{"id":1681,"date":"2016-11-07T11:55:08","date_gmt":"2016-11-07T03:55:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thesis.arch.hku.hk\/2016\/?p=1681"},"modified":"2016-11-10T18:54:19","modified_gmt":"2016-11-10T10:54:19","slug":"contemporary-ornament-in-hong-kong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thesis.arch.hku.hk\/2016\/contemporary-ornament-in-hong-kong\/","title":{"rendered":"Contemporary Ornament in Hong Kong"},"content":{"rendered":"
Thesis Statement [WHAT]<\/b><\/p>\n
Ornament is the language through whic-h architecture communicates with a broader public – each remove puts\u00a0another degree of separation between the profession and the public.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n The thesis aims to introduce\u00a0people’s communication with architecture through the use of ornament in the different objects in a\u00a0building in Hong Kong. The ornament will express its regional specificity of Hong Kong in terms of making technique, use of colour and decorative pattern. Ornament will only include\u00a0constructed element that is physically attached to the building (doors, windows, floor finishes, internal and external wall finishes) but not furniture (chairs, cupboards, carpets)<\/span><\/p>\n Description of contexts and key ideas driving the thesis [WHY]<\/b><\/p>\n Ornament in architecture is like the cute kittens wallpaper in the iPhone, it is not essential to the whole but people continue to like it.<\/p>\n The influential lecture of \u201cOrnament and Crime\u201d by Adolf Loos in 1910 had provided justification for the lack of ornamentation\u00a0in every scale of a building for architects. However, the immorality of ornament that he was addressing was not the presence of it but instead the waste of effort for designing and constructing of ornamentation that would go out of style and become obsolete in an architecture of commodity. He never argued for the absence of ornament but instead the appropriate ornament in the modern age. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n When architect perceives architecture through plans and sections, layman perceives it through perspective and details in their everyday living. Despite of signage, material and decoration is the medium which architects can deliver information to the people through architecture. It is by addressing the discrepancy between the taste for minimalism and the enthusiasm for kitsch through an interface, the gap between profession and public can be filled. Without ornament, people understands spaces only through the program (function) within it.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n The question of the thesis would be, what is the appropriate ornament for Hong Kong that is specific to its cultural context.<\/span><\/p>\n As approaching 2047, there are rising discussion on the distinction between Hong Kong and China in terms of cultural and historical context that leads to the questions of the city\u2019s identity. The re engagement of ornament into architecture can be a way to participate the discussion and reconstruct the face of Hong Kong and as well alter people\u2019s perception on Hong Kong\u2019s city fabric.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n By identifying ornamentation and vernacular technique of making, ornament that express regional identity can be derived and reengage with architecture such to enhance the regional quality of architecture in Hong Kong.<\/p>\n Description of Project Intended to <\/b>Test <\/b>the Thesis Statement<\/b><\/p>\n <\/p>\n A matrix of different type of ornament will be derived. The matrix will then be applied to a built project, which is still being considered if that will be a transformation project on existing buildings or a completely new building.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n– Edwin Heathcote, The Problem with Ornament, The Architectural Review (Sep 2015)<\/em><\/h6>\n
-Villa Muller, Prague Czech Republic, Adolf Loos, 1930<\/h6>\n
-left: Ravensbourne College of Design, London UK, FOA, 2010\/ computer generated arrangement expressing\u00a0design education driven by technology<\/span><\/h6>\n
-right:\u00a0Ningbo Historic Museum, Ningbo China, Wang Shu, 2008\/ method of making expressing vernacular technique in construction<\/span><\/h6>\n
-left: floor tiles from a utility shop<\/span><\/h6>\n
-right: bamboo\u00a0scaffolding<\/h6>\n
– Islington Square, FAT\/ a ornamental facades attached to the minimal mass<\/h6>\n