The document summarizes four reaction papers written by a student for an architecture course. Each paper discusses a reading assigned by the lecturer. The first paper discusses Jane Jacobs' writing on city planning principles. The second paper analyzes a reading on differentiating ideology and theory in architecture. The third paper focuses on phenomenology in architecture and how it relates to emotion and experience. The fourth paper examines Kenneth Frampton's concept of critical regionalism in architecture.

1. BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (HONOURS) IN ARCHITECTURE
THEORIES OF ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM (ARC61303/ARC2224)
SYNOPSIS: REACTION PAPER (MARCH 2015) [5 MARKS]
NAME: CHUNG WEI JIN ID: 0313789
LECTURER: LAM SHEN FEI TUTORIAL TIME: 4-6PM
SYNOPSIS NO: READER TITLE: The Death and Life of Great American Cities
AUTHOR: Jane Jacobs
Jane Jacob’s writing on The Death and Life of Great American Cities discusses about the failures of
city planning and attempts to rebuild cities while on the other hand, introduces contemporary
principles on these subjects themselves. The author first points out the importance of the people’s
safety in a city, giving the assumption that a successful city is a place in which people feel secure
when they roam the streets at any time of the day. I agree with this statement as referring to the
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, safety comes right after physiological needs, which contributes to the
prevention of cities turning into abandoned breeding grounds of delinquencies. However, I do not
share the same perspective on her statement about the main qualities possessed by successful
cities in minimalizing crime rates. According to Jane, crowded streets with many observers provide
great surveillance of the street which in turn promises increased security. Nowadays, as the cruelty
of crimes committed goes up the scale, people turn their backs against crime victims in an attempt to
protect themselves. This culture of selfishness is spreading in Malaysia as well to the extent that
even security guards cannot be trusted. Besides that, it is important to have mixed primary uses
within a city. In a city, people depend on each other economically. A variety of commerce within a
city provides numerous job opportunities for the residences which on the other hand, provide for
each other. This mutual support in between residences and enterprises balances the economic
condition within a city, preventing the city from moribund. In aid of balancing a city, a mixture of old
and new buildings is also fundamental. New and old buildings each holds different functions which
minimizes limitations in creating a more lively and interesting environment. Different communities of
people attracted to different types of building generates a more inviting and convenient vibe to the
streets. In conclusion, it is the interaction of the people and buildings, how they balance themselves
economically and culturally that lead them to successful city planning.
WORD COUNT: 341 DATE: 11/04/2016 MARK: GRADE:
ASSSESSED BY:

2. BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (HONOURS) IN ARCHITECTURE
THEORIES OF ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM (ARC61303/ARC2224)
SYNOPSIS: REACTION PAPER (MARCH 2015) [5 MARKS]
NAME: CHUNG WEI JIN ID: 0313789
LECTURER: LAM SHEN FEI TUTORIAL TIME: 4PM-6PM
SYNOPSIS NO: 2 READER TITLE: SEMIOTICS AND ARCHITECTURE: IDEOLOGY
CONSUMPTION OR THEORETICAL WORK
AUTHOR: DIANA AGREST & MARIO GANDELSONAS
The author starts off by differentiating ideology and theory. Ideology is described as a certain belief-
religious, moral or even political, which is imprinted into one’s mind and accepted unconsciously as it
appears to be conventional. Ideology is said to be preventing the production of knowledge as it
strives to preserve the overall structure of its society. On the other hand, theory is an idea which is
not based on any concrete evidence but perceptions and concepts on certain things. These two are
often confused but they can be clearly differentiated via a dialectical relationship, where the ideology
becomes the basis to a theory which branches out of it. However, the theory is considered as a
separated body from the ideology as it is a subversion of it, but strongly contradicts it. Many have
tried applying technical models onto architectural ideology, which only scraps its surface but does
not change the nature of it. This phenomenon of producing pseudo-theories has caused theoretical
blockage, in which semiotics come into the picture to assist development of architectural theories.
Saussure defines semiotics as a study of signs and opposes traditional semantics where meaning is
inherent to a word, as based on the semiological triangle. I strongly agree with Saussure’s point of
view, defining the system of signs as a relation between the signifier, signified and signification. A
word has no meaning in itself but when arranged in a specific order, a message can be interpreted. I
believe that it is a comparative relationship in between signs which gives meaning to it. This
relationship is defined by Saussure as value. For example, a form without a function is considered as
arbitrary. Without comparing the function to a form, there is no meaning behind an architectural form.
In conclusion, ideology exists as a blockage to the production of theory, in which it conserves and
promotes the continuation of traditional boundaries, preventing development of knowledge. These
boundaries are to be broken through, with people “thinking out of the box”, linking different
conventions of various cultures which leads to vast possibilities of improvement in the future.
WORD COUNT: 348 DATE: 25th
APRIL 2016 MARK: GRADE:
ASSSESSED BY:

3. BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (HONOURS) IN ARCHITECTURE
THEORIES OF ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM (ARC61303/ARC2224)
SYNOPSIS: REACTION PAPER (MARCH 2015) [5 MARKS]
NAME: CHUNG WEI JIN ID: 0313789
LECTURER: LAM SHEN FEI TUTORIAL TIME: 4-6PM
SYNOPSIS NO: 3 READER TITLE: THE GEOMETRY OF FEELING
AUTHOR: JUHANI PALLASMAA
In Juhani Pallasmaa’s writing, she emphasizes on the true purpose of architecture: of it being a
symbol of human existence, the emotions evoked when one steps into a space, and not only merely
viewing buildings as a formal composition.
The application of the theory of elementarism, which proposes that the architecture of a building
is composed of basic elements of form and space, further promotes architecture as a visual element
and not an individual experience of the space itself. However, architecture becomes irrelevant if it is
being analyzed only from a physical point of view. It is the memory or emotions reflected from the
forms within an individual that gives meaning to it. Thus, phenomenology of architecture is therefore
the experience of architecture regardless of the physical components that it is made up of but merely
as a visual experience that allows the induction of emotions subjective to the individual themselves.
Early childhood memory plays an important role in arousing these personal subjective feelings of a
space within an individual. These fleeting memories, although scattered and incomplete, are the
basis to the emotions reflected as one walks through a space.
In addition to that, architecture is a symbol of human existence and it must fulfill this basic
condition to be able to generate an emotional link with an individual. This effect of architecture is
based on primary feelings which are evoked unconsciously as an individual enters a space. For
example, as one steps through the threshold of a house, an immediate feeling of entering one’s
territory is unconsciously produced.
Besides that, architecture is also perceived as a portal that leads to a virtual reality that differs
from the actual real world we are living in. It is the imagination of the inhabitants of an abandoned
dwelling, the story behind the ruins in which only the spirits of its past lingers. In addition to that,
experiencing architecture is not merely by just “looking”, but it is a multisensory experience, a
collection of sensory information which induces the emotions relating to a form or space. For
example, when stepping into a warm, sunlit room, the angles of the sunlight reflecting on the smooth
white walls, the smell of freshly-made bed sheets, the ticking of the old clock on the wall, is all that

4. makes up a sense of home.
In conclusion, architecture is not merely a play of form. The emphasizing of form in modern
architecture has neglected the importance of the architectural experience which in turn produces
empty shells of concrete. Form itself is important in a visual sense but without the reflectance of
emotions from experiencing the architecture, form as an isolated component is meaningless.
WORD COUNT: 445 DATE: 30th
MAY 2016 MARK: GRADE:
ASSSESSED BY:

5. BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (HONOURS) IN ARCHITECTURE
THEORIES OF ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM (ARC61303/ARC2224)
SYNOPSIS: REACTION PAPER (MARCH 2015) [5 MARKS]
NAME: CHUNG WEI JIN ID: 0313789
LECTURER: MR. LAM SHEN FEI TUTORIAL TIME: 4-6PM
SYNOPSIS NO: 4 READER TITLE: TOWARDS A CRITICAL REGIONALISM
AUTHOR: KENNETH FRAMPTON
Kenneth Frampton’s writing in “Towards a Critical Regionalism” first talks about how a building’s
form relates to the nature, which includes the context and topography while at the same time, taking
into account the climate and light. According to him, architecture should be of autonomous nature
and it should resist universal civilization which brings a sense of placelessness. The form of the
building should correlate with the history of the site, geologically and agriculturally, which makes it
unique to the site only, fitting into the context expressing a meaning of itself.
Apart from associating with the topography of the site, the impact of climate and light on the
building’s skin also brings a sense of site significance to a particular building. This is controlled by
the types of fenestration that are constructed throughout the façade of the building. Frampton also
mentioned that the frequent use of artificial lighting over local light within a building also reaps off its
unique identity within a site. I agree with this statement as artificial lightings tend to have a fixed and
uniform intensity of light which gives off a pre-determined color that project onto walls as a similar
pattern. This application of universal technology causes the building to lose its connection with the
surrounding site context, in which it fails to inscribe its architecture with the native character of a
region.
However, with the application of daylight, the local light projects onto different surfaces of the
building via carefully contrived fenestrations, where the light falls with different intensities and color
which varies according to humidity, time and season. This difference in projection of local light gives
off a place-conscious poetic which contributes to the interaction between culture and nature.
Moreover, the planning of fenestrations also facilitate in the ventilation of the building itself, which
further resists the domination of a universal technique-the air-conditioning system.
In addition to that, Frampton also discussed about the visual and tactile perceptions of a
building. He seeks to remind people that not only can we perceive a building visually, we can also
form perceptions on a building via numerous sensory perceptions: touch, smell and sound. For
example, one has a different experience when walking through a corridor made of timber and

6. another covered with carpets. The echo of their footsteps against the different flooring textures thus
provides a different experience for them. Hence, tactile perceptions of a space can only be derived
when one experiences the space itself. Humans tend to interpret an environment via rationalized
visualization which then limits the application of the other sensory organs. This limitation needs to be
overcome so that the real poetics of a construction and the tectonic value of each component that
makes up the building can be sensed and perceived.
In conclusion, I understand that incorporating the building’s form with its site context is
important to resist universal civilization which gives off a sense of placelessness. Moreover, the
traditional method of perceiving a building visually only should be abandoned so that humans can
experience a building via various sensory perceptions, bringing out the poetics of the construction
thoroughly.
WORD COUNT: 517 DATE: 13/06/2016 MARK: GRADE:
ASSSESSED BY: