Architectural narrate design and Narrative design method Name:Jingyi MU Registration NO. 120186293
Architecture is not simply about space and form, but also about event, action, and what happens in space.[1] ----Bernard Tschumi Architecture is not only a space but also a container in which various activities and events happen, and the unique character for each space formed. Each space has certain narrative meaning. In the process of architectural design, to design and build space with the story against space design often attracts tourists to find out story built with space. Like language narrative, spatial narrative has three elements that are the narrator, the media, and the recipient. The medium of spatial narrative can be painting, film, mime, sculpture. The premise of narrative technique is that it is closely related to the narrative medium and recipient[2]. So far as to establish a close relationship with people, the buildings are marked with the narrative technique.
In my opinion, there three levels for narrative technique: The architect intends to build a relationship among the architecture and literature, movie that focused on narrative medium. Dandelion and Rear Window by Zhang Yonghe are the way it goes, he interprets movie with the language of architecture to describe people and events, scene in the movie. Chinese ancient park for men of letters can also fall into this category, the image produced outside the environment which pays more attention to the image like poet and interest like drawing. The horizontal inscribed boards and couplets play the role of pin-pointing. Rear Window directed by Alfred Hitchcock is about a photojournalist healing his wound at home, peeping neighbor's window being dull. Reading should be the peeping process, each scene at each window likes separate sentence or paragraph; reading these disjointed fragments, he read out a meaning: murder.(figure1) (figure1) Rear Window by Hitchcock reveals the peeping psychology hidden in one's heart, and evolve this psychology into speculative process through the length of the lens. Zhang had ever borrowed Hitchcock's technique to create his own architectural works Rear Window that is to speculate windows and doors of the building rationally and secularly and take various elements and components of the architecture into clues of reasoning to make the process of building and construction building to become humor and suspensive[3]. Zhang reinterpret, distribute and combine Chinese traditional planning concepts into dividing, yard, park through speculative technique to design The Bay Garden in Shanghai Qingpu District[4], which are: Dividing: to break up the whole into parts and the building is more like a collection of several buildings; thus, it is possible to enforce transparency between the front and back of more rooms to achieve favorable ventilation and lighting quality, to adapt local damp and rainy climate and at the same time to be closely related with outdoor space and landscape.(figure2)
(figure2) Yard: to split the space between the rooms after the reorganization to form a plurality of different scales of enclosed and semi-enclosed courtyard to provide outdoor space for residents. Park: the landscape from the road to water introduces leisure life, matches the experience in traditional Southern Gardens; therefore each villa is not only a room but also miniature garden; staying at the Garden is not only living but also touring. The speculative ways can be interpreted as: So-called windows are that you can stand in front of the window enjoying scenery, but the tourist in the landscape can not see you. So-called door is that you can pass it but others can only stare at the gorgeous door but fail to enter into the door. So-called yard is that others consider your yard as landscape, but unaware the master peeping in the yard. So-called park is that when you enter into the park, you would feel lonely, because surrounding are landscape while others are hiding behind the window and the yard, you can not see anybody.
Zhang restore the image in the movie into building to narrate the story in the movie and to create the similar plots which is a technique for the architect to narrate space with movie technique. Dandelion is a conceptive object created on the drawing in 1988 originated a Japanese film Dandelion. This idea is presented at his book Notebook similar with Rear Window originated in the literary works. Zhang found the inspiration in the literature works to convert the story into his design to tell similar story with literature works to convert the writing into three-dimensional space. B. Architect considers the construction as a carrier to express a concept. This concept could be a philosophy discussion and also insights to life paying more attention to the narrator. The deconstructive masters belong to this kind of creation; they narrate the philosophical principle through the architecture to interpret their point of view. In fact Ando's architecture could be narrative technique with strong oriental flavor to show mysterious Zen originated in Japan[5]. Today, Tadao Ando is the most influential architect in the world; he creates a set of unique architectural style to form artistic and ample design through concrete and simple geometric patterns. Whenever we recall the impressed construction work and strive to analyze the initial feeling of these buildings, we find out what touched us is not the building geometry, nor the application of concrete and natural elements but certain sincerity originated in all kinds of space, which awakens our inner feelings and memory to that space to produce emotional resonance. Wandering in the Ando building, you can always appreciate the feeling of Zen. Tadao Ando narrates Zen story with their own building, the building is a carrier to express his attitude with the building space to narrate the Zen story.[6] Another kind of epiphany is embodied in Ando's architecture mainly on extraction and expression to natural elements. Relative to the stones, and plants, the light, shadow, water and wind are difficult to grasp due to their abstraction, Ando add them into the design and planning of the architect to make them become important role in the space to achieve the moving artistic conception. Ando is puzzled to light and shadow which are not only the architectural elements but also another meaning that is a measure of time. Changes in light and shadow in the building space record the passage of time and natural climate expressed nothing is permanent in life at the instant and timelessly, which is the important connotation of the Japanese Zen.[7] Light we see in Tadao Ando's architectural works have been far from the light meet the visual requirement, it exists as a theme on a spiritual level. The perfect application of light for Tadao Ando's design of the church is originated from he think light is the bridge between human and nature as well as link between spirit and world. In the Water Temple design, Ando utilize the change of light and shade change in the
building to form sense of order and thus to guide people for the visit to Water Temple. The sense of order in Water Temple is not only the to express the intrinsic spirit but also change directed by light to provide ideal environment for the tourists which constitutes a spiritual adventure and it is necessary for the baptism of the soul. [8]This trip starting at the single white channel that allows people to get rid of the earth into an ethereal world, and then, along with the faint blue light and gradually increasing black, we and the world would extinct in the darkness, suddenly we see strong supernatural bright red, at the instant resurrection completed. Light is sapient to architecture and abstraction in the church design. Located in the Osaka residential area, the church of light (figure3)has no obvious entrance, there is only less conspicuous in front of the church. Tourists must go through a small promenade before entering its body. In fact it is a small church; the visitors naturally feel the holy atmosphere when they are in it. In a sense, this is the wonderful natural lighting design results. The light in the church is oriented to the certain direction other than light in the corridor is uniformly distributed. The ground in the church decreased toward the pastor podium step by step. The cross shape wall on the front of the church is embedded with the glass. The outside light shoot into the front of church the cross to form a cross-shaped light floating in the air.[9] figure3) The design of Water Temple (figure4)expands the dialogue between people, architecture and nature, this Temple located in a flat land of Hokkaido, Japan Yubari Mountains on the northeast of Japan expresses Zen fully. The area surrounding the base is the natural wild vegetation, the church is composed of L -shaped concrete wall and two cubic blocks which is 10 m long and 15 m separately superimposed up and down. In order to build this church and break the crudity and stiffness from the
composition, a artificial lake that is 90m long and 45m wide is built after drawing water from nearby river, the lake depth is designed meticulously to demonstrate the movement of wind and air on the surface of lake, gleaming ripples cuts the lake's surface once breeze blow to archive architectural nature. When the visitors enter into the building from the outside along the passage enclosed by L -shaped concrete wall and two cubic blocks, they are directed into the entrance like light box surrounded by group of glasses. At this moment, people would listen to the sound of water, wind and bird, the flat lake and the cross set up in water appears suddenly through the glass of cathedral, the construction surrounded by water may create relaxed environment.[10] (figure4) C. In fact architectural design is subjective activities of human being with personal attitude of the architect. This is similar with many art forms. In my opinion Zao Wou-ki's paintings imply strong personal charactor driving the visitor to travel in far-reaching space and tell the inner world of the artist. Similarly, from the overall effect, the relationship with the city to the details node design, the building can express the architect's aesthetic taste and the spiritual state at certain stage. In this sense, subjectivity design of the building contains extensive narrative.
Le Corbusier designs Ronchamp rooflines from a shell, not only tells the imagination and attachment to the sea, but also creates secret place to listen and narrate between people and holy spirit. In fact, architects at all times and in all over the world is expert to narrate space based on meditating to create artistic conception. 1983, Swiss architect Bernard Tschumi participated open competition called La Villette Park (figure5)with other famous international architects in Paris[11]. Finally Tschumi is awarded as first prize on deconstructive and montage theory. The works presents disorder, dissociate montage space narration from the former Soviet film director Lev Kuleshov, and application to deconstruction of the point, line, surface and decomposition tactics. In his works, it is to edit complicated environment elements into fragments with certain spatial order to arouse the subjective feeling to form a continuous, dynamic, exciting story space. His design always provides a place full of vitality rather than duplicating existing aesthetic form, he pointed out when he design the Paris La Villette Park planning: Three independent and overlapping systems in the park provides diversified image on the road, each visitor can make their own interpretation, and then result in the cause of re-interpretation. (figure5)
Also,you could find out the unique expression to space narrative by Norman Foster for the renovation project of the British Museum. The most wonderful details is to restore the central patio as an outdoor space that is a resting place for visitors, but for very long time the central patio has been filled with a temporary collection of book bookcases[12]; these collections are only opened to people who hold a special permit such as the curator and librarians.foster take the central patio upside down with glass roof weight of 800 tons, the central patio turns into indoor atrium from outer space, and original outer wall into inner wall, the stigma and carvings on the wall become neoclassical ornament in the center position of the reading room. It should be awkward and superfluous, and Foster add the white corridor that is two meters wide surrounding the wall up to the place is 19 meters high, among which are designed many seating platform and cafe, the visitors can sit there to enjoy surrounding decoration and sculptures. At the same time, the reading room that is 32.3 meters high likes a core structure to hold entire glass roof from the visual point of view, which also increased its rationality. The original reading room is opened to the public as information center and library for the first time. The downstairs of the courtyard is new Sainsbury African gallery and an education center as well as facilities served for primary and secondary students. [13] British Museum (figure6)is a place to preserve the history; it is more than 250 years old, the museum itself is a history, is the embodiment of history. The building components of British Museum that reserve the developing history for hundreds of years in British Museum through the flashback from both of inside and outside, thus the building components become collection in the Museum[14]. The transformation of the large courtyard not only add new collection space of 13,990 square meters (excluding exhibition room), but also a space to present its history for the British Museum. Numerous descendants visited the British Museum to have a look to the artworks handed down a long time ago. It is not important to see the displayed artworks and the Museum is the history which should be paid more attention. Take a look at the legacy of works of art, and most importantly not just look at the display of works of art, but the museum itself is the embodiment of history, this is the tour of the museum have to go heart feelings.
(figure6) Narrative techniques in architectural design are neither a school nor a style, but a design thinking mode and a design attitude. The application of technology and materials is only expression technique of architect as well as expression vector to architect design idea and value, which implies something at higher level is what the architect really want people to understand and accept.
Reference: [1] Bernard Tschumi, The Manhattan Transcripts, 1994 [2] Nigel Coates, Narrative Architecture: Architectural Design Primers Series,2012 [3] Zhang Yonghe, Writes (Chinese), 2005 [4] Zhang Yonghe, Works of Fei Chang architectures (Chinese), 2006 [5] Tadao Ando, Ando Tadao's theory of building,2003 [6] Tadao Ando, Walking and Thinking: Ando Tadao's architectural life,2012 [7] Tadao Ando, Ando Tadao's theory of building,2003 [8] Philip Jodidio, Tadao Ando, Complete Works 1975 2012,2012 [9] Philip Jodidio, Tadao Ando, Complete Works 1975 2012,2012 [10] Philip Jodidio, Tadao Ando, Complete Works 1975 2012,2012 [11] Michael K. Hayes, Giovanni Damiani Bernard Tschumi,2003 [12] Sudjic, Deyan, Norman Foster, 2010 [13] Stephen Dobney, The master architect series II Norman Foster,1998 [14] Norman Foster, Foster + Partners: Catalogue,2008