20/6/2017 - Week 12
Ellyn-Faye Tan Jie Xin - 0327019
Architecture, Culture & History 1
Assignment 1 - Comparative Assignment

Introduction
This assignment focuses on investigating historical works to not just enrich student proficiency in architectural language, design and ideas but most importantly to develop and hone students’ historical and architectural criticism skills. Through the study of an existing building (from a list issued by the lecturers), students will be able to communicate and expand their own architectural vocabulary and develop design concepts. In a group of 7-8, students are required to conduct precedent study analysis on specific buildings via site visits and through on-line forum discussion, sketch analysis journal, verbal and digital presentations. The precedent study analysis project should help clarify questions of “why” the case study is historically, culturally and architecturally inspired and “how” the design concepts derived from the past have influenced and/or been reflected in the case study, and by extension how these can be developed and expanded to be creatively and innovatively integrated into a prospective design project.

Objectives
In developing students’ historical and architectural criticism skills the objectives of the project are:

1. To introduce basic architectural theory through a consideration of intentions, concepts,
patterns, disciplines, architectural language and contextual relationships.

2. To creatively and innovatively develop and expand the design concept derived from the

precedent study analysis.

Learning Outcome
1. To produce building analysis which document intentions, concepts, patterns, disciplines, architectural language and contextual relationships.

2. To produce graphical development, expansion and elaboration of intentions, concepts, patterns, disciplines, architectural language and contextual relationships in developing architectural critics’ skill.

Brief
A precedent study is an effective approach in learning architectural history as well as an essential research stage for any architectural design project. To be a good architect it is crucial that one thoroughly understands what came before a successful architectural creation. Precedent studies provide understanding of these contributing factors. The information learned from this process will give architects wisdom to create architecture that is at par or even better than what has come before. In addition, precedent studies might also reveal reasons for design failure, thus giving designers that understanding so as not to repeat the same mistakes.

Assessment
The study of precedent requires students to gather architectural information, so that they truly appreciate the essence of the building; have in-depth understanding of the building systems at work, as well as recognize the series of important elements that realize design aspects of the building. Each group is required to collectively address the questions below:

1. i. What is the main function of the building?
ii. What was the concept or philosophy of the architect or founder that makes the building significant / meaningful?

2. i. What were the major influences of a historical era of architecture on the building?
ii. How does the context, building period and evolution makes the building significant and meaningful?

3. i. What is the form or shape of the building?
ii. How does the form or shape of the building connect / contrast / derive from a historical era of architecture

4. i. What were the materials and construction technology or method used?
ii. How do these materials and construction technology or methods compare / contrast with the historical methods from the ‘influencing era’?

Submission Requirements
Part 1. Precedent Study & Analysis Sketch Journal (25%)

You are required to generate in-depth precedent analyses that include the accounts listed below:

1. With reference to a historical timeline of an ‘influencing (or contrasting) era’ of historical architecture, generate a comparative analysis of the contemporary Malaysian example vis-à- vis the identified ‘historical era’

2. With reference to the era in question, critically analyse the contemporary Malaysian example for its differences and similarities compared to the ‘historical model’. Assess the positive and negative aspects of the modern example versus that of the ‘historical model’.

3. Keep a hand-written & hand-sketched record of your findings in an A4 ring-binder. These should be brought in for discussion and formative assessment with your tutor at every weekly tutorial session.

Part 2. Digital Analysis Presentation (25%) (10 minutes)

The digital presentation should consists of illustrative and abstractive diagrams, drawings and
annotations of the precedent study that compares it to its influencing ‘historical era’. The drawings
should include actual and conceptual floor plans, building sections, analysis diagrams and sketches
expressing clarity and in-depth investigation of the precedent studies. Precedent study and the
analysis presentations should be digital reproductions of original, strictly hand-drawn and handwritten
information from the sketch journal in Part 1. For the digital presentation, these should be
supplemented by original photographs and/or videos of the Malaysian study taken/produced by your
student group.

You should find as much information on your assigned building as possible. Some projects have
more information available than others. Your assignment is to provide an in-depth analysis of the
building and provide thorough reflections of the questions listed in the subsequent section.

Analyses should include answers to the questions below:

1. How does the building reflect the spirit of the time and place for which it was built?
2. How was the building influenced by a given historical era of architecture (or for eras that do
not directly influence, how does the building contrast with a given historical era)?
3. How did the contrasting influences of a Malaysian site and a historical model affect the final
architecture of the building?

Student are to select and conduct analyses of the following from # 1 to 5 and are to synthesize the
design concept Partí of # 6.

1. Concept and Architecture analysis (i. Architect and/or Building concepts, ii.
Architecture/Style/Identification of Place, iii. Person-Container-Social relationship)
2. Building massing analysis (i. Material and Structure- geometry of making, ii. Geometry -
alignment/anthropometry/social geometry/ideal geometry)
3. Circulation Analysis (i. Circulation to Use-Space, ii. Natural ventilation)
4. Spatial Organization analysis (i. Spatial planning & Landscape/Site Siting, ii. Building
sequence and process, iii. Public vs. private, iv. Axis, v. Symmetry/Asymmetry & balance, vii.
Repetitive to unique, viii. Additive and subtractive, ix. Hierarchy)
5. Building plan-section/elevation analysis (i. Plan to Section or Elevation, ii. Natural light
penetration, iii. Significant architectural element)
6. Partí - Culminates and Summarizes (i. gesture, ii. essence, iii, dominant idea, iv salient

characteristic of the building)

Review and assessment/submission date: Week 12 (20 June 2017)


Group Mates: 
1) Ellyn-Faye Tan Jie Xin (Me)
2) Yaw Xin Qi
3) Ong Kay Mun
4) Cheong Yi Wen
5) Heather Wong Wen Hui
6) Lim Lyi Cyia

Architecture Style given: Renaissance Architecture
Building given: Segi University

Building Visit


















Presentation Slides

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1GXTAq2rotxj6DOMbUzDq00nzqv67f4WvrBurLgFGK2E/edit#slide=id.p3


Parts of the Sketch Journal