Views on

Architecture for me is something that is formed deep in our hearts and deep in our imaginative minds. and learning to view architecture in a different perspective starts with what you think of architecture and what architectural style you want to follow. As an example is my manifesto, the one and only manifesto i follow not only as a goal but also an inspiration through out my life as a student of architecture, learning the foundations of the true form lying within architecture.

And inside my Architectural manifesto I promised myself I would become a modernist architect whose style of designing is based in negative space, horizontal and vertical lines, and deconstructivism.  I like the simplicity, honesty and boldness of modernism because it shows the true form of a structure without ornamentations that is usually used only to impress.  The types of characteristics in modern architecture that I wish to learn and apply as I study further about modern architecture are negative space, glass curtains as walls, skylights, emphasis on horizontal and vertical lines, fragmentation, manipulation of distorting and dislocating some of the elements of non-rectilinear shapes.

I chose these characteristics because, I like the negative space where in the excess materials that is taken away from a structure and use it to form and design something unusual that has a function. Glass curtains impress me because of its characteristics to reflect what’s around it. Skylights because I like the way it shows the sky and the way its function to let the light and ventilation pass through. I like to emphasize the horizontal and vertical lines and use it in designing such as the sky light, the windows and holes in the walls like the ones in the Jewish museum. Fragmentation because I like to split or separate portions from each other to form another structure and that’s where manipulation of distorting and dislocating comes in I want to twist and turn the fragmented shapes to form another style that is unique and unusual. When I design I would like to combine these characteristics to portray my style of modern architecture I want to project my feeling through these characteristics in order for people to understand the meaning behind the structures design and build. I wish to show emotions, consistency, simplicity through my buildings and through my designs even without ornamentations to impress people who see it.

I chose modern architecture and its characteristics as part of my manifesto because I was inspired modern design buildings today. Like the Guggenheim in Bilbao built by Zaha Hadid. It showed true deconstructivism. It showed how deconstructivism can be beautiful even though the word itself doesn’t sound very pleasing. It didn’t have any ornamentation and yet it projects sophistication and opulence through its simplicity and boldness. It proves here that even without ornamentation a structure can be unique as it is, honest and true. Another is the jewish museum in berlin. It showed the way I wish to use skylights and the lines as ventilation and passage of light on the walls. The ornamentation in the structure itself are the holes with corresponding function. The turning torso by Santiago Caltrava in Malmö, Sweden showed the type of distortion I wanted to project with non-rectilinear shapes that were fragmented from each other or even as a whole. The World Financial Center by Kohn Pederson Fox is another inspiration and a perfect example for the glass feature I pointed out earlier. These architects are some of my inspiration in becoming a modern architect. They are my masters. And to sum it all up, these designs are my principles in designing my own building.  And someday, I wish to be one of these architects who build with passion and use my imagination without limitations and let my creativity take its place and flow freely.

Plato’s philosophy regarding to the platonic world is that there are two worlds. one is the platonic world and the other one is the world we live in. Its says that an object from the real world is just an imitation of what an object is in Plato’s platonic world. an example to further discuss this philosophy is a chair. a chair has a purpose of being a support when we sit down. this purpose is originally found in the platonic world and the world we live in imitates this chair’s purpose and creates an object to project the chair from the platonic world. Plato’s philosophy simply means that an object purpose is only found in platonic world and it’s imitated from the platonic world  into the real world and projected to what the human eye wants to see or what the human mind imagines the objects form.

According to Aristotle’s philosophy an object’s purpose is already presented in its true form in the real world. it means that what we see with our naked eyes is what it is. it appears as an object with purpose because the object itself is the object with purpose. for example the chair, it is created to support a person sitting and with this it shows the purpose of the chair and with this philosophy it explains that the chair with a purpose is the chair itself in the real world. it is the object that in plato’s philosophy is the object found in the platonic world. in Aristotle’s philosophy there is no such thing as another world or dimension.

The good thing is that Plato’s philosophy and Aristotle’s philosophy has a similarity. and in that similarity both Plato’s philosophy and Aristotle’s philosophy explains that an object always have a purpose, be it in the platonic world or in the real world. Because it doesn’t matter the size or the shape or what the material is, as long as it has a purpose.

The difference between Plato’s philosophy and Aristotle’s philosophy is that their definition of what the real word truly is for them. The real world according to Plato’s philosophy is an imitation of what an an object with purpose is in Plato’s platonic world. while Aristotle’s philosophy according to him the real world is already presented in its true form and the purpose itself is already present in an object.

As for me, I am neutral. Because for some reason, I believe that both of them are correct because Plato’s philosophy explains that an object has some kind of “soul” that we do not think of, in short it has a true meaning. And that the true meaning is in fact the object with purpose that Aristotle’s philosophy is trying to tell us with his philosophy on true forms found in the real world itself. Plato speaks of meaning behind an object while Aristotle speaks of an object’s true form. And when you combine them, that is the type of philosophy i am hoping to believe in.

About concepts, I am actually thinking of  concept being the output because the concept is the idea behind the output. Just like me, when i think of ideas for a design i build it up inside my head and create different kinds of concepts and when i finally come up with something i really like i entitle it as my final concept and with that final concept i start to work in order to finish what i designed and come up with an output. i believe that concepts are important for an architect. because having a concept means you are following a certain rule with in yourself. like my manifesto, i follow my manifesto because this is what my heart and mind wants me to do. it is my inspiration as an architecture student to follow this manifesto in order to make my dreams come true, to become a successful modernist and to become someone of my word. although i do have my doubts that i will not become one of those very successful and rich architects but i’m sure i wan to become one of those who are successful even without the money because they are recognized because of their capabilities and creativity. i may be weak in imagining designs sometimes but i know how to tell myself that when i am working i have to work and that even though i give up sometimes i know inside me there still strengths and inspirations that help me rise and do it not only for but also for those inspiration. With what i feel is similar to concepts and outputs. an output cannot always perfectly follow a design unless a concept is there to help the output recognize its goal and because the concept is there to help an output follow a correct path and so, the concept is actually the output. it’s like a caterpillar. the caterpillar lives in green place full of colorful flowers. with the help off the green leaves and colorful flowers, the caterpillar grows and starts to build its cocoon and as time passes by it hatches and become a butterfly. therefore, without the help of the green leaves the caterpillar wouldn’t become a butterfly. The green leaves represent the concept of how a caterpillar needs to grow and hatch itself from the cocoon in order to become a butterfly. As a result, concept plays an important part because it is the main idea of all ideas formed and created.