Frank Lloyd Wright, Juhani Pallasma, Kenneth Frampton

1. BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (HONOURS) IN ARCHITECTURE
THEORIES OF ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM
(ARC61303/ARC2224)
SYNOPSIS: REACTION PAPER (MARCH 2017)
Name: Liew Jin ID No.: 0318449
Lecturer: Ar.Prince Favis Isip Tutorial Time:
Reader/Text Title: In The Cause of Architecture Synopsis No: Text 1
Author: Frank Lloyd Wright
Under the vision of a great teacher and a great architect, Louis Sullivan for about 20 years, Wright has been
doing domestic architecture with significant credits. During his journey with Sullivan, he somewhat came up
with a ‘style’ which seems to be known as radical. The issues written by Wright was that the sense of fine-art
and the organic nature is somewhat absent through time. He then came up with a few propositions whereby
stating Simplicity and Response are valuable qualities; in terms of spaces and user experiences, Styles should
not be limited and should be expressed vaguely, Integration between architecture and nature, and Materiality
and colors should be taken in consideration in order to harmonize one building with the site. Above all, honesty
have always had the greater importance in architecture for our civilization. Throughout his practice and
thoughts, he came up with the argument of a person’s perception towards architecture and how do people
actually define ‘style’, then, having his point of view that better architecture is when the work of quality in ‘style’
are usually created independently with rather a variety in unity. Although through time, industrialization of
architecture has created a disturbance in the process of both mentality and technicality between workmen,
which then relates to the affair between the economic growth and the industrial movement of an architect.
Works of an architect were then merely seen as ‘simple tasks’ for a low profit and an architect’s work of art
were no longer art but just a building that can have neither affection nor respect. These struggles caused the
limitations of art in works, due to people who got fonder by pictures that displayed and fed their eyes and mind
instead of knowing its true organic senses. In my opinion, Wright has made the perfect statement of a pure
and humble architecture. The understanding and the appreciation of what is around us could affect people
and buildings so much more if one could only see beauty in its simplest form and manner.
Word Count: 338 Mark Grade
Assessed by: Date Page No.

2. BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (HONOURS) IN ARCHITECTURE
THEORIES OF ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM
(ARC61303/ARC2224)
SYNOPSIS: REACTION PAPER (MARCH 2017)
Name: Liew Jin ID No.: 0318449
Lecturer: Ar.Prince Favis Isip Tutorial Time:
Reader/Text Title: The Eyes of the Skin Synopsis No: Text 3
Author: Juhani Pallasma
In Part 2 of the book, Pallasma interpreted talked about analyzing the capabilities of the interaction of human
senses in contemplating architecture, and how impressions could show expressions and experiences through
architecture. In the chapter ‘The Body in the Centre’ described how people physically ‘see’ buildings by
integrating sensory experiences through the human body with the environment. Places can be remembered
usually by the effect upon bodies, hence, reminding us about places we’ve seen or been to. In the chapter
‘Multi-Sensory Experience’, it defines how one’s sense of reality is strengthened and articulated by interaction,
where Bachelard stated that architecture provides perceptions and experiences by understanding the world,
whereby these experiences involves the 5 important qualities of one’s senses. Psychologist, James J Gibson,
categorized the senses in 5 sensory systems; visual system, auditory system, taste-smell system, basic
orienting system, and the haptic system. Bernard Berenson also suggested that when experiencing artistic
work, we imagine physically through ‘ideated sensations’ The most important point was defined ‘tactile values’
whereby works of art stimulates and creates life-enhancing experiences towards one’s self. As well as
architecture, there’s no difference. In architecture, experiences are shown and generated not only by isolated
visual pictures, but though buildings with its complexity of impression, in its fully embodied material, spiritual
presence, and poetic values. However, there’s a difference between images of one’s sensory realm and the
images of presence where it enhances images of memories, imagination and dreams. For instance, in
architecture, one needs a space to be in thought, hence, needing the architectural geometry of a room for
their roaming thoughts. Lastly, in the chapter ‘The Significance of the Shadow’, Pallasma described how
shadows and darkness are essentials that plays an important role in making creating visual depth and
ambiguous distances, enhancing intimacy in architecture. In my opinion, these texts interpreted the
importance of a user’s sensory experience through the journeys of spaces in buildings whereby it is the spaces
that defines and portrays good architecture.
Word Count: 329 Mark Grade
Assessed by: Date Page No.

3. BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (HONOURS) IN ARCHITECTURE
THEORIES OF ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM
(ARC61303/ARC2224)
SYNOPSIS: REACTION PAPER (MARCH 2017)
Name: Liew Jin ID No.: 0318449
Lecturer: Ar.Prince Favis Isip Tutorial Time:
Reader/Text Title: Towards Critical Regionalism Synopsis No: No3&4
Author: Kenneth Frampton
In this book, Frampton made architecture gain a new theoretical perspective which is about reviving
architecture from an arriére-garde position. According to Alex Tzonis and Liliane Lefaivre, critical regionalism
is a bridge over which any humanistic architecture of the future must pass. Then, Frampton also described
that actual components of architecture such as topography, tactile, light, climate, tectonic and etc, and deriving
elements indirectly from the peculiarities of a particular place, whereby strengthening regional identities and
contributing to the creation of places. Through creating buildings in accordance to tectonic forms, adaptability
to its location, social relevance, and architectural vocabulary, a building may interpret old traditions in a
modern setting (Frampton 1992). The strategies are to deconstruct the elements of culture which the world
inherits and to remove oneself from eclecticism, and to achieve contradiction through universal civilization
and revitalizing the expressivity of the society. While Frampton does critique the uniformity of modernism, he
does not dismiss the technical values and cultural possibilities of modernism that has contributed to the human
settlements. According to the architect Aldo Van Eyck, Critical Regionalism cannot be simply based on just
forms of a specific region alone but must also consider the transitional changes of places through time. An
example given was the Bagsvaerd Church by Jorn Utzon, showing significations regional factors and cultural
heritage in accordance with the current universalized civilization through rationality of normative techniques
as well as arationality of idiosyncratic form. In the chapter ‘The Resistance of the Place-Form’, the
representation of place through urban forms should not be the limitation of spaces of public realm to an
architect. Spatial organization is part of urbanization whereby it should be solved in terms of relation between
exterior qualifications. In my opinion, it is an essential as an architect to both enhance or produce great
contextual elements by ‘placemaking’ and adapting characteristics through a sense of place instead of
creating free standing objects.
Word Count: 319 Mark Grade
Assessed by: Date Page No.