THEORIES OF ARCHITECTURE DESIGN
PROLOGUE
H O N E S T Y A N D D E C E P T I O N
Honesty and Deception in architecture has been argued for quite some while, it’s something like simplicity and complexity, it’s based on individual perspective on the subject. Honesty in architecture is providing truth in materials, meanwhile deception in architecture is more to using the materials without following what the material want to be. This lecture also really reminds me of Louis Kahn having a conversation with the brick asking the brick what he wanted to be.
HONESTY AND DECEPTION'S ROLE
The roles of honesty and deception today are changing, since architect now are able to find more and more new materials to go on with their project. I find it still gonna have some of each in every architecture building.
The Facade Renovation "Suites Avenue Aparthotel" by Toyo Ito is a typical deception architecture. Although it’s a deception architecture, we find it appealing and liking towards the building. I would say this is predominantly the expression of the goals and challenges of the architect. Toyo Ito is an architect that likes to add a bit of green to his design but in this facade renovation, I found out that he was trying to make a shading device that will encourage wind. In this case, we can see architects trying to achieve the goals by not understanding the materials like what John Ruskin said “Do not use materials for purposes that contradict its attributes and properties” It means every material are meant to be fit in some part of the building and not the other way round. Human desire on building now is more towards deception in wanting how materials want to be and not what materials want to be.
The Tama Art University Library (Hachioji campus) is also by Toyo Ito is a honesty architecture. What I am trying to emphasize here is that each architect has a little bit of honest and a little bit of deception in architecture. In this Library, it is predominantly the expression relationship of interior and exterior. I found out that he was using concrete for the whole building, this makes concrete to bring out the essence and quality of itself that is creating a quiet atmosphere. The colour of concrete has make a big impact, for example, when you look at the library you would know that this is already a library. The material he choose has work the way it should be work and not like what Viollet-Le-Duc said” materials should not be worked in a manner different from the way they actually were”
In my opinion, I think that the fourth text will be more on to advising architects and not arguing for honesty and deception. Advising architects to be like water means to be free in using honesty and deception, like what Bruce Lee said “ You pour water in a jug it became the jug, you pour water in the bottle it became the bottle” It’s like being a little of every kind will make the best out of you. Advising the architect to have a mindset of using honesty and deception.