Rchitecture Design Studio: Air

Design Journal Monique Patsalis |537801| ABPL30048_2012_SM1 | Bachelor

of Environments,| University Of Melbourne

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||Week 1: Architecture as a Discourse ||

A designer that explores the complexity across architectural disciplines and is potential to discover humanness, body,

psyche and spirit is Gregory Burgess. He believes architecture is a creative science or mathematical art that can be

looked at from an environmental and healing perspective. His approach is rather unique as he lays out spaces by pre

modern cosmic geometries from the Christian Buddhist and indigenous thought system which is evident in the Uluru

cultural Centre. Burgess also has been the forefront of the community architecture, a practice of involving local

communities as he lets new possibilities for a social life and social identity. His way of communicating to the eye of

one who is not from a design background will find his works rather interesting as well as rather engaging. He likes to

research before he designs and looks into the background of a particular site and in order for his design to be

conveyed within and through it. He looks into the history fragments of stories that different people carry out. He is an

architect that puts himself INTO the site and draws/ designs for the community that defines the place they are in and

the materialization. Although his target of cultural difference with surveillance and border control is not new, he

considers the surveillance and border control of the first people in Australia. the imposition of another layer of new

technology imported in the mindset of the thematic universe and of modernism progress and land ownership is short

cultural colonialism. He tries to put the past into the present with his designs with an autopoiesis way of

communication which can be seen as Architecture’s Place within Society.

Quote: "Architecture that can bring the senses to life or awaken our senses, awaken our souls, if you like, is very important." Architect: Greg Burgess Project: Uluru Aboriginal Cultural Centre Location: Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Northern Territory Uluru Aboriginal Cultural Centre is one of his organic works using natural forms and materials, as well as natural light. His work of the Centre is not a slick and predictable design, but a building of rough edges, bumps and distortions and natural forms. I love how the design captures the distinctive qualities of the desert and the culture in which I truly desire about him as an architect. He looks into the history before designing and captures the dynamics of the surroundings that makes an experience for the visitor that makes them constantly crossing thresholds from inside to out, light to shade, intimate space to endless vista. There is no prescribed movement path and the visitor is constantly faced with choices and options. Each visit, like the desert, reveals something new. The design conveys the culture, a matching environment with the design itself and has meaning behind it because of the influence of aboriginals in which I truly admire.

||Week 1: Architecture as a Discourse ||

Frank Lloyd right is an organic architect who uses free special flow as a method of planning. The way he composites a building such as the pin wheel plan is a great example of how he designs as an architect. The Centre as the main “family” space, and everything else that is less important away from the center, shows how he has meaning for every decision he makes. The rotation and movement with the way one navigates around the house with overlapping systems of geometry, makes one constantly move around the home. Each aspect of the house has a special meaning; his works act as a cell, so that all elements come together as a living organism. Like Gregory burgess, some of his inspiration is from a culture, a culture that is used in some of his works, for example the Japanese Imperial Hotel, Meiji Mura, near Nagoya. As you can see he’s a very horizontal designer and like burgess, he makes the landscape match with his building, he understands the surroundings and works well with it. Additionally, sometimes Frank Lloyd right uses materials from his surroundings in order to design such as stone and concrete which is also similar to Gregory. When observing and experiencing his domestic and institutional buildings, they are completely different. The institutional buildings are completely decentralized when comparing it to his pin wheel plan of a house; however he still makes it exciting for one to visit his works with a rather free navigation when wondering around. Furthermore Frank Lloyd right likes to use light as an important cultural tool in which I believe can connect with spirituality in a sense. He loves to make the interior of a structure to have a “wow factor” with the use of rich textures and other materials, making it completely different to the geometrical and plain outside. An architect such as Frank Lloyd Right, who seems to be a completely different architect compared to Gregory Burgess, still has some sort of similar architectural influences when it comes to designing in a way that they are both a way that they are both organic! They both have a spiritual religious cultural connection with the surroundings as well as their designs. Their work looks like it’s part of the landscape itself and matches with its surroundings in which I am truly inspired of. EOI: with observing the language of architecture and its disciplines, i believe that the autopoieses is a strong component when designing. Incorporating the landscape with the structure itself is what makes a building more meaningful and easier to communicate with its surroundings and the viewer. Researching the history of a particular area, understanding the culture as well as the surrounding materials is what should be combined in the design of what will be built in the future.

Pinwheel plan

Architect: Frank

Lloyd Right

Project: Japanese

Imperial Hotel, Meiji

Mura, near Nagoya.

||Week 1: Architecture as a Discourse || With comparing the methods other architects have used in order to design, one of my hand drawn first year designs are similar in a way that I have made my design shelter as part of the landscape itself as well as try and convey a meaning with the design, into the history of the location. With a chosen place of ‘Petra tou Romiou’ which is Aphrodite’s rock, the birth place of a goddess in Cyprus, i wanted to try and excavate the rock itself and build inside it. The floor plan was inspired by a shell in which the goddess came out of as part of the Greek mythology in historic times I wanted to design something that has meaning. Additionally one of the requirements of the projects was to understand the weather of the area itself, the amount of rainfall, friendly materials, and to make it environmentally friendly with no electricity whatsoever. I used a green roof, drainage system, and also solar windows. The photos below indicate the design progress. ( will get clearer photos)

Understanding architecture discourse we often ask, What is architecture? Our architectural designs are what we experience in our daily life. Design forms our way of living by the way one navigates through a certain space. It is a philosophical social and professional realm that everyone can engage in on a social as well as a global scale. Architecture can be defined as an art because of its aesthetic appeal, it is important to engage with the viewer and the inhabitant. The key is to design something that gives a positive outlook on all viewers with out without a background design knowledge, as we expect them to be " unique expressions of a single creative mind” The design of a building should be an expression of the time it was built, and c communicate with the location it is based in because architecture should be considered as an experience. Understanding the architectural discourse between different architects, although they may be completely different, there is a similar working method that can be established through influence of different disciplines.