Meta-Architectonics

Architectural strategies in our modern societies are essentially western oriented, and predominated by emphases on aesthetics, functionality, contextual responses, socio-political integration, programmatic articulation, etc.. While these are all relevant issues, the intricate symbiotic relationship between habitat and its inhabitants remains intangible. In this respect, the making of modern architecture is still very much an intuitive art.

Chinese metaphysics offers methodologies which may bridge the gap between habitat and its inhabitants. It prescribes a certain uncanny relationship between the two, presumably under the dynamic influence of universal laws, of time or perhaps luck. I call it the meta-architectonics of the dwelling apparatus.

This blog therefore attempts to capture my observation of day-to-day occurrences from a meta-architectonic perspective. My aim is to explore the potential of employing ancient principles of chinese metaphysics as a strategy in architectural making (and thinking) within the modern context, thereby approaching our lost SHANGri-la's.

SHANGri-la

All of us reside within four walls and a roof, but not many of us can call it home, and even lesser of us know how to make it a home. We say, these people have a house, and yet are homeless.

Some believe home is a notion deep inside the heart, perhaps only one word comes close to it: SHANGri-la, meaning sun and moon in the heart, or simply paradise...