Reality, NOT!

Hyperreality is the phenomenon when your consciousness can’t distinguish between reality and simulation of reality.  It is when what is real and what is artificial blended together you couldn’t tell which is which.  There are many situations that really happen, like a Korean couple that let their daughter starve to death because they are busy raising their virtual child in an online game.  In this case their consciousness could not tell reality apart from virtual reality (VR), so they choose the wrong choice.

We also were given an example of hyperreality in this film called “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan”, where Sacha Baron Cohen acted as a Kazakh journalist named Borat Sagdiyev travelling to America to study about cultures.  This movie has a concept of hyperreality because, unlike most movies, which are shot in studios or set-up places with actors, it filmed Borat communicating with people who have no idea they are being filmed.  Thus, what people interacted with Borat in the movie was their reality, simulated by Borat.  What is funny about this movie is that the simulation of ignorance of the Kazakh, acting what is called stupid and awkward in America, like walking around on the street, trying to introduce yourself and kiss every on the cheeks.  My favorite part is the driving lesson, where Borat and the instructor discussed on various topics regarding the life and laws in America, and Borat would give some weird reflects of what it is like in Kazakhstan.  It gives people false impressions and ideas towards Kazakhstan.  It makes us think of the way people live there were really like what Borat told us. 

Your Design, My Design

design |dəˈzīn|: do or plan (something) with a specific purpose or intention in mind

‘Design’ is the word we heard a lot, but it is hard to really explain what this word means.  Even us architecture students still could not define it specifically.  But I think the meaning of the word ‘design’ can be many things according to each person’s interpretation.  If we look at the typology, it composes of the prefix ‘de-’, which could be translated as ‘remove’ or ‘decrease’, and the word ‘sign’.  This, I think, could mean decoding, decomposing the sign and reading it in a deeper perspective.

Some signs, like road signs, show their obvious meanings, because they are meant to be easy to read and to make everyone understand the same thing.  But there are signs that invented by personal preference, such as the “V-sign” by Winston Churchill.  It is the sign made by raising index and middle fingers, parting.  It looks like sign for “two” and can also be confused with “the finger” as an insult.  Nevertheless, Winston designed a brand new sign, which later became popular worldwide.

In my own interpretation, design is not just innovation; it could mean to improve the existing stuffs.  Since signs are representation of objects, there is freedom for everyone to play with the possibilities of their meaning, whether to change the whole understanding of that or to use our common understanding of the sign.  When we look at a pentagon shape, a familiar shape that, I could say, everyone drew when we were kids, we all could see that it represents a house.  Herzog and de Meuron played with this shape in their storehouse by extruding the simple pentagon shapes and stack them together.  People who pass by can see the glowing sign of a ‘house’ and interpret that this is a store for house products.

Phenomenology: It's sublime.

Phenomenology in architecture is the concept that would gives us effect of extreme feelings when we encountered certain space.  ‘Sublime’, one of the examples of feelings that you can get from phenomenology, is the feeling like you are on the verge of death and then back again.  Several architectures can stimulate this feeling, like Etienne-Louis Boullée’s cenotaph for sir Isaac Newton.  He made the entrance a small straight path, then, suddenly; you entered a big spherical room so big that it is like the universe itself.  The shock of abrupt, huge change in space can cause you to stun in awe.  Sublime.

This concept could be integrated into our studio design works as well.  As I said earlier that most of the time people experience architecture in the state of distraction, but if we manage to stun them, turn they attention to the space we design, we could bring people to appreciate architecture more.  In studio design this semester, we are to make an exhibition pavilion to house 10 sculptures by Thai artists.  These arts are very interesting and beautiful, yet not many get to see them since they were kept in faraway and quite secretly placed museum.  I decided to make a pavilion kind of plain on the exterior, but when entered, visitors would see a lot of spinning mechanics and moving colored glasses, which would stimulate a bizarre experience and, I hope, give them an unexpected feeling.

Maybe the pavilion would give an interesting lighting?

Meaning, Interpretation, and a Hole in the Wall

"Architecture is experienced in a state of distraction" -- Scott Drake

We can say that we spend most of our time in built spaces, but we barely realize this.  We instinctively react to the surroundings according to norms and common sense ie. we drive on roads, enter the building through doors.  We live as the norms towards the architecture direct us.  We react this way because it is a conventional thing to do.  Everything has a meaning, they are meant to be use in certain way.  

But what if we disagree?  Of course, each person has his/her own perspective, his/her own interpretation.  One object can have several meanings because people see it differently.

There are times that norms are broken, too.  In warfare, soldiers could defy the "walls are solid, impermeable" by performing a wall breaching.  Now they actually enter the building through walls, not doors as supposed to be.  Preposterous?  Yes, but possible according to the military’s perspective, and more effective than walking around for the entrance.  They, by this, created the new meaning for the wall, thus new interaction towards walls.

Parkour is another good example of defying the conventional.  Walls are now for running up, back-flipping, balancing on the ledge.  It is completely open up for imagination of how to use them.

I think this theory of meaning is really useful for architects.  By using this concept, we could define anything according to our interpretation, so it really opens the possibility to approach our goal up.  It could lead to a more abstract art and architecture, or even new form of them.

19th Century: Golden Age of Exploration

After some times, interesting architecture of the past came back.  Ornamentations of the elements, 

beautiful facades, columns, arches, domes, could be found plenty in the architecture of the 19^th century.  It is refreshing to see the old styles like Renaissance and Baroque, or even Gothic, returned, of course, with the improved technology of the materials, such as steel-reinforced concretes, and constructions methods.  It gives the nostalgic feelings like playing remake video games from the old consoles.

Most buildings of the era would be public buildings such as libraries, museums, universities or headquarters, so the style emphasized on exterior appeal.  The outside would be flashy, caught the eyes of the passerby, and, again after a long time, shows some degree of authority.

19^th century was also the period of experimentation.  Materials that never before been used to create such a large building were investigated, like the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, London, which were made solely out of steel and glasses.  It was truly a huge step forward in the history of architecture.  Who would have imagined that something so light would be enough to upright the whole palace?

Crystal Palace, London

In my opinion the architecture of the 19^th century is basically the mixing of the past, tribute to the history, and the new technologies available.  Although it might lack the strong purpose or the beliefs behind those elements like humanism during the Renaissance or the will to connect to the god of the Gothic, it helped us explore the newer possibilities of architecture.  Experimentations done in these times are, without a doubt, the strong foundation leading to the birth of the great architectures the future brings.