THEORIES OF ARCHITECTURE & URBANISM [ARC61303] [ARC2224]- Synopsis: Interpreting Architecture

Synopsis No: 1
Students’ Name: Angeline, Anthony, Munirah, Fazlin, Irdina, Astriyani
Text: An Architecture of the Seven Senses
Author: Juhani Pallasma
Year Written: -
Purpose of the theory (Please tick X; you may tick more than one box)
X Identifying an issue or problem within the contemporary context
X Analyzing an architecture to identify a problem or solve a problem
Solving an issue in a broader context outside of architecture: presenting a theory/manifesto
Solving an issue within the context of architecture: presenting a design method
X Solving an issue within the context of architecture: presenting a theory
Others:
Please complete the following:
What are the issues
addressed?
The text stresses that modern architecture is losing its essence; its
sensuality. In fact, our culture is experiencing the ‘de-sensualization
and de-eroticization of the human to reality.’ It is mentioned in the text
that today, rather than using natural materials such as stone, brick
and wood, we tend to opt for glass and metal, resulting in ‘repulsively
flat, sharp-edged, immaterial and unreal.’
What are the design
methods/strategy/theories
proposed?
Based on the text, it is encouraged that when designing, we are to not
rely solely on sight and that architecture is measured equally by the
eye, ear, nose, skin, tongue, skeleton and muscle. To create a
building that is memorable, we should create a building that we can
relate to both mentally and physically – both emotions and touch.

Relate the text to
architectural/urban forms
by illustrating one key
image.
Justify the selection.
The Holocaust History Museum by Moshe Safdie
Throughout this building, you experience the five senses. The form of
the building is simple, yet when inside, you can experience the
suffering they once went through.
In terms of the form of the building, it cuts through the hills. This
symbolizes history – it reflects a memory of the victims. At the end of
the journey, a dramatic new view of Jerusalem is observed, which is
the ‘climax’ of the journey in the building.
In relation to the five senses, images of children and the coldness of
the concrete brings one back to the past.

Synopsis No: 2
Students’ Name: Anthony, Astriyani, Angeline, Irdina, Fazlin, Munirah
Text: Semiology and Architecture
Author: Charles Jencks
Year Written: 1969
Analyzing an architecture to identify a problem or solve a problem
X Solving an issue within the context of architecture: presenting a design method
Others:
What are the issues
addressed?
In the text, it is discussed that in architecture, there are several ways
to interpret or give meaning to architecture. It focuses on how the
meaning of a building is originated and also how this meaning is
portrayed. This interpretation differs, depending on your role to the
building (whether you are the designer or a client or a visitor).
What are the design
proposed?
1) If you give meaning to architecture, therefore it has meaning.
2) Meaning is multivalent – the meaning of a built form may
differ between one individual and another.
3) Meanings may simply be the opposites of one another. For
instance, off-on or dot-dash. In architecture, what’s mostly
used: light vs. darkness / the idea of big vs. small (massing) /
the relationship between the outside and inside of the
building.

Relate the text to
image.
Beijing National Stadium
Based on the alternative name of the stadium (the Bird’s Nest
Stadium), the public tend to interpret it based on its literal
representation.
- From a distance, the stadium looks like a vessel
However, there are other interpretations, such as:
- The circular shape of the stadium represents heaven
- The chaotic steel beam structures represent an artificial forest
- In Chinese mythology the sun is represented by a circle, while the
moon is represented by a square
 In the stadium – reflected by the shape of the bird’s nest
(circle, sun) and the Water Cube Aquatic Centre (square,
moon)
 These shapes are also the Chinese symbols for male and
female

Synopsis No: 3
Students’ Name: Fazlin, Irdina, Angeline, Anthony, Astriyani, Munirah
Text: Semiology and the Urban
Author: Roland Barthes
Year Written: -
Others:
What are the issues
addressed?
The main issue addressed by the author is the problem in urban
semiology; that when reading a city, there is no fixed method or
interpretation.
What are the design
proposed?
 Meaning is never „finite‟ or „fixed‟ – relationship between
signified and signifier should not be a fixed one-to-one
relationship
 The city is a poem – many ways to be read – “you are either
a native or a stranger”
 It‟s not important to multiply the surveys or functional studies
of the city, but multiply the readings of the city
 Semiology never supposes the existence of a „definitive
signified‟
 Kevin Lynch‟s 5 elements – one of the „guidelines‟ used in
reading a city – but can be vague
(path, landmark, nodes, district, edges)
 The urban nucleus of different cities (city centre/solid
nucleus) does not act as the peak point of any particular
activity, but is instead a „focal point‟

Relate the text to
image.
Case Study: Kuala Lumpur
In the city of Kuala Lumpur, different areas of the city signify different
meanings or interpretations. For example, in the image above, the
city centre is highly contrasting with Kampung Baru. Other examples
in Kuala Lumpur include Bukit Bintang (high-end street), Pasar Seni
(arts and cultural area of KL) and Chow Kit (red-light district). In Chow
Kit, for instance, the semiotics of the area is described through its
people, the „negative activities‟ carried out, as well as its narrow and
dark back alleys.

Synopsis No: 4
Students’ Name: Irdina, Fazlin, Munirah, Angeline, Astriyani, Anthony
Text: Towards a Critical Regionalism: Six Points for an Architecture of Resistance
Author: Kenneth Frampton
Year Written: 1983
Others:
What are the issues
addressed?
How to become modern and to return to sources; how to revive and
old, dormant civilization and take part in universal civilization?
 Architects and theorists were disappointed with the direction
that architecture was taking under the influence of
postmodernism
 Rather than unveiling the historicity of style in their designs,
postmodern architects became another avant-garde that
produced designs that mimicked classical style
What are the design
proposed?
CRITICAL REGIONALISM
 Critical Regionalism – a cultural strategy – a vehicle of
universal civilization in architecture – explained through six
different points
To sum up:
 An approach to architecture that counters ‘placelessness’ /
lack of identity and meaning in Modern Architecture by using
contextual forces to give a sense of place and meaning
For instance, buildings that are of generic forms –
housing, hotels, shopping centers
 Adopts modern architecture critically for its universal
progressive qualities but at the same time values responses
particular to the context. Emphasis should be on topography,

climate, light and tectonics rather than scenography and the
tactile sense rather than the visual
Relate the text to
image.
Villa Mairea by Alvar Aalto
 The house marks a significant transition from traditional to
modern architecture – an example of critical regionalism as it
does not just take into account the traditional elements of
architecture or vernacular architecture but combines the
elements of traditional and modern architecture as one
 The design also morphs throughout the house, as materials
shift form a stone to stone slab to glass and steel, from one
room to another. This shift of materials gradually creates a
more intimate relationship between building and user, which
creates a sense of space.
 The open plan and rhythm created by the columns
emphasize the continuity found between the environment and
the villa – a strong relationship between the inside and
outside

THEORIES OF ARCHITECTURE & URBANISM [ARC61303] [ARC2224]- Synopsis: Interpreting Architecture

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