It is important for architecture students to understand the meaning of representation especially if their attempts to try out a new design they invented. Graves’ article explains that the concept of representation adds the gist to what the structure is all about. It gives the visual meaning to the audiences as to what the architect intends to explain through the use of his design. And yet, this important aspect of architecture has been frequently overlooked that sometimes people tend confuse its meaning and end up lost in thought. In simpler terms, representing meant that doing a design similar to an object but since it is meant as a representation, it does not signify that the design needs to follow the accurate image at all. In this aspect of the design process, architects normally research other elements they think that will blend perfectly with their desired image to make it more unique; a trait unlike the original structure to make the design their own. Therefore, representation also requires a collaborative work based from the person’s previous experiences and oftentimes, architects will draw inspirations based from other cultures and the things they have seen in their lives. For instance, Graves pointed out that one of Le Corbusier’s projects was to build the Villa Meyer which was unfortunately never became a reality; however, the French architect managed to envision his design through representations or series of drawings of plans and layouts of the supposedly architecture and sent it to his client. It was because of this process that Le Corbusier adopted the Villa Meyer’s designs to his other works to represent the one project that he was not able to make.1 In addition, Bafna, another independent scholar also supports the argument of Graves about the importance of representation in the design concept. In his article, Bafna reiterated that aside from representing the actual structures, the initial plans for the buildings before constructions serves as the authoritative material wherein the architect and his team base their designs in order to follow a uniform arrangement of the structures for the building and the layout of the structure represents the structure’s possible outcome as a finished product; hence, whether the result ends up in satisfaction or not, designers will be able to modify previous elements through the architectural layout even if the project has not yet started.2 In relation to the discourse about representation, another important aspect that student of architecture should note is deconstruction. This term is correlates with the proper analysis of the architecture’s hidden meanings which encompasses the realm of the industry and reaches beyond the building’s social and natural relevance whether the structure will be beneficial to both the environment and the society. Deconstructing the representations of the proposed designs calls for further analysis of the building not only in terms of its aesthetic value but whether this structure will function according to the plans intended by its designer.3Deconstruction and representation although two different premises yet without these two, an architecture or any building cannot be considered as great without careful planning and analysis of its aesthetic value to the society. Correct representation of buildings ensures that the designs and plans of the structure will be followed thoroughly while deconstruction is the process of analyzing whether these designs conforms to the current trends in the society; whether the design is simple or ornamentation.
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Michael Graves, “Representation,” in Representation and Architecture, eds. Omer Akin and Eleanor F. Weinel (N.p: Information Dynamics Inc., 1982), 27-91
Sonit Bafna, “How architectural drawings work — and what that implies for the role of representation in architecture,” The Journal of Architecture 13, no. 5 (2008): 535-537, http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/13602360802453327
Andrew Benjamin, “Deconstruction and Art / The Art of Deconstruction,” (N.p: N.p., n.d.), 32-54
Bibliography
Bafna, Sonit. “How architectural drawings work — and what that implies for the role of representation in architecture.” The Journal of Architecture 13, no. 5 (2008): 535-564. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/13602360802453327
Benjamin, Andrew. “Deconstruction and Art / The Art of Deconstruction.” (N.p.: N.p., n.d.). 32-56. PDF File.
Graves, Michael. “Representation.” In Representation and Architecture. Eds. Omer Akin and Eleanor F. Weinel (N.p: Information Dynamics Inc., 1982), 27-91.
