my psychogeographical map

About this mapping :

Firstly I want to tell that my home is not in Bangkok , the city. I lives in outskirt of it , so I don't know well about the direction or street in bangkok. The way to approach the city , for me , is by BTS. This map show the way I travel from On nut BTS station to TCDC at The Emporium (Phrom Phong station). The Perception of the city is like the island , What is in between the station is less perceived for me although I look at it , but it seems like most of my attention is inside the box , train bogey. My personal space in the bogey has changes along the way. The way I perceived the surrounding architecture is like the meaningless view , except the big destination island. I use the vivid colour for representing the complexity that happened on each island , in the opposite I use B&W colour for scoped city along the BTS way. The opacity of this context is changed due to the speed of train , I can perceive more in slow speed near the station. Only one moment that I really pay attention to outside is at the station.

Sacred & Profane

I think this week lecture makes me confuse, I don't know what I understand is what Aj. want us to understand or not because what I hear is not equal what Aj. say. Nonetheless I have to write something that would make me or even you confuse. I just want to write what's pop up in my head along this lecture.

Sacred and profane , can it be the same thing if god = human ? , so it doesn't matter what is for god and what is for human. I thought about the classical period that they built the temple as the bigger and better house for god , they believe that god is the perfect human. Then this idea is developed through time , until it's hard to find the connection between human and god. As this point ,if the original idea is the same (human) , would it still separate between sacred and profane?

Another idea that get into my mind is that all of what we do for god is called sacred but all what we take from god is called profane , isn't it the same? May be we took what we have given to god and call it different word. I think the idea of god is from human belief , so it's from human (or not??). For example , Buddha image is what human make for sacred Buddha , but when we use it with different purpose , it become profane , even it is taken from what human do.

I have think about what other things that have the idea of profane , but still haven't found one. May be it's all around me , but I never know because I never aware of what is profane.

From the lecture , profaning is not only in the negative way , this idea can be used for creating new things by questioning. Question sometimes leads us to the solution , I used the word "sometimes" because there are lots of questions that have never been answered. Everything has two side , like some word that has two different meaning ,it's up to you which side you set your point of view at.

Empty Form

Empty form make me thinking of the book Harry Potter. There is a room that we'll found when we really need it , and it could be any type that we want. In my opinion , empty form have that quality , the program or function can be change due to the user need. 'Empty form is not a useless form. Instead , translated into the terms of an earlier discourse , utility has become a floating signifier.' , this quote is from Empty Forms by Reinhold Martin. It makes me realize that the space has the meaning and this meaning always refer to its utility. When utility become floating signifier , the meaning changed. The utility is changed from the user need , everything is changed from human need both utility and meaning. I think because nowadays everything seem to be convergence , fitting many function in the place seem to be good idea for bringing out the best profit from the space. In term of empty form , it can be the ideal space that can serve all we need. On the other hand , it is the kind of space that wipe out the history , like we are trying to erase the past , and beat the time factor of architecture. What it used to be in empty form is not matter as long as it can be what it is in the present.

From the quote " I am not , I am = not" , Empty form is empty , so it's not full , it can be filled with anything or any function. As the interior architecture student , designing empty form , in my opinion , is difficult. We have to design the space that shouldn't be that space , the program that shouldn't be that program , And where is the meeting point that can reach all goals but still utilize.

MANIFESTO

'Everyone needs reason'

Reason seems to be important thing in our life. People try to find reason for everything by using science , psychology or any theory that can explain why things happened. It becomes the lesson for us to study and understand such as biology, physics , history , mathematics , psychology and etc. I think the reason why people try to understand everything because they try to be different from animals or any creature on this planet. Human thinks they are special , differ from others , smarter , think rationally and have problem solving skill. If you notice I use the words 'reason' , 'why' , and 'because'. I think this is one effect from educating kids to think rationally. I have been taught to think that doing something with no reason mak it meaningless. I didn't say that it's not good or not right but I wonder why couldn't we appreciate things without judging by rational thinking.

In term of design , the architecture also has the rational process behind it even it looks very good , non-sense ,or so commercial. People even find the reason for beauty such as golden ratio , the most beautiful proportion. People try to give reason to abstract word like 'beauty' by mathematics , the very logical way of thinking. The architect also use this technique in designing. This golden ratio appeared since the classical period. For example , Parthenon also has golden proportion and people say it is beautiful.

In different period , people use different reason in designing. In modernism , designing is base on the geometric shape and symmetry because they try to simplify and clarify the structure from the idea of transparency. After that , in post modernism , the idea has changed. Architects and designers forced their designs in different ways. They do not separate people into unit as modernism did , everything is connected , related to each other. They concerned about the importance of surrounding and context. Moreover , form is not the representation of structure or any function. These are the reason behind this period work. As you can see that reason is all around us and also inside us. There are reasons behind every product you use , every place you walk in , everything you eat or every situation you face.

Most people always question what they do not know or even what they have known to understand more and more. Although there are millions of reasons in our life , but it's still not enough , people need more. They need to understand , even it's useful or not. Some do nothing , some use it for developing. People think that the value of something is up to the rational behind it , I do not totally agree because I can realize the aesthetic of those things without rational ideas behind it. For example , a flower , it is beautiful , high aesthetic sense. You can appreciate it without knowing where it is from , what type it is , why it looks like this , what it is for or how it is growth. In the same way of architecture , just appreciate the space , the form , and atmosphere can be enough to perceive the aesthetic of architecture and know the value of it.

For all of my presentation , I do not mean that finding reason is not good , I just want you to try perceiving things without reason or any logic in your head , to absorb and appreciate the real value of the things around you. The value that didn't create by human. In designing , sometimes I don't want to be framed by being reasonable , that everyone said that can increase the value of design. I just want to do what I want to but we are still in the rational world.

Technology changed , architecture changed

Since the industrial revolution , technology develop further and further. Architecture has changed due to the technology in each period , until now , the computer age. Architect also use the computer software to create their design , to generate form or to simulate the architecture.

Like Zaha Hadid work , most of them are generated from computer with the organic and fluid form. It changes the way contractor work and challenge the engineer. But from 'Incomplete manifesto' by Bruce Mau , he said ' Avoid software. The problem with software is that everyone has it.' , I agree with this idea. But we also can be differ from others although we use same software , that is our creativity and thinking.

Another idea for this week block is junkspace. I never realize how the building in my daily life can be junkspace. From the lecture , technology makes the space to become junkspace by air-conditioning system and elevator. I agree with this idea but this kind of space can be useful in some context that no need the connection between interior and exterior. The context realization is ignored in this kind of space. This kind of space is spreading , this make me think about junk food. Even we know that it's not good , we still consume it.

'I=WE' and 'Form & Perception'

Firstly , I'll write about "I=WE" from the lecture. I really like this equation and its meaning. It means that the way we see ourselves is from recognizing what others see , so 'I' can't be cut from the context as separated unit like in modernism. 'I' is formed by context around. I totally agree with it and realize that the way I see myself is from the way others see me. Sometimes this becomes the frame for me , I have to maintain what's good that others can see in me and then it becomes the expectation that pressures on me. I found that it's hard to break this frame out because I still care people around me , my context. I think It's like the idea of how UNstudio work with context. They use it but may be in different ways. Sometimes the context of the site is the limitation of the project , but if we use it wisely , it can be really interesting.

Another idea is about form and perception , after the modernism , the form took the different role. It's not necessary to represent the structure as in modernism , like the quote ' Forget the reference, just play with form'. I think this may be another good way to perceive things. Human try to find every reason of everything , but I think sometimes we just don't need those reasons , just experience it and perceive it as it is. This way of perceiving world can make everything easier, but in reality people do need reasons. May be they want to understand mostly everything in their life although it's not useful at all. I think that be reasonable in something and be not in something can make me live and perceive this world happily.

Modernity & Metropolis

Lecture this week is about modernity and modernism , one is still alive and one is dead. We can still see modernity nowadays , while the modernism is dead , through many things such as architecture , government , and etc. At the end of the class , we watched the movie called 'Metropolis' which is silence movie with the sentences or words as the conversation instead. This scene of this film really show the modernity in term of architecture , high rise building and skyscraper. It also shown in the story about the industrial part of the city at the underground city. This make me think about the transparency. The people on ground seem not to know what happen underground with the faceless labor , who are named by numbers like really not important person. It contrasts with the very modern setting that everyone should be the equal unit , it is for every underground guys but it's not if compare with people above. Where is the equality? Another thing is the government of the city do not tell the process , what's going on underground , to the public , so how it is call transparent according to the idea of modernity. This movie makes me realize that what others tell you is not always true and what you saw with your eyes is not always true also. Where is the truth??