Museum Architecture and Society
博物館建築的社會意義
Dr. Lee Ho Yin Director, HKU Architectural Conservation Programmes (ACP) 李浩然博士 香港大學 建築文物保護課程 主任
http://acp.arch.hku.hk
What does “museum” mean?
“Museum” originally refers to a temple of the Muses, the Greek goddesses who inspired the creation of the arts and literature.
Museum: original meaning of the word according to the Ancient Greek
Image source: www.voice-365.com
Museum: modern meaning of the word according to ICOM 國際博物館協會
Image source: icom.museum
Museum: proto-museum tradition in the West
In Renaissance Europe, the term “cabinet of curiosities” 奇珍異寶藏寶室 was coined to refer to places where encyclopedic collections of novel or interesting objects were displayed – these were the prototype of today’s museums.
Image source: en.academic.ru
Image source: content.cdlib.org; www.chicagopostcardmuseum.org; scienceblogs.com
Museum: proto-museum tradition in the West
In 19th-century England and United States, curiosity shops (antique shops) and "freak shows"
(exhibition of people with deformities or in unusual physical conditions) often labeled as
"museums."
There was no proto-museum tradition in Imperial China – precious possessions were traditionally kept out sight, and not displayed to strangers. The Chinese term for museum, bowuguan 博物館 , meaning “a hall of a comprehensive collection of objects,” is probably derived from Japanese, and Japan adopted the museum tradition from the West.
Museum: proto-museum tradition in China
Image source: unknown Internet source
Should heritage buildings be revitalized as museums?
博物館是歷史建築的最佳的活化用途嗎？
TECHNICAL REQUIREMENT:
Display and Storage Space 展覽與存儲空間Does the place have sufficient space not only for the display, but also for the storage of collections, in accordance with the requirements of the accreditation organization?
Space required: 40% of the building for public collection space (display)
20-30% for non-public collection space (storage and conservation) Exhibition-storage ratio: 1 : 1 for large or national museums
2.7 : 1 for medium or general museums 4 : 1 for small or local museums
Source: Barry Lord, Gail Dexter Lord and Lindsay Martin (eds.) Manual of Museum Planning, 3rd ed. (Lanham, Maryland: AltaMira Press, 2012), section 7.1.)
Image source: www.bruynzeel.co.ukk; www.constructor-storage.com
TECHNICAL REQUIREMENT:
Professional Standards & Guidelines 專業準則與指引To achieve accreditation, does the operation meet professional standards and guidelines for museums, such as those laid down by ICOM?
Image source: icom.museum
MANAGEMENT REQUIREMENT:
Collection and Resources 藏品與資源Is it a museum with its own collection, or an exhibition venue displaying on-loan items?
A museum has to have its own collection (otherwise, it's an exhibition venue 展覽場地) as well as the resources to hire professional staff to carry out research and publication, as well curatorial, conservation and protection of the collection.
Image source: archaeologicalmuseum.jhu.edu
MANAGEMENT REQUIREMENT:
Environmental Control & Security 濕溫控制與保安系統Is the place able to meet the international museum standards for relative humidity and temperature control as well as security?
Image source: www.genetec.com; www.cci-icc.gc.ca
Collection Type: General museums, art galleries, libraries, and archives (all reading and retrieval rooms, rooms for storage of chemically stable collections, especially if mechanically medium to high vulnerability)
RH and temperature set points: historical annual average for permanent collections or 50% RH with the temperature between 15 and 25°C.
Source: David Grattan and Stefan Michalski, "Environmental Guidelines for Museum," article on the website of the Canadian Conservation Institute (2 March 2012) at: www.cci-icc.gc.ca/caringfor-prendresoindes/articles/enviro/index-eng.aspx#ft1aa
MANAGEMENT REQUIREMENT:
Accreditation 認證Will the place remain a self-styled "museum" or be able to become a accredited museum?
A museum, as an institute, has to meet the accreditation requirements of a national or an international museum accreditation organization, such as, Arts Council England, American Alliance of Museum, and the International Council of Museums (ICOM) 國際博 物館協會, among others.
Image source: www.athelstanmuseum.org.uk; www.bris.ac.uk; learn.michenerartmuseum.org; shellmuseum.org
FINANCIAL REQUIREMENT:
Funding Sources 資金來源Does the place have stable funding sources to sustain the museum operation and development?
Image source: photos.state.gov
Unlike the model found in most of the world, where museums are largely supported by the national government, American museums keep their operations going by cobbling together a mosaic of funding sources, from government sources, from the private sector and, increasingly, from earned income [(mostly through renting out event and shop spaces) and investments].
Source: Ford W. Bell, "How are Museums Supported in the U.S.?", article on the website of the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of International Information Programs (published March 2012) at:
http://photos.state.gov/libraries/amgov/133183/english/P_You_Asked_How_Are_Museums_Supported_Financially.pdf
"The quickest way to bankruptcy is to set up a museum!"
Dr. Joseph Ting, former Chief Curator of the Hong Kong Museum of History
「想快啲破產，最好就係搞博物館！」
前香港歷史博物館總館長丁新豹博士
1st-Generation Museum Architecture 第一代的博物館建築
Palatial museum architecture:
post-revolution palaces 革命後皇宮 Main trend period: since the late 18th century
Image source: www.aprayertoourfather.com
1st Generation Museum Architecture 第一代的博物館建築
Palatial museum architecture:
post-revolution palaces 革命後皇宮 Main trend period: since the late 18th century
Ideology:
turning a palace – an exclusive place for the ruling elite – into a public museum – a "people's palace" – is a symbolic gesture of the proletarian revolution (無資產階級革命), an
expression of the ideals of Marxism (馬克思主義) and Communism (共產主義).
Paris’ Louvre Museum (1793) was originally the Louvre Palacethat became the world’s first truly public museum during the French Revolution (1789-1799).
Post-revolution palace: Louvre Museum, France
Image source: wikipedia; wikipedia
Post-revolution palace: Palace Museum, China
Beijing’s Palace Museum(1925) was originally the Forbidden Citypalace compound; it became a public museum after the Chinese Republican Revolution (1911).
Image source: www.talesofoldchina.com; www.beijingrelocation.com
Havana’s Presidential Palace(1920) was originally the office and residence of Cuban presidents, it became the Museum of the Revolutionafter the Cuban Revolution (1959).
Post-revolution palace: Museum of the Revolution, Cuba
Image source: wikipedia
Almost post-revolution palace: the Hong Kong Purple Lodge 紫廬 (didn't happen)
Image source: postcard.ish-lyon.cnrs.fr; www.discuss.com.hk; Lee Ho Yin
2nd-Generation Museum Architecture 第二代的博物館建築
Neo-classical museum architecture:
mock palaces 仿宮殿 or temples 仿聖殿
Main trend period: the 19th to the early 20th century
Image source: www.evere.co.uk
2nd-Generation Museum Architecture 第二代的博物館建築
Neo-classical museum architecture:
mock palaces 仿宮殿 or temples 仿聖殿
Main trend period: the 19th to the early 20th century
Ideology:
the museum as "cultural palace" or "cultural temple" that projects superiority of one culture over another – an expression of imperialism (帝國主義) or nationalism (民族主義),
depending on the nature of the museum.
Neo-classical architecture, or Neo-classicism in architecture, plays up the grandeur appearance of Classical architecture. It is inspired by the monumental public buildings of ancient Rome. It is an effective expression of state power and has often been used for this purpose.
Neo-classical Architecture 新古典主義建築
Nazi Germany's Reich Chancellery (1939) USSR's Zaryadye Administrative Building (1934)
US Capitol Dome (1866)
Image source: wikipeida; wikipedia; www.darkroastedblend.com
Brussels Royal Palace (Belgium)
The mock-palace museum: stylistic reference for the architecture
Buckingham Palace (UK) Forbidden City (China)
Tokyo Imperial Palace (Japan)
Image source: www.around-london.com; www.globeimages.net; www.flickriver.com; cepolina.com
Tokyo National Museum(1882) was built after the restoration of the emperor’s political authority – obviously there was a dual nationalist and imperialist agenda. It was Japan’s first public museum and one that houses art and archaeological collections.
The mock palace: Tokyo National Museum, Japan
Image source: wikipedia
Kyoto National Museum(1895) was built when Japan emerging as a dominant Asian power. The museum's palatial architecture probably helped in fostering nationalism and preparing for the projection of Japan's ambition in imperialism. It houses Japan’s imperial family's and religious institutions' art treasures.
The mock palace: Kyoto National Museum, Japan
Image source: wikipedia
The National Museum of Singapore(1887), formerly the Raffles Museum, was originally a museum of zoology and ethnography built by the British Colonial Government to project its imperial prowess.
After Singapore's independence, it became a museum of Singapore's founding and independence history – a means of fostering national pride and identity for Singapore citizens.
The mock palace: National (formerly Raffles) Museum, Singapore
Image source: www.nhb.gov.sg
The mock palace: Royal Ontario Museum, Queen's Park Wing
Image source: dcnonl.com
The Royal Ontario Museum (established 1912) shares similarities with Singapore's Raffles/National Museum in terms of its original institutional setup in a colonial territory of the British Empire as a museum with a collection of zoological specimens and cultural artefacts. The imperialistic undertone is projected in the monumental, palace-like architectural expression of the Queen's Park Wing (1933). The museum now carries a more nationalistic undertone by focusing on Canada's natural history and diverse ethnic cultures.
Image source: National Museum of History on Facebook; www.qsl.net;
The mock palace: National Musuem of History 國立歷史博物館 , Taiwan National Palace Museum 國立故宮博物院 , Taiwan
Built during the height of confrontation between the Communist Chinese Government on the Mainland and the Nationalist Chinese Government (Kuomintang) on the island of Taiwan, the National Museum of History (1960) and National Palace Museum(1965) in Taipei were designed to evoke nationalism sentiment among Taiwanese that the Kuomintang was the legitimate government of China.
Greek temple
The mock-temple museum: stylistic reference for the architecture
Image source: wikipedia; karenswhimsy.com
Berlin’s Altes Museum(1830) was built at a time when Prussia was the dominant European power;
it was established from the onset for public education in art and culture, and it houses
the Prussian Royal family's art collection. The agenda of this museum was similar to those of the Kyoto National Museum.
The mock temple: Altes Museum, Germany
Image source: gogermany.about.com
London’s British Museum(1850) was expanded and rebuilt at the height of the British Empire. The architecture clearly project the Empire's imperial might. It houses collections of cultural artefacts taken from colonized and conquered places across the Empire.
The mock temple: British Museum, UK
Image source: wikipedia
The Philadelphia Museum of Art(1928) is one of the biggest museums in the US, its houses collections of Western and Asian works of art from ancient to modern times. Its cultural imperialism agenda is more implicit than overt.
The mock temple: Philadelphia Museum of Art, USA
Image source: museums.findthebest.com
Neo-classical architecture, or Neo-classicism in architecture, plays up the grandeur appearance of Classical architecture. It is inspired by the monumental public buildings of ancient Rome. It is an effective expression of state power and has often been used for this purpose.
Neo-classical Architecture 新古典主義建築
Nazi Germany's Reich Chancellery (1939) USSR's Zaryadye Administrative Building (1934)
US Capitol Dome (1866)
Image source: wikipeida; wikipedia; www.darkroastedblend.com
Image source; mashable.com; www.nextnature.net;
Pseudo-classical Architecture! 仿古典主義建築
Neo-classicism in architecture is often admired by people eager to project power and status. As such, it becomes a favourite of the nouveau riche, unsophisticated governments and commercial developers. 無品味暴發戶至愛！
Image source: www.ra-re.org; prafulla.ne; www.twylah.com
Pseudo-classical Architecture! 仿古典主義建築
Neo-classicism in architecture is often admired by people eager to project power and status. As such, it becomes a favourite of the nouveau riche, unsophisticated governments and commercial developers. 無品政權至愛！
Image source: Lee Ho Yin
Neo-classicism in architecture is often admired by people eager to project power and status. As such, it becomes a favourite of the nouveau riche, unsophisticated governments and commercial developers. 無良地產商至愛！
Pseudo-classical Architecture! 仿古典主義建築
Heritage buildings should become museums is a popular perception the grew out of the 1st- and 2nd-generation museum architecture.
Image source: Wikipedia; Lee Ho Yin; unknown Internet source
3rd-Generation Museum Architecture 第三代的博物館建築
Modern museum architecture:
bunkers 碉堡 or boxes
(with an arrogant attitude 高傲態度 !) Main trend period: from the 1950s to the 1970s
Image source: www.architizer.com
3rd-Generation Museum Architecture 第三代的博物館建築
Modern museum architecture:
bunkers 碉堡 or boxes
(with an arrogant attitude 高傲態度 !) Main trend period: from the 1950s to the 1970s
Ideology:
the museum internally as an underwhelming container for the display of precious artwork or artefacts, but externally a forbidding bunker to protect the cultural treasures from the
philistines (庸俗的人) – an expression of elitism (精英主義).
Modern architecture, or Modernism in architecture, is based on the principle of Functionalism, in which a building's aesthetics is derived from function and not decoration. This principle is summarized by the Modern architect’s maxim, “form follows function.” The resultant architecture often has an utilitarian appearance that is not easily appreciated or understood.
Modern architecture 現代主義建築
Image source: www.nysid.net; wikipedia; www.magic-cities.com; www.ananasamiami.com
Four architects whose works defined Modern architecture:
Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959), American architect
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886-1969), German-American architect and the last Director of the original Bauhaus School of Design
Le Corbusier (1887-1965), Swiss-French architect
Louis Kahn (1901-1974), Estonian-American architect and Professor at the University of Pennsylvania
Modern architecture 現代主義建築
Two required textbooks on for architecture students:
Towards a New Architecture (Vers Une Architecture) by Le Corbusier, first published in French in 1923 and in English in 1927.
Modern Architecture: A Critical History, by Columbia University Professor of Architecture, Kenneth Frampton, first edition published in 1980 (now in fourth edition)
Image source: (architects) wikipedia; redingote.fr; finaleproject.wordpress.com; www.bdonline.co.uk; (book covers) yuezhang3.blogspot.com; www.amazon.com
The original Modern architecture: Bauhaus School of Design, Germany
Designed by German architect and the founding director of the Bauhaus school, Walter Gropius (1883-1969), the Bauhaus School of Designcomplex (1926) set the characteristics of Modern architecture up to the 1970s.
The old Central Government Offices, PWD architects, 1957-1959 (completed in 3 phrases)
City Hall, Ron Phillips & Alan Fitch architects, 1962
Image source: TBD
Designed by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959), New York City’s Solomon R.
Guggenheim Museum(1959) continues the "temple-style" museum design tradition and sniff at its
"mundane" neighbouring buildings.
The bunker: Guggenheim Museum, USA
Image source: www.epipaideia.com; youngfatandlazy.blogspot.com
“The nature of the building design is such as to seem more like a temple in a park on the avenue than like a mundane business or residential structure.”
Frank Lloyd Wright, in The Guggenheim Museum (1960), p18.
The bunker: Guggenheim Museum, USA
Image source: www.epipaideia.com
Designed by Hungarian-American architect Marcel Breuer (1902-1981), New York City’sWhitney Museum of American Art(1966) continues the "temple-style" museum design tradition and sniff at its "aren't any good" neighbouring buildings.
The bunker: Whitney Museum of American Art, USA
Image source: thefanzine.com; www.greatspacestv.com; (bunker) www.lonesentry.com
“Maybe I built it to rebel against skyscrapers and brownstones. I didn’t try to fit the building to its neighbours because the neighbourhood buildings aren’t any good.”
Marcel Breuer in “The New Whitney,” Newsweek, 3 Oct. 1996, p98.
The bunker: Whitney Museum of American Art, USA
Image source: thefanzine.com; www.greatspacestv.com; (bunker) www.lonesentry.com
Designed by German-American architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886-1969), Berlin’s Neue Nationalgalerie(New National Gallery) (1968) is form-follow-function aesthetics at its most extreme –Minimalism 極簡主義.
The box: New National Gallery Berlin, Germany
Image source: preservationresearch.com
"Less is more." 簡約見精華
Famous Mies van der Rohe quote
The box: New National Gallery Berlin, Germany
Image source: preservationresearch.com
Designed by Estonian-American architect and professor Louis Kahn (1909-1974), Fort Worth’s Kimbell Art Museum(1972) is elitism at its most extreme – the building seems to entomb its collection and shut people out.
The sarcophagus (variation of the box): Kimbell Art Museum, USA
Image source: www.kimbellart.org; www.cegesmith.com
"A great building must begin with the unmeasurable, must go through measurable means when it is being designed, and in the end must be unmeasurable."
One of the many "head-scratching" quotes by architect Louis Kahn
The sarcophagus (variation of the box): Kimbell Art Museum, USA
Image source: www.kimbellart.org
Louis Kahn replicature!
Museum London Ontario (1980),
designed by Canadian architect Raymond Moriyama
Hong Kong Museum of History (1991), designed by the Hong Kong-based P&T Group
Image source: www.kimbellart.org; www.panoramio.com; Hong Kong Museum of History
ARRRRRGH!!!
"Head-scratching" quotes of Louis Kahn 路易簡的「𢯎頭」寓言
Image source: shadowofthedarkside.deviantart.com
A great building must begin with the unmeasurable, must go through measurable means when it is being designed and in the end must be unmeasurable.
Architecture is the reaching out for the truth.
Consider the momentous event in architecture when the wall parted and the column became.
Every time a student walks past a really urgent, expressive piece of architecture that belongs to his college, it can help reassure him that he does have that mind, does have that soul.
You say to a brick, 'What do you want, brick?' And brick says to you, 'I like an arch.' And you say to brick, 'Look, I want one, too, but arches are expensive and I can use a concrete lintel.' And then you say: 'What do you think of that, brick?' Brick says: 'I like an arch.'
All material in nature, the mountains and the streams and the air and we, are made of Light which has been spent, and this crumpled mass called material casts a shadow, and the shadow belongs to Light.
Architecture appears for the first time when the sunlight hits a wall. The sunlight did not know what it was before it hit a wall.
The sun is. Thus the Universe. Did we need Bach? Bach is. Thus music is. Did we need Boullée? Did we need Ledoux? Boullée is. Ledoux is. Thus Architecture is.
Louis Kahn, the international star
Image source: www.aiacolorado.org
Louis Kahn, the Hong Kong star
The Life and Times of Louis i. Kahn 《路易簡的時代和生活》, a 2007 musical theatre with Kahn played by Hong Kong actor, director and screenwriter Kam Kwok-leung (甘國亮, born 1950).
Image source: db-db.com; www.designerhk.com; data.yule.sohu.com
Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou (1997)
Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong (1991) Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei (1983) National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo (1959)
China Science and Technology Museum, Beijing (1988)
Bunker-style museum duplicature! 周圍都係碉堡式博物館建築！
Image source: (clockwise from top left) guidepal.com; wikipedia; static.chinavisual.com; www.guangzhoutravelguide.com; www.uploadimage.cn; www.architizer.com German bunker, Normandy (W.W.II)
4th-Generation Museum Architecture 第四代的博物館建築
Postmodern museum architecture:
pretty present boxes 靚靚禮品盒 Main trend period: the 1980s
Image source: www.turbosquid.com
4th-Generation Museum Architecture 第四代的博物館建築
Postmodern museum architecture:
pretty present boxes 靚靚禮品盒 Main trend period: the 1980s
Ideology:
the museum as a non-alienating, not-taking-itself-too- seriously place to reduce the perception of elitism – an
expression of populism (民粹主義) .
Postmodern architecture 後現代主義建築
Postmodern architecture, or Postmodernism in architecture, was a 1980s reaction to the austere and abstract functional aesthetics of Modern architecture by taking on a populist approach in designing architecture that ordinary people can find it easier to appreciate and relate to. The architecture is characterized by the use of colours, playful shapes, metaphoric forms and tongue-in- cheek reinterpretation of Classical elements.
Image source: www.archdaily.com; openbuildings.com; www.achievement.org; www.huntonbrady.com; www.greatbuildings.com; www.stcoletta.org; Francis Jonckheere at Flickr
Postmodern architecture 後現代主義建築
Postmodern architecture are characterized by the use of colours, playful shapes, symbolic forms and tongue-in-cheek reinterpretation of Classical elements.
Team Disney The Michael D. Eisner Building, Burbank CA (1991), designed by US architect Michael Graves
Image source: wikipedia; www.speel.me.u; nabolo.over-blog.com; tagdigitalphotography.com
Postmodern architecture 後現代主義建築
Postmodern architecture are characterized by the use of colours, playful shapes, symbolic forms and tongue-in-cheek reinterpretation of Classical elements.
Piazza d'Italia, New Orleans, Louisiana (1978), designed by US architect Charles Moore
Image source: www.picstopin.com; arts.ucla.edu; adventuresinarchitecture.blogspot.com
Four architects whose works defined Postmodern architecture:
Robert Venturi (born 1925), American architect and Professor at Yale University
Charles Moore (1925-1993), American architect and Professor at the University of Texas at Austin Aldo Rossi (1931-1997), Italian architect and Professor at ETH Zurich
Michael Graves (born 1934), American architect and Professor Emeritus at Princeton University
Postmodern architecture 後現代主義建築
Two books that laid the theoretical foundation of Postmodern architecture:
Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture by Robert Venturi, first published in 1966.
Learning from Las Vegas by Robert Venturi, Denise Scott Brown and Steven Izenour, first published in 1972.
Image source: (architects) www.vanityfair.com; arts.ucla.edu; www.designqj.com; www.makefive.com; (book covers) archiebooks.blogspot.com; gmoa.blogspot.com
US architect Prof. Michael Graves – "The prince of Postmodernism" (labelled by architectural critic Paul Gapp in an article published in the Chicago Tribune on 4 August 1985), the superstar architect during the Postmodern trend in architecture through the 1980s.
Postmodern architecture 後現代主義建築
Image source: (portraits) www.makefive.com; (drawings) Michael Graves & Associates; (kettle) www.bustler.net
“Even though I was one of the originators of Postmodernism, I don’t think in terms of style at all. I never have. I was simply trying to humanize Modernism. I was simply trying to find a way to make an architecture that didn’t leave me cold.”
Michael Graves, in Architect, the Magazine of the American Institute of Architects, 3 January 2011,
The original pretty present box architecture: Portland Building, USA
Designed by US architect Michael Graves (born 1934) of Michael Graves & Associates, the Portland Municipal Services Building (aka Portland Building) (1982) in Portland, Oregon, arguably ushered the global trend in Postmodern architecture that lasted through the 1980s. It is essentially a simple boxy building heavily decorated with colours and tongue-in-cheek re-interpretation of Classical architectural elements.Image source: shuandjoe.com; archinect.com
Designed by US architect Michael Graves (born 1934) of Michael Graves & Associates, the proposed Addition to Whitney Museum, Scheme 1 (1985) is the epitome of the cute, tongue-in- cheek decorative style of Postmodern architecture.
The pretty present box: Proposed Addition to Whitney Museum, USA (unbuilt)
Image source: www.wttw.com; observer.com
Designed by British architect James Stirling (1926-1992) of Stirling Gowan Wilford Architects, Neue Staatsgalerie Stuttgart(New State Gallery Stuttgart) (1984) is populist architecture at its best – it has fun colours and a cute Classical appearance that brings back in a warm-and-fuzzy way the collective memory of what the city of Stuttgart was like before it was destroyed by aerial bombing during World War II.
The pretty present box: Neue Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, Germany
Image source: Ken Lee at flickr; www.kultur-online.net
The architecture is sympathetic to the physical context by reducing the building mass to smaller
“architectural landscape” elements. It is also sympathetic to the relationship between the site and its surrounding – the main roof of the complex is used as a series of open public spaces, and a pedestrian path runs through them from the top to the bottom of the sloping site.
The pretty present box: Neue Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, Germany
Image source: Google Earth
Designed by Japanese architect Kiko Mozuna (毛綱毅曠 1941-2001), Kushiro Marsh Observatory 釧路市濕原展望台 (1984) is an observatory-cum-ecological museum. The architecture incorporates metaphoric forms relating to the myths and feng shui of the marshland.
The memory box (variation): Kushiro Marsh Observatory, Japan
Image source: www.panoramio.com; unknown Internet source; unknown source; www.mafengwo.cn
Designed by Rocco Yim (born 1952) of Rocco Design Architects Ltd., Guangdong Museum(廣東博 物館) (2010) is a museum dedicated to Guangdong's history, art and culture. The architecture's Postmodern influence can be seen from the architect's statement (as stated on his architectural practice's website) that "it is an allegory to the impeccably and intricately sculpted antique Chinese artifacts of a lacquer box" (寶盒).
The ultimate pretty present box museum: Guangdong Museum, China
Image source: Interkultur Germany at flickr;
Portland Municipal Services Building (1982), designed by US architect Michael Graves
Hong Kong Central Library (2001),
designed by the HKSAR Architectural Services Department
Postmodern copycature! 後現代抄襲主義建築！
Image source: TBD
5th-Generation Museum Architecture 第五代的博物館建築
Deconstructivist museum architecture:
disaster sites 災難現場
Main trend period: from the 1990s to now
Image source: www.irdrchina.cn
5th-Generation Museum Architecture 第五代的博物館建築
Deconstructivist museum architecture:
disaster sites 災難現場
Main trend period: from the 1990s to now
Ideology:
the museum as a provocative challenge against established conventions and bourgeois sensibility (反建制、反平俗) – an expression of anarchism (無政府主義) and the aesthetics of
the post-apocalypse (末世之後).
Image source: TBD
Deconstructivist architecture 解構主義建築
Deconstructivist architecture, or Deconstructivism in architecture, rebels against the regularity of Modernism and superficiality of Post-modernism by fragmenting and distorting the built form to maximize its visual complexity. It is influenced by the Punk Subculture(龐克次文化) of the 1970s and early 1980s, Complexity Theory(複雜理論) that became popular in the 1990s, and
Deconstructiontheories of French philosopher Jacques Derrida (1930-2004).
Image source: (top three images) www.coop-himmelblau.at; (bottom three images) www.gehrytechnologies.com; http://www.dezeen.com; www.guardian.co.uk
Deconstructivist architecture 解構主義建築
Influence: Punk Subculture(龐克次文化) of the 1970s and early 1980s – architecture taking on the punk aesthetics of anarchism and post-apocalypse.
Image source: (left) josie-hunt.blogspot.com; (centre column) fashionandpower.blogspot.com; www.reddit.com; (right column) www.myfreewallpapers.net; www.mangareader.net
Image source: from the novel by Michael Crichton, The Lost World (New York: Ballantine Books,1995), 15, 73, 109, 175, 277, 349; (book cover) wikipedia
Deconstructivist architecture 解構主義建築
Influence: Complexity theory 複雜理論, introduced to the popular culture by Michael Crichton in his novel Jurassic Park 侏羅紀公園 (1990) – architecture simulating maximal complexity at the unstable edge of chaos 仿傚不穩定秩序邊緣的超複雜建築設計.
1. No order 2. emerging order 3. complex order
4. over-complex order 5. complex order reaches critical point 6. collapse of order (edge of chaos)
Deconstructivist architecture 解構主義建築
Influence: the linguistic concept of Deconstruction 解構主義 by French philosopher Jacques Derrida 德里達 (1930-2004).
德希達提出了一種他稱之為解構閱讀西方哲學的方法。大體來說，解構閱讀是一種揭露文本結構與其西方形上本質之間差異的文本分 析方法。解構閱讀呈現出文本不能只是被解讀成單一作者在傳達一個明顯的訊息，而應該被解讀為在某個文化或世界觀中各種衝突的 體現。一個被解構的文本會顯示出許多同時存在的各種觀點，而這些觀點通常會彼此衝突。將一個文本的解構閱讀與其傳統閱讀來相 比較的話，也會顯示出這當中的許多觀點是被壓抑與忽視的。解構主義認為結構沒有中心，結構也不是固定不變的，結構由一系列的 差別組成。由於差別在變化，結構也跟隨著變化，所以結構是不穩定和開放的。因此解構主義又被稱為後結構主義。德里達認為文本 沒有固定的意義，作品的終極不變的意義是不存在的。(維琪百科)
噏乜Q? 終極語言藝術也！
Image source: Wikipedia
Four architects whose works defined Deconstructivist architecture:
Frank Gehry (born 1928), Canadian-American architect and Professor at Columbia University Peter Eisenman (born 1932), American architect and Professor Emeritus at the Cooper Union School of
Architecture
Wolf Prix (born 1942), Austrian architect
Daniel Libeskind (born 1946), Polish-American architect
The publication that gave the architecture its official name:
Deconstructivist Architecture by Philip Johnson and Mark Wigley, the companion publication of the 1988 MOMA exhibition of the same title.
Deconstructivist architecture 解構主義建築
Image source: (architects) en.artintern.net; www.designbuild-network.com; www.kurienwissenschaftundkunst.at; fashionbeyondfashion.wordpress.com; (book cover) www.derringerbooks.com
Designed by Polish-American architect Daniel Libeskind (born 1946), the Jewish Museum Berlin was a 1988 competition winner that was completed in 1999 as an empty museum, which drew over 350,000 visitors before it was filled and officially opened in 2001. It looks a train wreck!
The disaster site: Jewish Museum Berlin, Germany
Image source: www.tumblr.com; www.thefewgoodmen.com
Designed by Austrian architect Wolf Prix (born 1942), the Musée des Confluences(expected completion in 2014) at Lyon is a museum of science and society, and a part of an ambitious urban regeneration project of an old industrial area. It looks like a plane crash!
The disaster site: Musée des Confluences, France
Image source: www.infoimmo.fr; www.skyscrapercity.com; hdhut.blogspot.com
Designed by American architect Daniel Libeskind (born 1946), the Royal Ontario Museum Extension (2007), now called the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal, was a rejuvenation project for the old museum and the city of Toronto. It looks like an earthquake disaster!
The disaster site: Royal Ontario Museum Extension, Canada
Image source: museums.findthebest.com Image source: www.dcnonl.com; canadatourism.blogspot.com; dcnonl.com; gbtimes.com
The unusal shape of the building makes it suitable for use in the sci-fi TV series Fringe, which is about strange science phenomena.
The disaster site: Royal Ontario Museum Extension, Canada
Image source: tv-facts.net; fringe.wikia.com
Designed by Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry (born 1929), the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao (1997) is an urban regeneration project to rejuvenate the economically declining city of Bilbao. Although the museum has single-handedly revived the city's economy, people visit the museum because of the architecture rather than what it contains (and nobody seem to remember what the exhibition is).
The ultimate disaster site museum: Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Spain
Image source: en.artintern.net; luminarynyc.wordpress.com
Frank Gehry and Deconstructivist architecture in The Simpsons
Video source: https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1703734826126; image source: en.artintern.net;
It sums up, not inaccurately, the aesthetics of Deconstructivist architecture.
Opus Hong Kong 傲璇
Our own Deconstructivist architecture (not!): the "bamboo scaffolding" scheme for the Central Police Station Compound, Hong Kong
Designed by the Swiss architectural office Herzog & de Meuron, the ambitious "bamboo
scaffolding" scheme was announced 2007 but was abandoned due to public disapproval. It looks somewhat like a collapsing scaffolding 冧棚架.
Image source: Herzog & de Meuron / Hong Kong Jockey Club
6th-Generation Museum Architecture 第六代的博物館建築
Parametric museum architecture:
giant amoebas 巨型阿米巴變形蟲 Main trend period: from the 2000s to now
Image source: eol.org
6th-Generation Museum Architecture 第六代的博物館建築
Parametric museum architecture:
giant amoebas 巨型阿米巴變形蟲 Main trend period: from the 2000s to now
Ideology:
Architecture of the digital age – architecture by advanced mathematics (particularly, topology 拓撲數學), and can only
be designed with massive computing power.
Parametric architecture 參數式建築: aesthetics by mathematics
Parametric architecture is a trend that began around 2000 when affordable fast and powerful personal computers and easy to use design software became commonplace. This enables architects to design highly complex curvilinear building forms that can only be executed by 3D- modelling design software that uses calculus(微積分學) as the computing basis – such software was originally used in the aerospace industry.
Image source: Richard rjt208 at flickr; openbuildings.com; www.designboom.com; www.constructionweekonline.com; www.skyscrapercity.com
Influence: Topology 拓撲數學, the mathematical study of the continuity and connectivity of shapes and space (transformation of shapes and space without altering its quantitative nature). Topology's
"continuous map" 連續映射 inspired Parametric Architecture's "continuous surface" 連續表面.
Image source: www.ntsec.gov.tw; blog.thirdphaze.com; www.student.lth.se; www.yankodesign.com
Parametric architecture 參數式建築: aesthetics by mathematics
The one and only superstar architect whose works set the trend and the gold standard for parametric architecture:
Dame Zaha Hadid 紮哈 • 哈迪德 女爵士 (born 1950), Iraqi-British architect
Parametric architecture 參數式建築: aesthetics by mathematics
Image source: www.e-architect.co.uk
Parametric architecture 參數式建築: aesthetics by mathematics
Classical architecture: aesthetics by mathematical proportionsImage source: www.mlahanas.de
Parametric architecture 參數式建築: aesthetics by mathematics
Classical aesthetics: "golden" proportions found in nature (1: 1.618)Image source: (shell) saurondor.blogspot.com; (mask) ylift.blogspot.com; (face) spisanie.to
Parametric architecture 參數式建築: aesthetics by mathematics
Renaissance aesthetics: geometry of the human proportionImage source: www.4dbios.com
Form Equation
Cube Rectangular box
Prism Cylinder Pyramid
Cone
Sphere
Ellipsoid
Parametric architecture 參數式建築: aesthetics by mathematics
Parametric Design: complex geometry by calculusCalculus shape
Image source: www.highhopes.com; research2.fit.edu
Parametric architecture 參數式建築: aesthetics by mathematics
Analogue computing and complex geometryImage source: (Sydney Opera House) www.berfrois.com; (orange) www.lifeinreviews.com; (all others) unknown Internet sources;
Parametric architecture 參數式建築: aesthetics by mathematics
Digital computing and complex geometryImage source: (BMW Welt) www.theluxuryspot.com; (all others) unknown Internet sources
Parametric architecture 參數式建築: aesthetics by mathematics
Digital computing power and complex geometryImage source: (top row) mondoweiss.net; finalfantasy-xiii.net; (bottom row) sketchmodeler.com; www.g4g.it
1980s computing power for animation Post-2000 computing power for animation
Parametric architecture 參數式建築: aesthetics by mathematics
Digital computing power and complex geometryImage source: axsoris.com; airforcephotos.blogspot.com
Parametric architecture 參數式建築: aesthetics by mathematics
Digital computing power and complex geometryImage source: us.cdn291.fanshare.com; www.student.lth.se
Parametric architecture 參數式建築: aesthetics by mathematics
Mathematic model as inspiration for architectureMöbius Strip 莫比烏斯帶 (mathematical model of a continuous surface)
Image source: paulbourke.net
Image source: realestate.aol.com
National Stadium, Beijing (by Herzog & de Meuron, completed 2008).
Parametric architecture 參數式建築: aesthetics by mathematics
Mathematic model as inspiration for architectureMöbius Strip 莫比烏斯帶 (mathematical model of a continuous surface)
Parametric architecture 參數式建築: aesthetics by mathematics
Mathematic model as inspiration for architectureVoronoi Cells / Diagram 沃羅諾伊組織 / 圖 (mathematical model of a cluster of soap bubbles in 3D or 2D)
Image source: Wikipedia; www.grasshopper3d.com
Parametric architecture 參數式建築: aesthetics by mathematics
Mathematic model as inspiration for architecture - Voronoi cells (mathematical model of soap bubbles)
Image source: www.sourcewire.com
Beijing National Aquatics Center, Beijing (by PTW Architects / Arup / CSCEC / CCDI, completed 2008).
Parametric architecture 參數式建築: aesthetics by mathematics
Parametric architecture is a trend that began around 2000 when affordable fast and powerful personal computers and easy to use design software became commonplace. This enables architects to design highly complex curvilinear building forms that can only be executed by 3D- modelling design software that uses calculus(微積分學) as the computing basis – such software was originally used in the aerospace industry.
Image source: wikipedia; openbuildings.com; www.e-architect.co.uk; urbanlabglobalcities.blogspot.ru; kfntravelguide.com
The ultimate giant amoeba architecture: Czech National Library, Prague (unbuilt) 一篤嘢建築 Designed by the world-renowned Czech architect Jan Kaplicky (1937-2009) of the former London- based, husband-and-wife architectural practice, Future Systems. The design won an international competition in 2007 and was commissioned to be built and scheduled for completion in 2011, but the couple divorced, the practice split and the Prague authorities cancelled the project in 2008.
Image source: core.form-ula.com; www.e-architect.co.uk; monstersvsaliens.wikia.com; www.e-architect.co.uk
The giant amoeba: Chanel Mobile Art, movable 一嚿嘢建築
Designed by British architect Zaha Hadid (born 1950), Chanel Mobile Art (2008) was designed as an "unprecedented travelling exhibition container" that showcased art by contemporary artists inspired by Chanel's iconic handbag. In 2011, it was donated to the Arab World Institute in Paris.
Image source: buildingindonesia.biz; buildingindonesia.biz
The giant amoeba: Regium Waterfront, Italy 一劈嘢建築
Image source: www10.aeccafe.com
Designed by British architect Zaha Hadid (born 1950), Regium Waterfront (performing art centre, to be completed in 2015) in Regio Calabrai is described by the architect as "drawing inspiration from the radial symmetry of the starfish."
British architectural practice Benoy’s Ferrari World Abu Dhabi (2010) is an entire theme park (containing a Ferrari Museum) under one insanely huge mega-blob roof.
The giant amoeba: Ferrari World, United Arab Emerites 一大劈嘢建築
Image source: www.sub5zero.com
British architectural practice Benoy’s Ferrari World Abu Dhabi (2010) is an entire theme park (containing a Ferrari Museum) under one insanely huge mega-blob roof.
The giant amoeba: Ferrari World, United Arab Emerites 一大劈嘢建築
Image source: cosmonavigator.wordpress.com
The giant amoeba: WKCD "Sky Canopy" scheme, Hong Kong 好大劈嘢建築
British architectural practice Foster + Partners' West Kowloon Cultural District "Sky Canopy" design is a cluster of museums under one stupendously huge mega-blob roof. It was a competition winner in 2002, but a political loser in 2004, because it was too much too soon for people to accept.Image source: www.skyscrapercity.com; www.artsdealer.net
Museum architecture – know where it’s coming from, critique the design!
Foster + Partners' WKCD design:
Modern bunkers!
Rocco Design Architects' WKCD design:
Deconstructivist wreckage!
OMA's WKCD design:
Postmodern populist slogans!
Image source: www.arcomai.it; www.arcomai.it; www.arcomai.it
Designed by the British architectural Practice Zaha Hadid Architects, Changsha Meixihu International Culture and Art Centre (design first released in March 2013) is a project of eye- watering scale for a new civic node for the city of Changsha. The project includes a grand theatre, a multipurpose hall and a contemporary art museum.
The giant amoeba: Changsha Meixihu Int'l Culture & Art Centre, China 好幾大劈嘢建築
Video source: www.youtube.com/watch?v=itTY2vOjEdo
Knockoff Zaha Hadid giant amoeba architecture! 山寨版紮哈 • 哈迪德建築
THE REAL DEAL:
Zaha Hadid Architects' Wangjing SOHO, Beijing (completion in 2014)
THE KNOCKOFF:
Local developer's Meiquan 22nd Century, Chongqing (completion in 2013 or 2014)
Image source: www.e-architect.co.uk; www.dezeen.com
Image source: Daily News; South China Morning Post
Knockoff Zaha Hadid giant amoeba architecture! 山寨版紮哈 • 哈迪德建築
Image source: wikipedia; www.talesofoldchina.com; wikipedia; xxx; www.kultur-online.net; luminarynyc.wordpress.com; www.artsdealer.net
