Position statement / Where I am now / Sharon

What differentiates 'architecture' from 'a building'?

Architecture asks questions beyond the initial conditions of the brief and it will

1. seek answers

2. seek to answer the question

Even though this process and the ‘answers’ may not be evidently reflected in the final outcome (in the eyes of the user). I appreciate and value the design process as much I do the outcome.

The initial question may come from the brief, from the site, from the social context, etc. From these initial questions the scope of enquiry then expands and in the process of attempting to address these questions (through research on precedents, on current trend, etc), the project itself is enriched and becomes meaningful and purposeful

Design is about making informed decisions.

What kind of questions do I ask in my design:

- from the brief : Is it what is required? Is it enough for what is required?

- from the site : what was there, what is there. Is there a context that I should address through my design – to inform what will be there

- how can my design be improved from the perspective of user sensitivity? (Not just the user of my building, but of adjacent neighbors too)

The parameters and priorities of my concerns fluctuate according to the project at stake. But as an ‘informed’ candidate of the profession I always endorse myself in adopting the responsibility of addressing public interests and concerns of urban issues.

Nevertheless, I am very liberal in the kinds of questions ‘architecture’ seeks to address. I.e. the questions I am concerned with I do not impose on others. Other designers may have completely different concerns than mine and the outcome may be anti-urban, unsustainable and completely unfeasible for the budget or inappropriate to the context but I will still consider them as architecture so long as they add to, or enable a platform of discussion in the discourse. This is the only conviction I have in judging the validity and value of a design. Whether it is good or bad or selfish design in my opinion does not discredit architecture for being ‘architecture’ and important.

Finally, from my last project, I learned that I like to identify the apparently paradoxical interests / conditions of my project. (This recognition comes with reflection in the later stage of my design process) Once I recognize it I like to emphasize and iterate it and by this point I don’t seek an answer but rather just want it to be apparent in my outcome, so that someone else would recognize my obsession and be as intrigued by the question(s).