The Empty Form

                The term Empty Form is not a very common word that we used to describe a space in our daily life, but there are always exist among us. Empty Form can be seen in many places as we live in a modern world, a new generation that has been upgraded. We are living our lives differently from our previous generations, with these unique ways of living there are also unique functions to the architecture as well. But there is another type of space which is very similar to Empty Form yet very different, we called it Empty Space.

                So, what is Empty Form? Empty Form is a type of a space that is not an empty space. The Empty Space is a term used for a space that used to have a function before but then that particular function disappeared. From this, we can say that Empty Space is like a dead space where there is no function left for them anymore on the other hand, The Empty Form is a space that was designed and created to serve more than just one particular function. The Empty Form has a more flexible boundary that allows numbers of functions to fit in the form.    

                For me, I think Empty Form is a very interest type of architecture not just because of the variety of functions but also the sustainability that allows it to survive form time. Time is one of the main threat for almost any architecture, due to the fact that we are always evolve and develop our life into a better, easier, and faster way of living. This constant changes results in changing of functions as well. A very solid example would be those office buildings in the past, they were designs to fit hundreds of desks, and even more papers and cabinets for those office documentary. Today we change from paper documentary into a much more compact way which is the Internet, we kind of eliminate the old way of storing and communicating into electronics. So, these days nobody needs that office building to work on those documentary anymore, this results in an empty floors on the building that cannot serve the designed functions anymore, also there is no any other functions that can be fit either. This is sad but true facts of empty space, in the end they all lose to time.

                Then, how does Empty Form survive from time? Yes, it is because of the flexibility of it. The best example that I would like to show is the Holocaust Memorial. It is a very interest place due to the fact that this big piece of land has been cover with thousands of concrete blocks with varies heights aligns into a grid system. Even the place was meant to be a grave and monument for the holocaust but yet there is no sign of that in here, every block are empty. So unlike most architecture where functions were determined by the sign that has been placed on them, this place has absolutely nothing to define its functions. That is why, people started to recognize this place differently according to them. This place has been used for many activities, playing maze for kids, landmark for tourists, even for photo shooting and modeling. This monument can be transform into playgrounds or a stage due to the flexibility that overcome the change of time.

                So, how do we design an Empty Form? I take this as a very challenging task, because we have been asked to design not only just a space for a function but a space that will survive for many years or even decades. Not just that, we need to kind of predicting the upcoming future too, we need to make sure that the space will always serve a function no matter what period of time. So, I think it is not just a small task but a truly great creation, and I have almost no idea how to begin that. I think Empty Form is a very complex type of architecture that users and time will later determine its functions and how to create one of it.

Hyper Reality

                The term Hyper Reality is used to describe a state of mind when the reality has been interfered and manipulated by others things which results in simulations. It is when the power of the unreal started to affects our judgment, it become harder to separate what is real and what is not. We can see that there are many examples of hyper reality, not just only duplicated buildings but interestingly from movies as well.     

     

                We all have a chance to see a very funny yet creative comedy movie called Borat. The story introduces a concept of Hyper Reality by using characters created to be tourists in USA. These characters have almost entirely different cultures and perspectives that most of us considered it as pretty unique. The main characters, Borat and his associates are only just a few number of people who actually pretending, the others people in the films are unaware of any situation happened.  The movie is considered as a very funny thing to us because we all laugh at those unusual things that they did, those weird accents, body languages and habits are just a fake reality created for the movie. We can see that we basically laugh because those unaware people has been manipulated by the fake reality created by the movie, we laugh at the reaction that they make. It is quite funny to see how Hyper Reality can affects people this much.

                The movie keeps going and we all keep laughing at it, and then before we know it, we also got seduced right into the movie. In some point, the movie make us believe that it is real even we already know it is not. Our reality has been manipulated many times in the movie, just like those people in the films. I think this Hyper Reality is actually quite complicated yet very interest, the affects are quite impressive.

Design and Translation

                There is a very important connection between these two word and our lives that we might think of. The definition of the word design is, to de-sign or we can say that it means to detach ourselves from away from the sign itself. So the question will be what is a sign? For me a sign is like a system created in order to organize our lives and make it quite easier for all of us. The sign’s job is to simplify and represents s things in a more international way, we could say that sign simply make us notice and understand thing quick. One of the most effective examples will be a painting of a pipe from Rene Magritte. The painting simple show us a picture of a pipe, this is when the question comes to our minds that what is it? We would say that it is a pipe but little did we know that it’s not what we think, it is NOT a pipe, but it’s actually a picture of a pipe. The picture represent how signage affects us in our daily lives, it changes how we see things into a more automatic response.

                In architecture there are also something similar to the painting of a pipe as well. There are many architects who understand this concept of signs and then adapt the concept into the buildings. We can see that many buildings such as the Seagram building which built with steel I-beam on a plain sight are using the concept of signs. The reason why these buildings choose to show the materials that usually be hidden is because it is not just a material but it is also a sign. Those structures are signs of functions, which tell us about the background of the construction.  

                Now after we understand about signs, we need to know about translation, which is the way that we can detach our mind from the system and started to analyze by ourselves rather than just follow the system that we were born into. The concept of translation allows us to think beyond the automatic thoughts in our daily life. It can be explain in a very simple way by using shapes. Let say that we have a picture of a pentagon shape, I assume that most of us would interpreted the picture as a house, the simple shaped house that we used to draw when we are young yet, already programmed by signs. This is when architects tried to change how the translation works by create buildings that will redefined the old house shape.

                In the lecture, there is a house that got the inspiration from this pentagon house, the architect choose to represent a new definition to it by creating it into an exact shape of a pentagon house but the tricks are this building has be elevated above the ground, slightly shift windows and door from the position and yet the most interesting thing about this, an entrance that located underneath the structure. The house is using the same shape but yet created in a whole new definition for us to translate. We can see that this is a great example of how translation can be used to redefined and transform buildings into something new beyond the system.

Phenomenology and Pavilion

Phenomenology and Pavilion design project.     

                The term phenomenology for me is referring to the study of hidden elements that has an effect on people’s emotions and conscious. These elements are like spirits, they happen to be everywhere hiding around spaces. They create uniqueness and values that cannot be experience anywhere else.  The concept of this phenomenology separates designed space from just normal ones, due to the ability to communicate with people through structures and particles.

                In architecture, the concept has been used many times in order to add more values into the design, it creates more than just experiences, and in fact it creates identity to the building. The uniqueness of each building speaks the hidden message from the designer by itself. All parts of the building such as walls, floor, windows and even materials carry fragments of the spirit that we can feel in the second we see them.

                The concept of my pavilion was extracted from my selected sculpture and eight more pieces, I need to create a space for all of them to be displayed together without mixing up the hidden messages they carried with. I managed to create a proper space of all of them with a story line about human life from the very second we were born until the last second we that we can feel our breath got taken away. The main concept of my pavilion is focus on unity, derived from the sculpture that creates in order to symbolize our society and those second class citizens who has been ignored for their hard work for so long. The structure transform the concept in to a pavilion that consist of many elements combined together, supporting and strengthening each other, create a complex structure from simple pieces. All of the truss and steel structures have been concealed almost completely to reflect our society that only a few of us can see the real meaning of unity. The only supporting structure that can be seen was right at the center of an area, this is for the structure to directly shout out to the people walking by about their hard work, carrying and protecting us from collapsing on our own creations (society as the roof).

                The plan of the pavilion also creates from the concept of unity, the circular shapes that has been scaled, tilted, rotated and adjust into a circulation for each sculpture also fulfilled the purpose by providing many paths for people to choose but in the end we all walking on the same as people around you. It contain a deep meaning that says, no matter who we are or where we came from, we still living and dying in the same cycle(path), it is inescapable and people should understand this message more and more while walking inside.

                The pavilion was design to look simple but yet to be very direct in terms being a symbol that reflects the society along with those hard workers that has been forgotten due to an illusion of the surroundings. The concept of phenomenology has been used many times and has been expecting to be effective enough as a symbol in order to remind people about life and way of living within the illusion of the surroundings.