This week, the lecture was mainly centered on urban design lessons and case study projects in China. In order to be effective with our work, we as architects needs to be able to successfully frame space that relates to the surrounding areas. There are major influences that shape the way in which a structure is perceived as well. The most notable of these factors are design, equipment, planning process, analysis, environment, regulations, and character to target a few. Viewing urban design as architecture of the city, we expanded and applied this lens to examine the distribution of open space. In an areas as compact and populated as the coast of China, whose rapid population growth is almost four times larger than that of the United States of America, it is vital to consider how space ties things together and ways of creating more desirable environments. Additional features such as preserving land and open space should be accounted for as well. The driving principle behind the presentation is that cities evolve over time, and it is our job to richly enhance the urban framework rather than eradicate it.

An interesting concept that was presented to us was that there’s a fabric between objects and space. The relations between the forms of surrounding buildings, and creating civic spaces to enhance these routes are all important variables that affect the manner in which we perceive a structure. Essentially, we must discourage the bad, and encourage the good. Through our work, we must learn to speak about our inner thoughts and emotions, and how these aspects define us as designers.

The driving theme of this week’s lecture revolved around the idea that just like architecture, music has been there from the beginning. A relationship exists between people and music that helps us to be able to identify feeling, and this idea is present in even the softest melodies. This is the basis for how music touches us emotionally. One point that peaked my interest during this discussion was how people need architecture. Our speaker implored the fact that we live in a constantly changing world, and it is our job as architects to make people feel through our work. Progressing to more finite and literal realms, the concept of scientifically analyzing music gave way to numerous ideas about determining why people feel the way they do when they listen to music. Looking deeper, we began to dig into the foundation of why we listen to music at all. Lastly, the conversation turned to private and public worlds, and that successfully synthesizing them in projects is a very challenging thing to do. We live in an age where barriers are constantly being broken, and where creative and abstract aspects are paramount. Once you are fully able to comprehend the craft with which you are engaged in, you will possess the ability to expand your mentality to a larger conceptual world.

Through the analysis of three different museums, we were able to identify various concepts and ideas that shape the way architects think. However, there is one common denominator that holds constant for the process of any work, and that is everything stems from drawing. In the words of Louis I. Khan, “We draw to find out”. This could not be truer. Throughout the lecture, a reoccurring theme that proved to provide a visually appealing and informative hub was the importance of diagramming. Everything from plan to section, geometry, additive and subtractive, and symmetry and balance focuses will open up worlds of knowledge. It is equally important that you don’t clutter your diagrams with unnecessary noise or too much information.

Going on a tour of the Kimbell Art Museum Piano Pavilion, Kimbell Art Museum, and Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, the class was exposed to the driving principle of light, and how it is the giver of all presences. Architects must become familiar with manipulating materials that work in sync with the shadows that belong to light, positively altering the entire atmosphere of a space if done correctly. The notion of separating components in diagrams to highlight specific details is a fact that I found most useful, and will look to implore in future projects. By accumulating various mechanisms and pieces of history with technology, we as architects will be able to build the field of architecture to heights that were never thought possible.

The driving principle of this week’s lecture was primarily targeted towards finding people as we go along, and how we can discover ourselves as architects through the friends we make. As a matter of fact, none of us know exactly whom we are as architects. In the realm of architecture, there remains an exploded existence through which craft is required to advance. In this context, it proves true that practical and poetic features can coexist. Architecture is about connection, and fulfilling a useful passion. The most interesting piece of the lecture was how architecture is not bounded or restricted by anything. This is an extremely rare ability for a profession to possess. From this, we know that the possibilities of architecture are endless, and that we retain the necessary power to be able to change it structure by structure. 

There are many characteristics that define architects for who they are. This consists of everything from materiality, to the synchronization of space, to how circulation flows about an area. For example, with one of the museums we studied in The Harvard Art Museums, Architect Renzo Piano is able to successfully simulate new and old properties through the utilization of a central courtyard. None of this would be possible, however, without the concrete process of sketching, drawing, modeling, site visits, drawing again, and repeating these steps. Piano describes drawing as, “Drawing and making is like having a quiet sort of game and that game is played through drawing”. There is a constant juxtaposition between art and context, and being able to successfully incorporate each one’s strengths within the museums is a challenge that all of the architects we discussed conquered.