17/12/2020 Xinrui Li / Ariel

Chelsea College of Arts

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In the design, I believe that the choice of materials is closely related to the core concept of the project. First of all the materials are the first step in making the project a real entity, whether they are structural or skin materials, each of which has a strong connection to the core concept.

In Peter Zumthor’s ‘Atmosphere’, he discusses many aspects about the materials, understanding it from different perspectives. The material itself is magical, with temperature, humidity, touch, and the ability to elicit interactions and responses from the five senses, as well as mood swings. Before reading this book, I had read “Onomatopoeia Architecture”, a book written by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, who talks about his 11 works through 11 onomatopoeic words, in his work, how he understands architecture from the perspective of sound, creates and conceives, in this book I was understand for the first time to the concept of ‘architectural particleization’ and the ‘experiential nature of matter’, that is, “Matter is not limited to what is objective in the sense of recent science, but is also an immediate sense of touch; matter is born of experience, something with a soul; matter and spirit, experience are not distinct.”

Zumthor discusses topics such as architectural ontology, temperature of materials, compatibility, sound, tension between interior and exterior. When I read the section on “Architectural Ontology”, I was reminded of a theory I am working on for my final project, namely ontology, i.e. the branch of metaphysics that focuses on existence itself, i.e. the essential character of all real things. I think that’s one of the first things I think about when I do design and research, which is to think about the thing itself, whether it is a place, a functional need, a spatial positioning or anything else, it is important to start from the essence and think about some of the most fundamental and real issues, and use this as the basis for a series of studies.

I think this is also my main idea for the choice of site in the final project. My core concept is that of boundaries and connections between humans and non-humans in a post-digital age, with a human-only “social environment”. It is based on a reflection on the nature of things, a return to this “boundaries and connections” itself, as an inspiration to find a site that feels like it was meant to be. The book ‘Architecture voices: listening to the old buildings’, recommended by our tutor Owain, explains the historical voices in these old buildings in terms of perception, feeling and memory, and I found it very helpful in my search for sites.

For the exploration of the design language, I think if I finish the final project, I should conclude an idea of my own design language. At this stage, however, I think what might be relevant is the way in which the design is done, i.e. how to think about it, how to render the concept into further drawings, that is to say a kind of exploratory tool that I use in my designs, such as some generative algorithm or computer randomisation, which I think should constitute an important element of my design language.

References

Kuma, K. (2015), “Kengo Kuma Onomatopoeia Architecture Japanese Book ”, EBay, available at: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Kengo-Kuma-Onomatopoeia-Architecture-Japanese-Book-/284028012728 (accessed 17 December 2020).

Littlefield, D. and Lewis, S. (2007), Architectural Voices: Listening to Old Buildings, Wiley, available at: (accessed 17 December 2020).

Zumthor, P. (2006), Atmospheres: Architectural Environments, Surrounding Objects, Birkhauser, available at: (accessed 17 December 2020).