MENGYAN WANGI was born in China and first came to Mel-bourne when I was 10. After two years of study, I went back to China to continue the super-buzy school life. In 2010, I decided to come back to Melbourne as I wanted to trace back those precious memories.Since then, Melbourne became my second hometown.

I was very suprised to see that during ten years of time, Melbourne did not change much, especally in the suburb where I used to live in. As I could still find my way eas-ily to the primary school where I studied. This is a huge contrast to cities in China. When I went back to my hometown after a year staying in Melbourne in 2011, I could not recognize the CBD. As there were three gigantic buildings raised from ground with new infrastructures redirecting public flow into and out of the buildings. I guess the col-lision between preservation of the old and constrcution of the new will influence my design in the future.

I am currently a third- year student at the University of Melbourne major in Architec-ture. Architecture and urban planning are the fields that I am interested in. As I think they are supplementry to each other. Together, they form a visual culture that influences our urban experience.

PART A. E01: CASE FOR INNOVATION

Architecture as a DiscourseWhat is Architecture? Is it a piece of art work that merely derived from an architect’s mind just like other work of art? Or is it something that relates to building, to urbanism?

1. Williams, Richard (2005). ‘Architecture and Visual Culture’, in Exploring Visual Culture: Defi-nitions, Concepts, Contexts, ed. by Matthew Rampley (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press), pp. 102-116, p. 108

It is quite hard to define what architecture is about. How-ever, we should know that it is not an individual field that isolates the others. It rather as a network of practices and debates about the built environment1. I found the idea that architecture should be examined in terms of the experience of the urban environment illustrated in William’s reading very interesting as it once again pointed out that architec-

ture as a discourse. Architecture is not just an art work with aesthetic front facade. The arrangement of the interior space and its influences on the users are all part of the discourse.

PAST DESIGN

The Lattern project was within a first- year subject named: Virtual Environments un-der the Bachelor of Environments, which I did in 2012. It was a brief introduction to the parametric design of architecture through the use of Rhinoceros 5 and panel-ling plug-in.

The aim was to construct a 3D model via Rhino which could be wear on any part of the body, with a natural pattern or process as an inspiration. My project was inspired by the movement of a school of fish. Each of the six parts represents a kind of move-ment. Together, they form a continuous and fluent unity.

During the project, I started to get a sence

of what parametric design can achieve. It is very time- efficient in order to built a model quickly and accurately. Most im-portantly, it helps to expand my creativity which, I think hand sketches are impos-sible to achieve.

However, I felt I was manipulated by Rhino at the beginning as I was not famil-iar with this software. Luckily, I managed to generate something that I was proud of.

ORDOS MUSEUM

Architect: MAD ArchitectsLocation: Ordos, Inner Mongolia, ChinaDirectors: Ma Yansong, Yosuke Hayano, Dang QunClient: Municipality of OrdosSite Area: 27,760 sqmBuilding Area: 41, 227 sqmBuilding Height: 40 mCompletion: 2011Photographs: Shu He

O rdos Museum is located in the city of Ordos, Inner Mongolia. It is of domed form which intended to preserve the cultural history of the region while resisting the rational and geometric urban grid.1 It is a composition of the past and the present, providing the young com-munity with a new spirit. The museum has become a popular gathering space for locals.

Originally inspired by Buckminster Fuller’s “Manhattan Dome”, the facade of Ordos Museum utilizes polished metal louvers allow the outer structure to both relfect and dissolve the museum’s sur-roundings, whilst the glazed roof leads natural light into interior spaces2. In the in-terior, the central lobby welcomes visitors into the canyon-like public corridor. The natural light blurs any internal boundaries; it creates an illusion that’s accentuated by the organic form of the bridges3. ‘It works because it has a human scale, even if the building seems alien. My im-pression is that in time, when the city matures, the museum will become part of a new culture that integrates local history but also imspires something new’MAD architects.

The aim of this project was to bring some-thing very abstract, very futuristic to the wild deserted lanscape and I guess the idea of Futurism is what makes this architec-ture known. Thus the building acts as a milestone for the city to enter into a new age.

1. Disignboom, www.designboom.com/architecture/mad-architects-ordos-museum-completed/2. Bridget Borgobello, MAD’s Ordos Museum is finally complete, www.gizmag.com/mad-ordos-museum-complete/20459/3. Ordos Art& City Musem/ MAD Architects, www.archdaily.com/211597/ordos-art-city-muse-um-mad-architects/

01. The interior space of the Or-dos Museum, where natural light comes into the space through the fully glazed windows.

02. The exterior of the Ordos Musem.

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BEIJING HUTONG BUBBLE

Architect: MAD ArchitectsLocation: Beijing, ChinaDirectors: Ma Yansong, Dang QunType: Courtyard RenovationProject Year: 2009Photographs: Shu He, Fang Zhenning& Daniele Dainelli

1. Beijing Hutong Bubble/ MAD, www.archdaily.com/50931/beijing-hutong-bubble-mad/

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eijing Hutong Buble project was a proposal for the future Beijing 2050. The rapid developments in Beijing have put the old traditional housing into an awkward position. Due to poor standards of hygiene, Hutongs are gradually be-coming the local residents’ dumpster, the haven for the wealthy, the theme park for tourists1. The hutong bubbles inserted into the existing urban environment with an aim of attracting new people and activi-ties and thus reactivate the vitality of the entire neighborhoods. You can sense the idea of futurism strongly in this project just by looking at it. However, instead of appearing to be alienated, the introduction of bubbles is well integrated with the sur-

rounding due to the reflective facade.

To a deeper understanding, the hutong bubble project is trying to connect this cul-trally rich city with public’s view on bet-ter Beijing. This is what William’s talking about in his reading, as architecture should be examined in terms of the experience of the urban environment. It challenges the common view on building new monu-ments or gigantic buildings to represent Beijing’s fast development. Instead, the preoject focuses on the everyday lives of the city’s residents.

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01. Photo taken from the in-side. The hutong bubble as if dissapeared by reflecting the surrounding environment.

02. The exterior loof of the hutong bubble.

03. The function of a hutong bubble is of a shel-tered staircase for residents .