-chi-tect.org/2008/04/urban-architecture/#comments Wed, 09 Apr 2008 04:16:56 +0000 Manuj Darshan http://ar-chi-tect.org/urban-architecture/ Let our thoughts be alike. Consciousness and temptations be one. Let’s utilize it optimally. A couple of years ago I was watching a movie “Fifth Element” functioning on Vaastu theory simulating 3-D city matrix flashing an idea which can change the way we live. Since in this never­-ending maze of fashion. We are lost as to how to think about a real city matrix, which solves most of our problems.

We continue in strive of creating a perfect city matrix. History is not a subject to learn but real essence is to realise the pain and tyranny of humanity before evolution of real technology. World of developing countries is diverse, in which cultures, dialects & traditions transcend with area & time. Misplanned cities are a consequence owing to choleric misinterpretation of ambiguous planning principles and personal greed and interests. We have become so poor that we grab more and more area in and near our built-up areas somewhat like the farmer who died circumventing the area his zamindar wanted to offer him. Cities have more or less become like asthmatic lungs-congested wheezing and coughing.

Rural planning evolves significance in this complex maze of urban apocalypse. Cities have already doomed a dog’s death. Now is the turn of the villages, which are to be saved. Rural planning will be based on experiments with truth and shall be futuristically flexible after it’s success as a bread earner. The very first victory will be towards cyclic financial growth and self-sustainability, which would make the network larger with time. We only have been following the outdated ambiguous bylaws, which are not only creating slum-like structures but also encouraging corruption. Only significant bylaws cater to improve urban environment. Others are techno-legal multiply interpreted statements, which are interpreted by plot owners, architect and the authority in more than one way. If it is a law, it should have one and only one meaning, inference and interpretation and should in no way motivate anyone to break, surpass it or find even a single loophole. Public has a right to know the law. Laws are meant to provide collective mental & physical freedom and not to create collective constraints.

Location constraints shall govern the planning constraints. This sub-city (cannot comment on hill towns) should not be in way of any geographical constraint such as hill, water flowing path like river, stream or sea; It can be on a hillock 10-20 m high in South West-West sloping gradually. A lake below in NNE and glade in NWW is added advantage. Preferably rocky sub-strata sloping in the water body would be excellent. The sites shall be found out on the contour maps of survey and then selected after aerial and ground surveys. Sub-City shall be planned in Golden Section Derivatives-grid iron planning. But depending on sun-path and local wind directions, grid shall be tilted till 15 degrees to extract maximum climatic energy saving. Tessellations and articulations can be encouraged to trap wind on individual plan-to-plan basis. But the construction would commence pocket wise after approval of all approved plans in a particular area. Allotment of plots shall be very sequential with NE directional growth. Requirements shall incorporate non-hazardous & non-polluting industries besides agriculture.

Next priority comes in services- Water supply, Sewer, Rain Water & Waste Disposal, Electricity by atomic, solar, hydraulic and composite power system shall be planned.

A single knowledgeable entity, with the direct support of the Chief Secretary of the State Government-just an individual can approve building plan on computers and Internet. There would NEVER be any planning divisions or wards.

The sub-city shall be multi-community. Religious places are decided as per sects. The size of sub-city shall be planned after the selection of the site for the purpose. When Le’ Corbusier planned Chandigarh, it was a vision considering the overall comfort level of the citizens. Thereafter, little had been the awareness amongst town planners and government bodies of how actually a city works. Here we would like to experience and encounter a problem first and then try to find a solution to it. Cities are always planned 100 Years ahead. Little do we know regarding how the future is got to go? Cities are smaller than states, which are smaller than country. Hence there exists a need for a refreshable uniform national bylaw, which should transit with latitude, geology, altitude, climate etc.

Transportation-The key requirement of a city, no one has actually thought of how a poor laborer shall reach his destination in the most economical way. The traffic variety transits from bicycles, rickshaws, thelas, bullock carts, tractors, auto rickshaw, scooters and motorcycles, cars, lorries, buses, trucks. The root of traffic planning in is a thorough understanding of non-motorable traffic behavior first rather than motorable. Segregation of bypass traffic should be anticipated so that flyovers are constructed in advance. Segregation of railroad, service traffic etc is required. Basic transportation shall be public-oriented with 200m reach ability accounting for the disabled. Most energy efficient conveyance can be travelator saving the chassis load

Social Sector Planning-Strong experience of resident’s forums should be surveyed extensively so that their problems are kept in mind when a new city is being laid out. Cities hence should be people centric.

Land Use Planning-Cities are not only but primarily also assets as a revenue earner to the country hence they should perfect as a worthy bread earner without compromising on the farmland basins. How every dwelling gets favorable orientation? How the environment should look three dimensionally.

The Futuristic Building Bylaw will resultantly transit with the following super-factors in the following sequence:

• Latitude and Altitude
• Sun and Wind Direction
• Rainfall and Terrain

Dependent Citymatrix Factors will also govern the bylaws

• Intercity Transit Behavior
• Land Use Planning
• Rural Sector Response
• Culture and Traditions

Bylaws of the future should be Loophole/ Lacuna Proof Equations-Not a formula. Simple and Adaptable-A simple volumetric zoning 3-dimensional transitional formula for form coefficient (1-0) form should be rendered in every plot depending on abutting road(s) width and orientation as per Vaastu irrespective of projections etc and ground relatedness shall be it’s subset. Value of the variable depends upon openness factor of the urban zone-Residential, Commercial, Institutional, Mixed, and Hi-Rise etc. Lesser Ground-Relatedness should be encouraged by not counting the staircase under covered area and elevated bridge roads for more volume to encourage open spaces. Plots can be planned in golden section derivatives. Boundary walls and gate voids can also be matricised. Architect should be free to design within that volumetric polyhedron.

Let sunlight chisel and winds tessellate the responsive model of our habitations. The quality of environ-urban-matrix can be freed into amalgamating bionic level forms which will govern the overall volumetric coefficients of future cities.

BYLAW SCALE

Super Scale Bylaws conceived shall be editable with time scale and superset to building zone matrix. Sub Scale Bylaws shall be related to Plotted Habitations. Human Scale Interior Bylaws for electrical, mechanical & related sub services.

This text will convey only one universal meaning, interpretation and loophole-proofed and this noble idea is also subject to pilferage misuse and misappropriation by unruly elements or powers that is to be prevented by any means.

The site was built as a complex of factories during the fifties and designed by engineers from Germany in Bauhaus style. At that time, chairman Mao Tzetung was in reign and he wanted Chinese industrial development to move forward in fast pace. Cultural Revolution had tried to convert Chinese society from agricultural to industrial based country to Soviet Union, and tried to develop ‘classless society’, where all people work in the same level as education and working ‘background’.

The reuse of old factories in 2002 to art district, art society as a gallery. The combination is quite unique, with the outside appereance of industrial site complete with chimneys, rusty pipes, but on the inside you will find completely different, which is coziness and modern Chinese art. Each of the buildings are naturally lit to create a minimum, because of most the orientation to the north. Also with the characteristic of big rooms and adopting arch form or strong curved line and repeated in big scale. Tunnels between galleries are connected to create an image and lighting inside an old factory, yet it still stood out as an art gallery and not just an old ran down building.

Starting on the north gate, the view we are facing are rows of old buildings with steam coming out of their chimenys. The road was heading east and those exterior forming an unforgetable freeze frame in my mind. This is exactly what an industrial complex should look like, and yet the signage made us realize that we are not in the 50s and contextually we are in the ground of art expressions.

Some of the art installations are explicitely performed outside, for example this statue, representing our realities today, how our real self are hidden behind bars and our consciousness are always compromized.

From many revitalized buildings, my favorite was this restaurant, that change its façade using metal clad as to contrast itself to its surrounding and yet not forget to regard its context.

What I found also quite interesting is the way they treated the passage ways, as to let the history speak it self at the same time accomodating the newness of the gallery. (Photo 4) Or the way they put lighting to emphasize entrance to a gallery and make use of interesting signage designs. (Photo 5)

At the end of a passage way I found a space where special events are usually being held, here the arch character of the old architecture is showing the exposure of a strong bulk design that was the beauty and at the same time the structure of the building.

At the end of the day, we concluded our journey that day with a cup of latte machiatto in a warm café just on the side of the main north street of the complex. An ending of a wonderful insight day, where art appreciation are combined with the architecture touring, which is a feast to my eyes.

Address :

No.4 Jiuxianqiao Road, Chaoyang District, dari Dong Zhimen, bus 402, 418, 909, 688, halte Wang Yefen.

More info on:

http://www.798space.com

The second type of color symbolism appears to depend not on direct connection but on association of ideas. For instance, black has often been connected in men’s minds with despair and death.

Finally, in a third type of symbolism the relation between the color and the idea is difficult to discover. Here the symbolism seems to be established by arbitrary convention only. An example of this is the use of white in China for mourning.

Among the early astrologers the sun was yellow; the moon was white; Mars, red; Mercury, neutral; Jupiter, blue; Venus, green; and Saturn, black. Each sign of the zodiac was also assigned its particular color.

Emotional Effect

Besides aesthetic purpose, the functional use of color may also have an emotional effect. It has been found from experience that shops and restaurants can increase their sales by adopting color schemes that give their interiors a pleasant atmosphere and show their wares to the best advantage. However, emotional reactions may be either positive or negative.

The Pioneers who make emotional effect in color are=

Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727). Perhaps the greatest scientist of all time. Through his work in optics, discovered that white light contains all the hues of the spectrum. Also invented the hue circle.

Leonardo Da Vinci (1452-1519). Artist, scientist, engineer. One of the great figures of the Renaissance. Developed ideas on color harmony that are still considered valid.

Thomas Young (1773-1829). Founder of physiological optics. Developed the three-color theory of vision.

Michael Eugene Chevreul (1786-1889). Director of Dyes for the Royal Manufactures at Gobelins. Laid down modern principles of color harmony and of simultaneous contrast of colors.

G. T. Fechner (1801-1887). Founder of psychophysics. Formulated the Weber-Fechner Law which expresses the relationship of stimulus and sensation.

From the book Architecture and Color, Waldron Faulkner, F.A.I.A. (John Wiley & Sons Inc 1972)

Edited from Ariyanti (2008): “Themed Town, Thames Town” an unpublished article for Campus of Architecture and Urban Planning at Tongji University, Shanghai

It was a cloudy Saturday and our group of formerly 14 people has been reduced to 8 from the morning visit to Anting New Town. Exhausted, we found out that Thames Town is really far out from to the other direction, the only way to get there was with a cab, since our limited Chinese, we asked our friend to instruct the taxi driver how to get there. After another 40 minutes ride, we arrived at the compound, surrounded by fences, waterways and empty boulevards, the town was a place separated from its surrounding.

My first impression of the city was, how serene and quite it was. Then the architectural images sprang into my mind, the red brick Victorian style houses were aligned in rows and curved streets. We went into one of the fenced compound just on the out skirt of the “town”, and found out that those red brick used there were not actual red brick, they were tiles plastered on concrete wall. This had already brought realization into my mind. It was not what it seemed to be, this place was only a copy of an English styled town.

It was obvious that in the same moment, I remembered an excerpt from Sorkin,[1] he compared between cities that we have today with the EPCOT Disneyworld. The development is changing toward this new kind of ideal city, where you will have many kinds of differences tolerated and even accepted, less crime, hygienic life, and fantasy is received as a seed of future and not some crazy dream. Though he also mentioned that Disneyzone is not at all urban, it might invoke urbanism but it has not the real impact on the space created by the concept, it is in a sense just a conceptual place and not really a physical space. This place is exactly what Sorkin described and to be honest it is a nice place to live in. Of course it also lacked of authenticity, but it terms of ideal, I can assume that the place is safe and also clean.

Just as we moved though the space, there is something missing, there is no such thing as urban life happening on the street as what the usual town life has. Moreover, the fence around the compound gave us a surprise, since we cannot randomly go out of one compound to visit the next one; only one gate was open, which is the main one. At that time, it felt as if the town is a caged community, where you can see the view of the opponent neighbor, but cannot mingle with them straight away.

[1] Sorkin, Michael (1992):”See You in Disneyland” in Variations on a Theme Park: The New American City and the End of Public Space, New York: The Noonday Press.

The architect was Renzo Piano, through his Building Workshop for the National Center for Science and Technology. The ship-like building seen as if a ship is docked at Oosterdok (eastern dock), just like the rest of the yachts, ships, surrounding it. The roof of the building is sloped and is used as a roof terrace. From this terrace, one can see the most beautiful sunset there is. When the sky is clear, the water reflects all the golden color back and meets the sky. It is of no surprise, in summer time to find many Amsterdamers use it as various functions with bean bag chairs scattered around for people to lounge in.

Although the design itself now looked as if the building is a derelict ship and the combination of the image of many different urban fabrics scattered around it does not look pretty, it is still very easy to find. To understand the concept of the building design, we should see the context of the shape of the curved site it has. Overall the thing may look ugly, but we should appreciate it as it still holds the important role as a landmark of Amsterdam.