Perception of Architecture:

A Cultural and Technological Compromise

Graduation Honors Thesis

Danae Cardenas

The notion and impression of experience is one that opens the door into a realm of
understanding that reaches far into the way the individual understands the surroundings that
make up an environment. The development of architecture is experiential and thus
phenomenological occurrences are understood through individual perceptions. How a place
manifests itself is very dependent on the scope through which we view it. This understanding is
phenomenological and therefore cultural; meaning that this interpretation is based on how we
understand subjective and objective stimuli.
In Perez- Gomezs text Dwelling on Heidegger: Architecture as mimetic technopoiesis,1 he proposes that architecture can only be considered poetic if this architecture is
significant to its culture, society, and thus to the people that experience it. Architecture itself,
consequently, becomes a concern that Heidegger views to be very particular to humans, for it
is a state that comes forth from interaction or communication between the people and what
constructs their environments. Perez-Gomez considers it to deal with the concept that it is a
cultural discipline that engages the past and present of the environment in which it interacts. It
can therefore be said that architecture with meaning is comprised of varying contexts but at its
core it can only be experienced, analyzed, and understood by the scope through which it is seen.
In the design studio it has become more evident that these components aide in the development
of our modern architectural understanding. Currently the aim of this project is develop an urban
infill for the Shibati area in China. Through this research on context, culture, phenomenology,
and technology it has become an investigation on creating an architecture which lives as a
compromise of these elements.
Contextually this built entity must then be appropriate according to the conditions that
comprise the environment of this work. The indication of this is to think of the physical
1

Alberto Perez-Gomez, Dwelling on Heidegger: Architecture as Mimetic Techno-Poiesis, Subject, vol.3,no.2(1998):1

characteristics of the site such as the, structure, material, space, color, light, and shadow that
intertwine to fabricate this architecture,2 in this it also becomes an issue of how the individual
responds to these characteristics that forms the meaning of the architecture. A primary goal for
the student design proposal in the design studio includes the careful development of a site design
strategy that allows the work to have relationship to the cultural and historical context. The
culmination of these two major components construct how the individual perceives the work,
Steven Holl stated, we cannot separate perception into a few componentsa whole cinema of
merging and yielding enmeshed experiences devise this perceived condition.3 The entirety of
the perceived condition Holl is talking about takes on the idea that the intent in this design is to
capture the essence, and thus, the full understanding of the work. He believes there lives a
duality between the, subjective and objective lives, intertwining inner and outer feelings and
thought into a phenomena.4 Intertwining these states of mind develop a deeper and more closely
understood experience and relationship to the occupant as well as to the context within which it
exists.
The compliments of characteristics that are assessed objectively as well subjectively
cultivate a design that allows the inhabitant to perceive adequately enough to have the
completeness of experience. The two cannot be exclusive from one another and cannot be fully
one or the other instead it is a balance between the objective and subjective that makes
architecture understandable and relevant. Architecture orients, indeed, but its mode of
orientation, and what it says, are inseparable from itself. It orients the body in action, framing the
actions, traditionally formalized rituals that allow humans to participate in the totality, the

Steven Holl, Intertwining, (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1996): 11.
Steven Holl, Intertwining, (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1996): 11,12.
4
Steven Holl, Intertwining, (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1996): 13.
3

wholeness of culture.5 This wholeness, then becomes the phenomenon which is intuitively
ingrained in our contextual and therefore cultural background. This phenomenological theory is
then the manipulation of our perceptual experiences organized to fit our contextual
understanding.
Architecture establishes a space that is cultural, the reality which is constructed through a
persons experience is translated through it. These inner and outer feelings and thoughts that are
brought together to form a phenomena are a reflection of the product of societal and cultural
influences. The contextual understanding each occupant has is an understanding of the cultural
implications of societies. Architecture can therefore never be a full resolution of no one thing but
instead it is the meeting point at which the components that which structured it come to establish
themselves. The result should never be a pastiche of the past, but the truly novel, which inspires
awe yet is also recognizable, respectful of our heritage, yet never an act of mere historic
restoration.6 It can be described as the evolution of something that already had been established
but has been altered according to the evolution of the people and culture. The culmination
between the effects of time is one that is cultural and therefore also contextual, meaning that with
the passage of time the contextual basis upon which we judge our world adjusts and alters to
fit within a new context.
The distinction between spaces or places, is one that becomes an issue of defining how
architecture is achieved through the understanding of culture associated with it. Perception of a
space in connection with the experience associated with this space establishes a character and
attitude towards what then becomes a place. This distinction has become a debate which has
found itself in the middle of architectural discourse. The individual experience of a space is

5
6

Steven Holl, Intertwining, (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1996): 12.
Steven Holl, Intertwining, (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1996): 13.

dynamic in form it develops through the perception of a place and how it may be defined as a
space of dwelling. Place is space to which meaning has been ascribedif space is an abstract
concept then place is what we know through experience. Space has neither location or context
nor scale nor reference; whereas place does, to dwell is a place defined by an individual
perceptionit is the act of dwelling that transforms space into a place.7
Modernism emerged as a means to negotiate the new industrialization and technological
interpretation of the world with the old traditional concepts of the classical. The debate
encompassed the new and old or art and technology; their contrasting characteristics would bring
about the deliberate consideration of how architecture should be understood in modern society.
In essence, the phenomenological and contextual understanding began to transect and intertwine
with the new theories of technology. This paradigmatic shift in understanding and view allowed
the technological to disrupt the understanding of space and place, consequently, our
understanding of meaning in architecture.
If modern architecture is a representation of the media, then are our perceptions a
manipulation of our culture. The Colomina Archive discusses the issues of modern architectural
discourse and its relationship to the media. It becomes evident that our interpretation of
architecture in the modern sense is dependent on the way it is presented through the media. To
enter is to see a static object, a building, a fixed place. Rather, architecture taking place in
history, the events of architecture as an event. The elements of modern architecture are seen
being born in front of your eyes. And in so doing they make these eyes modern.8 The media is
a technological advancement which has altered and will continue to alter our understanding of
7

Elizabeth Song Lockard, Habitation in Space: The Relationship between Aesthetics and Dwelling, Journal of AIAA
(2006) 1
8

Colomina, Beatrice. Privacy and Publicity: Modern Architecture as Mass Media. (MA: MIT Press, 1994),
5.
5

architecture. It functions as a frame, the way it is framed as well as the way it is presented
becomes the contextual understanding we develop in our minds which in turn develops our
understanding.

Liu, Jensen. "Siheyuan: the Chinese Housing Dream." May 9,

2009.http://chinablog.cc/2009/05/siheyuan-the-chinese-housing-dream/ (accessed April 1, 2012).
1. Main gate.
2. Screen wall. Usually has blessing words on it.
3. Reversed rooms. For servants.
4. Outside yard.
5. Secondary gate.
6. Main yard.
7. Main rooms. For the house owner.
8. East rooms. For elder son. Usually these rooms are taller than west rooms.
9. West rooms. For younger son.
10. Side rooms. For maids.
11. Back rooms. For daughter.

An example which develops this concept would be the traditional Chinese garden up
holds many of the principals of the cultural phenomenological contexts that develop architecture
as meaningful places. The garden motivates a state of reflection and contemplation by means
6

of view; in essence it is a form of cultural and phenomenological framing. The jing is a key
concept in Chinese gardens. It defines the interactive unity between scenic views and the
spectator.9 The jing is a component of the Chinese historical context which has maintained its
existence by means of evolving itself. In this evolution it has given a tradition of meaning and
depth to the Chinese garden, in turn representing this poetical architecture that Perez- Gomez
spoke about in his analysis of Heideggers writing. Much like the idea of framing presented in
the jing, the technological can be discussed in a similar way.
The social and cultural implications that are established by means of a project are seen
through architecture because it relies on the individual perceptions of the social and cultural.
Living in a technology driven world, the technological becomes deeply engrained in the
perceivers analysis of the environment that surrounds them. Technology substitutes a picture
for the world of what our primary experience may be, phenomenology discloses it as one where
the universal and the specific are given simultaneously in the mystery of perception, in the space
between Being and Becoming. 10In the eve of the developments of the technological
transformations that are becoming part of the definition of architecture itself, it starts to view
technology as a means to begin to unveil the human ideals of perception. The use of technology
in the architectural practice is thus integrated with todays design strategies. The housing project
requires an exploration of the incorporation of a parametric component and digital fabrication
techniques. With these tools students are able to better understand how the technological
movement of our generation has altered the perception of architecture. The use of digital
modeling has become pivotal in the study and presentation of work in the studio. Without these

Hui Zou, Jing: A Phenomenological Reflection on Chinese Landscape and Qing, Journal of Chinese Philosophy (2008)
353
10

Alberto Perez-Gomez, Introduction to Architecture and the Crisis of Modern Science in Architecture Theory
since 1968, ed. M.K. Hays (Cambridge Mass: The MIT Press, 1998),1.

techniques students and practicing architects alike are given the ability to present work. The
manipulation of which has evolved through the use of the tool, with its use the development of a
new way to study architecture has come about.

Keck, Jonathan. "Theology 21." July

20,2010.http://www.theology21.com/2010/07/20/ancient-skyscrapers-languagecooperation-and-rebellion/ (accessed March 10, 2012).

The compromise between phenomenology and technology is derived from the juncture at
which the manipulation of each meet, this moment is perception itself. It can be said that
technology constructs spaces meanwhile phenomenology builds them. Therefore, the
differentiation between the two is nestled between the fine lines that distinguish construct from
build as well as between being and becoming.11 The way we understand architecture is by
means of the phenomenological input that we receive, this framing mechanism Perez Gomez
11

Alberto Perez-Gomez, Introduction to Architecture and the Crisis of Modern Science in Architecture Theory
since 1968, ed. M.K. Hays (Cambridge Mass: The MIT Press, 1998),1.

argued can be substituted by technology in an effort to understand how we analyze the world
around us12. The effects on the structure of a peoples culture is effected by the built environment,
it can be said that, much like the jing, architecture is a way of framing that alters the perception
and understanding of how we view places, our experiences, and even our memories. This
concept of urbanism encompasses the geographical, economic, political, and even social
mechanisms of an area; an example of this would be the Great Wall of China. The built
environment that is established from this work is one that effects and has effected these
components in Chinese culture, tradition, and its urbanism. The tower failed and was bound to
fail because of the weakness of the foundation. The Great Wall alone would provide for the first
time in the history of mankind a secure foundation for a new Tower of Babel.13 The
implications of this comparison narrate the story of how culture and the phenomenology related
to understanding, absorbing, and experiencing the built environment. The foundations of the
Great Wall of China are deeply engrained in the development of the country and its peoples
development. It tells a story of government, economy, culture, and even of the people themselves
and how the Great Wall was a development that today still stands to remind and relive in the
philosophy of a people. This exemplifies how the built environment structures views. The Great
Wall of China, much like the concept of the jing transcended time, it is a development of
centuries of dynasties and have become icons that define a culture.

12

Robert Scharff, Val Dusek, eds. "Defining Technology." Part I and III in Philosophy of Technology: The
Technological Condition - An Anthology. (Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2003), 210-212.
13
Franz Kafka, The Great Wall of China, The Great Wall of China: Stories and Reflections (New York: Schocken Books,
1960), 153.

Stephenson, Cindy. "Great Wall of China." August 7,

2008.http://cindystephenson.wordpress.com/2008/08/07/great-wall-of-china/ (accessed July 13,
2011).
In all, the development of meaningful architecture is experiential and thus
phenomenological occurrences that are understood through individual perceptions. These
individual perceptions are now manipulated by the technological effects of the modern world.
How a place manifests itself is very dependent on the person, this understanding is
phenomenological, meaning that the interpretation is based on an individuals way of
understanding objective as well as subjective stimuli. In this the contextual, cultural, and thus
technological influence becomes increasingly important to the meaning of architecture itself.
Architectural expression in the space of chora, understood as cultural space but also the space of
human appearance, the space of the city beyond classical definitions An architecture to reveal
humanity not in time but made of time, not in space but radically embodied and existing in a
thick, vivid present, between the earth and the sky, as a unique place in the universe, always
subject to forces larger than ourselves that in fact make us human, call us to take measure and yet

10

always lay beyond the reach of calculation. In order to accomplish this aim, architecture must
understand itself differently.14 Therefore, how architecture is expressed is dependent on the
phenomenological and thus cultural influences on the viewer.
The stimulation we receive as a result of the subjective and objective environments that
surround us is interpreted almost instantly, making each perspective predisposed to incline in a
certain direction. A major predisposition in modern society and thus modern architecture is
technology. These stimuli are presented through a variety of different forms.
Technology has become a component that cannot live exclusively from us, it is a logic
that characterizes and somewhat defines the modern world. The framing mechanisms of both
phenomenology and technology are necessary in the effort to understand architecture as a
reflection and component of culture. The efforts of human perception to understand have brought
about a combination between technology and phenomenology that exclusively develop them
while jointly establishing a full resolution of thought and view. It can be said that the
perception of architecture is a compromise between the technological and phenomenological
aspects of culture. As is proven, the idea of a compromise is one that stresses the importance of
both components rather than the preference of one over the other. The intersections between the
two overlap and encompass similar topics that together allow for the modern day comprehension
of our built environments.

14

Alberto Perez-Gomez, Introduction to Architecture and the Crisis of Modern Science in Architecture Theory
since 1968, ed. M.K. Hays (Cambridge Mass: The MIT Press, 1998),1.

11

U N I V E R S I T Y O F F L O R I D A S T U D Y A B R O A D

Stitching Shiba Ti and the Traditional Chinese

Teahouse to adjust the existing structure of this
place. Allowing the evolution of a site that relates to it cultural and historical influence.

CONTENTS OF SELECTED WORKS

Site Elevation Study & Shiba Ti Community Connections

Stitiching an Urban Fabric

Solar Analysis & Sectional Urban Analysis

Podium Relationship to Larger Urban Context

Podium Tower Walkway Spatial Relationship and Organizational Analysis

Urban Fabric Tower and Podium

The intention of this project is to create a place that maintains
a historical and cultural authenticity while allowing the evolution
of a new place. After the initital analysis and planning of the
major urban fabric of the revisited Shiba Ti, the podium began to
become the component I chose to further develop.The podium and connecting walkway functions as an urban carpet. They explore the idea
of entering and experiencing a spatial itinerary.The connection
between tower and street had a lose connection which needed to be
better adjusted to fit the concept and general enviornment of this
site. The presence of the teahouse gives structure to the harmony
of this connection between the street and tower. The shift in scale
is adjusted according to the experience of an evolving movement
to and from this place. The focus is thus, understanding of this
spatial itinerary and its connection to the larger urban context.

Communal Connections Urban Terrace

Cultural Infrastructure Cultural Plaza

C U LT U R A L R I T U A L I S M

A R E I N T E R P R E TAT I O N O F T H E C L A S S I C C H I N E S E T E A H O U S E
CHONGQING, CHINA
CRITIC: ALBERTUS WANG & HUI ZOU

Shiba Ti Community Connections

Our study of the Chongqing Shibati area began as a

study of understanding the cultural infrastructure
of this place and its relationship to the site as a
whole. After looking at the historical context within
which Shibati was formed it became apparent that its
foundation developed through the evolution of this
context.

Solar Analysis Existing Shadow Canopies

9 am

12 pm

Site Elevation Study

At present, the discontinuity between the elevations within the

site and that of its surroundings reinforces the awkward relation
between Shiba Ti and the modern movement occuring along its
peripheries. The elevations of buildings within the site create
the personable, intimate human scale typical of ancient Chinese
culture; however, crossing one of the major highways bordering
the site, the occupant is faced with a more monumental scale
typical of the modern western movement within the centralbusiness district of Chongqing, with no means of transition between
the two.

3 pm

6 pm

Its fabric is saturated with both historical and cultural components of this places
memory. The natural, cultural, and social sceneries of the project were thus crucial
in the representation of Shibatis past in connection with its future and the surrounding areas. The meeting place between which we found to be our conceptual basis
for the project; the idea of a teahouse. The teahouse functioned as a conceptual
anchor through which the new fabric could develop.

Podium Spatial Relationship and organizational Analysis

The structure of the teahouse culturally was already an existing component to Shibati. The tradition, organization, and foundation of a Chinese teahouse was arranged as a base throughout which the entire site
would be organized to fit the already existing programmatic and cultural
features found in the area. There were four main areas found on the
site, the CBD, the market, the hybrid circulation, and the residential
components of our site cultivated as different types of enviornments
all connected through this conceptual basis. They were connected through
the components of a teahouse we found to be most important in connecting
this projec, the idea of interaction, communication, and congregation.

Stitching an Urban Fabric

Podium relationship to Larger Urban Context

The enviornment that defines a teahouse becomes a

programmatic piece that is represented through the
spatial and structural organization of the project.
Memory plays a role as a connection point between
this past and present , it is represented through the
connection from zone to zone through the entire site.
It functions as a connecting piece that brings about
the recollection of how Shibati was established as a
place of gatheringwhether it be as a community, port,
or refuge.

GRAPHIC CONSTRUCT