BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (HONOURS) IN ARCHITECTURE

THEORIES OF ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM

(ARC61303/ARC2224)
SYNOPSIS: REACTION PAPER (MARCH 2017)
Name: Tang Wei Xin ID No.: 0322731
Lecturer: Mr. Nicholas Ng Tutorial Time: 1100-1200
Reader/Text Title: Towards a Critical Regionalism: Synopsis No: 3
Six Points for an Architecture of Resistance Author: Kenneth Frampton
The main text is to question the priority of cultural and natural value in terms of Critical Regionalism, it
conveyed that advanced tectonic technology today terms the contradiction between universal civilization and
autochthonous culture, as topography becomes a manipulating factor to be modified rather than a distinct
properties to be embraced. From my point of view, cultural themes are an overlooked subject in the industry
because the term culture is tied to the past and the imagination to the future of that region is neglected. To
broaden the definition of culture, by considering the provision of development of that particular site, is needed
in order to generate a design reminding people of the past but crucially informing the presence of the people
of that era.
Following Framptons debate between nationalism and regionalism in terms of the modulation and contextual
respond, he claimed that optimum use of universal technique may dilute the aura of the environment.
Accepting that fenestration could have a capacity to inscribe the architecture with the character of the region,
modulation still defined and limited the architectural language to climatic respond. Encapsulation by practicing
exclusive use of artificial light abandoned the place-conscious poetic, an interaction between culture and
nature while inscribing the spatial quality as placeless rises the issue of practices that irrespectively rely on
the air-conditioner. In the case of tectonic form, Botticher defined the term Tectonic by means of raising the
construction to the dimension of art rather than simple revelation of stereotomy, I definitely agree with the
perspective that beholding nationalism as an architectural movement and tendency, and pace of development
defines the tendency of material applications. Instead, exploring the potential creative dimension of
modulation will help in developing the era to the next revolution.
As justification for resisting the domination of universal technology, it is crucial to understand and recognize
the capacity of the body to read the environment in terms other than those of sight, for instance the tactile
resilience. The liberative importance of the tactile resides in the fact that it can only be decoded in terms of
experience itself. I stand with the idea of Frampton that, capacity of tactile to arouse the impulse to touch
returns the architect to the poetics of construction as it gives rise to the realization of different dimension of
sensory experience that makes the people bond to the region.
Word Count: 396 Mark Grade
Assessed by: Date Page No.