Jo, Seungkoo. Re-discovering the Creative Collage in the Architectural Representation. Tongmyong University of Information Techonology, Korea. 2004.
Jo's text questions how the twentieth century notion of collage has affected the making of architecture and sums it up as the increased importance of the relationship between architectural elements, rather than the elements themselves. Jo links this to a desire of the viewer or inhabitant to play a more active role in interpreting and creating a narrative for the built structure. The Abstract for this article interested me because a theme running through my work this year has been the ability of a work to change physically or visually dependent on the user and the perception they bring to the space.
Collage is described as an art form of the twentieth century that breaks down space into fragments and collapses the relationship between ground and object. Architectural fragments can be seen as symbols whose meaning shifts and changes in relationship with other architectural fragments and the assumptions of the viewer. Jo describes "...the message of the collage [a]s contained in a web of relationships both within and outside of the collage. The construction of these relationships into a comprehensible whole or their acceptance as a random collection of elements is left to the viewer." (Jo, 2004, p. 82)
My Wallpaper project is a good example of the architectural collage, it includes structural and decorative layers that only reveal themselves at certain angles to the viewer and fragments within the piece will inform each person's reading of it differently depending on their knowledge and relationship with the site.
Jo refers to Semiotics in the text and relates the collaging effect of different architectural elements to the relationship between signifier and signified in a sign in order to make meaning. However, I believe the author should more correctly be referring to Structuralism which focuses on the deep structures or overall relationships within a system in order to make meaning.* Much like Gestalt theory it is about more than just the individual parts and their messages which is what semiotic theory can often be reduced to. (Rowe, 1997, p.24)
References
Rowe, Juan Carlos. "Structure" in Critical Terms for Literary Study, F. Lentricchia and T. McLaughlin (eds.). The University of Chicago Press, USA. 1997.
* The ideas inherent in the authors argument are fascinating and I can relate them to my own work however, I take issue with the lack of editing or academic rigour applied to this text. There are many incidences in the text where the syntax and/or grammar used is incorrect. Examples the author has used to illustrate their ideas are often not properly explained or do not follow logically from ideas put forward. Unfortunately this is not an isolated incident and I encounter badly written academic Interior Design texts on a regular basis. I am wondering if anyone else has found the same?
- Introduce the 3 key ideas presented within your chosen text in your own words, this will introduce the text and frame what you are going to respond to.
- For each key point:
a. Provide evidence of this idea through the use of a quote/ idea from the text and reference it correctly.
b. Devolop the ideas that this quote/idea illustrates by responding to it. State how this makes you understand more of/ differently about the practice of interior design or your own studio practice.
c. You may be able to link some ideas directly to a studio project you have worked on so far OR to a project that you have come across through your research.
Each key point covered should be a paragraph.
- Conclude by stating what you have learnt from this particular reading.
Remember to use correct In-Text citation using MLA Standards, and if it helps, you can use images to help articulate your ideas.
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