How do we document and represent buildings, whether still existing or lost, space, or even an entire city?
A building or an architectural project can be represented by a multitude of documentation materials, which may include drawings, photographs, models and newspaper clippings. Each of these records tells a story about various aspects of the project. These materials, forming an archive or a collection, are often best kept in places where they can be accessed by the public, such as a library, museum or other research institution.
Various types of materials reflect the different features and aspects of an architectural project. These include its background, its conception, design and construction process to the final outcome and reception by the public. Architects may use drawings and models to explore and visualise their ideas, or to put their ideas into reality.
Introductory Discussion
How can architects express their ideas, for themselves, clients and builders?
What different materials and media did you see in the exhibition? Make a list of all the materials you remember. Think of how each one presents information about the building project in different ways for different audience. Each type of medium has its specific function. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each of the materials
Which of the exhibits were the most memorable? Discuss the most memorable, arresting, unusual, or interesting exhibits you found in the show. What strikes you as so special about them?
Refer to the following various types of materials that can be seen in the gallery, what do they reveal about the process of designing a building? What aspects of the project are illustrated through these materials? The tools an architect uses depend on the different stage of the design process, the budget, the needs and expectation of their clients, as well as the materials that are available to actualise their ideas. Can you think of more possible tools that help illustrate an architect’s ideas?
Drawings
There are different types of drawings that make up the architectural design process.
First sketch ideas are quick drawings put down at the start of a project as a study or as the basis for possible ideas. Often, sketch books are used for collecting and researching ideas.
Steven Holl Architects/Steven Holl (United States, b. 1947)
Filmic loop study for Linked Hybrid (2003-2009), Beijing, China
2003
watercolour on paper
Drawings
More detailed drawings or technical drawings are used to present more concrete designs. Whether it is the building’s exterior form or the details of the interior design, technical drawings play a crucial role as communication tools that help transform ideas into reality in the design and construction process.
Palmer & Turner (P&T Group)(Hong Kong)
Back elevation for Electric House (Kennedy Road Substation)
1967
print on paper
Image courtesy of P&T Group
Models
Model-making can be a process by which an architect examines various issues or specific features of the design such as its shape and form.
Sou Fujimoto Architects (Japan) / Sou Fujimoto (Japan, b. 1971)
One of 15 concept study models for Nature/Architecture, Serpentine Gallery Pavilion, London, U.K.
2013
various materials
Models
Presentation models show the architect’s ideas in the most direct and representational way. These can be models of a building, or a site plan or even an entire city.
Tao Ho Design (Hong Kong) / Tao Ho (Hong Kong, born China, 1936)
Site model for Metroplan, West Kowloon Reclamation Concept, Hong Kong
1988/2013
acrylic and card stock
Plans
Presentation models show the architect’s ideas in the most direct and representational way. These can be models of a building, or a site plan or even an entire city.
Showing a series of horizontal layers of the layout of a building from above, floor plans are one of the most common types of drawings an architect uses for working out how rooms and spaces relate to each other.
Wong Ng Ouyang & Associates (Hong Kong)
Typical floor plan of Hong Kong Adventist Sanitarium-Hospital (1967 – 1971), Hong Kong
1968
print on paper
Gift of the Architects
Plans
A site plan is a top-down view of a building in its surrounding context, including other buildings, streets, plants, and driveways. They are often used to show the relationship of the building with other buildings and facilities in the neighbourhood.
Masterplan of Mei Foo Sun Chuen
1973
documentation print on paper
Image courtesy of Wong Tung & Partners Ltd
Presentation materials and publication
Other presentation materials include publications and notes produced by the architects where they explain a design to an audience such as a client.
Tao Ho Design (Hong Kong) / Tao Ho (Hong Kong, born China, 1936)
Publication portfolio for Hong Kong Arts Centre (1968 – 1977), Hong Kong
1981
photographic prints on card board
Documents
Other documents such as correspondence and paperwork reveal unknown aspects of the design and construction process that perhaps other materials would not ordinarily address.
Tao Ho Design (Hong Kong) / Tao Ho (Hong Kong, born China, 1936)
One of five letters between Tao Ho and the Building and Lands Department on the Container Office (1989 - 1992)
1986-1989
print on paper
Gift of the architect
Newspaper Cuttings
Newspaper clippings about the project provide a different angle in which the project is represented and perceived.
Chinese media coverage of the Peak Tower in 1967.
Photographs
Photographs are used to document and present the architectural project. They can be used as a reference on the site condition, or to present the completed building.
Chung Wah Nan Architects Ltd (Fitch & Chung)
Site-study Photo, Peak Tower (The Upper Terminal of the Peak Tramway), Hong Kong
1967- 1972
18.5 x 26 cm
Gift of the architects
Video documentation
Video recordings are another way to document the physical space as one explores it, and are often used for research and documentation purposes.
Suenn Ho (United States, born Hong Kong, 1961)
Research Footage of Kowloon Walled City, Hong Kong
1991
video
Duration: 90’ 00’’
Loaned from Cole Roskam
Digital renderings
Computer-generated renderings are often used to present a virtual rendition envisioned by the architect, or to reconfigure a lost structure in digital format.
Cao Fei (China)
The Birth of RMB City
video simulation
2007