CAFAa Lecture Series | Peter Tagiuri_Playing Architecture
2023-12-20
| CAFAa Lecture Series |
On November 15, 2023, Mr. Peter Tagiuri, Visiting Professor at the School of Architecture of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Emeritus Professor and former Dean of the School of Architecture at the Rhode Island School of Design, was invited to the Central Academy of Fine Arts to present the 15th lecture in the 'CAFAa Series Lectures' titled 'Playing Architecture'.
| Lecture Content |
Professor Peter Tagiuri explored the fundamental elements of architecture: drawing, precedent, site, scale, and construction. With his extensive experience and profound insights, he interpreted the thought processes behind exemplary works, the interplay between their playfulness and the construction of culture. He also introduced his 'architectural teachers', recounting the joy they found in the ordinary aspects of everyday life, and highlighted the magical moments when their art and architecture leapt into the creation of magnificent spaces.
In the 'Drawing' section, he introduced the works and philosophies of Walter Pichler, Alvaro Siza, Galileo, Leonardo da Vinci, Albrecht Dürer, and Giorgio Morandi, highlighting the close connection between drawing and thought. He conveyed that our hands are a way of understanding the world, and drawing aids us in perceiving everyday life. In Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks, his roaming thoughts unfold on paper; it is through sketching that he breaks through the boundaries of thought, navigating through cities, architecture, and the human body, employing marvelous imagination. Dürer regarded his hand as a method, spending extensive time studying its structure, proportions, and emotions, showing us that hands represent the way we think. Dürer's St. Jerome series embodies the fundamental elements of architecture, featuring sturdy shelter structures and movable furniture. He used a research-oriented approach to outline human proportions, hands, and feet, and discovered grandeur in minute details. In Morandi's paintings, he consciously expressed space and surroundings, using scientifically rigorous composition to depict ordinary things, making them unforgettable.
In the 'Precedent' section, the speaker referenced examples like the 18th-century French public laundries, the sculptural works of Korean artist Suh Do Ho, and manuscripts by Rafael Moneo, discussing them as precedents in the form of collective memory, cultural tradition, and architectural shapes. The poetic essence of a city reads like a palimpsest. A city is read by its inhabitants, inscribed with their concurrent lives, filled with descriptions of past, present, and future. It also encompasses layers of earth, monuments, fabrics, streets and blocks, hills and valleys, houses and markets, concrete and wood, wetlands, growth and decay. As a city is constructed and reconstructed, it extends its depth in time and space, building layered and conflicting memories, blurring the distinctions between topography, geology, flora and fauna, urban layers, and infrastructure.
The poem 'I am all that surrounds me' conveys the intimate connection between an entity and its environment, and architecture is an art form grounded in the concept of site. In the 'Site' section, the speaker delved into the design logic of Rafael Moneo's National Museum of Roman Art, illustrating the principles of coexisting with ruins and responding to the site's context, as well as sharing a material aesthetic akin to that of modernist architectural masters. Joseph Gandy's renderings for the Bank of England also integrate ruins with architecture, encapsulating the cultural heritage of the Roman Empire.
In the 'Scale' section, the speaker used the architectural drawings of Giambattista Piranesi and the manuscripts and design works of Aldo Rossi as examples to discuss the scales of the everyday and the monumental, the interior and the exterior. Understanding scale is a way of creating space. Piranesi skillfully employed perspective to create scales of both human and 'Titanic' proportions in his drawings. Rossi, drawing analogies between coffee pots and cathedrals, used everyday elements in his architectural works to connect different scales, as described in his Pritzker Prize citation, 'both bold and ordinary, unique but not novel-seeking'.
Construction can convey ideas and imbue structures with meaning. In the 'Construction' section, the speaker analyzed Alvar Aalto's saunas and summer houses, Alvaro Siza's Leça da Palmeira swimming pools, Eileen Gray's furniture designs, SANAA's Grace Farms River building, Carlo Scarpa's Brion Cemetery, and the manuscripts and works of Walter Pichler. Aalto skillfully balanced the uneven terrain with clever construction techniques, experimenting with different brick-laying methods, analyzing the interplay of light with the interior environment, and even designing a noiseless pool. Siza utilized various materials and construction methods to control movement, light variations, and human perceptions; the elevation of his pools allows them to be naturally cleansed by tidal changes. Eileen Gray's furniture and interior designs are full of ingenious details catered to human use, while SANAA's naturally curvaceous aesthetics are backed by intricate structural details and space variations adapted to the terrain...
Professor Peter Tagiuri concluded his lecture with Michelangelo's designs of the Laurentian Library in Florence, Italy, and the 'Pietà' sculpture. In the last decade of his life, Michelangelo dedicated himself to carving depictions of the Madonna and Child, with his final piece, 'Rondanini Pietà', showing Christ's body gradually merging with the Virgin Mary. This inward-folding approach, a significant conceptual leap, contrasts with the creation of space. Professor Peter discovered that it was not only he who was fascinated by this work; Alvaro Siza also spent a long time gazing at the statue. He sketched the sculpture and traced the movement of his own perspective in choosing the angle, allowing him to best interpret the entire space.
Dean Zhu Pei concluded by saying, 'Inspiration' is the keyword of today's lecture. The numerous cases cited by Professor Peter Tagiuri can be summarized into two categories: tradition and everyday objects. Architecture born from inspiration drawn from these two threads is creative, powerful, and rooted. If architecture fails to draw inspiration from tradition and absorb its nutrients, it becomes superficial and shallow. Similarly, if it doesn't find inspiration in everyday things, it struggles to communicate with people and shape moving architecture. Great architects and artists, whether ancient or modern, are not swayed by trends. They return to tradition and the everyday, thereby creating the most powerful art and architecture。
| Lecturer Biography |
Visiting Professor at the School of Architecture of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Emeritus Professor and former Dean of the School of Architecture at the Rhode Island School of Design. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Visual Studies and Comparative Literature with honors from Dartmouth College in 1975, studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Italy in 1976, and received his Master of Architecture from Harvard University's Graduate School of Design in 1981. Since teaching at the Rhode Island School of Design from 1987 (serving as the Dean of the School of Architecture from 2002 to 2006), his architectural practice and education have demonstrated critical thinking towards cultural diversity, both conceptually and in practice. As an architect, he has collaborated with AOI in London, Kilo in Paris and Casablanca, Wang Shu in Hangzhou, Rutz in Zurich, and Gauche Concepts in Tokyo. In 2011, his small collective housing project in London won the Best Brick Building award. Peter Tagiuri's architectural philosophy and practice reflect a deep concern for culture and context in contemporary architecture under globalization, adding vitality to the development of contemporary architecture through a series of related architectural practices.
The 'CAFAa Series Lectures' initiated in 2018 by the School of Architecture at the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA), aims to establish an academic platform at the forefront of architecture. It invites the world's most distinguished scholars, educators, architects, and artists for discussions, lectures, and conferences, fostering a critical, inclusive, and open international architectural academic environment. The series has successfully hosted lectures and talks by renowned architects such as Rem Koolhaas, Arata Isozaki, Toyo Ito, Steven Holl, Winy Maas, Mohsen Mostafavi, Carlos Eduardo Comas, Cao Xun, Cui Kai, and many others.
Organizer
School of Architecture, Central Academy of Fine Arts
Co-organizer
Academic Department of the School of Architecture, Central Academy of Fine Arts
International Exchange Department of the School of Architecture, Central Academy of Fine Arts
TEXTENT Society, Central Academy of Fine Arts
On November 15, 2023, Mr. Peter Tagiuri, Visiting Professor at the School of Architecture of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Emeritus Professor and former Dean of the School of Architecture at the Rhode Island School of Design, was invited to the Central Academy of Fine Arts to present the 15th lecture in the 'CAFAa Series Lectures' titled 'Playing Architecture'.
| Lecture Content |
Professor Peter Tagiuri explored the fundamental elements of architecture: drawing, precedent, site, scale, and construction. With his extensive experience and profound insights, he interpreted the thought processes behind exemplary works, the interplay between their playfulness and the construction of culture. He also introduced his 'architectural teachers', recounting the joy they found in the ordinary aspects of everyday life, and highlighted the magical moments when their art and architecture leapt into the creation of magnificent spaces.
In the 'Drawing' section, he introduced the works and philosophies of Walter Pichler, Alvaro Siza, Galileo, Leonardo da Vinci, Albrecht Dürer, and Giorgio Morandi, highlighting the close connection between drawing and thought. He conveyed that our hands are a way of understanding the world, and drawing aids us in perceiving everyday life. In Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks, his roaming thoughts unfold on paper; it is through sketching that he breaks through the boundaries of thought, navigating through cities, architecture, and the human body, employing marvelous imagination. Dürer regarded his hand as a method, spending extensive time studying its structure, proportions, and emotions, showing us that hands represent the way we think. Dürer's St. Jerome series embodies the fundamental elements of architecture, featuring sturdy shelter structures and movable furniture. He used a research-oriented approach to outline human proportions, hands, and feet, and discovered grandeur in minute details. In Morandi's paintings, he consciously expressed space and surroundings, using scientifically rigorous composition to depict ordinary things, making them unforgettable.
In the 'Precedent' section, the speaker referenced examples like the 18th-century French public laundries, the sculptural works of Korean artist Suh Do Ho, and manuscripts by Rafael Moneo, discussing them as precedents in the form of collective memory, cultural tradition, and architectural shapes. The poetic essence of a city reads like a palimpsest. A city is read by its inhabitants, inscribed with their concurrent lives, filled with descriptions of past, present, and future. It also encompasses layers of earth, monuments, fabrics, streets and blocks, hills and valleys, houses and markets, concrete and wood, wetlands, growth and decay. As a city is constructed and reconstructed, it extends its depth in time and space, building layered and conflicting memories, blurring the distinctions between topography, geology, flora and fauna, urban layers, and infrastructure.
The poem 'I am all that surrounds me' conveys the intimate connection between an entity and its environment, and architecture is an art form grounded in the concept of site. In the 'Site' section, the speaker delved into the design logic of Rafael Moneo's National Museum of Roman Art, illustrating the principles of coexisting with ruins and responding to the site's context, as well as sharing a material aesthetic akin to that of modernist architectural masters. Joseph Gandy's renderings for the Bank of England also integrate ruins with architecture, encapsulating the cultural heritage of the Roman Empire.
In the 'Scale' section, the speaker used the architectural drawings of Giambattista Piranesi and the manuscripts and design works of Aldo Rossi as examples to discuss the scales of the everyday and the monumental, the interior and the exterior. Understanding scale is a way of creating space. Piranesi skillfully employed perspective to create scales of both human and 'Titanic' proportions in his drawings. Rossi, drawing analogies between coffee pots and cathedrals, used everyday elements in his architectural works to connect different scales, as described in his Pritzker Prize citation, 'both bold and ordinary, unique but not novel-seeking'.
Construction can convey ideas and imbue structures with meaning. In the 'Construction' section, the speaker analyzed Alvar Aalto's saunas and summer houses, Alvaro Siza's Leça da Palmeira swimming pools, Eileen Gray's furniture designs, SANAA's Grace Farms River building, Carlo Scarpa's Brion Cemetery, and the manuscripts and works of Walter Pichler. Aalto skillfully balanced the uneven terrain with clever construction techniques, experimenting with different brick-laying methods, analyzing the interplay of light with the interior environment, and even designing a noiseless pool. Siza utilized various materials and construction methods to control movement, light variations, and human perceptions; the elevation of his pools allows them to be naturally cleansed by tidal changes. Eileen Gray's furniture and interior designs are full of ingenious details catered to human use, while SANAA's naturally curvaceous aesthetics are backed by intricate structural details and space variations adapted to the terrain...
Professor Peter Tagiuri concluded his lecture with Michelangelo's designs of the Laurentian Library in Florence, Italy, and the 'Pietà' sculpture. In the last decade of his life, Michelangelo dedicated himself to carving depictions of the Madonna and Child, with his final piece, 'Rondanini Pietà', showing Christ's body gradually merging with the Virgin Mary. This inward-folding approach, a significant conceptual leap, contrasts with the creation of space. Professor Peter discovered that it was not only he who was fascinated by this work; Alvaro Siza also spent a long time gazing at the statue. He sketched the sculpture and traced the movement of his own perspective in choosing the angle, allowing him to best interpret the entire space.
Dean Zhu Pei concluded by saying, 'Inspiration' is the keyword of today's lecture. The numerous cases cited by Professor Peter Tagiuri can be summarized into two categories: tradition and everyday objects. Architecture born from inspiration drawn from these two threads is creative, powerful, and rooted. If architecture fails to draw inspiration from tradition and absorb its nutrients, it becomes superficial and shallow. Similarly, if it doesn't find inspiration in everyday things, it struggles to communicate with people and shape moving architecture. Great architects and artists, whether ancient or modern, are not swayed by trends. They return to tradition and the everyday, thereby creating the most powerful art and architecture。
| Lecturer Biography |
Visiting Professor at the School of Architecture of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Emeritus Professor and former Dean of the School of Architecture at the Rhode Island School of Design. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Visual Studies and Comparative Literature with honors from Dartmouth College in 1975, studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Italy in 1976, and received his Master of Architecture from Harvard University's Graduate School of Design in 1981. Since teaching at the Rhode Island School of Design from 1987 (serving as the Dean of the School of Architecture from 2002 to 2006), his architectural practice and education have demonstrated critical thinking towards cultural diversity, both conceptually and in practice. As an architect, he has collaborated with AOI in London, Kilo in Paris and Casablanca, Wang Shu in Hangzhou, Rutz in Zurich, and Gauche Concepts in Tokyo. In 2011, his small collective housing project in London won the Best Brick Building award. Peter Tagiuri's architectural philosophy and practice reflect a deep concern for culture and context in contemporary architecture under globalization, adding vitality to the development of contemporary architecture through a series of related architectural practices.
The 'CAFAa Series Lectures' initiated in 2018 by the School of Architecture at the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA), aims to establish an academic platform at the forefront of architecture. It invites the world's most distinguished scholars, educators, architects, and artists for discussions, lectures, and conferences, fostering a critical, inclusive, and open international architectural academic environment. The series has successfully hosted lectures and talks by renowned architects such as Rem Koolhaas, Arata Isozaki, Toyo Ito, Steven Holl, Winy Maas, Mohsen Mostafavi, Carlos Eduardo Comas, Cao Xun, Cui Kai, and many others.
Organizer
School of Architecture, Central Academy of Fine Arts
Co-organizer
Academic Department of the School of Architecture, Central Academy of Fine Arts
International Exchange Department of the School of Architecture, Central Academy of Fine Arts
TEXTENT Society, Central Academy of Fine Arts