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Less i s moreor abore?- Det ai l andFormal Compl exi tyi n Archi tectureoL K . Chan

AbstractRi chness and compl exi t y s t r i k e back at thearchi tectural mxim l e s s i s mor e' repl aci ng i t w th the convi ct i onthat ' l e s s i s a bore' . Thi s art i c le uses the mul t i -d i sci pl i nary I nf ormat i on Theory t o relate the degr ee ofcompl exi t y i n a bui l di ng w th the amount of i nformati on i t contai ns. O the t wo di ff erentform of i nformati on,' s e ma nt i c ' andf ormal ' t he former hasbeen extensi vel y expl ored by Post - Moderni st s whi l e t he l a t t e r , f ormali nformati on' i s sel dom di scussed. Thi s art i cl e t r i e s t o def i ne detai l s as the u n i t s of format i nformati on i narchi tecture . The Gestal t Theory on vi sual percepti on wi l l be used t o expl ai n howt o read archi tecturethrough u ni t s of de t ai l s , andshowhowt he amunt o f de t a i l i n a bui l di ng rel ates t o i t s f ormal compl exi t y .Anassessment of the t r u t h of thest atements ' l e s s i s mor e' and' l e s s i s a bore' wi l l serve t o concl ude t he a r t i c l e .

Keywords: archi tectural detai l s , archi tectural complexi ty, i nformti ontheory

From"Less i smre to ' Less i s abore'The st atement "Less i s mre" mdeby Mes van der Rohe i n1928 ( Bl ake 1976) andi t s corol l ary "Less i s abore" ( Ventur i1966) bes t summar i ze t he trend i n archi tecture f rom the earl y t ol a t e r h al f of twenti eth century : f roma si mpl e and pure mdernl anguage t o ar i c h e r , more complexandp l u r a l i s t i c fo rm Thekeyi s s u e t o be addressed i n these two st atements i s what i s l ess? I no ther words, l e s s of what i s mre l e s s o f what i s a bore?Apa r t fromthe general di ssati sfacti on w th the weatheri ng prop-e r t i e s and f uncti onal i nadequacy of mdern bui l di ngs, peopl ef o u n d themt oo homgenous, bori ng andmnotonous ( F i g . 1) .Some f e e l there i s no ' meani ng' i n archi tecture . Ot hers havecondemnedmodern archi tecture f o r the l ack o f ' d e t a i l ' : "Fasci na-t i o n wi t h speed encour aged the mderntendency t o om t s ma l l ,human- scal ed detai l s . . . Archi tects sawno need f or i ntr i cated e t a i l s o n whi ch the eye coul d l i nger . . . " ( Brol i n 1976 : 27) .' Mea ni n g ' and ' d e t a i l " r epr esent two di ff erent f orms of i nf orma-t i o n , namel y ' semanti c' and ' ae s t he t i c ' i nformati on . I t dependsv e r y much on the exper i ence and knowedge of t he receptor t oun d e r s t an d or appreci ate the f ormer, whi l e the l a t t e r , ' a es t h et i c 'i n f o r mat i o n , r e l i e s more on a spont aneous reacti on . For examp l e , speech contai ns mre semant i c i nformati on whi l e musi c

Hong Kong Papers i n Design and Development - Volume One

FigJ ( L . Hel l man, 1988)contai ns mreaesthet i c . AbrahamMol es, i n hi s book I nf orma-t i o n Theory and Estheti c Percepti on ( 1966: 1 6 9 ) , gi ves a f u l l andcl ear account of the di ff erences betweensemanti c i nformati onand aestheti c i nformati on . Gomri ch draws a s im l ar type ofdi st i nction between asense of ' meani ng' and a sense of ' o r d e r ' i nhi s wri ti ngs ( 1979: 145) .

Thepaper i s extracted fromChapt er 1 , 2&Appendi x I I of the Ph DThesi s "The Genesi s of Archi tectural Detai l s", compl etedi n Decemer 1997by the author .

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Apubl i c a l i enat i on frombui l dings, caused by a l ack of semant i ci nformat i on i n Modern Archi tec ture , has been t h e bas i c theorybehi nd t he Post ModernMovement . The l ack of aestheti c i n f o r -mat i on ( or ' d e t a i l s ' ) , however, remai ns no more than a commentmade by t he general publ i c or archi t ect ural c r i t i c s . I t i s se l domdef i ned or anal ysed and there i s no preci se and compl et e def i ni -t i o n f or t he t e rm ' d e t a i l ' i n archi t ect ure .Detai l s i n archi tectureI t i s surpr i s i ngl y d i f f i c u l t t o f i n d a de f i n i t i o n f or t he word ' d e t a i l 'i n most archi t ectural d i c t i o n a r i e s , probabl y because i t i s used i neveryday Engl i sh and as a l a yman' s t e rm of reference . Asdef i ned i n Engl i sh di ct i onari es, a d e t a i l l i t e r a l l y means ' a smal lpart of somet hi ng whi ch gi ves mor e i nformat i on and part i cul arsabout t hewhol e' . There ar e t wo i mport ant concepts embodi ed i nt h i s def i ni t i on .Theword ' d e t a i l ' has i t s root i n t he o l d French verb t a i l l e r , whi chwas, i n t u r n deri ved f r om t he Lat i n t a l i a r e meani ng t o cut . Addt he pref i x de meani ngapart, and ' d e t a i l ' becomes ' a part cut t i ngf r om somet hi ng' (Woodbridge 1991 : 1) . A e t a i l can onl y e x i s ti n t he context of t he whol e Adress d e t a i l i s a p a r t of a dress ; i tcan be a c ol l a r , a hemi ne , a seam or a sl eeve of t h e dr e ss . Abui l di ng det ai l i s a part of a bui l di ng ; i t can be a wndow acol umn, a moul di ng or aj oi nt of t he bui l di ng . On t he other hand,a bui l di ng i s ap a r t of ac i t y andtherefore i t can be cons i dered a sa d e t a i l of t he c i t y .When can we consi der a pa r t a s a deta i l ? Howmany d e t a i l s canwe f i n d i n an obj ect ? Accordi ng t o t he above d e f i n i t i o n , a d e t a i lshoul d contai n i n f o rma t i o n . The i nformat i on shoul d be s u f f i -ci e nt f or someone t o consi der i t separate l y a s a meani ngf ulwhol e I f a d e t a i l cont ai ns further meani ngf ul uni ts w t h i n i t ,secondary d e t a i l s canbe f ound w t h i n a d e t a i l . Thi s process ofsubdi vi s i on c an c ont i nue i n descendi ng order unt i l the subdi -vi ded parts no l onger mean anyt hi ng andhence, can no l onger bepercei ved a s i sol ated e n t i t i e s .Appl y i ng t he above concept s, a bui l di ng d e t a i l i s a smal l p a r t ofa bui l di ng which gi ves more i n format i on about t he bui l di ng .Convent i ona l l y t h er e ar e t wo t ypes of bui l di ng deta i l s . Con-st ruct i onal deta i l s gi ve i n format i on about how a bui l di ng i sconst ructed . Archi t ect ura l deta i l s f o rm parts of t he desi gn andarchi t ect ure of a bui l di ng . Thi s paper i s about t he l a t t e r t ype o fd e t a i l .Arch i tecture can al s o be appreci ated through t he ot her senses,f or exampl e, t he ' s h a pe ' of a door knob by ' t o u ch ' ; t he ' s p ac e ' ofa church by i t s ' echoes' ; t he ' wood' o f a bui l di ng by i t s ' s me l l ' ;nevert hel ess, t he ar t of bui l di ng i s appreci ated pri mari l y t hroughvi sual percept i on Archi t ectural d e t a i l s , (known si mpl y hereaf-t e r a s ' d e t a i l s ' ) , ar e def i ned a s t he parts of a bui l di ng t h a t carryvi sual i n format i on i n a manner that t hey can be cons i deredseparatel y . These ar e t he ' s t r e s s e d ' , ' , ' a cc ent e d' or ' eye-catchi ng'el ement s of a bui l di ng . An abundance of themcan make abui l di ng l o ok i nterest i ng, r i c h andcompl ex ; a concept whichwi l l be expl ored further l a t e r i n t h i s paper60 Hong Kong Papers

~Decreas i ng l i g ht i n t ens i t y orI ncreasi ng D s t a nc e

Fi g 2 Lower Level of Detai l-~Detai l as theperceptual uni t of bu ld-i ngsPeopl e det ect changes i n l i ght and col our and create an i mageoft he obj ect i n f ocus . Thi s process i s known a s percept i on . Ourv i s ua l f i e l d i s l i m t e d by t he cone of vi s i on . Because t he s i z e ofa bui l di ng i s l arge i n r el at i on t o human bei ngs, unl ess vi ewedf r om a dist ance, bui l di ngs ar e i nevi t a bl y percei ved a s a c o l l e c -t i o n of parts . By t he movement of t he eyes, head and body, t h e s ev i s u a l parts ar e c ol l ec t ed and gradual l y combined i n t o an i mageof t he whol e . Evenwhen t he bui l di ng i s a t such a di st ance t h a t i tcan be compl etel y conta i ned w t h i n our cone of v i s i o n, s c i e n t i s t shave concl uded t h a t we canonl y ' r e a d ' and ' r emember ' i t by t heprocess of ' f i x a t i o n ' , f i x i ng our eyebal l s and f ocus i ng on one par tof an obj ect at a t i me . Through t h i s process of scanni ng over abody, pi ece- meal parts o f i n format i on ar e mer ged, j us t l i k emosai cs, i n t o a meani ngf ul whol e "To take an aestheti c i n t e r e s ti n a bui l di ng i s t o attend t o i t i n al l i t s compl et eness, t o see i t , no ti n t erms of narrow or predeter m ned f unct i ons, but i n t erms ofevery vi sual s i gn i f i cance t h a t i t wi l l bear" ( Scr utonl 979 : 2 06 ) .These p a r t s f o rmt he bas i c uni t s of our percept i on and a r e o f t e nreferred t o a s d e t a i l s .Cons i der i ng vi s i on a s a percept ual system t he eyes ar e t hereceptors of t he system t he l i ght t h a t goes i n t o our eyes i s t hest i mul ant , and t he br ai n i s t he processor of these st i mul i i n t oi nformat i on . Theamount of i n format i on or , i n other words, t henumber of d e t a i l s one can percei ve anddi gest at a t i me i s l i m t e dby the s t rength of t he st i mul us, t he s e n s i t i v i t y and resol ut i on oft he receptor and t he a b i l i t y of our bra i n i n processi ng i t . F ornor mal peopl e, t he l a t t e r t wo factors a r e mor e or l e s s c ons t a nt .The amount of d e t a i l percei ved depends very much on t heamount of re f l ected l i g h t reachi ng one's eyes, whi ch i s af u nc t i o nof t he l i ght i ng i ntens i t y of t he envi r onment and t he r e c i p r oc a l o ft he di s t ance between t he source and t he receptor .Fromeveryone' s experi ence, i mages becomebl urr ed and d e t a i l sl o s t as d is t ance and di mness i ncreases Ti ny parts mer ge i n t obi gger p a r t s , and t h e i r i ndi vi dual i t y gradual l y di sappears as wemove away fromt he s ource o f i nf o rma t i on . Thi s phenomenon,t he "perspect i ve of di sappearances" was recogni sed by Leonardoda Vi nci who descri bed i n d e t a i l howi nformat i on was l os t w t hi ncreas i ng dist ance, "whenwe see a man close t o you, you w i l ldi scern al l these three el ement s, w t h i ncreas i ng di stance youwi l l f i r s t f a i l t o recogni se who i t i s , f r om further awayyou cannott e l l hi s col our i ng but see him i mpl y a s a dark body, and i n t h e

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en d he w i l l appear as t i n y dark r ound spot " ( Gombr i ch' s 1979: 9 6 ) .A s i m l a r process of l os s of def i ni t i on happens when t he l i g h ts o u r c e i s gradual l y dimmdTh e above phenomna can be r epr esent ed i n t he di agr amof at y p i c a l system Smal l er d e t a i l s merge i n t o a d e t a i l of hi gher l e ve lan d b i g ge r s i z e at a greater dis t ance or i n adimmr envi r onment( F i g 2 ) .Mor e s pe c i f i c al l y f o r bui l di ngs, each successi ve l evel of boxesr e p r e s e n t s di f f erent t ypes of det ai l s i n decreasi ng s i z e andi n c r e a si n g quant i t y . The s p at i a l rel ati onshi p bet ween t he vi eweran d t h e bui l di ng di ctates which r ange of d e t a i l s i s dom nant i nh i s v i s u a l f i e l d . Somethi ngper cei ved as a d e t ai l maybe ' t o o bi g 'a t a c l o s e r dis t ance because i t goes beyond our vi sual f i e l d andno l o n ge r per cei ved as p a r t s , or ' t o o smal l and i n s i g n i f i c a n t ' ata l a r ge r di st ance as t he probl emof i nsuf f i cient l i ght renders i tu n r e s o t v a bl e . For exampl ewhen peopl e ar e very f ar away froma b ui l d i n g, t hey see the bui l di ng as a s i l h ou et t e , t he shape of t heroof or wal l as det ai l s . At a cl oser di st ance, t he wndows andd oo r s appear as d et a i l s , whi l e t he bui l di ng formand shapes ar eno l onger concei vabl e . Fi nal l y hemay get s o cl ose t o t heb u i l d i n g t h a t t he pat t er ns of j oi nts on t he wal l s becom t hepr omnent d e t a i l s ( F i g . 3) .Frank Ll oyd W i g h t ' s A Heur t l ey House at OakPark i s shownas an exampl e of di f f erent l e v e l s of d e t a i l s at di f f erent di st ance

Fi g 3 Loss of det a i l s w t hD stanceandDmess

Hong Kong Papers i n Desi gn

( a) At t h i s dist ance t h e whol eshape of t he r o o f , t hehori zont al rowof w ndow t h edark semcir cul ar openi ng andt hepai r of piers st and out asd et a i l s

( b) At t h i s dist ance t h e key hol eopeni ng, t h e pl astered bor der sat t h e edges of t h e wal l andt hewhol e arch st and out as d e t a i l s

( c ) Thepai red s t r i n g cour ses ofbri cks and t he copi ng w t h i t sheavy shadow i ne st and out asd e t a i l s

( d) W t h r educed i n t e n s i t y of l i g h tonl y t h e s i l h ou et t e or i n otherwor ds t h e shape of t h ebui l dingf or m st ands out asd e t ai l

Mart i n Krampen ( 1979) empl oyed a s i m l a r concept i n hi sresearchon t he cogni t i on of bui l di ng f acades . He resol ved v i s u a li nf ormat i on of bui l di ngs i n t o f our l e v e l s of det ai l s : namel y t hef o r m t he f enestr ati on, t he sub- f enestr ati on and f i n a l l y t he t e x -t u r e ( F i g . 4) . Al t hough t he wayhe c l a s s i f i e d t h i s v i s u a l i nf or ma-t i on i n t o l evel s of d e t a i l i s per sonal and a r b i t r a r y , i t r econci l esw t h t he mdel presented above

~ ;rRFi g 4 Di f f erent l evels of detai l s (Krampen 1974)Detai l as ' f i gure'

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Af t er r e vi ew ng t he way bui l di ngs ar e per cei ved as p a r t s , wehave t o address t he quest i on whysom parts of an enti ty standout f r o mt h e i r cont ext i n a gi ven vi sual f i e l d and drawour eyest o i nspect themi n i s ol at i on. What mkes a part of bui l di ngappear t o be more i nteresti ng andeye-catchi ng such t h a t i t can beread as a d e t a i l ? The t heor i es on t he percept i on of vi sual f o r mgi ve u s som gui del i nes .Accordi ng t o t he Gestal t Theor y, al l vi sual form possess at l e as ttwo di st i ngui shabl e aspect s, a f i gur ed por t i on cal l ed Fi gur e anda backgr ound cal l ed Ground Fi gur e has t he f ol l ow ng proper-t i e s which cont r ast w t h gr ound : f i g u r e occupi es an area t h a t i ssmal l er t han t h a t of gr ound ; Figure has a contour or an edgewhi l e gr ound i s boundl ess ; Fi gur e appear s t o be near er t o t heobser ver whi l e gr ound appear t o extend beyondandunbr oken byt h e f i gure ; f i gure mayhave a ' think- l i ke' qual i t y or be represen-t a t i o na l whi l e gr ound i s formess, di f f use and i ndefi ni te ; f i g u r eappear s t o be br i ght er t han ground and f i n a l l y fi gure i s mres t rongl y organi sed t han ground ( t h e t e r m ' or gani sed' w i l l bef urt her expl ai ned) .TheGestal t Theory has been t he s c i e n t i f i c t heor y behi nd t heaest heti cs of Modern Ar t a nd Ar chi t ect ure . Si nce t he phi l osophyand aest heti cs of t he Modern Movemnt ar e s t i l l very much i ndoubt , onemaywel l chal l enge t he val i di t y of appl yi ng t h i st heor y t o t he ' percept i on of det ai l " i n t h i s paper . Whi l es t i l l bei ng

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perhaps t hemost comprehensi ve t heory on t he v i s u al per cepti onof fo rm i t i s i nt erpreted obj ecti vel y i n here w t hout i mposi ngany val ue j udgment .I n I nf ormat i on Theory a ' f i g u r e " r epr esent s a concent r ati on ofi nf ormat i on. An i rr egul ar shape i s a st r onger ' fi gure" t han ar egul ar one because i t requi res more i nf ormati on t o descri be i t .Acurve i s a st r onger ' f i g u r e " t han a s t r ai g ht l i ne because ever ypoi nt of i nf l exion i n i t i s di f f erent A ' f i g u r e ' al so appearsst r onger i f i t i s i n hi gher cont r ast f rom t he ground .Appl yi ng Rubi n' s concept of ' f i gure- gr ound' ( 1914) t o t he per-spect i ve of a bui l di ng, some parts of a bui l ding possess t hepropert i es of ' f i g u r e ' anddrawour att ent i on t o them t he r e s t oft he bui l di ng, which r ecei ves l e s s at t e nt i on, t hus f a l l s into t hebackground Research on eyemovement suppor t s t h i s t heory( Yar bus 1965) . When a per sonwas asked t o s t ar e at a f ace or as t a t u e of a head, t h e i r eyes cont i nued t o cl i ng t o t he ' f i g u r e s ' oft he f a c e , i n other words t hey f ocussed on t he eyes, nose, mouthandears ; t hese f i gures are the ' d e t a i l s ' of t he f ace ( Fi g . 5) . Thesameeye f ixat ion t e s t on acol umnshows t hat t he capi t al andj o i n t s of acol umnr ecei ve t hemost a t t e nt i o n ( Gombr i ch 1979 : 122)( F ig . 7) . Al t hough such an experi ment has not beenconduct ed ona bui l di ng, one woul dexpect t h a t f or exampl e, i n a cl assi calbui l di ng, t he r oof si l houet t e, moul di ngs, andcol umn capi tal swoul d r ecei ve more at t ent i on as t hey possess t he qual i ty of' f i g u r e ' . They become t he d e t a i l s of t he f acade ( F ig . 6) .

Fi g . 5 ( Yar bus 1965)

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M3LLL~3Lr-7ZL11Mr r

~' l ~I

!

Fig 6 ( extr apol ated by aut hor )

Fi g 7 (G T Buswel l 1935)Hong Kong Papers

Thi s f i gur e- gr ound rel at i onshi p can be upset by t he bl urr i ng oft he di f f erence between t he f i gured andground p a r t s of a formFor exampl e, whent he f i gure andgroundget cl oser i n s i z e , oreach possess a speci al shape and cont our , t he conf i gurat i onbecomes ambi guous andreversi bl e . Thi s i s bes t demonst r at ed byRubi n' s f amous Vase-Face ( Zusne 1979: 114) ( F ig . 8) andEscher' s( 1960) i nt erchangeabl e Fish-Frog (Gombri ch 1979: 89) orHeaven-Hel l ( Zusne 1979 : 114) pat t erns .

I n t he case of bui l di ngs, Rudol f Arnheim( 1974) has noted t h a twe can i nt erpret sol i ds andvoi ds i n f acades i n several d i f f e r e n tways ( F i g . 9) . Smal l wndowsmay appear as di screte fi guresupon a cont i nuous ground of wal l . I f we enl arge t he r at i o o fopeni ng t o wal l surf ace, as i n Gothi c archi t ect ure, we i n t er p r e t af acade as an al t ernati on of open- and-sol i d el ement s, nei t her ofwhich i s unambi guousl y ' f i g u r e ' or ' ground' . I f we carry t h i sprocess s t i l l f u r t h e r , as perhaps i n t he gl azed wal l of a modernoff i ce bui l di ng, we event ual l y produce t he f i gure of a s t r u c t ur a lf rame seen agai nst a cont i nuous ground of wndowsurface(M tchel l 1994 : 5) .

punched w ndows ambi guous f r ame as deta i las d e t a i l sFi g 9 ( Ar nhei m R 1974)

Fi g 8 ( Rubi n)

Bui ldingdetai l s as figuresongroundBui l di ng detail s can be i nterpret ed as ' f i gur es ' on ' g r o u nd ' .Because of t he sel f - cont ained and dist i ngui shabl e properi es of af i gure ( or d e t a i l ) , we of t en assign specif i c ' words' t o descri bethem a ' j o i n t ' , ' d oo r ' or ' r o o f ' . I n t h i s aspect archi t ect ure andl i n g u i s t i c s are very s iml ar . Roger Scruton ( 1979) expl ai ned i nhi s book The Aest heti c of Archit ect ure t h a t , " I t seem t hen thatwe can trace l i n g u i s t i c meani ngdownt o ' s i g n i f i c a n t d e t a i l ' . Andt he process i s f i n i t e : there i s a poi nt beyond whi chmeani ngexpi r es . That , i ndeed, i s howwe dist i ngui sh words f romt hesounds whi chcompose t hem I n archi t ect ure, t o o , t he p ur s u i t ofmean ngcomes t o an end There are genui ne ' u n i t s ' of a r c hi t e c -t u r a l meani ng - t h e c l a s si c al andGothi c moul di ngs, t he t ypes ofbui l ding st one, t heunadornedv e r t i c a l , and so on "Themoul di ngs or groove l i n e s ar ound panel s ; t he j o i n t s bet weent i l e s or gl ass ; t he f r ames ar ound a wndow or t he si l houett e of abui l ding are j ust a few exampl es of detai l s whi chexi st i n t heformof a contour , t heboundar y between a fi gure and i t s ground.

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T h i s represents t he smal l est andt hemost basi c formof d et a i l . Ashape i s a f i g u r e bound by, or al most boundby contours . Adotr e p r e s e n t s t he smal l est shape at which i t s cont our condenses i n t oa poi nt . Thi s i s of l i t t l e i mport ance i n archi tecture a s al mostever ythi ng used i n bui l di ngs a r e of a consi derabl e s i z e , andeverydeta i l has t o be bi g enough t o be v i sual l y s i gni f i cant .Ao l t , anopeni ng, adoor handl e or a gabl e ar e exampl es of det a i l s i n t heformof a shape ( F i g . 10) .At e x t u r e anda pattern can be i nterpreted a s a f i gur ed groundwhi ch stand at t he border l i ne between t he ' f i gure" and t he' g r ound' . Whether a pattern or texture i s vi ewed as a col l ect i ono f f i g ur e s or si mpl y a s a backgr ound, depends very much on t hed i s t a nc e at which they ar e i nspect edand t he presence of other

Fi g . 10 Bui l di ngdetai l sasf i gures onground

Hong Kong Papers i n Design

( a) Contours as deta i l s( b) Ashapeasadetai l( e) Cl osel y spacedf i gure s appear asatexture at adi s tance( d) Regul ar l y spacedcontours appear as apatternat adi s tance( e) Af i gur e of a hi gher order emrges out of agroundw thapa t t e rn( f ) D r t makes t he ground "noisy"( g) Defect s appear as de tai l s

and Developmnt - Volum One

f i gures . Gombri ch ( 1979 : 9 5) gave acl ear def i ni t i on fo r textu re"For i n t hose combi nat i ons of el ements whichwe have anal ysedi n geomet r i cal t erms, al l of which ar e t oo smal l , t oo densel yspaced, or t oo di st ant fromt he observer, wi l l i nev i t abl y mrgei n t o an i mpress ion of t e x t u r e , whi ch i n i t s t u r n , can di ssol ve i n t oi t s el ement s under a c lose scrut i ni s i ng gl ance . " Thecobbl es of apaved f l oor showup c lear l y under one' s f e e t , but mrge i n t o atexture at adi st ance. Apattern i s very s i m l a r t o a texture . I t a l s oc on s i s t s of many r e p e t i t i v e el ements t hough they are l e s s densel yspaced andmre organi sed. Thi s makes t he exi st ence of i ndi -vi dual el ement s mre i dent i f i abl e . The j oi nt s of a br i ck wal lappear a s de t a i l s a t a c l ose di st ance but becoms a pattern at adi st ance, p a r t i c u l a r l y when there are str onger d e t a i l s on t he br i ckwal l such a s a wndow( F i g . 10) . The gr adual f usi on of f i gures t obecom a gr ound a l s o play an i mpor t ant r ol e i n t he per cept i on ofdi st ance and space a s t he convergence of texture and pattern ar ei mpor t ant vi sual cl ue i n guessi ng a di st ance accordi ng t o J . J .G bson ( 1950 : 77- 116) .As previ ous l y expl ai ned, t h e di s t i nct i on between ' f i gure ' and' ground" i s r e l a t i ve . The appear ance of a s t r onger f i gure w l lovershadowweaker deta i l s and tu rn them nt o par ts of t hegr ound . On t he other hand, t he gr ound can a l s o be st rengt henedby t he i nc l u s i on of a pat te rn or texture whi ch represents acol l ect i on of regul ar l y or densel y spaced f i n e f i gures . When suchf i gures i n t he background becom s o strong or di sorgani sed t h a tthey competewth , andobscur e the percept i on of t he f i g ur e , theybecome t he ' n o i s e' i n t he composi t i on . The d i r t on bui l di ngf acades i s anexample of s uc h noi se i n bui l di ngs ( F i g . 10) . Thesam d i r t may appear muchmore conspi cuous, or ' n o i s i e r ' on t hef acade of a Modern rather than cl assi cal bui l di ng si nce t he l a t t e rmay be r i cher i n de t a i l .Lawf organisationandhigher l evel ofdetai lWhat makes di screte parts of a bui l di ng col l ect i nt o a d et a i l ofhi gher l evel ? Thi s l i e s i n t he methods i n ' combi ni ng' these partsi n t o somet hi ng whi ch possesses mrepropert i es of a f i gure thant h a t of t he gr ound i n a composi t i on . Through exper i ment s Ge-s t a l t psychol ogi st s i dent i f i ed a l i s t of factors t h a t i nf l uence t heper cept i on of a group of smal l er f i gures (Lang 19974: 104) .Di screte parts wi l l become bi gger and stronger f i gures underthese rul es These factors or proper t i es are summari sed bel owLaw of cont i nui t y - cont i nued obj ects or l i nes appear t o bestr onger than d i s c r e t e obj ect s or l i n e s . Conti nui t y of acurve andan i nc l i ned l i n e i s nor mal l y more obvi ous ( F i gs . I l a &12a) .Lawof pr oxi m t y - obj ect s t h a t ar e c l ose t oget her tend t o begr ouped together vi sual l y as a whol e, and appear stronger thanobj ect s l i e l oosel y apart ( F i gs . l l b &12b) .Lawf cl osure - obj ect s t ha t a r e organi sed i n t o a cl osed shape oral most a c l ose shape appear stronger t h an unr e l at ed obj ect s( F i gs . l l c &12c) .

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t e x t u r e , col our, and s o f o r t h t end t o bepercei ved as as i n g l e u ni t s ,and appear s t r onger than gr oups of di f f erent l ooki ng obj ect s(F i gs . l 1 d . &12d) .Lawof symmet ry - symmetr i cal l y arr anged, r a d i a l l y arr anged orot her geometr i cal l y arr anged obj ect s appear st r onger t han r a n -domy arr anged obj ect (Fi gs . I l e &12e) .

Detai l sandforml compexi ty

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c ) l aw of c l o s ur e d ) l awof e ) l aw ofs i m l ar i t y symmet r y

Fi g I 1 The d o t s organi sed i n t o av a r i e t y of patterns accor di ng t odi f f e r ent ru les

Howdo detai l s re l ate t o t he compl exi t y of a bui l di ng formI nf ormat i on Theor y, ( t he mul t i -d isc ipl i nary theory on how n-f ormat i on i s percei ved and pr ocessed devel oped by communi ca-t i o n s c i e n t i s t s ) expl ai ns t he cause of compl exi t y . AbrahamMol es,i n hi s book I nf ormat i on Theor y andAest het i c Percept i on, ex-pl ai ns t h a t compl exi t y i s measured by the quant i ty of i nf or ma-t i on i n a message "Messages are measured by a quant i t y ofi nf ormat i on whi ch i s t he o r i g i n a l i t y , t h a t i s, the quant i t y of un-predi ctabi l i ty (unf oreseeabi l i ty) t h a t they present . . I nf ormat i onappear s t o be a measure of t he compl exi t y of t he patterns ofperc ept i on" (1966: 54) . Amore complex obj ect cont ai ns moreuni ts of newi nf ormati on, wh ch i s al so known as novel t y,o r i g i n a l i t y , di ssi m l ar i t y or unpr edi ctabi l i ty and t he i nf ormat i onhas t o be i n t e l l i g i b l e t o the receptor .To r e i t e r a t e , det a i l s t hus r epr esent uni ts of i nf ormat i on i n ar c hi -tecture . AsDE . Berl yne ( 1960) , i n hi s book C o n f l i c t , Arousaland Cur i os i t y expl ai ned i n d e t a i l , t he compl exi t y of a vi sualpattern i s affected by t he quant i t y, novel t y and organi sat i on of i t sel ements . Berl yne used agroup of l i nes t o i l l u s t r a t e t he e f f e c t oft hese factors . I f we appl y hi s f i ndi ngs t o archit ecture, andtr ansl ate hi s i l l u s t r a t i o n i n to agroup of wi ndows, we f i nd t h a t t hef or mal compl exi t y of bui l di ngs i s affected by a number offactors :1 . The number of detai l s : I f ot her factors r emai n t he same,compl exi t y i nc reases wi th t he number of di s t i ngui shabl e e l e -ment s .

Hong Kong Papers

( a) Rul e of Co nt i n ui t yThe c u r v e and c o n t i n uo u s e l emen t s t i e t h e d i s c r e t e uni t s i n t o a who l e( b) Rul e of Proxi mt yThe f o u r wi ndows ar e so c l o se t o each o t h e r t ha t t h ey ar e p r a c t i c a l l yr e a d as one ( T he Rul e of Si mi l ar i t y andCl osur e ar e a l s o at work)( c) Rul e of Cl osur eDi s c r e t e wi ndows ar e t i e d by t he e nc l o s e d f r ames i n t o l a r g er v e r t i c a lu n i t s( d) Rul e of S i mi l ar i t yThe f acade i s segment ed i n t o t h r e e r ows of openi ngs i n di f f e r e nts hap es ( T he Rul e of c o n t i n u i t y i s a l s o at wor k)( e) Rul e of Symmet r yThef acade i s organi sed i n t o a whol e by t he b i l a t e r a l symmet r y( f ) Di s cr et e br i c k u n i t s ar e grouped i n t o bands un i t s by t h e i r s i m l a r i t y i nc o l o u r ands i z e and t h ei r c o n t i n u i t y .( g) Thef r ames organi sed t he f acade i n t o u n i t s of mu l t i - s t o r e y h ei g htwhi ch become d e t a i l s o f h i g he r order

Fi g . 12 El ement s are gr ouped i n t o det a i l s of hi gher hi erarchi esby t he Rul es of Or gani sat i on i n Gestal t Theor y

n Desi gn and Devel opment - Vol ume One

0 0 0 0 * * 0 0 0 00 0 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 a * 0 0 0 0 00 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0 0 0 0r andom a ) l aw of b) l aw of

c o n t i n u i t y p r o xi mi t y

0 0 * 00 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 00 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 00 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0


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l e s s compl ex morecompl ex l ess compl ex morecompl ex

2 . The novel t y of deta i l s : Al so somet i mes referred t o by ' i n f o r -ma t i o n t h e o r i s t s a s t he o r i g i n a l i t y , di s s i mi l a r i t y , surpri si ngnesso r u n p r e d i c t a b i l i t y of t he d e t a i l s - i f t he number of el ement s i sh el d c o n s t a n t , compl exi t y i ncreases w t h t he d i s s im la r i t y ofe l emen t s . _ .

l e s s compl ex morecompl ex l ess compl ex morecompl ex

3 . Level of organi sati on wt hi n el ements : Compl exi t y vari esi n ve r s el y w t h t he l evel of or gani sati on w th i n el ement s a so r g a n i s a t i o n r epr esent s a cert ai n degr ee o f r edundancy of i n f o r -ma t i o n.n other words compl exi t y decr eases when t he el ement s

, c a n be gr ouped i n t o l arger uni t s .

OR

17

ooEaal e s s compl ex more complex l ess compl ex morecompl ex

I n s t e a d o f or gani si ng el ement s i n t o abstract patterns accor di ngt o t he Ge s t a l t Theory they canal so be organi sed i n t o meani ngf ulu n i t s . The r ecept or mus t be l i t e r a t e i n t h a t l anguage and peopl ef r o m d i f f e r e n t cul t ures may read t he same pattern i n di f f erentways .

l e s s compl ex more compl ex l ess compl ex more compl exWe s t e r n e r s mayr e a d i t as a c r o ss ' wh i l eChinese may r e a d i t a st he Chi nese c h a t r a c t e r o f t en

j 4 . The ra te of deta i l s : Apart f romt he above f actors t he t i me" e l e me n t i s not ref l ected i n Ber l yne' s model because hi s experi -me n t s wer e conduct ed on some smal l graphi cal patterns whi l et he d e t a i l s o f bui l di ngs were per cei ved t hrough bot h t he s p a t i a la nd t emporal channel s . Abui l di ng can sel dombe cont ai ned byo n l y one v i s u a l f i e l d . Bymovi ng our bodi es we can ass embl e t h ed e t a i l s o f t he di f f erent order s froma l l t h e di f f erent s ides of ab u i l d i n g . Evenw t h i n a s i ngl e vi sual f i e l d i t i s onl y through t hes c a n n i n g process t hat i ndi vi dual b i t s of i nformati on are put

c t o g e t h e r i n t o a col l aged whol e pi cture . The same number of' , e l e me n t s mayappear si mpl er i n a l a r g e r bui l di ng t han i n smal l er' o n e ( F i g . 1 3 ) , whi ch shows t h a t t he number of el ement s per -

c e i v e d through t he same t i me span o r t he r a t e of d e t a i l s i s a l s o an

Interactionof detai l s

Hong Kong Papers i n Desi gn and Developmnt - Volum One

i mpor t ant f act or i n det er m ni ng t he appar ent compl exi t y of abui l di ng . Rhythm n archi tect ure represents a predi ctabi l i ty o rpattern of d e t a i l s t hrough t i me whi ch r educes t he overal l compl exi ty of a systemi n a s im l a r way a s t he above f act or onorganis ati on of el ement . On t he other hand t h e e f f e c t of unf ol d-i ng di f f erent scenes i n sequent i al percept i on such a s wal ki ngt hrough a medi eval urban space i s a proces s of t aki ng novel andunpr edi ctabl e i nfor mati on through t i me .

Thereducti onof detai l s

Fi g . 13 The same detai l s mayappear morecompl ex i n a smal l ersurface .

These concept s have been empl oyed by many Modern andM ni mal i s t archit ects t o make t h e i r bui l di ngs appear apparent l ysi mpl e andpur e . Det ai l s are el i mnated i n t he f o l l ow ng ways :1 . Suppressi onof i r r egul ar i t i es and di f f erences : Natur al d i f f e r -ences caused bydi f f erent f uncti onal and s t r u c t u r a l r equi r ement s(such a s t he di st i nct i on between acorner col umn and t h a t at mdspan, or any contrast bet ween t he gl az i ng of an openabl e sashw t h t hat o f a f i xed-l i ght wndow ar e del i berately di sgui sed i norder t o achi eve a r t i f i c i a l uni f orm t y . Conceal ed or sunkenf i xi ngs and f i t t i n g s are preferred t o surf acemounted ones .2 Ogani si ng i ndi vi dual detai l s i n t o a l arger det ai l or a pattern :Smal l er el ement s ar e combi ned ( accor di ng t o t he abovemen-t i oned Rul es of Or gani sati on) i n t o de t a i l s of ahi gher order sucha s groupi ng d i s c r e t e hi nges i n t o a cont i nuous pi ano hi nge . Thes i z e and di spos i t i on of i ndi vi dual punched openi ngs ar e r egu-l ated by a pattern such a s ag i rd by whi ch t hey can become p a r tof t h e pattern of t he gr ound .3 . Avoi d el ements cont ai ni ng a hi gh concentr at i on of i nforma-t i on : S t r a i g h t l i n e s , r egul ar shapes andf l a t roof s are preferred t ocurves, i rr egul ar shapes andpi tched roof s as t he l a t t e r contai nsmor e novel t y . Surf aces shoul d be p l a i n , f l a t and f r e e of textureandpatterns . Onaments t h a t contai n a hi gh i ntens i t y of bot haest het i c and semanti c i nfor mat i onbecome t aboos i n Modern o rM ni mal i s t ar chi t ecture .

The abovemodel i nvol ves onl y a gr oup of el ement s i n i sol at i ono r responded onl y t o one or gani sat i onal r u l e at a t i me . Thewhol e, however , i s of tenmore than t he summat i onof i t s e l e -ment s or a mer e f or t u i t ous col l i s i on of i t s parts . I n an abstractway di f f erent organis ati on rul es may i n t e r a c t andcompete w t h

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each ot her f or att enti on . J onLang ( 1974: 103) quot ed an exampl ei n whi ch t he ' r u l e of s i m l a r i t y ' and ' r u l e of proxi m ty' competew t h each other and l ead t o " a v i t a l exper i ence of pl as t i c tensi on"( Fi g . 14 ) . I n a s emo t i c waymeani ngs embodi ed by el ement s maybe contr adi ctory t o each ot her and caused an ambi gui ty i nbui l di ngs as expl ai ned by Rober t Venturi ( 1966) i n hi s bookComplexityand Contradi cti on i n Archi tecture Compl exi t y andr i chness are created i n bui l di ngs by t he di f f erences and contra-di c t i on of meani ngs whi ch i s t he t heoreti cal basi s of Post Mod-ern i sm ( F i g . 15) .

Fi g 14 Boxes 1, 2 &3whi ch aregroupedby t he ' r u l e ofs i m l a r i t y ' , are i n compet i t i on w t h Boxes 4, 5&6whi chare i nc l ose pr o xi m t y

66

Fi g 15Ambigui ty causedby two cont radi ct i ng l anguages i n equalpropor t i on.

Complexity, i nterest andpeasure

Casaper Ui f f i ci Bentl ey Li brary Theed Abalazi oni , Rome Yi n&Yang

Wereturn t o our o r i gi n al questi on : i s l e s s ( d et a i l ) more or abore?Accordi ng t o t he previ ous d e f i n i t i o n , t h i s coul d be rephrased as :what degr ee of f or mal compl exi ty do peopl e prefer? Manypsycho l ogi s t s have conducted experi ments i n an at t empt t odi scover whet her there i s a corr el at i on between t he compl exi t yof avi sual pattern and how i n t e r es t i n g' or how p l e as ur a bl e ' t h atpattern i s per cei ved t o be . F i ndi ngs on t h i s empi r i cal re lat i onshi pmay a s si s t us i n answeri ng t he quest i on .Psychol ogi s t s found t hat t he i nterest aff orded by a pattern,( whi ch was e i t h er measured obj ect i vel y by counti ng the l engthof t i me peopl e pai d at t ent i on t o the pat t ern or j udged subj ec-t i v e l y ) , vari es pos i t i vel y w t h t he compl exi t y of t he pattern(Lang 1987 : 196) . Thi s rel ati onshi p, however , does not appl y t ot he qual i ty of ' pl easure' . The ' pl easur abl eness' af f orded by apattern r i s e s as t he compl exi t y of t he patt ern i ncreases . How

Hong Kong Papers

e v e r , there beyondan opti mumcompl exi t y, t hepl easure f ound i nt he pattern s t a r t s t o decr ease as compl exi t y i ncreases ( Smet s1973 : 11- 21) . These rel ati onshi ps are portrayed i n t he di agr amsbel ow( F i g . 16 ) .

Fig 16 The cor r el at i on between ' pl easurabl eness' ,' i n terest i ngness' and ' compl exi t y'

Al t hough t hese f i ndi ngs may have been over- s i mpl i f i ed t o r ep-resent t he compl exi t y of archi t ectural f orms, whi ch i ncl ude a l s ot he di mensi ons of dept h andmovement as wel l as both f ormaland symbol i c i nformati on, such f i ndi ngs, however , reconci l ew t h t h a t of our dai l y exper i ence and I nformat i on Theory .Toomchandtool i t t l e detai lObj ects t h a t are over- decorat ed, or cont ai n t oo much d e t a i l , ar eoften descri bed as ' decor ated l i k e aChri st mas t r e e ' or ' a weddi ngcake' I n ot her words t he ornamentat i on represents an excessi veamount of i nfor mati on, more t han t h a t can be com ortabl yabsor bed anddi gest ed (Gombri ch 1979 : 2 8 ) and these or nament sor d e t a i l s oftenmasked t h ei r parent f orms . Thi s phenomenon canal so be expl ai ned i n t erms of I n format i on Theory . One of t hef undament al characteri st i cs of t he human receptor, as i d e n t i f i e dby psychol ogi st s, i s theexi stence of amaxi mum i m t t o t he f l o wof percept i bl e i nfor mat i on . Wen t h i s maxi mumf l o w i s ex -ceeded, the i ndi vi dual has t o s e l e c t among these messages wi t ht he ai d of c r i t e r i a deri ved fromhi s previ ous experi ence . I f t hesec r i t e r i a f a i l hi m t he i ndi vi dual i s overwhel medand l e f t b eh i n dby t he or i gi nal i t y of t he message, he l oses hi s i n t er e s t i n i t . I not her words a message of maximal i nfor mat i on may appearsensel ess i f t he i ndi vi dual cannot decode andmake i t i n t e l l i g i -bl e . I t expl ai ns t he r educti on of ' pl easurabl eness' when t hedegr ee of compl exi t y goes beyond t heopt i mal l evel i n Be r l y ne ' sdi agr am More canbe a bore! Thi s i s al so congruent w t h t heGestal t Theory . Wen there aretoomany f i gu r es i n av i s u al f i e l d ,t he gr ound i s overwhel medby them n t erms of s i z e and a r e a an di ndi vi dual f i gures gradual l y become i ndi s t i ngui shabl e and f i -nal l y di ssol ve i n t o t he backgr ound .On t he other hand, empi r i cal research a l s o shows t h a t i t r e q ui r e sa s u f f i c i e n t quanti ty of i nf o rmat i on t o arouse t he i n t e r e st of ani ndi vi dual t o attend . Below hi s t hreshol d t he i nformati on t r a n s -mt t ed i s eas i l y l os t i n t he systemand t he r eceptor becomei ndi f ferent t o i t . Man l i ngers hi s eyes onone d et a i l a f t e r t h e o t he runti l he exhaust s al l i nfor mat i on i n hi s vi sual f i el d t hroughwhichhe gai ns t he pl easure of percept i on . I f there i s t oo l i t t l ei n format i on i n t he system or i n ot her words t oo l i t t l e d e t a i l , hequi ckl y f i n i s h e s t he exer ci se and l o s e hi s i n t e r e st i n i t . Less i s abore!

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Gombr i ch ( 1979) expl ai ned why a very regul ar pavi ng patternappear t o be monot onous, " I s i t not because i t can be t aken i n soeas i l y t h at i t l eaves our per cepti ve process w t hout enoughworkt o do . " The same r eason accounts f or some of t he compl ai ntabou t Modern archi t ecture .As expl ai ned above, t he apparent compl exi t y of abui l di ng i s a l s oa f f e c t e d by t he t i me requi red t o per cei ve t heel ements . Theref oret he quest i on of t oo muchor t oo l i t t l e de t a i l i s not so muchabouti t s exa c t quant i t y but more about i t s proport i on r e l a t i v e t o t h e i rg r o u nd . Detai l s concent r ate on a smal l f acade maybe excessi vewh i l e t h e samespread over a l arge bui l di ng maynot be t oo much.The ground i n t h i s sense, whether i t i s of t emporal o r spati alna t u r e hel ps t o ' d i l u t e " t he i ntensi ty of t he f i gures . I t rei nf orcest he f i g u r a l qual i ty of a d et a i l by provi di ng s u f f i c i e n t ' breat hi ngspace ' f o r i tPl easure fromcomexi ty

Many psychol ogi st s suggested t h a t t hehuman sensor y appar atusi s b a s i c a l l y t uned t o r egi s t e r novel t y andchanges i n t he envi r on-ment , whi ch i s essent i al f or human survi val, f or exampl e t o beaware o f an approachi ng enemy These syst ems work on t hea s s ump t i o n of acont i nuit y u n t i l changes happen Anycont i nu-o us and r e p e t i t i v e o bj e c t s , f e el i n g, si ght o r sound w i l l si nk bel owt he t hreshol d of att enti on so as t o save our at tent i on f or t heappearance o f novel t y . Theref ore onl y di s s i m l a r i t y , di scont i nu-

i t y , v a r i e t y o r novel t y can cause a sensati on and arouse f eel i ngsi n peopl e The next questi on w i l l be whysomet i me di ssi ml ar i tya ppea r s as chaos whi l e i n other cases i t gi ves us pl easure i np er c e i v i n g i t .S i n c e A r i s t o t l e ' s t i me, t he concept of ' s i m l a r i t y w t hi n di ssim -l a r i t y " has exi sted ; aconcept used by Peter Smth i n h i s wri t i ngs( 1 9 7 4 , 1987) t o expl ai n t heexper i ence of pl easure deri ved fromcompl exi t y i n aesthet i c percept i on . Smt h' s hypot hesi s i s t h a tp l e as u r e i s not onl y deri ved fromt he process of conf ront i ngn ov el t y and surpri se, but a l s o f r omt he successf ul adapt ati on t ot he new nf ormati on . The l a t t e r requir es an overal l vi ewor ab as i s on whi ch t hese new nfor mati on can be successful l y p l o t -t ed and regi stered . He argued t hat aest het i c r eward has beena s s o c i a t e d w t h t he cl ash bet ween ' compl exi t y and order' or' l i k e n e s s t emper ed w t h di f f erence' . The pri mary aesthet i c con-d i t i o n i s t h a t ' whol eness" shoul d outwei gh ' p a r t i c u l a r i t y ' o r aswe s ay , ' uni t y w t hi n v a r i e t y ' . Wen uni ty or whol eness i sover whel med by compl exi t y or p a r t i c u l a r i t y , new nf ormati oncannot be graft ed onto t he corpus of exi sti ng knowedgeandc l a s s i f i c a t i o n f a i l s , peopl e f i n d di f f i c u l t y i n enj oyi ng t he i n f o r -mati on i n i t On t heother hand, there has t o be s u f f i c i e n t novel t yt o make t he percept i on of uni ty a wort hwhi l e ment al achi eve-ment , whi ch expl ai ns whyover simpl i f i ed patterns do not gi ve asmuch pl easure o r are as much f un t o l ook at .The term' f orm i s used i n archi t ecture t o descri be the overallp hy s i c a l e n t i t y of a bui l di ng . I n I nf ormati on Theory i t covers aw der andmore abst ract concept t han i t s physi cal exi stence I tr e f e r s t o t h e i n t e gr a l r e su l t , or t he i n t e r n a l coher ence of i nf orma-t i o n , as appr ehended by a r eceptor . I t r epresents an el ement aryHong Kong Papers i n Desi gn

stage of abst ract i n t e l l i g i b i l i t y i n I nf ormat i on Theory ( Mol es1966 : 100) and cor responds t o t he ' whol eness' , ' s i m l a r i t y ' , ' l i k e -nes s ' and ' u n i t y ' i n di screte i nf ormat i on descri bed i n t he abovepar agraph . Term such as concept , t heme, styl e o r order i n ourdai l y l anguage r e f e r t o t he same concept of ' f o r m i n I nf ormat i onTheory. W a l s o ask whet her i t ' makes sense' .Thedual rol es of detai l

and Devel opment - Vol ume One

As def i ned bef ore, detai l s are t he vi sual i nf ormati on uni ts ofbui l di ngs and r epresent t henovel t y or d iss imlar i ty i n percept i onof bui l di ngs . On t he other hand, i t i s al so the means t hroughwh chwe grasp t he ' f o r m of a buil di ng . The two modes i nappr eci ati ng t he detai l s of bui l di ngs wer e expl ai ned by RogerScrut on ( 1979 : 207) i n h i s book TheAest heti c of Archi t ect ure ."Wat i s a d et a i l i f not i t s e l f a smal l , but compl et ed, form Bycontrast, t o expl ai n det ai l i n t er ms of i t s cont ri but i on t o acompl et ed form and s o t o pl ace t he sense of t h e whol e before t hesense of i t s parts . "The f i r s t mode consi der s det a i l s a s di screte u n i t s of i nf ormat i onand cor responds t o t he concept o f di s si m l a r i t y expl ai ned before .I n t he second mode det a i l s , l i k e a mosai c, combi ne t ogether andgi ve an overal l pi cture of t he bui l di ng . Taki ng t he anal ogy ofl anguage, detai l s work l i k e t he words i n givi ng meani ngs t o asent ence . I t represent s t he means t hrough whi ch t he concept ofa ' f or m i s grasped. Det ai l s t h a t are coherent w th t he ' f o r m ar e' expl anatory a r t i c u l a t i o n' whi l e t hose t h a t are i nconsi stent t o i tcan be a ' camouf l age' .Imortanceof detai l s i n architectureDetai l i s bot h t h e di ssi ml ar i ty and t hemeans t o s i m l a r i t y , bot ht he vari ety and t he means t o uni ty i n buil di ngs. The success of abui l di ng of t en l i e s at t he del i cate bal ance between t he twocont radi ctory rol es pl ayed by detai l s . I ncl usi on of t oo manydi ssi ml ar and i nconsi stent de t ai l s of ten obscure t he ' f o r m whi l ei nsuf f i c ient di ssi ml ar i ty i s bori ng and makes t he arr i val of a' f o r m unr ewardi ng .Thei mpor t ance of det a i l s as t he ' p a r t s ' and t he ' means t o awhol e'i n bui l di ngs have l ong been r ecogni sed by many archi tects .Vi tr uvi us defi ned ' euryt hmy' i n archi t ecture as t he beaut y andf i t n es s i n t he adj ust ment of t hemembers al t hough h i s emphasi si s on t he proport i on ( 1960: 14) . Al ber t i sai d t h a t "Beaut y i s aconcordance and mut ual at t unement of parts", and consi der edt he beaut y of a bui l di ng t o resi de i n aharmonyof par t s , f i t t e dt ogether w t h j u s t r e f l ec t i o n, i n such a way t h a t not hi ng coul d beadded, di m ni shed or al t ered but f or t he wor se . More recentl y,a r c h i t e c t s such as M es van der Rohe have procl ai med "God i si n t he det a i l s " ; whi l e TadaoAndo ( 1991) , i n h i s i nt roduct i on t oa book on hi s de t ai l s , wri t es : "Duri ng t he process by whi ch anarchi t ect ural i dea i s real i sed as a bui l di ng, the whol eand t hep a r t s ent er i n t o a t ense r e l a t i o n s h i p , and t h a t rel ati onshi p p e r s i s t su n t i l al l work i s compl et ed. That rel ati onshi p of t ensi on provi dest h e cont ext f or ar c h i t e c t u r al de t a i l s . Detai l s arethe t r a c e s l e f t byan archi t ectural i dea as i t traverses t he gap bet weent he whol eand t he parts . I t i s out o f t he compl i cati ons met i n t h i s process

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t h a t t he most appr opr i ate deta i l s f or a bui l d ing emerge. Thei ntenti on i s t o create d e t a i l s t h a t act i vate one anot her and take onl i f e . "Less (detai l ) i smreor aboreHavi ngemphasi sed t he i mpor t ance of det ai l i n archi tecture, weshoul d a l s o address t he f a c t t h a t t he experi ence of a bui l di ng i sa l s o affected by other aspect s of archi tecture . Aack of d et a i l i ss omet i mes compensated f or by an excel l ence i n other aspects .Tadao Ando' s or Mes van der Rohe' s bui l di ngs ( where d e t a i l sare del i beratel y el i mnat ed) are hi ghl y prai sed f or thei r f l u i d i t yi n space, nobl eness of mater i al and prec i s i on of workmanshipAl t hough some bui l di ngs maybe of l i t t l e archi t ectural i n t e r e s t ,t he house wherewe spent our chi l dhood may arouse a strongfeel i ng i n us because of i t s semant i c cont ent . Less maybe moreBut i n most cases, bui l dings w t h i nsuf f i c i ent f ormal compl exi t ycaused byal ack of d et a i l often l ook bori ng . Less i s often a bore .On t he other hand, an i nc l us i on of excessi ve d e t a i l s or d e t a i l st h a t are i nconsi st ent w t h t he s t y l e , concept or theme of abui l di ng may not necessary be an advant age t o t he bui l d ing .More canal so be a bore

REFERENCESAndo, T. ( 1991) "The trace of archi tectural i ntent i on" i n TadaoAndo :

Detai l s Tokyo : ADAEdi t i onGAArnheim R ( 1974) Art andV sual Percepti on : APsychology of the

Creati veEye Berkel ey, Cal i f orn ia : Uni versi ty of Cal i f ornia Press .Berl yne, DE . ( 1960) Conf l i c t , Arousal andCur i os i t y . NewYork : MGaw

H i l l Book .Bl ake, P ( 1976) TheMaster Builder. NewYork :WWNort onBuswel l GT . ( 1935) Howeople LookAt P ic t ures . Chi cagoG bson, J . J . ( 1950) ThePercepti on of Vi sual Wrl d Bost on : Hought onM f f i n .Gombri ch, E H ( 1979) TheSense of Order : AStudyi n t he Psychologyof

Decorati veArt . Oxf ord : Phai don Press .M t c hel l ,WJ . ( 1994) The Logic of Architecture : Desi gn, Computati on,

andCogni ti on. Cambr i dge, Mass MT Press .Krampman,M( 1979) Meani ng I n The UrbanEnvi ronment . London

Pion .Lang, J . ( 1974) , "Theori es of percept i on and f ormal desi gn" i n Desi gni ng

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Lang, J . ( 1987) Creat i ng Ar ch i t ec tura l Theory - t he Rol e of t he BehaviouralSci ences i n Desi gn. NewYork : Van Nost r and Rehi nhol d

Mol es, A ( 1966) I nformati onTheoryandEs t he t i c Percepti on. LondonUni versi ty of I l l i n o i s Press .

Rubi n, E ( 1914) D eV suel e Wahrnehmung von Fi gure . Lei pz i g : BarthSanof f , H( 1988) V sual ResearchMethods i n Desi gn. NewYork VanNost r and Rei nhol d .Seruton, R ( 1979) The Aesthet i cs ofArchi tecture . Pri nceton : Pri nceton

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Smet s , G ( 1973) Aestheti c J udgement andArousal : An ExperimentalCont r i but i on t o Psycho-Aesthet i cs Louvai n : Leuven Uni versi ty Press .

Smth, P ( 1988) "Compl exi t y, order and an archi tect ural aest heti c" i nEnvi ronmental Perspecti ve NewCastl e upon Tyne : AthanaeumPress

Smt h, P . ( 1987) Architectureandthe Pri nci pl e of Harmony, LondonRBAPubl i cati ons .Smt h, P ( 1974) TheDynamcs of Ubani sm London Hutc hi nson Educa-t i o na lWodbridge, S. B . ( 1991) Detai l s- The Ar ch i t ect ' s Art San Franci sco :Chroni c l e BooksZusne, L ( 1979) The Vi sual Percepti on of FormNewYork : AcademcPress .Vent uri , R ( 1966) Complexi tyandContradcti on i n Arch i tec t ure . NewYork : Museumof Modern Ar t .Vi tr uvi us, P. ( 1960) The TenBooks onArch i t ec ture . NewYork : Dover .YarbusA. L . ( 1967) EyeMovement andV sion NewYork : Pl enumr e s s

Hong Kong Papers i n Design and Development - Vol ume One

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