The Tectonic Expression: 'Reading' the works of Wooi Lok Kuang

2nd International Conference on Architecture and Civil Engineering

土木建筑工程

Ng, V.^1 ; Wong, A.^1

School of Architecture, Building and Design, Taylor's University, Malaysia^1

关键词: Body of knowledge;    Construction knowledge;    Design Methodology;    Malaysia;    Malaysians;    Mass production;    Spatial effect;   

Others  :  https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1757-899X/401/1/012001/pdf
DOI  :  10.1088/1757-899X/401/1/012001

学科分类：土木及结构工程学

来源: IOP

【 摘 要 】

In an age of commercialism and consumerism, there has been a notable demise in the employment of a tectonic expression in the making of architecture. This is due in part to a culture of mass production to meet the rising needs of consumers, resulting in a shift in the emphasis of the value of detailing and construction as an architectural expression. Instead, there arose a preoccupation with pastiche ornamentation, reducing the significance and meaning within detailing. Furthermore, construction began to be viewed as a means to achieve spatial effect as an end. However, the need for a tectonic expression in architecture has been highlighted by Western key thinkers such as Kenneth Frampton, Vitorrio Gregotti and Marco Frascari, who have stated that tectonic can be employed as a resolution to the degeneration of culture as a result of homogeneity of architecture. This is because tectonic involves the poetic amplification of construction knowledge which stems from culture and craftsmanship, and an appropriate application of tectonic in construction can lead to the construal of meaningful architecture. In Asia (Malaysia), there is limited study on the meaning of craft that stems from the richness of local cultures in relation to tectonics. By adopting a mixed-methodology of case study and interview, this paper studies works of Wooi Lok Kuang, a seminal Malaysian architect published for his folio of timber architecture, namely, Wooi Residence (2004), Ting Residence (2010) and House 9 (2015). It situates Wooi's design methodology of assembly of 'joints' in an Asian/Malaysian context within the larger body of knowledge regarding tectonics as found in the western literature and argues that Wooi's design methodology that is rich in cultural and contextual influences expounds on Frascari's framework of 'joints', including key factors that are specific to Wooi's architecture and the Malaysian context.