The document summarizes four reaction papers written by a student on architectural theory texts. The first paper discusses Learning from Las Vegas by Robert Venturi, focusing on how signage and symbols are important to establishing a sense of place in Las Vegas. The second paper examines Semiology and Architecture by Charles Jencks and the concept of multivalent meaning. The third paper analyzes The Geometry of Feeling by Juhani Pallasmaa and how architecture should be experienced through emotions and memory rather than just form. The fourth paper reviews Towards a Critical Regionalism by Kenneth Frampton and the importance of understanding regional context and culture in architecture.

1. BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (HONOURS) IN ARCHITECTURE
THEORIES OF ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM (ARC61303/ARC2224)
SYNOPSIS: REACTION PAPER (AUGUST 2016) [10 MARKS]
NAME: CHONG YEE CHING ID: 0316102
LECTURER: NICHOLAS NG TUTORIAL TIME: 4-6PM
SYNOPSIS NO: 1
READER TITLE: LEARNING FROM LAS VEGAS
AUTHOR: ROBERT VENTURI
In the texts of Learning from Las Vegas , the author discussed about the vernacular language of the Strip which
addressed the authors’ main issue of Las Vegas is not the subject to their book while the symbolism of
architectural form is, which also reflect upon the identity of the city.
The main point addressed the authors’ justfication for the modern and post-modernism style as an expression
which rouse insights from symbols and imageries in the most direct way. Allusion is lacking in Modern architecture
where the authors argue that the spatial relationships are created through symbols rather than form, I agree with
the viewpoint that this instills the theory where archiecture is seen as symbol in space rather than form in space,
which is indeed important to the sense of place of Las Vegas. To support this statement, Las Vegas which is
grown on an environment of vast space traveled great speed by cars, buildings were set back behind parking lots,
creating a bay that was too wide for architectural ornamentation to communicate across, creating the problem of
communication and symbolism for built form. The authors developed a comparison between the market seller’s
powers of persuasion and the huge signs that adorn the windows of the supermarket both communicating to
customers respectively. Hence, signage has become a key element to acknowledege the sense of place,
possesses the imagery of a street to the building.
From a commercial point of view, the consistency in communication through signage exhibits the image of the city,
providing their own rhythm to the environment. Each sign is different, yet they share certain traits; their location,
size, they continue to pervade the culture but possesses symbols that are lack of innovation. However, one of the
interesting thing about symbolism architecture is the inherent amount of contradictory messages given by
commercial designs and urban sprawl, I agree that it describes functional but being difficult to recall and do not
evoke any emotional responses in term of form and spaces, this demonstrated that the architecture has so
reduced itself in importance in comparision to its sign. The architecture that has been created was vernacular but
non relatable in terms of form and content, failed to demostrate the social and public as a whole.
In a nutshell, Learning from Las Vegas tackles the issues that are often overlooked which as architecture’s
potential should be explore as a three dimensional spatial experience than it its symbolic view. The theory from
Learning from Las Vegas holds relevant where the criticism of modern buildings still relates to what that is still
being created today. But still the use of signages and dynamic of automobile centric architecture are inavoidable,
so as an architect, we have to understand and respond to it sufficiently, make unique work out of it.
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Key points (2.5)
Appropriateness of Terminologies (2.5)
Clarity in Opinions and Reactions (2.5)
Logical Progression (2.5)
DATE: TOTAL MARK & GRADE
ASSSESSED BY:

2. BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (HONOURS) IN ARCHITECTURE
THEORIES OF ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM (ARC61303/ARC2224)
SYNOPSIS: REACTION PAPER (AUGUST 2016) [10 MARKS]
NAME: CHONG YEE CHING ID: 0316102
LECTURER: NICHOLAS NG TUTORIAL TIME: 4-6PM
SYNOPSIS NO: 2
READER TITLE: SEMIOLOGY AND ARCHITECTURE
AUTHOR: CHARLES JENCKS
Semiology is the study of meaning making or interpretation of signs. Semiology and Architecture
by Charles Jencks addressed that everything is bound to have a meaning. As he said whenever a
form is invented, it will acquired, inevitably, a meaning, here is where his semiology comes in
place. I agree on this statement, which without a meaning, a building is merely a building. People
create building to evoke users’ emotional responses and memory in term of form and spaces,
which gives architecture a multivalent experience.
By suggesting the multivalent concept meaning, Jencks suggested a group of people need to be
clear among themselves, in order to achieve a common understanding and quality, but in order to
carry that out, how could a group develop the same understandings when they have a different
percept, concept and representation introduced in the semiological triangle. This statement itself
is a paradox as Jencks did acknowledge the fact every human think differently as we preceive
things differently according to different individual, he suggested that dimensions of meaning is
conveyed through associations, metaphors or past memories. The factors might have relations in
between them, but there is no absolute definitions to define how one should think like the rest. A
series of words can conveys the same denotation while connotations involve individual
experience to interpret the meaning hidden.
As mentioned earlier, semiological triangle Jencks introduced, argue that adage that a rose “by
any other name would smell as weet’ and later on saying the smell will not be sweet if the rose is
called garlic instead, this is where multivalence concept come in place, where meaning of each
word could be different and interpreted in various meaning. Through context and metaphor, even
these two are very distinct in general, it is still debatable, like how Jencks perceives the theory of
meaning. From what I had understand is that every being have their own distinctive thoughts
which Jencks does not want to limit certain architecture to a certain meaning, experienced
architecture as a multivalent whole.
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Key points (2.5)
Appropriateness of Terminologies (2.5)
Clarity in Opinions and Reactions (2.5)
Logical Progression (2.5)
DATE: TOTAL MARK & GRADE
ASSSESSED BY:

3. BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (HONOURS) IN ARCHITECTURE
THEORIES OF ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM (ARC61303/ARC2224)
SYNOPSIS: REACTION PAPER (AUGUST 2016) [10 MARKS]
NAME: CHONG YEE CHING ID: 0316102
LECTURER: NICHOLAS NG TUTORIAL TIME: 4-6PM
SYNOPSIS NO: 3
READER TITLE: THE GEOMETRY OF FEELING
AUTHOR: JUHANI PALLASMAA
The play of form evoke emotional experience and memory or with the play of space does? In the texts of The
Geometry of Feeling , Pallasmaa discussed about phenomenology which addressed that architecture does
not merely depends on the form, it should be how architecture is experience. I agree with his view point that
architecture should not be only perceive as an art piece, its form and spaces are important to speak for itself
without any annotation but depends on a common images and basic feelings for the users to connect to the
building itself.
Speaks about connecting, “The meaning of architecture does not lies in form but images transmitted by the
forms and the emotional force carried” was addressed in ‘The Architecture of Imagery’, when I was young, I
was babysit by my gransparents, their house was located in a secluded corner in a kampong, an old single
storey bungalow house, now concrete but once an old wooden plank house. Even its exterior is changed, but
space division are of the same, still cater with a small farm and garden, seeking the familiarity in the
unfamiliarity awaken the memory. This do justify the statement of form aren’t the one should solely be taken
care of. Pallasmaa also discussed about how memory acts as a common language for the architecture
interpretation while childhood memory act as the strongest catalyst which I agree. Toddler was all about
playing and running around, I remembered running along the long hallway. It was dark but lights at both ends,
curtains in front of every adjacent room door, being sweep lightly by the inner ventilation, it’s like déjà vu
when my hostel appears to have the same scene, experiencing the basic feeling given by both the
architecture, like how Louis Kahn’s text that’s often talk about silence and lighting, adjoining the materiality, it
is all about the elements that carried the emotional force.
In a nutshell, phenomenology’s concept of ‘pure looking at’ is easily understood that architecture itself should
have a distinctive expression of the cognitive of a culture, not an individual sculpture itself. As an architect,
architectural experience should comes first like how Jan gehl addressed “First life, then spaces, then
buildings – the other way round never works.”
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Key points (2.5)
Appropriateness of Terminologies
(2.5)
Clarity in Opinions and Reactions
(2.5)
Logical Progression (2.5)
DATE: TOTAL MARK & GRADE
ASSSESSED BY:

4. BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (HONOURS) IN ARCHITECTURE
THEORIES OF ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM (ARC61303/ARC2224)
SYNOPSIS: REACTION PAPER (AUGUST 2016) [10 MARKS]
NAME: CHONG YEE CHING ID: 0316102
LECTURER: NICHOLAS NG TUTORIAL TIME: 4-6PM
SYNOPSIS NO: 4
READER TITLE: TOWARDS A CRITICAL REGIONALISM
AUTHOR: KENNETH FRAMPTON
In texts of Towards a Crtitical Regionalism, Frampton discussed about a critical arriére-garde has to remove itself
from technology and nostalgic historicism, in that, only it is capable to cultivate a identity giving culture and discreet
recourse to world culture which I agree altogether, the universal technique relentless onslaught of the connection
between the tectonic, culture and architecture. It is critical to understand the region’s idiosyncrasies like local light,
topography, tactile, etc. where different region posses their individual image and culture, how the architecture spill
out, the contextual elements goes in, creating a dynamic terrain of experience throughout the site and architecture.
It slowly addressed Frampton’s justification for the resistance of place form outlining the maintainence of an
expressive density and resonance in an architecture resistance as the experiences are left to users to manifold. I
agree with this viewpoint where it instills the theory where architectural space is should be experience as a whole with
the site where spatial organization should work together with movement and circulation of the users and it is the key
to experience the inside out quality of the site and the architecture. Site elements do show the consideration of how
the architecture designed to sit on site but if it is non relatable in terms of how people connect and approach to the
building, it still fail to demonstrate the architecture and the autochthonous as a whole.
Moving foward to Culture versus Nature, where Frampton discussed about how climate, local light can inscribe
architecture with the character of region, it reminds me of how Louis Kahn emphasize on utilizing top lit design in the
Kimbell Art Museum optimizing the use of natural light for the inner gallery space, conducting the relationship
between the interior and exterior spaces. Not only responding to Kahn’s museum, Renzo Piano adopted the top lit
design for the expansion of the art museum in 2013 also shows that the critical regionalism theories are always
relatable even until the modern days that are full with influence from world culture. But towards the autonomy
embodied in the reveal ligaments of the construction, it is debatable, questionable in terms of presentation of the
structural poetic evoke a sense of place, I think that it lies in the study of the context and concept of the architect in
designing the progamme, therefore, different program would leads to different idea of unites or masked the
functionlity with architecture.
Lastly, the texts express thar Critical Regionalism seeks to complement our normative visual experience by
readdressing the tactile range of human perception. It is important to understand that tactile lies in the sensory while
scenographic lies in the distancing experience, I think it is important for both the complement each other with both
touch and sight, as architecture should complete with all the sensories studied for users to experience architecture as
a whole and has the capacity to transcend the mere appearance of universal technique of a place-form.
In conclusion, placelessness architecture and world culture should be eliminated as building should be contextual and
people orientated, where culture and sense of place would be cultivated and embrace as a whole.
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KEY POINTS (2.5)
APPROPRIATENESS OF TERMINOLOGIES (2.5)
CLARITY IN REACTION AND OPINIONS (2.5)
LOGICAL PROGRESSION (2.5)
DATE: TOTAL MARK & GRADE
ASSSESSED BY: