thinking architecture - think sheet compiliation

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Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Architecture THINKING ARCHITECTURE (ARC60603/ARC2323/ARC2312) Think Sheet 1 Name: Phua Jing Sern ID: 0314572 As I am typing down this week’s think sheet on an iPad with its huge glass display, I believe we still have a long journey in discovering the properties of glass and its secrets that will excel human experiences. But knowing that the mysterious wonders of glass were recognized by extraordinary people got me thinking as an individual point of view. Are the people around us hold the keys in unlocking our secrets of self- understanding? This week’s reading gave me a wake up call to look back and appreciate the people who made me who I am today. What I am right now is nothing but a remix of everything I have ever touched and contacted, and the people I met are the catalyst in my ongoing festivity that I call “life”. From family and friends, to a random anonymous I have met on the Internet; all of them in some way changed my point of view, and gave me the chances and motivation to produce works that I never thought of doing in my life. And it does not stop here as these have great chain reactions. As we dig deeper in search of our life purpose, we may also give influential knowledge to others as well. From each interaction and refinement coming back and forth, our qualities slowly improves and eventually excel, helping each other to shape a better world. Just like the glass, primary made out of compounds of elements given from stars above, we humans are just as that as well. But as time goes on, our potential not only lies on our own self initiatives, but also heavily influences by the people who gave light to the darkest region of our own universe. ____________________________________________________________________ _____________________ Thinking | Architecture (ARC60603/ARC2323/ARC2312): August 2015

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Page 1: Thinking Architecture - Think Sheet Compiliation

Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Architecture

THINKING │ARCHITECTURE (ARC60603/ARC2323/ARC2312)

Think Sheet 1

Name: Phua Jing Sern ID: 0314572

As I am typing down this week’s think sheet on an iPad with its huge glass display, I believe we still have a long journey in discovering the properties of glass and its secrets that will excel human experiences. But knowing that the mysterious wonders of glass were recognized by extraordinary people got me thinking as an individual point of view. Are the people around us hold the keys in unlocking our secrets of self-understanding?

This week’s reading gave me a wake up call to look back and appreciate the people who made me who I am today. What I am right now is nothing but a remix of everything I have ever touched and contacted, and the people I met are the catalyst in my ongoing festivity that I call “life”. From family and friends, to a random anonymous I have met on the Internet; all of them in some way changed my point of view, and gave me the chances and motivation to produce works that I never thought of doing in my life.

And it does not stop here as these have great chain reactions. As we dig deeper in search of our life purpose, we may also give influential knowledge to others as well. From each interaction and refinement coming back and forth, our qualities slowly improves and eventually excel, helping each other to shape a better world.

Just like the glass, primary made out of compounds of elements given from stars above, we humans are just as that as well. But as time goes on, our potential not only lies on our own self initiatives, but also heavily influences by the people who gave light to the darkest region of our own universe.

Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Architecture

THINKING │ARCHITECTURE (ARC60603/ARC2323/ARC2312)

_________________________________________________________________________________________Thinking | Architecture (ARC60603/ARC2323/ARC2312): August 2015

Page 2: Thinking Architecture - Think Sheet Compiliation

Think Sheet 2

Name: Phua Jing Sern ID: 0314572

This week’s think sheet topic got me into thinking regarding how I perceive someone, how I judge someone and how ashamed I was to misjudge someone. Impressions for me is a rick, yet necessary procedure to protect myself from harm and open up to blessings. Yet there is a question that keeps on circling around my mind till date: If majority of society said so, should not they be correct?

To date I understand that we are all victims and players of judging and being judged, what is good and what is bad is not an opinion, but a statement fused in our minds from past experiences; welcoming those who agree and fend off those who differ. We apply it to strangers first so our minds can categorize them accordingly as if God labeled them as so. If we misunderstood them, it backfires and we ourselves are the victims, yet we still blame the other and the cycle goes on and on. Sometimes I do wonder if misunderstanding of impressions is the only things that is stopping us from having world peace.

But I digress. Frankly speaking I was one of those stubborn kind, but it took me years to finally get the bigger picture. And it all started when I was 13, a little naïve kid back in secondary school. I was voiceless, rejected, bullied, doomed by my skinny and acne filled appearance manufactured to frighten off Homosapiens. Communication was already a problem as my Mandarin was very poor. That experience brought fear and hatred that lasted for almost 3 years. I never had real friends before, those whom I called friends were merely acquaintances to fool myself. My confidence was as low as the 9 th

level of hell, and the end result was self-pettiness. “Was I not good enough?” constantly rang in my mind as if the world was against me, but everything changed around the third quarter of 2010.

My teacher shifted our seats and I was relocated to the other side of the classroom where I would sit with a bunch of boys whom I have never talked to. They look fierce, hostile and oddly good looking. I was nervous, scared but prepared to protect myself from the ‘bullies’ which I labeled them a minute later after I laid my butt on the unfamiliar seat. But to my surprise, they took me in as if I was one of them. They mentioned and understand how I was shunned from the majority; as the boys wanted to get close to me, it was whom shunned them off; ironic isn’t it? They even mentioned how interesting I was as I dress fascinating art and played instruments, not knowing one of them was actually a music student who went to the same school as I did. We talked and chatted, went on outings and got into trouble together from time to time. They made me feel something warm, I felt appreciated and wanted. As time slowly passed, I became more open minded and more forgiving than ever before; it was a life changing process, definitely a good one indeed.

Because of them, I believe that the world is filled with good people with good intentions, only some with poor judgment capability. I will always remember them, even though we parted ways. So going back to the question above, currently I would simply say, “It depends.” Society works in mysterious ways, sometimes they are right and sometimes they are downright disgraceful, including myself. But time will adjust befittingly if one is patient and sympathetic, built from empathetic experiences. The truth is that we all can achieve greatness; the only difference is the size of our audience, and just like Kenna’s story, the right people will find you eventually.

Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Architecture

THINKING │ARCHITECTURE (ARC60603/ARC2323/ARC2312)

Think Sheet 3

Name: Phua Jing Sern ID: 0314572

_________________________________________________________________________________________Thinking | Architecture (ARC60603/ARC2323/ARC2312): August 2015

Page 3: Thinking Architecture - Think Sheet Compiliation

Being an architecture student is like having a bipolar disorder; to poetically and attractively shape, and to practically and logically build. But which side should the loads be heavier for us to focus on? Society will always be judgmental as ever; to focus only on one side may be characterized as either too literal and dull, or too excessive and overdone. But knowing that to achieve that balance in architecture is to be decisive yet adaptable, creating a ‘true fake’ for the people to behold both surprises yet still make sense to me.

“To define is to limit.” – Oscar Wilde

This week’s topic got me confused as an architecture student. We were told to design based on our client’s wishes and needs, and everything else is secondary. But as mentioned in the chapter, we humans die and meanings will change, will our building designs then be appreciated as were before? Adaptability is the key word here, to create for many purposes for time to come, but frankly speaking I do have an opinion where at times a building should not be as adaptable as others to preserve its true meaning as it was during its time period. I would still say it is a good building as it follows its true purpose till the end of time.

The same goes to us as individuals I would say. Being a true fake is like to fit into the society norm; transforming ourselves to adapt our environment for maximum acceptability. There is no wrong in this as long as that individual is happy and open to different exposures. On the other hand, being yourself has its own reward. It would not have the constant praise or respect as compared to the other, but when their time has come, their shining moments are to be admired, and I believe there is no wrong in that as well.

I pictured people as architecture while I was writing this down, it makes more sense as buildings are to design for the people, from the people. Of course there are the bad ones are the people who obviously overdone themselves to be something they are not, same goes to buildings too. But if one can truly fake and disregard his or her sole purpose not to be one, but to be many in a humble yet honest way, I would believe they would live a meaningful and colorful life, same goes to buildings too.

Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Architecture

THINKING │ARCHITECTURE (ARC60603/ARC2323/ARC2312)

Think Sheet 4

Name: Phua Jing Sern ID: 0314572

_________________________________________________________________________________________Thinking | Architecture (ARC60603/ARC2323/ARC2312): August 2015

Page 4: Thinking Architecture - Think Sheet Compiliation

Following the concept of ‘The Hedgehog and the Fox’ philosophy, there is no doubt that we were all once identified as one of them. One, being focused and wrapped with their own strong beliefs; another, being cautioned and adaptable. I myself personally would like to have the ‘hedgehog’ mentality at all times, doing things my way; fast, clean, disregarding any obstruction nor objection. But as time pass, the ‘fox’ mentality emerges. Realizing I have to be flexible, as things cannot always be the way I want them to be. It is rather a longer process of accomplishment compared to the ‘hedgehog’, but a much safer one indeed.

I do give much respect to those who keep on believing their views, and if I could label anyone I would label Steve Jobs as a strong ‘hedgehog’ for his resilient desire of technological simplicity during his timeline where user interface were a huge problem. He wanted to prove a point in which the world of technology can be made easy and painless to adapt, ensuring everyone that the world of tomorrow is not as terrifying as people thought of to be. Did his vision came through? Of course it did. He managed to prove to the public that his products are great and his views are correct, even to the extreme which he was fired by his own company due to his bold disagreement with John Sculley, former CEO of Apple, and the board of directors during the 1985 Macintosh release.

Steve Jobs is a good example of a ‘hedgehog’ mentality, and I believe Tim Cook has a great ‘fox’ mentality after Jobs’ passing. There are many examples of why Cook’s approach was subtle yet reasonable for Apple to continue making products that sometimes contradicts Jobs’ past statements, and one of the prime adjustment is the gradual size increase of iPhones. “You can’t get your hand around it,” Jobs said, “no one’s going to buy that.” He also mocked big phones like Samsung Galaxy S and Note series as “Hummers”. Was Jobs’ statement proven correct? Well it seems not. Big phones, or ‘Phablets’ they call it, now set the norm of standard screen size as it was proven that consumers preferred bigger screen than ever before after the success of Samsung’s Galaxy S and Note series. Tim Cook was not as stubborn as the ‘hedgehog’ Steve Jobs, he saw the demand and he too introduced a new line up of bigger iPhones as well. And with the recent releases of iPhone 6s, Cook introduced ‘Force Touch’ from the Apple watch onto the iPhones’ screen, improving its functionality and utility. The end result was rather subtle, yet reasonably successful.

From a broader view, it can be viewed as a ‘Revolution to Refinement’ growth of a company using the concept of “The Hedgehog and the Fox” philosophy, and an individual can use the same approach as well. I believe that we should have a ‘hedgehog’ initiative, starting off doing great things without thinking the consequences too much. If we ever fail often at first, at least we fail early. Having the exposure and experience means we have already fought half of the battle. And when things start to stabilize, the ‘fox’ mentality would be a rational approach of maintaining the hype without losing track or risking it all. But of course, remember to keep a pinch of ‘hedgehog’ mentality to ourselves, serving as a reminder of why we start this wild journey in the first place.

Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Architecture

THINKING │ARCHITECTURE (ARC60603/ARC2323/ARC2312)

Think Sheet 5

Name: Phua Jing Sern ID: 0314572

From my personal opinion, great works of art must first step on two particular stones – motivation and inspiration. Without both of them, you will either produce a soulless piece of shoddy work, or a work of art that took too long to produce. Of course I am no exception, I do have a bad case of poor motivation push in pursuing works of art; not architecture, but music. But all is not lost, I know someone that used

_________________________________________________________________________________________Thinking | Architecture (ARC60603/ARC2323/ARC2312): August 2015

Page 5: Thinking Architecture - Think Sheet Compiliation

to encourage me, he comes by for a visit from time to time with his influential motivation. Yet, he did not live once, but was declared dead a long time ago. That special guy, was actually me – my music-driven self that never came to be.

This book gave the concept of imaginary hopes and dreams, fears and hatreds; visualized and materialized by creative individuals. From influencing the masses, to individuals. That subject can be anyone, or even anything, since it is completely make-believe. But as for my case, one of the biggest influential person that drives me do great things, is someone that I have failed to be in the first place. During my end of secondary school phase, I had to choose the path of my next phase in life. Although I was certain to pursue in architecture, there is a pinch of desire in me to study music. But of course living under an Asian family culture with strict profession-driven objective, it is certainly a no-no for me.

Time has passed, and so do ambitions. But time to time my alter-ego would give a knock on my door, reminding me that it is never too late to pursue my other ambition. Rarely, he actually persuaded me and I gave it a shot, which usually ends up being half-baked and left forgotten in the dark corners of my desktop. With that result, it convinced me that it was never meant to be, with added depression of self-esteem in that particular field. And after a while, that same person will come knocking by, and the cycle arises all over again. But recently I had this immense realization of self-understanding, acknowledging that all along it was my own fault – that my laziness, my tardiness, my sluggishness is my main source of my own defeat, luckily it can be easily overcome. Some of the examples are the development of my photography and videography skills, both in which began not before, but during my architectural studies. I gave time and money on this particular field without any doubts and fears, and it certainly brought me many eye opening experiences. That sad truth brought me to my knees, but also gave me a taste of rejuvenated hopes and dreams – like the revival of a fiery Phoenix from its lackluster ashes. Funny thing about this, recently there was a bet that my friends suggested, and that I would be awarded handsomely (A free KFC meal) if I could produce a track within this year. Of course, the bet is on!

I would like to highlight, underline and bold up my opinion one more time, that one of the biggest influential person that drives you to do great things, could be someone you have failed to be in the first place. You are your own inspiration and motivation to do great things, and the only obstacle that is standing in your way, is nothing but tardiness and tardiness only.

Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Architecture

THINKING │ARCHITECTURE (ARC60603/ARC2323/ARC2312)

Think Sheet 8

Name: Phua Jing Sern ID: 0314572

There is a saying that goes, “If you don’t make the choice, the choice makes you.” This quote can be viewed in two ways, either for the better or the worse. But either way, it has to do with our most lovable yet delicate emotion – Happiness. Happiness is everywhere and absolute; it is there for the taking. But how will we able to maintain and nurture that delicate, intangible sensation that brings the fundamental meaning to our existence in this world, if our surrounding environment offers no such intension in promoting eudaimonia? From my opinion, for a great man to produce great works, it is essential that great opportunities are always available in his great origins. Just like the Agora – a city well built from great minds for great minds – promotes interactions and discussions for the greater glory and triumphs of future workings, it acts like a stage for users to voice out and be

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Page 6: Thinking Architecture - Think Sheet Compiliation

heard. During then, everyone there has a common objective, to be wholeheartedly happy through innovations and achievements – in pursuit of eudaimonia.

Now let’s fast forward to the current era. Malaysia – the urban areas to be precise, are now filled with high rise buildings that lights up the night, never-ending flow of automobiles that roam the streets, and people wearing fancy suits and ties walking in and out of their offices. All seems well and good, but there is something that is absent in this society, which is basic communications and interactions. Although I am not making a statement regarding that Malaysians do not speak with each other in public areas, but the public areas itself does not promote human interactions. Walkways are narrow; recreation parks are practically inaccessible by foot, Lake Gardens, Kuala Lumpur as example; and most importantly, public safety is considered as a huge problem. Briefly saying, our culture promotes more towards safety and conservative attitude rather than being engaging with one another, it is rare to see public interaction in city areas as the people here are less open. This type of urban development does not promote eudaimonia, this city only provides a working platform for users to earn and spent their salary. Now I might sound a little bit one sided, but let’s take a second and think about it; how often will you go to, let say Kuala Lumpur, for a stroll during a weekend? No objections, just a walk around the town.

I have been to a few urban countries, not more than four, but I can actually feel the difference of atmosphere in which the city is presenting. Bangkok, Thailand was something not far from Kuala Lumpur, it still gave me this same interaction with the same typical Asian attitude, which is less talking and more doing. Although they do smile more often than us Malaysians. But the next country I have visited gave me a surreal experience that is totally contrasting my typical attitude in public areas. Melbourne, Australia was an interesting city to explore. They have wider walkways, public parks located just around the corners, and most significantly, the people there look surprisingly happy and very much engaging with one another. That particular trait actually gave me a culture shock when I was purchasing some groceries at Coles Supermarket (it is something like Tesco for them). The cashier looked at me in the eye and spoke to me, asking how my day was. That open gesture got me standing there like an idiot, yet the interaction is so simple but rare in Malaysia’s culture. It took me a good 3 seconds for me to give a respond, in which I bet the cashier was also confused by my incoherent silence. It was an awkward moment and it did not totally transform my conservative attitude, but it gave me a better understanding of what public interaction really means besides studying in moral text books.

To recap the quote “If you don’t make the choice, the choice makes you.” If we fail to make a change, our society will stick to its conservative culture for a very long period of time. But there is still hope. We, as architects, hold the power to transform lives in a massive scale. We can design cities that promotes interactions and communications, combining great minds to meet up and promoting eudaimonia once again in our social-declining environment. With such movement, culture can be change for the better and in time, not only happier lives are made, but meaningful ones as well.

_________________________________________________________________________________________Thinking | Architecture (ARC60603/ARC2323/ARC2312): August 2015