Fourteenth International Conference on The Constructed Environment

Abstract

In this paper, a technique of representation is discussed in relation to the concept of junctions in architectural form. The junctional forms are often found in the urban area as density and complexity of buildings arise in which they accommodate more than predetermined functions. In this narrative, the junctional form is seen not as a byproduct but as an intended design language which opens up undefined potentials beyond the semantic relationship between form and function in history. That is why a junction is not an independent joint but a compositional or relational niche. This paper presents an analytic part of design research projects in which the junctions are in the center for years of the authors’ teaching practice. In detail, a junction could be defined as a part in which more than two fragments collide in an architectural composition instead of left-overs between forms. This paper intends to examine a couple of post modern architectures such as structuralism and deconstructivism since the late 20th century in which the predetermined relationships of form and function are reconfigured as junctional forms. The conventional relationships of form-function seem to be limited in explaining today’s urban situations with diverse junctions. The narrative disputes the conventional propositions of form and function in early modern history. This paper is aimed at expanding the conventional semantics of form-function relationships to a contemporary urban language in an experimental fashion.

Presenters

Wonseok Chae
Research and Teaching Assistant, Techniques of Representation and Design, Bergische Universität Wuppertal, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany

Holger Hoffmann
Professor, Architecture and Civil Engineering, Bergische Universität Wuppertal, Germany