At the threshold of architecture
Date
2001-05Source Title
The International Journal of Art & Design Education
Print ISSN
1476-8062
Electronic ISSN
1476-8070
Publisher
Wiley-Blackwell Publishing
Volume
20
Issue
2
Pages
195 - 204
Language
English
Type
ArticleItem Usage Stats
137
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125
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Abstract
In structuring the programme of our interior design studio, we questioned two assumptions that are central to the discourse of modern architecture: the site being empty of its unique traits, images, stories; and the user being devoid of human subjectivities, perception, imagination, memory. The two projects we relate here, titled Interpretations and (Dis)connections, address threshold/boundary conditions. Throughout four stages of Interpretations, we tried to challenge the concepts of ‘empty space’ and ‘universal man’ either by leaving site as well as user outside of our construct or capitalizing specifically on their entire load. (Dis)connections, on the other hand, was based on interpretations of a film, a reference outside the functional paradigms of architecture. Themes/constructs/patterns identified in the film generated design ideas, then programmes, sites and, finally, designs through a sequence of transitions and transformations. This entire process enabled the reconsideration of relations between building/site and building/user and other provided possibilities for questioning the boundaries of the discipline of architecture itself.