some thoughts :
"...absence of hiearchy
makes space more flexible..." - Vito Acconci (c/o of Catharine!)
"Architecture will not simply be the expression of accepted functional or moral standards. Rather actions, whether forbidden or not, will become an integral part of architecture. As a result, conventional plans will no longer suffice and new types of architecture notations will be devised." - Bernard Tschumi
Architecture as social
art?
The product of social
evolution rather than individual initiative.
Shall art be created by
society or for society? Vernacular architecture (intrinsically social art)
vs. art that deliberately seeks to shape society through its presence...
"The hiearchy of needs"
where the the individual's psychological needs must be met before their
social needs can be addressed and their social needs must be met before
self-actualization can be achieved.
Understanding how the
social environment shapes the built environment either be design or accident.
Reciprocal relationship - built environment shapes society.
- CRIT magazine
Language and definition
as the verifier and constrictor of experience:
"Before a word is born,
the concept lying behind it simply does not exist. Definition changes
the world as we know it. Whole results may be positive of negative,
definition imposes limits upon the world and results in the ultimate preclusion
of a full range of human experience. When a word originates, a line
is drawn, allowing categorization and judgment to occur. On one side
of the line lies a postivie thought, on the other a negative one.
The line itself, or the new world, can act upon the world in a variety
of ways." - p 32 of On/Site Review 3 (Summer 2000)
I started to look at the
idea of Metamorphosis (this was triggered by handouts fromProfessor Perez-Gomez's
Architectural
Intentions from the Age of Vitruvius to the Renaissance course last
semester). We have an existing site with the horrid Esso station
and what we are attempting to do with this project is to transform that
site into something else, that of a tower and event plaza. so here are
some notes that I took from the handouts...
some definitions of
Metamorphosis
form/action; to transform
The action and process
of changing in form, shape or substance
A complete change in appearance,
circumstances, condition, character of an entity, persons, or affiairs.
(And who can forget Franz
Kafka's book, The Metamorphosis where "One morning, Gregor Samsa
wakes up to find himself transformed into a giant cockroach...")
* See what IT has meant
in cultural history and to forge a new context and profram for IT by linking
it to what formerly seemed unrelated - to use my imagination to let IT
metamorphose into what it can be today
What is my role as an
architect (okay, architecture student) of this event place?
What is the role of architect
in society? Do we play only a minor part in the decision making process
that shapes an inhospitable world? Do we need to imbue a sense of meaning
into the architect's purpose in the context of society?
The architect as the creator
of form and beauty- perpetrator of illusions: art giving form and meaning
to matter but also in danger of telling a lie. The need for order, man's
city/dwelling must be ordered to respond to
a)
transcendental aims of ritual
b)
his own selfish aims
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