Reflection

Project 1 went on quite well for me personally. It has helped me identified two fundamental architectural design concepts that are vital for my study. In Project 1, I had to be familiar with parti and poché, and to use these two techniques to analyse Jørn Utzon's Villa Can Feliz. These two architectural jargons originated from the École des Beaux-Arts which was founded in 1648. People always question the relevance of historical architetural concepts and their impacts on contemporary architecture. After this project, I have two reasons to believe why parti and poché are important and relevant concepts that all, if not most architecture students should learn and partake of.

Firstly, architectural design should be centered on a core idea or organizational principle. Designs are not created arbitrarily. Yes, the power of imagination is incredible, but it can destruct as well if not properly employed. There is a need to settle in mind a core idea that would serves as a guiding compass. Parti has been proved to be employed by architects like Louis Kahn and Le Corbusier in their design process based on partis. Besides, poché depicts ambience and brings life into drawings. Secondly, Jørn Utzon's embrace of the primordial signifies his enthusiasm in 'acquiring styles in the past to recapture the truth'. Ancient wisdom are a great leagacy for the modern generation and the generations to come. New interpretation might be needed for seasonal changes, but ultimately, we do not destroy something that has been established for such a long time.

I am delighted that I have learnt these two concepts, and I would like to thank Xing Ruan and my tutor, Felicity for carefully, thoughtfully and patiently guiding me through. May the following projects be even greater successes!