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"What Architecture Is to Me"
Why do architects continue to insist on the
autonomous character of not only houses but
architecture in general? My answer is that the
creation of architecture is not about plans or
elevations--it is not about physical shapes.
The subject of architecture is invisible
space--something like a hologram generated by the
relationship between what is being observed and the
observer. I am always preoccupied by the question
of borders delimiting space or of territory. When I
think about architecuture, I do not perceive it in
terms of its exterior form, as I might with
sculpture. My concern continues to be with not
shapes but borders and territories. That is what
architecture is to me.
"My View of the City"
To think about the city is to feel the city
through architecture, to see the city from
within. That is, I see the city through its
relationship to architecture, just as I see
architecture through its relationship with
furniture.
It is because I have such a viewpoint that I want
urban architecture to give birth to shadows and to
possess a distinctive ambience and a labyrinthine
quality.
I do not see the city as a city planner. Instead,
I feel that the city is created out of the
expressiveness of architecture. I do not seek to
impose a macro-level solution on the city but to
help build the city from the level of the
streetscape.
The outside or outer skin of architecture is the
inner skins of the city.
"Architecture Is the Creation of Spatial
Experience"
My first concern with respect to architecture
has been how it impacts on the five senses. That is
because things that we touch like tools and
furniture directly and substantively affect our
consciousness of territory in both our actions and
our relationship with things. I have been deeply
interested in the relationship between
architecture and those objects with which people
come into direct contact, ever since I began
thinking about architecture.
My interest stems from a desire to better
understand the thing called 'space'that envelops
me.
All the so-called great buildings of the past
possess interior spaces that touch the human
spirit. A creative work of architecture means, not a
new shape, but a creative space.
"The Concept of Territory"
If it is possible for space in architecture to
affect human sensibility, so that space can seem
pleasant, relaxed, calm, fearful or awesome, then
the most important thing in creating space may be
to think about the mutual relationship between
people and things. I call the consciousness of
dimensions necessary establishment of the autonomy
of things and of the relationship between things
and people -- a territorial sense. I believe that
this territorial sense plays a major role in
guiding human action and consequently our
experience of space, and that is the most important
point to consider in creating space.
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