******
一天，父親出了個題目來考驗一下他兩個孩子，他讓孩子過來看了一下兩間的房間，便說：「東﹑西兩邊的房間同樣大小，現在裡面兩個房間都是空的，每人給你四毛錢，限你們兩天之內，買來東西填滿裡面，誰的東西最便宜，又放得滿，就算誰贏。」
於是，哥哥馬上四出打聽，看看什麼東西最便宜。終於他發現稻草是全鎮最便宜的。他連忙買了許多捆稻草，並準備堆滿房間。就在哥哥忙碌準備時，弟弟沒有緊張 ，也沒有任何準備。
限期到了。父親來到哥哥的房門口，看見整個房間已放滿稻草，連門口也堵住了。哥哥就說：「稻草是全鎮最便宜的東西，而且佔地方，所以我用了稻草。」父親又來到弟弟的房門口，由於沒有窗戶，房裡很暗。弟弟就點燃了一根蠟燭，房間立刻明亮起來。大家一看，房間顯然空無一物，但房間的每一個角落卻充滿了燭光的光明。
來用來填充空虛也不一定需要是實體的東西。這故事不只對從事空間設計的人有啓發，大概對其他人士也有它的寓意。
******
source: nelson tam，〈hay & candle 稻草與蠟燭〉，《what?》。
perhaps we should re-define in our minds what is solid, what is void.
light is energy. light is photons, some particles. light is electromagnetic radiation of wavelength. and, after all, it is visible.
how can light be void?
yes, it can't be felt by touch, or more concisely, it doesn't have texture. but are these characters related to definition of solid?
========
asking too many questions...
sap 02.09.2010
2010/09/04
architecture, not art
******
"The pendulum swinging between architects seeing themselves as artists or as technicians exacts a high price on the profession. Architects do architecture, which is a very complex thing in itself."
-- Rafael Vinoly
******
i used to believe architecture is the blend of art and science.
then i believe it is social science.
... maybe architecture contains more?
but i get more and more convinced that architecture is not art, or, should not be art.
because art should never consider functions. and i can't find an example of architecture or buildings that may ignore functions.
well, but architects like to claim that they are artists, as though this adds value to their works.
but the true value of a work is not claimed. as i always say: you can claim; you can deny; you can change people's impression; but, you can't change the fact.
you can disguise as though the sun rises from the north, but you can't change the fact that it rises from the east.
trying to make something beautiful is crafting.
arts <> crafts.
yes, arts is unequal to crafts, which means arts may be more than crafts, may also be less than crafts, but arts is never crafts.
btw, you can put art pieces into an architecture, but this won't make the building a art piece, as if an art museum is not a art piece. it's merely a container.
========
architecture is container, not art
sap 02.09.2010
2010/02/11
yzfs （營造法式）
學習宋代的營造法式，感覺其關鍵處──
Standardization
Mass production
Flexibility
Design variation
Time-saving
Practice makes perfect
Skill intensive
=> only present in monuments
Scarce resources (old trees)
=> high cost and difficulty in having stable material supply
=> used only when budget was large, political power allowed cutting the old trees, supplier was willing to cooperate and transport of material to site could be settled
YZFS vs vernacular construction method vs modern construction method
Timber vs brick vs concrete (modern material), steel
Prefabrication
Reducing error
...
======
法式
sap 01.12.2008, supplemented on 04.09.2010
Standardization
Mass production
Flexibility
Design variation
Time-saving
Practice makes perfect
Skill intensive
=> only present in monuments
Scarce resources (old trees)
=> high cost and difficulty in having stable material supply
=> used only when budget was large, political power allowed cutting the old trees, supplier was willing to cooperate and transport of material to site could be settled
YZFS vs vernacular construction method vs modern construction method
Timber vs brick vs concrete (modern material), steel
Prefabrication
Reducing error
...
======
法式
sap 01.12.2008, supplemented on 04.09.2010
2010/01/31
i read "Daniel Libeskind's 17 words of architectural inspiration"
"Daniel Libeskind's 17 words of architectural inspiration"
The 17 words are:
optimism vs pessimism
expressive vs neutral
radical vs conservative
emotional vs cool
inexplicable vs understood
hand vs computer
complex vs simple
political vs evasive
real vs simulated
unexpected vs habitual
raw vs refined
pointed vs blunt
memorable vs forgettable
communicative vs mute
risky vs safe
space vs fashion
democratic vs authoritarian
It's a wonderful speech, the best architectural speech I've ever listened.
========
if it is explicable, it is not architecture
sap 30.01.2010, 31.01.2010
The 17 words are:
optimism vs pessimism
expressive vs neutral
radical vs conservative
emotional vs cool
inexplicable vs understood
hand vs computer
complex vs simple
political vs evasive
real vs simulated
unexpected vs habitual
raw vs refined
pointed vs blunt
memorable vs forgettable
communicative vs mute
risky vs safe
space vs fashion
democratic vs authoritarian
It's a wonderful speech, the best architectural speech I've ever listened.
========
if it is explicable, it is not architecture
sap 30.01.2010, 31.01.2010
2009/10/18
i read "The Rietveld Schröder House"
"The Rietveld Schröder House"
作者：Paul Overy, Lenneke Buller, Frank den Oudsten, Bertus Mulder
類別：Architecture
******
'Interview with Truus Schröder'
by Lenneke Buller, Frank den Oudsten.
pp. 92 -93.
Schröder: [...] He enjoyed talking with me. But sometimes, if I said, 'Yes, but Rietveld, if you put it like that people won't understand you', he would reply, 'Then it's not for them'. And then he wouldn't change it.
L & F: Would that be typical of Rietveld, such a reaction?
Schröder: Yes. I remember for example that Charley Toorop once said: "Rietveld, you know those chairs of yours, I'm always banging my ankles on them'. To which Rietveld replied, 'Sorry about that Charley, but it's other people who deserve to give their ankles a good bang on those chairs, not you'. But with the implication: there are some people it would certainly be good for. Yes indeed!
L & F: You not only worked on projects with Rietveld, you also had a very close friendship with him up until his death. What was it in his character that appealed to you?
Schröder: I was captivated by Rietveld's ideas, I loved his attitude to life. Everything he did was so solid. You might say, it was all so flimsy, but no, it was so meticulous. And for me that went together with Rietveld's idea that it was vital to experience reality through the senses.
Yes, and his theory of 'sobriety', that appealed to me greatly. I needed that very badly, I wasn't a very sober person. But he was, and in two ways: there was something uncomplicated that was very characteristic of him, and then as well -- what he also described in that speech he gave in Delft -- never to live in a way that harms something else. You can't actually avoid, but try to do it as little as possible. That was a beautiful speech. Some people were really carried away by it, thought of course there were others who thought it was overdone.
'The Restoration of the Rietveld Schröder House'
by Bertus Mulder.
p. 120.
The Spatial Structure of the House
In 1944, Rietveld wrote in a reflection on art:
'Tagore says concerning art: "by limiting the illimitable, truth becomes reality." The is the simple reality, neither ennobled nor spiritualized, that eh artist constructs for us a part of our awareness. Art is the clearest form of reality. The painter teaches us to experience reality by defining colours, the sculptor by defining materials, and the architect by defining space. Although in the architect's case the material and construction are essential, the space in, between, and around the solid form is of primary importance'.
******
========
for some, not for all
sap 18.10.2009
作者：Paul Overy, Lenneke Buller, Frank den Oudsten, Bertus Mulder
類別：Architecture
******
'Interview with Truus Schröder'
by Lenneke Buller, Frank den Oudsten.
pp. 92 -93.
Schröder: [...] He enjoyed talking with me. But sometimes, if I said, 'Yes, but Rietveld, if you put it like that people won't understand you', he would reply, 'Then it's not for them'. And then he wouldn't change it.
L & F: Would that be typical of Rietveld, such a reaction?
Schröder: Yes. I remember for example that Charley Toorop once said: "Rietveld, you know those chairs of yours, I'm always banging my ankles on them'. To which Rietveld replied, 'Sorry about that Charley, but it's other people who deserve to give their ankles a good bang on those chairs, not you'. But with the implication: there are some people it would certainly be good for. Yes indeed!
L & F: You not only worked on projects with Rietveld, you also had a very close friendship with him up until his death. What was it in his character that appealed to you?
Schröder: I was captivated by Rietveld's ideas, I loved his attitude to life. Everything he did was so solid. You might say, it was all so flimsy, but no, it was so meticulous. And for me that went together with Rietveld's idea that it was vital to experience reality through the senses.
Yes, and his theory of 'sobriety', that appealed to me greatly. I needed that very badly, I wasn't a very sober person. But he was, and in two ways: there was something uncomplicated that was very characteristic of him, and then as well -- what he also described in that speech he gave in Delft -- never to live in a way that harms something else. You can't actually avoid, but try to do it as little as possible. That was a beautiful speech. Some people were really carried away by it, thought of course there were others who thought it was overdone.
'The Restoration of the Rietveld Schröder House'
by Bertus Mulder.
p. 120.
The Spatial Structure of the House
In 1944, Rietveld wrote in a reflection on art:
'Tagore says concerning art: "by limiting the illimitable, truth becomes reality." The is the simple reality, neither ennobled nor spiritualized, that eh artist constructs for us a part of our awareness. Art is the clearest form of reality. The painter teaches us to experience reality by defining colours, the sculptor by defining materials, and the architect by defining space. Although in the architect's case the material and construction are essential, the space in, between, and around the solid form is of primary importance'.
******
========
for some, not for all
sap 18.10.2009
2009/09/19
"There has to be a material component."
******
SH: ...I can remember the handle on a window at a Wright house in Oklahoma. Ordinarily, the window handle would be a minor experience, something one would not likely notice. But Wright adds a delicacy and grace to the element that makes it memorable. I think that the human experience of architecture is bound up in these sorts of elements. Personally, I do not accept an architectural idea based solely on concepts. There has to be a material component. ... With interiors composed of sheet rock an acoustical tiles, the experience falls flat.
Materiality has the potential to profoundly affect the experience of space.
...
TG: ...The technique refreshes the object by making it "strange." I think this is exactly what Wright does with the concrete door at the Hollyhock House. Through a modification of materiality, he intensifies the doorness of the door, making the act of passing through it worth noticing.
SH: ... After reading these works, or experiencing this type of architecture, your senses are more cognizant, you see things differently. One of the urgent missions for architects and city planners today is this task of awakening the senses.
******
Todd Gannon (Ed.). Simmons Hall/Steven Holl. pp.18-19. Princeton Architectural Press.
========
strange is more than "strange"
sap 19.09.2009
SH: ...I can remember the handle on a window at a Wright house in Oklahoma. Ordinarily, the window handle would be a minor experience, something one would not likely notice. But Wright adds a delicacy and grace to the element that makes it memorable. I think that the human experience of architecture is bound up in these sorts of elements. Personally, I do not accept an architectural idea based solely on concepts. There has to be a material component. ... With interiors composed of sheet rock an acoustical tiles, the experience falls flat.
Materiality has the potential to profoundly affect the experience of space.
...
TG: ...The technique refreshes the object by making it "strange." I think this is exactly what Wright does with the concrete door at the Hollyhock House. Through a modification of materiality, he intensifies the doorness of the door, making the act of passing through it worth noticing.
SH: ... After reading these works, or experiencing this type of architecture, your senses are more cognizant, you see things differently. One of the urgent missions for architects and city planners today is this task of awakening the senses.
******
Todd Gannon (Ed.). Simmons Hall/Steven Holl. pp.18-19. Princeton Architectural Press.
========
strange is more than "strange"
sap 19.09.2009
"the hardest decision"
******
JK: Robert Slutzky once told me that the hardest decision an artist has to make is to take out something he likes. I think this is a brilliant statement.
******
Todd Gannon (Ed.). Simmons Hall/Steven Holl. p.17. Princeton Architectural Press.
========
to take out something...
sap 19.09.2009
JK: Robert Slutzky once told me that the hardest decision an artist has to make is to take out something he likes. I think this is a brilliant statement.
******
Todd Gannon (Ed.). Simmons Hall/Steven Holl. p.17. Princeton Architectural Press.
========
to take out something...
sap 19.09.2009
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