GSD FALL 2013 OPTION STUDIO// CORE Kickoff

I told everyone that it was not as spectacular as I thought it would be. The range was great, but I beg differ in the depth and quality.

In the order of preferences: (the themes are so beautifully written!)

CHRIS LEE with SIMON WHITTLE, Macau: Cross-border Cities
//recuperation of an idea of the city as a project + alternative forms of urbanization.//Macau as a paradigmatic cross-border city, an idea and a model of the city that can be translated to another territory.// to conceive of a border-crossing facility that acts as a common framework, accommodating housing, work spaces and other provisions that Macau presently lacks.// focus on typology and the concept and method are well-clarified.//megaplot

SHARON JOHNSTON and MARK LEE, Miami
//continuity versus discontinuity in the city, using pedestrian street as mediators// I like this one a lot

GERDO AQUINO and YING-YU HUNG,
//SWA, great landscape firm (IRIS internal thinktank), Scott has worked there.//infrastructure and promenade

TOSHIKO MORI, Kyoto
//seasons and livelihood of the city, morphology or buildings and development of cities// I was actually moved by the details of the pastoral city life she mentioned. The serendipity of life is essential for me and my design. She started a material collection in the library. Talked to her but not very enthusiastic

BEN VAN BERKEL//UNStudio - minimal description...but great work as always

ACHIM MENGES, Fibrous Tectonics
//material (IN)formation, Josef Albers' material behavior in the design process + ALTO(?) scientific methodology = biological composites//clear research methodology, but the end product is just a program operated by the robot... an example of biological inspiration in material.//maybe ask for a RA position?

FLORIAN IDENBURG
//great reputation, future of work, permanent modernity, urban parametrics// decent projects that takes

REM KOOLHAAS
//maybe great for professional practice, not very suitable for academic work.

GOSSIPS: Shohei Shigematsu, OMA NY; Patrik Schumacher, partner with Zaha (Shaoliang's studio)

THOUGHTS: not a big fan of parametric design; like projects that requires contemplation; the livelihood and human interaction are essential for me; does not like most of the landscape studios...

THE CORE SEQUENCE

Orthographical projections// the first studio is all about project oneself onto the material world to show how someone would articulate architecture. They gave us some examples and a little inversion [definition needed] assignment to engage us in conversing between the 2-D representation and the 3-D reality. Some examples are:

Ferdinando Gallida Bibiena

PETER ZUMTHOR, Spittelhot Estate

interior circulation shown in 2D projections

Be mindful about the spatial arrangement, the interplay between 2-D and 3-D (a perpetual theme in architecture). Get a great gist of work flow and representation skill is fundamental.

ZERO Milestone

This marks the beginning of my architecture adventure.

In case I get bored with it too soon, I think creating a non-idiosyncratic semi-professional blog for various purpose is going to be a lousy idea, both to keep track of my own thoughts and for topics in discussion. Inspired by Ling-li Tseng's insightful blog.
http://bigwhitelili.blogspot.com/

I might just jot down some names that I find interesting and give them a short description, or some weird ideas that I would like to explore. Being a sensitive and cognitive individual is a prerequisite to become a great architect, I suppose :)

O.M. Ungers. Joon mentioned him as the founding figure of the architecture program at Cornell, whose fame lies in his rationalist designs and the use of cubic forms. A quick google search shows how he experiments with the cubes and the infinity of spatial arrangement possible. Rather introvert and goes into depth. But it is a whole new perspective if put these modules together in a urban setting (need to read more)

Drew Cowdrey, who has won the design award at the GSD last year. He had down some studio projects that are logical and well-presented. (Saved for later) 

http://issuu.com/drew.cowdrey/docs/cowdrey_portfolio_june2013___

Random thoughts

1) architecture, in a broader context can be defined as the construction of any hierarchical assemblage that are present (or even non-present). Biology, same as the narrow definition of architecture as buildings, is simply a subset of architecture in that it deals with the structure and function of a specific biological units/system underpinned on a broad spectrum of such. Theoretically, we could build a human from scratch if we have already known the construction logic (genetics or pathways). If that is the case, when properly designed, could buildings be as intelligent/mobile as biological creatures?
2) What are the methods of construction? I was looking at a student project up in the trays at GUND, there was one project that utilizes a modular system, and it occurs to me that a construction language underlies any type of design: building blocks as the semantics and the arrangement and connection as the syntax. In this particular case, the semantics is quite simple while the syntax is rather of multitude, which definitely adds literacy onto architecture, but I had a hard time making a sense of wholeness out of the complex. Sometimes I would like to do it in a responsive way, meaning that the product is articulated through its reaction to the built environment or any other modular objects, and it is pretty common, too. I wonder what are the options we have (pay attention to the design language when reviewing a new project)