BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (HONOURS) IN ARCHITECTURE

THEORIES OF ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM

(ARC61303)
SYNOPSIS: REACTION PAPER (MARCH 2018)
Name: Seow Koji Takehira ID No.: 0320816
Lecturer: Mr. Nicholas Tutorial Time:
Reader/Text Title: The Metropolis and Mental Synopsis No: 1
Life Author: Georg Simmel
“The Metropolis and Mental Life” by Georg Simmel discusses about the psychological aspects of
an individual in the big city urban life setting. In text, Simmel illustrates the aspects of modern urban culture,
that it still remains, to a great extent, relevant to this day.

First of all, Simmel claims the issues that people from the city had was that they adopted a blasé
attitude towards their living environment, and tended to be more independent in which had also made them
indifferent to others. By his statement, the issues were stated based on the people being required to follow
one another, to avoid being cast out and to adjust oneself to the shifts and contradictions in events. Supported
by his statement which he also mentioned, that metropolitan people are much more restricted in terms of their
framework of time and activities that exclude irrational, instinctive, sovereign traits and impulses to promote
equality. But, in comparison to the people in small towns, people focused on feelings and emotional
relationships, where it is all about personal involvement of small communities. This is relatable by taking
Japanese society in the metropolis and rural area of small communities as an example. The metropolis life in
Japan requires every individual to follow a firmly fixed framework of time which transcends all subjective
elements. People are affixed with what they should do and individuality is only defined by their achievements.
But as compared to rural areas with small communities, people tend to know each other, and see themselves
as a group rather than an individual in which the concept of time and relationship with one and another is
purely subjective. For this reason, Simmel suggests that there is potential whereby metropolis can still act as
a place of “freedom” for people to embrace their uniqueness to define themselves better by binding the
mentality of small community.

In conclusion, from the author’s point of view, there is a potential whereby our current metropolitan
life can be rectified. I believe urban city life should be fruitful, in where the life of people, and the individuality
of people should be retained and respected to promote diversity. I believe the text is essential in that it creates
possibilities in designing a better urban life for the people living in city life.

Word Count: 381 Mark Grade

Assessed by: Date Page No. 1
 BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (HONOURS) IN ARCHITECTURE
THEORIES OF ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM
(ARC61303)
SYNOPSIS: REACTION PAPER (MARCH 2018)
Name: Seow Koji Takehira ID No.: 0320816
Lecturer: Mr. Nicholas Tutorial Time:
Reader/Text Title: In the Cause of Architecture Synopsis No: 2
Author: Frank Lloyd Wright
“In the Cause of Architecture” by Frank Lloyd Wright discusses about the significance of designated
“styles” on buildings and its relation between architecture integrity. The text focuses on Wright’s propositions
in which he believes how architecture should be unique, simple, contextual and valuable in its own way.

First of all, Wright emphasizes on using Nature as a reference which is always in constant change
rather than referring to past examples that may not fit the context. This is relatable by understanding
architecture by its location first before applying how a building should be built. The connection and relevance
between the sites can be explained by the Japanese word “edaburi”, which is the expression of tree branches
that are formed according to the condition and the surrounding nature of the site where the tree is being
planted. Other than that, based on Wright’s propositions, he mentioned how a building should be simple,
individualistic, contextual by colors, materials and ‘grow’ from its site and valuable, which can be associated
with how the combination of all these elements can create a unique style of its own and is not a ‘forced’ artistic
expression and meaning. He believes that considering all these factors is important in creating a ‘meaning’
for architecture, which is the aesthetic of creating a relevance between the integrity with the people and the
environment. Examples can be given where a building without these elements can result in destroying its
certain uniqueness of the location, which is consider egoistic and meaningless because it disrupts the
connection of its environment that had been established.

In conclusion, Wright’s propositions and opinions on having a building with ‘styles’ that are created
based on the sites are relevant to the practice of today. I personally believe that the consideration of nature
as a part of the design would be vital as architecture itself. It should belong to the site, to not disrupt the law
and order of nature but to appreciate and form a part to it.

Word Count: 332 Mark Grade

Assessed by: Date Page No. 2
 BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (HONOURS) IN ARCHITECTURE
THEORIES OF ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM
(ARC61303)
SYNOPSIS: REACTION PAPER (MARCH 2018)
Name: Seow Koji Takehira ID No.: 0320816
Lecturer: Mr. Nicholas Tutorial Time:
Reader/Text Title: The Eyes of the Skin: Synopsis No: 3
Architecture and the Senses (pp40-46) Author: Juhani Pallasma
“The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the Senses” by Juhani Pallasma discusses about the multi-
sensory experience that relates physical architectural space to human perception. In text, Pallasma also
mentioned that the senses perceived are not only to process information, but also to stimulate the imagination
for further articulation of sensory thoughts.

In the beginning, Pallasma stated that the sensory experiences are intertwined with one another to
further strengthen the perception on understanding a certain characteristic by experience. For example, what
we see may need to be supported by the sense of touch to understand the subject’s condition characteristics.
The sense of touch could tell us the distance and depth of a certain space, whereby having the added sense
of vision, further reveals what the touch already knows and let us position our body within the space clearly.
On the other hand, Pallasma believes that the architectural work can generate an indivisible complex of
impressions, which can be literal or also be a means of igniting imagination of articulating sensory thoughts.
To clarify, the idea of an architectural space is to frame, halt, strengthen and focus our thoughts to position
ourselves and provide us the ground for possibilities to communicate our thoughts by architecture as a
medium through the senses and the body. In other words, the play of height and scale in Gothic Cathedrals
can put our sense of hearing, vision and touch irrelevant to our human scale within the space to convey the
message that we are mortal against gods. Therefore, the play of our senses in the architectural space can let
us imagine, as well as let us ‘feel’ further in-depth within the space.

All in all, the relation between the spaces and human perception by sensory experience is a topic
that I myself still find relevant today. As what I believe, spaces should have its own meaning which has to be
‘felt’ at first, in which gives an emotional impact and experience to intensify our consciousness within the
space. A meaningful space does not need to be straightforward, but rather able to form a chain reaction that
triggers our memory to intensify our emotional feelings.

Word Count: 359 Mark Grade

Assessed by: Date Page No. 3