Diagrammatic clarity

How people perceive and understand space and architecture has been a longtime issue
since the very beginning of modernism.
Consequently,embodying both objectivity and subjectivity,body,has been reinterpreted over
and over again through out the history of architecture. As society growing more and more
complicated,leading architects seems always trying to find corresponding complexity to
interpret what they sensed and declared their identity at the same time. From early 20
century, le corbusier seeing body as a living experience,to early 21 century ,toyo ito
reinterpreting the body as separated experience,physical and informational,the concept of
"body"indeed evolving along with the changing of the society,yet gradually become a much
more complicated and vague concept than we have ever noticed. Obviously,the
complexity is always the inherent quality and issue of architecture. However,is it possible
to bridge such kind of diverse relationship with the essence of our contemporary ? Is it
possible to amplify those complexity in different way other than unequivocal manifesto
which is mostly outweighed by pure instrumental interpretation of technology? Perhaps,
the word diagrammatic is just a plausible clue to the whole mystery.
Sejimas expression in her works is pure,simple and geometrical...it would be to say that is
diagram architecture.In orther words,that according to her,a building is ultimately the equivalent
of the diagram of the space...When we find ourselves in a space which she produced,we are
given to feel a totally new relationship between space and the body...A space of this type has
neither texture nor scent;it is physical but,at the same time,an abstract plan.We can not help but
feel that our bodies are like those androids in a space where neither body heat,perspiration nor
smell exist.* Toyo Ito on Sejimas work

The word diagram architecture is firstly coined by Japanese architect Toyo Ito when he
was trying to describe the space created by Kazuyo Sejima ,who originally worked for him
and be seen as the most successful apprentice nurturing by Itos philosophy.
Thus,diagram,which originally should be used as tool for representing or experimenting the
space,suddenly become kind of seemingly perceivable quality in architecture.
Although,what Ito means to the diagrammatic was most likely derived from the intuitive
quality in Sejimas space, which can be perceived by body in the most straight-forward yet
subtle way , it still offer us a whole new possibility to reevaluate Sejimas works, or to
further developed some question,like: What it can plausibly means apart from instinctive
sensation? How can we expand the context of diagrammatic and apply it into the present
development of the profession ? Can we see it as a threshold to reevaluate our
contemporary time and space ? etc. Such kind of question,in my viewpoint,can stimulate
this profession which seems gradually growing more and more enigmatic and
pointless ,because it indeed indicate the most fundamental discourse within architecture
which is,how people perceive and understand the space they occupy,which should always
be the quintessential part and also starting point of architecture,allowing us to envision
what is the future or the present we truly desire.

So,what makes such kind of diagrammatic quality amplified in the space created by
Sejima (or SANAA for the cooperated project) ? When we trying read or even experience
the space they created,a few keyword may be easily linked to our understanding. For
example: transparent,lightness,airy,fluid,bright,or even more
subtle,loose,phenomenological,non-hierarchicaletc. It seems that everyone can find
their own object view and subject view to built their own understanding of space while they
keep using and experiencing the space. In a sense,the user are thus free from just being
an absolute object who merely occupy the space physically; on the contrary,they
seemingly become different individual presence floating in the air and become part of the
environment,who seems connected with the space in various proximity and different
time. In SANAAs word,all these perception and dialogue with space are just their longtime
purpose in their career,which is how to let space itself involve different kind of experience
coexist at the same space-time ,or as they put it,they want to realize an architecture like a
park In this sense,accordingly, the space itself should at least concern two issue: the
understandability of the concept , and the potential embedded within the concept which
allow any further interpretation.
Before I trying to read the concept of diagrammatic in deeper layer, I tried to find some
relevant clue to expand the context of the concept. Consequently, there are three aspect
that I supposed can help us understand the plausible origin of diagrammatic
1) Working process :
We start by understanding the program and then try to find the design by setting out each
element,there are many ways to do this that work pretty well and ,though we never sure it is the
right way ,we progress in a design by adding our own parameters.From one day to the next we
are trying to find sensible relationship between one elements and another.It is a process of adding
rules together.Sometimes it is a question of a room being next to another ,but equally we try to
connect with things outside the building Ulbrich: conversation with sanaa p.59.
we starts from organizing all the requirement and precondition (regulation,budget...) into a
possible system without specific image in mind,and then trying to clarify the relationship within
different components in the architectural scheme and trying visualize them,in terms of program or
structure*. *EL Croquis 77 interview with kazuyo sejima
The design process of SANAA is famous and also notorious for their endless model
making ;through incredible amount of experiment and iteration they gradually fixed the theme of
the project. However,the process itself and the purpose of doing seemingly no different iteration is
not only trying to find an appropriate formal expression to fit certain context, but trying to built a
conceptual framework in the beginning of the project which can maximize the potential of the
program and convey diverse relationship at the same time. For them,potential of the space is
derived from various issue as they gradually discover thought the experiment. After trying to
reduced the auxiliary in their articulation for different relationship,what remains,is the first image of
the whole project,that is diagram,which act as the final image at the same time. Thus in this way
with simplest image without particular formal impression,they can keep their following experiment
keep involving different possibility and potential while still keep conceptual clarity to great extent.
As Sejima described:For us it is important to explain the intrinsic relationship of each project
quite clearly.We always tried to show what people can experience in the building,to show the idea
clearly,not through figure,shape,or form but by the most simple and direct way.* *EL Croquis
139 liquid playgroung: in conversation with SANAA